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Frauenfriedenskirche

One of Germany's most amazing sacred buildings stood in full colour when it was built in the 1920s. After extensive destruction during World War 2, the Frauenfriedenskirche was rebuilt, but remained unimpressive for decades with grey walls and barely recognisable paintings. From 2018 to 2020, the church was thoroughly renovated and restored. With the newly designed chancel, it now shines again in the colourfulness of its construction period.

Architect:
Planungsring Ressel Architekten GmbH
Photos:
Tobias Kammerer
Location:
Frankfurt on the Main, Germany
Products:
  • Innostar

One of Germany's most amazing sacred buildings stood in full colour when it was built in the 1920s. After severe destruction during World War 2, the Frauenfriedenskirche was rebuilt, but remained nondescript for decades with grey walls and barely recognisable images. In 2017, the Diocese of Limburg decided to launch a nationwide competition to reorganise the liturgical furnishings in the reconstructed colour scheme, which was worthy of preservation. After a lengthy study of the historical significance and a draft design for the redesign of the headmasters, the design by Tobias Kammerer was recommended to the Liturgy and Art Commission of the Diocese of Limburg for execution. From 2018 to 2020, the church was fundamentally renovated and restored. With the newly designed chancel, it now shines again in the colourfulness of its construction period.

The findings of the first version revealed astonishing colour results. In the archives, a document from October 1928 was found concerning a contract between the parish and the painter. In this document, one finds two coats of silicate paint with Keimscher mineral paint. Thus, in the current renovation, it was again decided to use KEIM paints, now with KEIM Innostar. This time, however, an exact register was created with a special number for each colour with its recipe, so that future generations will have easy access to the colour shades. "Considering the colourfulness and the art objects, one is seized by the feeling of a total work of art and is reminded of the wonderful artistic products of the Bauhaus," says Tobias Kammerer, an internationally active artist who designed the church's new lithurgical furnishings. Kammerer's declared goal is to add aesthetic value to buildings and spaces in their functionality through painterly and sculptural components. His artistic history began during his student days. He owes his artistic socialisation to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.

The three rings in green, red and ultramarine blue stand out on the black-painted cover. They go down cylindrically and the edge is in gold. What a splendour, and that above the orange side walls. The antechamber of God is shown here drunk with colour, in the glory of creation as glory in the strongest colouring possible at that time. The colourfulness continues pleasantly in the ceiling mirror of the nave and the roof purlins are painted red with a lime green lower edge. The panelling of the organ is again in yellow. The baptistery radiates a transfigured mysticism through a soft dark red. In the crypt, one is almost taken by Ruth Schaumann's Pieta. The circumferential arcade in the cour d'honneur is astonishing with its red wall and green ceiling. Colour combinations which, at first glance, seem impossible. The astonishingly simple planting with rose hedges and lawns makes one think of a paradise garden in terms of beauty and aesthetics. Gold was the obvious colour for the headmasters. The deliberate under-lighting of the altar makes it appear like a central chalice, a symbol for the body and blood of Christ. It becomes the gathering place of the congregation, the new centre.

In the aftermath, Frauenfrieden proves the tenet that 100 years ago, modernity was approached in a very colourful way. One conquered matter-of-fact, austere forms, but gave them the strongest colours available at the time. Frauenfrieden is a testimony to this attachment to colour.

Text: Tobias Kammerer M.A. / KEIMFARBEN

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