The church rises to the challenge of providing a spiritual centre forDonau City, the new residential and commercial centre on the oppositebank of the Danube - not as an act of coronation for the cityin the sense of Taut's urban crown, as a temple or cathedral, butas miniature, as a demonstration of the power of the quiet as opposedto the loud, as an 'oasis in the diaspora', to use Karl Rahner'sformulation about the parishes of the future.The building gives an impression of starkness: a hard cube, cutoff at the corners, clad with sheets of black chromium steel. But itis only stark at first glance. A second glance shows that the hardnessis a friendly hardness: because of the reflections that the materialadmits; because of the grid of the large-format sheets, towhich the brightly gleaming drill-holes that cover the walls like finegossamer respond; because of circular apertures that allow light toshine outwards after dark; because of large, rectangular windowsin the receding corners that create a contrast with the closed qualityof the building.Inside the starkness gives way altogether: a light space, whichone comes into through an artfully designed entrance. Originally asparse covering for the space, which thrives mainly because of thelight material - birch wood -, because of the arrangement of thepews, which is as lively as it is peaceful - segments of circles ofdifferent sizes, surrounding the dark syenite altar block in the formof an open circle - and especially because of the wide range of circularlight sources that render the introverted interior transparent,the large windows that create islands of light, the free-form aperturein the ceiling, which sends light gliding down on to the altar.Heinz Tesar's church continues a tradition of forward-lookingmodern church building, from Rudolf Schwarz's Fronleichnamskirchein Aachen via Egon Eiermann's Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirchein Berlin, Franz Füeg's Piuskirche in Meggen on Lake Lucerneto the new Herz-Jesu-Kirche in Munich by Allmann, Sattlerand Wappner; and alongside all this there is also the tradition of agenuinely Viennese development of this theme, from Otto Wagner'sKirche am Steinhof to Ottokar Uhl's parish church Katharina vonSiena.Immo Boyken is Professor of architectural history, surveying anddesign in Konstanz. He had a major involvement in the great monographon the works of Egon Eiermann, and has also writtena monograph on Otto Ernst Schweizer, as well as other works aboutmodern architecture. Christian Richters studied at the Folkwangschulein Essen. He is one of the most sought-after architecturalphotographers in Europe today.
