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All Germany Munich Herz-Jesu-Kirche
AO Edited

Herz-Jesu-Kirche

On high feast days, the entire blue-glass front of this modern church opens up to reveal the small wooden church inside.

Munich, Germany

Added By
Alexander Starostzik
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Herz-Jesu-Kirche   Allmann Sattler Wappner
  Martin Falbisoner
  Günter W. Schnell
  Martin Falbisoner
  Martin Falbisoner
  Martin Falbisoner
  Martin Falbisoner
  asrgbg / Atlas Obscura User
  asrgbg / Atlas Obscura User
  asrgbg / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
The small doors (in the big doors)   Daveybot / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Jason C / Atlas Obscura User
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About

You want to see a really big door? Then head to the Herz-Jesu-Kirche in Munich. Opened in 2000, it is one of the most striking churches in the city, with rather unusual architecture. The church is a cube with a 14-meter (46-foot) front made of blue glass and semi-transparent walls. Inside this steel-glass construction is a further, unconnected almost similarly sized wooden cube.

The real special feature, however, is the front. If one normally enters the church through two normal entrance doors, on special occasions the entire front is opened hydraulically. The portal measures 14 meters (46 feet) high, 18 meters (59 feet) wide, and weighs 50 tons, making it among the largest in the world.

If you look at the front even closer you can see that the entire glass front is covered with a pattern of stylized nails. A specially developed code from the various arrangements of these nails (based on cuneiform script) quotes, in recurring form, the passion story according to John 18-20.

The cross in the sanctuary is also a special feature. It consists of a specially woven metal curtain and depending on the incidence of light (time of day), the cross appears lighter or darker

Related Tags

Architectural Oddities Modernism Architecture Churches

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Added By

asrgbg

Edited By

Collector of Experiences, Jason C, Daveybot, Michelle Cassidy

  • Collector of Experiences
  • Jason C
  • Daveybot
  • Michelle Cassidy

Published

April 11, 2022

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Sources
  • https://www.allmannwappner.com/en/projekte/15/herz-jesu-church-munich
  • https://archjourney.org/projects/herz-jesu-kirche/
  • https://www.muenchenwiki.de/wiki/Herz-Jesu-Kirche
  • https://www.erzbistum-muenchen.de/pfarrei/herz-jesu-muenchen
Herz-Jesu-Kirche
Lachnerstraße 8
Munich, 80639
Germany
48.156178, 11.528873
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