St. Wilhelm has disappeared behind scaffolding and tarpaulins, well wrapped up as if by Christ.
It should reappear at the end of November: on the 1st Sunday in Advent, its 50th anniversary will be celebrated.
Oberschleißheim
- The facade has been a problem child for a long time. The concrete renovation has become urgently necessary. A chunk of concrete had fallen, the parapet had become brittle. Now the struts that support the building are being refurbished, the facade cleaned and re-sealed. It took almost ten years and a lot of patience before the renovation could start. Appraisers had to come, studies had to be drawn up and the project had to be included in the full building program. The costs amount to around one million euros. The St. Wilhelm Friends' Association plans to contribute around 20,000 euros from donations.
The 1st Advent was a special day in the history of the Church from the beginning: On the 1st Sunday of Advent in 1971, a few years after the Second Vatican Council and a year before the Olympic Games in Munich, the house of God was inaugurated, just one year after the Laying of the foundation stone in Advent 1970. St. Wilhelm became necessary as the second Catholic church and new spiritual center for the park settlement and took the place of an emergency church that stood there from 1966.
The park settlement had previously been separated from Maria Patrona Bavariae as a separate pastoral care district.
A special testimony to the architecture of the 1970s
The plans were made by architect and ordinarian Carl Theodor Horn, who realized the extraordinary sacred building together with Peter Eggendorfer, from prefabricated parts in exposed concrete, whereby the skeleton of the construction made of concrete pillars is visible. With its square floor plan and the column-free cube, this sacred building speaks a clear language of form. The subtle light from the surrounding ribbon of windows under the ceiling and from nine round glass domes promotes the meditative atmosphere, as does the restriction to a few selected materials such as concrete and wood. In 1985 the 24-meter-high bell tower, designed by Peter Eggendorfer, was added later.
St. Wilhelm is a special testimony to the architecture of the 1970s.
Spartan on the outside, simple on the inside.
Carl Theodor Horn, who was involved in the restoration of the Frauenkirche in Munich, also created St. Elisabeth in Graefelfing, the Erlöserkirche in Eglharting and the parish center of the Munich Benedictine Church St. Boniface in the 1970s.
Similar to St. Wilhelm, these buildings are simple and clear, structured in human proportions, as suggested by the Council's new conception of man.
Devalued as "God's underground car park"
Not all of them took the concrete construction in Oberschleißheim to their hearts, some scolded the building as “God's underground car park”.
Others particularly appreciate the modern house of God.
A survey in the parish showed that there are advocates and opponents in all age groups, and the groups cannot be divided into old and young.
The congregation would have wishes as to how the interior could shine again after 50 years - a new podium for the choir, a new organ - but these ideas are still a long way off.
For this purpose, the ensemble of the church is now attached to the new Bürgerplatz and included in the redesign of the town center.
It is calculated at a cost of one million.
The parking lot between the community center and the church is being redesigned with financial help from the community of Oberschleißheim and the Free State.
In return, the parish leaves the parking spaces to the political community for 25 years.
At the church forecourt and the parish center, the parish itself has to raise around 400,000 euros.
You can find more news from Oberschleißheim and the district of Munich here.
