Mini churches for reconstruction
Created: 12/27/2021, 12:46 PM
From: Dieter Roettig
For the reconstruction of the Christ Church, the Bauer couple made mini models from the tin of the melted organ pipes.
The model is Irene Bauer's drawing (right).
© Roettig
Utting - The shock of the complete fire in the Christ Church in Utting last August ran deep - also for the married couple Irene and Peter Bauer.
After all, this is where they got married and this is where their children and grandchildren were baptized.
In order to actively support the reconstruction, they came up with an unusual idea.
They use the melted tin of the organ pipes to make mini-Christ churches, the sales proceeds of which flow completely into the budget for the reconstruction.
The Bauers actually only wanted to produce one hundred numbered copies at a retail price of 100 euros each. But the demand is so great that they are already working on the second edition. They still have enough material after Peter Bauer saved around 30 kilograms of tin from the waste containers, plus charred wood from the ruins. A drawing of the Christ Church, which Irene Bauer once made for the invitation to her wedding, serves as a template.
The ambitious idea quickly turned into difficult and time-consuming craft work. As a mechanical engineer and vocational school teacher, Peter Bauer knew the basics of metal processing, but had to get tips on tin from the traditional Schweizer foundry in Dießen. In the first step, he melted the lumps of tin, cleaned it of foreign material and shaped it into manageable bars. Daughter-in-law Julia Bauer, a dental technician by profession, made a model from special wax, for which Peter Bauer made a corresponding silicone mold.
After the casting process and the fine-tuning, wife Irene and girlfriend Petra Rosenberger take over the blanks. They are patinated in a special process before the tower onion is colored with a steady hand and the entrance gate gets the distinctive blue-red stripes. Finally, the finished church is set in a wooden foundation cut from original church roof beams.
The pastor couple Alexandra and Jochen Eberhardt are enthusiastic and grateful for this one-of-a-kind aid action by the farmers.
Anyone interested in a one-off can contact pfarramt.utting@elkb.de.
By the way, the tin church with the number 1 was given as a "thank you" to Utting's mayor Florian Hoffmann.
In his capacity as fire brigade commander, who fought the fire with his crew and successfully prevented the flames from spreading to other buildings.
versatility
Peter Bauer shares a passion for model railways with Mayor Florian Hoffmann.
Although he is now gradually switching from “analog to digital”.
The mini-church builders are also, according to their own statement, “arable demikers”, i.e. part-time farmers for vegetables and fruit.
Before retiring, Peter Bauer was a teacher at the Munich Adolf Kolping Special Vocational School and Irene Bauer was a teacher for the hearing impaired.
On June 10, 2027, the Christ Church would have celebrated its centenary in the wooden club construction method, which is rare in the region.
First considerations for a festival program already existed in the church council.
Now they are working flat out on the planning for the reconstruction.
The insurance pays for the majority of the costs, but every additional euro is important.
Like the net proceeds from the sale of the mini-churches.
