Holy Cross Church, Frankfurt-Bornheim

Steeple

Four figures at the south side of the steeple, symmbolizing the Evangelists

View from the east

North side of the nave

Exterior lighting at the tower on the first weekend of Advent 2020

Interior, fifth anniversary of the centre on 11 November 2012

Chancel at Christmas 2007

Veil of Veronica at the southern wall of the steeple

Pietà by Arnold Hensler and Otto Zirnbauer in its original place in the entrance hall

Commemorative plaque inside the church

The organ on the gallery

Advent-Labyrinth made with 2500 burning tealights the Saturday before Gaudete Sunday in 2011

Part of the light show on the first advent weekend 2020 in the church

Nativity scene in 2011 with crib by Arnold Hensler and Otto Zirnbauer

Wooden cruzifix in the crypt

The Holy Cross church was built in 1929 by the master church builder Martin Weber and is at the edge of the housing development at the Bornheimer Hang. Weber also built the churches of St. Bonifatius in Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen in 1927 and of the Holy Spirit in Frankfurt-Riederwald in 1931. The planned community center at the end of the Wittelsbacher Allee was not built, so there was enough space to build the new church. The Holy Cross Church was the second Catholic church in Frankfurt-Bornheim. The parish was an outsourcing of the later neighbour fold St. Josef, the first Catholic church in Bornheim. Reason for its priest Josef Höhler was the expansion of the Bornheim quarter eastward at the Bornheimer Hang, with the new settlement of the town planner Ernst May who built many new apartment buildings. This resulted in a growing number of Roman Catholics living in the quarter. On 3 August 1927 a jury decided in a competition for the draft with the name slope crown by the master church builder Martin Weber (1890-1941). The three other competitors were Hans (1872–1952) and Christoph Rummel (1881–1961) (Frankfurt), Richard Steidle (1881–1958) (Munich) and Robert B. Witte (Dresden). The competition had several stipulations for the church, e.g. the front of the steeple at the Wittelsbacher Allee, between 700 and 800 seats, a high altar and two side altars and an organ loft for 150 people. Weber called the building model "slope crown", since the church should crown the Bornheimer Hang (slope). On 19 February 1928 the construction work began with the first cut of the spade. The foundation stone was laid on 18 March 1928. The topping-out ceremony was held on 14 September 1928. On 25 August 1929 the church was inaugurated by Ludwig Maria Hugo, the Bishop of the Diocese of Mainz.[7] The name was chosen because there were several places in medieval Frankfurt dedicated to the holy cross. One of these was the chapel of the Hospital of the Holy Cross which was donated in 1343 by Wicker Frosch. Together with the chapel of the monastery of St. Katharinen which was built in 1354, it formed a small double church, the predecessor building of the today's Evangelical-Lutheran Katharinen church.[8] Until 1950 the Holy Cross parish was financially still a part of the St. Josef parish, with which it has a common church executive committee.

During the Nazi era (from 1933) the Holy Cross parish was suppressed by the Nazis, and it lost fold members during World War II. Because of its prominent location, the church was used as a point of reference for the navigation of the bombers of the USAAF and the RAF. The windows at the west side of the church were destroyed on 4 October 1943 in an attack intended for the water works near the cemetery of Bornheim. During the first large-scale attack on Frankfurt in the evening of the same day, the windows of the eastern side and the parsonage building were destroyed by a line of bombs which came down on the garden plots at the Bornheimer Hang. With the next large attack on the city on 29 January 1944 parsonage building was heavily damaged. On the night of the 18/19 March 1944 the church was hit by several incendiary bombs, which pierced the roof timberwork. The bombs were extinguished inside the church. On 11 December 1944 the church was hit by three bombs, which tore the large outside staircase at the west side of the steeple and the auxiliary chapel in the steeple hall. Due to a large hole in the west side of the nave, the services had to be held from then on in the heating plant room underneath the steeple.[9]

The heating plant room underneath the steeple was used until 1. July 1946 as church. During the time of the reconstruction starting from 26 September 1948 the parish hall which is under the church was used as a church beneath the church. In 1950 Holy Cross became its own parish with its own church executive committee.[9] 1951 the order for the re-establishment of the church could be given. 1952 the inside of the church were restored. The church windows were glazed new by the glass painter Lorenz Matheis with stained glass window in white and golden yellow colours. The walls and the ceiling were painted in a single-coloured finish. 1957 the kindergarten in the west of the church was built. In 1965 a stage for events was built in the parish hall under the church ship during a renovation. In 1968 the altar area was transformed, a consequence of the liturgy reformation by the Second Vatican Council. The altar was shifted, so that the priest could celebrate the service turned to the fold. A stone lectern replaced the torn off pulpit. The old altar under the great wall-cross in the chancel was replaced by the baptismal font. The ceiling got an orange and the walls a light-beige paint. In 1969 the first election of the parish council took place. In 1975 the board of directors elected by the parish council replaced the church executive committee. In 1990 a further transformation of the altar was executed. The baptismal font now was located in the entrance hall of the church. It was replaced by a sacramental altar at the place of the old high altar was built and the tabernacle was placed on it. Starting from 1991 the minister of the fold was also simultaneous ministers of the parish Maria-Rosenkranz (=Mary Rosary) in Frankfurt-Seckbach. 1992 the church interior was restored to the original condition with the walls in a checkerboard pattern in light and dark red colours.[10]

At 1. August 2007 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Limburg intended the church on instruction of former bishop Franz Kamphaus to the Holy Cross - Centre for Christian Meditation and Spirituality. The centre is a pastoral institution of the diocese[2] and is subordinated to the head of department of episcopalian chair (Prof. Dr. Hildegard Wustmans).[11] In the center church services, meditation courses, contemplative prayer, Zen-meditation courses, days of reflection, spiritual exercises, retreats, and other meetings are offered. The Padre Helmut Schlegel of the Franciscan[3] takes the responsibility for the offers as director/conductor of the center until July 2018 and as a priestly employee until June 2019. In November 2018 the theologian Samuel Stricker took over the leadership of the meditation center and in August 2019 Olaf Lindenberg the role as a priestly employee.[4] The team includes colleagues like for example from the Medical Mission Sisters (MMS).[5] Although the offerings of the centre are affected by Christianity the target audience includes humans of all Religious denominations, world views and cultures. The team[4] currently publishes a program annual.[12] It was the first institution of its kind in Germany. The Holy Cross Church is one of five profile churches of the Diocese of Limburg. Furthermore, there are besides the Centre for Mourning Counselling (German:Zentrum für Trauerseelsorge) in St.Michael in Frankfurt-Nordend as well founded in 2007 also the three youth churches (German: Jugendkirchen) Crossover in St. Hildegard in Limburg an der Lahn, Jona in St. Bonifatius in Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen and Kana in Maria-Hilf in Wiesbaden-Nordost which were founded already in 2005.

In the church, small changes were gradually implemented by 2010. The previous church benches have been replaced by folding chairs, which allow a more flexible use of the available space. The present main altar is no longer used for the church services of the centre for meditation and has been replaced by a small wooden altar, which forms a circle with the folding chairs. Stairlifts or wheelchair ramps have been installed for barrier-free access to the church interior or other premises. The crypt and the rooms of the former parsonage were redesigned for the use as a meditation center.

In March 2020, the center's program had to be suspended because all worship services in Germany and thus all other events had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.[13] However, at certain times the church is daily open for meditation for a limited number of people.[14] In May services were resumed on Saturdays under special conditions.[15] In Advent 2020, four theme weeks were held with a special light show, the Advent Labyrinth, the Peace Light and about light figures.[16] In December 2020, a Protestant vicar of the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau was employed for the first time in a six-month special vicariate in the center.[17]

With the establishment of the Center for Christian Meditation and Christian Spirituality, the Holy Cross Church lost its previous role as a parish church. Thus, the former municipal territory of the Holy Cross parish belonged again to the parish of St. Josef from which the parish once emanated.

The two Catholic Bornheim congregations, with a part of the parish territory of the previous parish of St. Michael, were united to form the new parish of St. Josef. The Church of St. Michael in Frankfurt-Nordend became the Zentrum für Trauerseelsorge (=Centre for Mourning Counselling) of the Diocese of Limburg. The parish of St. Josef in Bornheim and the neighbouring parish of Maria Rosenkranz (=Mary Rosary) in Frankfurt-Seckbach formed the common pastoral area Frankfurt-Bornheim. Together with their neighbours Maria Rosenkranz in Frankfurt-Seckbach, the new St. Josef parishioners formed the pastoral area Frankfurt-Bornheim until 31 December 2011, in which a stronger cooperation than before took place. The parish of St. Josef was at this time with almost 11,000 Catholics one of the largest in the Diocese of Limburg. On 1 January 2012 the pastoral rooms in Frankfurt were reorganized and from the two pastoral areas of Frankfurt-Bornheim with the parishes of St. Josef-Bornheim and Maria Rosenkranz in Seckbach and Frankfurt-Ost with the two parishes of Heilig-Geist (=Holy Spiritin Frankfurt-Riederwald and Herz-Jesu (=Heart of Jesus) in Frankfurt-Fechenheim, a new pastoral area called Frankfurt-Ost was created. It existed until 31 December 2014.

On 1 January 2015, a parish of the new type under the name of St. Josef Frankfurt am Main was founded from the four parishes of the pastoral area Frankfurt-Ost St. Josef in Bornheim, Maria Rosenkranz in Seckbach, Heilig-Geist in Riederwald and Herz-Jesu in Fechenheim with the church places of Sankt Josef Bornheim, Maria Rosenkranz Seckbach, Heilig-Geist Riederwald and Herz-Jesu Fechenheim. This includes the centralization of certain tasks, such as the parish secretariat.[18][19] The parish now has about 16,500 members.[20] By its location in the parish of the new parish of St. Josef Frankfurt am Main, it is also their branch church. The buildings are managed by the Stadtkirche Frankfurt am Main.

A Frankfurt-based scene of the 1999 novel Die Türkin (=The Turk) of the German writer Martin Mosebach, awarded with the Heimito von Doderer-Literaturpreis, was inspired by the Holy Cross Church. The described scenery around the "chiricoesque basilica" resembles the Holy Cross Church on the Bornheimer Hang.[28]

At the end of June 2019, a confession different scenes for the Sat.1-television film Mörderische Tage – Julia Durant ermittelt (=Murderous days – Julia Durant investigates) in the Julia Durant series by Andreas Franz and Daniel Holbe with actress Sandra Borgmann in the title role was shot by the director Nicolai Rohde in the Holy Cross Church as a film set. The script was written by Kai-Uwe Hasenheit and Andreas Bareiss. For the shooting, chairs with black seats and backrests were set up inside the church by the film crew, as well as a custom-made confessional, which incorporates design elements and colour schemes from church doors.[29][30] Inside it can be seenn for example the wall painting of a grave scene in the entrance area, the pipe organ and the confessional as a film setting. Several times the perron and the houses of the settlement at Bornheimer Hang in opposite in the Ortenberger Street can be seen. In addition, drone images of the tower building were used. The television film was first broadcast on 10 November 2019 on Sat.1 emotions and on 11 November 2019 on Sat.1.[31]