Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architekt: Theodor Fischer. Foto: Daniela Christmann 1925 – 1926
Architect: Theodor Fischer
Ruffiniallee 1, Planegg near Munich, Germany
The Evangelical Lutheran Parish Church was built between 1925 and 1926 according to the plans of architect Theodor Fischer in Planegg near Munich.
The Waldkirche is an octagonal central building with a tented roof. Fischer integrated the necessary parish hall into a connecting wing between the actual church hall and the tower, which housed apartments for church staff.
Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architect: Theodor Fischer. Photo: Daniela Christmann
Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architect: Theodor Fischer. Photo: Daniela Christmann
Architect Theodor Fischer
The architect Theodor Fischer was born in 1862 in Schweinfurt, Germany. He soon turned away from the style of his teacher Friedrich Thiersch and focused primarily on the regional environment.
After completing his studies, Fischer worked in various offices and building authorities in Munich. From 1901 to 1908, he taught as a professor of design and urban planning at the Technical University in Stuttgart.
In 1907 he co-founded the Deutscher Werkbund, and in 1908 he moved to the Technical University of Munich, where he worked to reform the study of architecture. Theodor Fischer retired in 1928 and died in Munich in 1938.
When Theodor Fischer accepted the commission to build a new church in Planegg in 1925, the desire to eliminate the physical separation of pastor and congregation was paramount.
Central Building
Toward the end of the 19th century, Protestant theologians of the Liturgical Movement in particular advocated central buildings: The common layout of the Wegekirche (wayside church) had been adopted from medieval Catholic churches before Vatican II.
This longitudinal space cemented the separation between the priest at the front of the altar and the laity in the pews at the back. Instead, the Protestant congregation was to gather around the altar in the center of the room.
This concept was advocated by the influential Wiesbaden Program of 1890. A later proponent of the central space was Otto Bartning, who developed the ideal design of his Sternkirche in 1922.
Ground was broken in October 1925 and the church was consecrated in December 1926.
Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architect: Theodor Fischer. Floor plan
Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architect: Theodor Fischer. Longitudinal view
Background
Before the Waldkirche was built, the Protestant community of Planegg had only a prayer room in the school building. When Rudolf Freiherr von Hirsch donated a plot of land to the parish, which changed hands several times, the parish priest was finally able to hire Theodor Fischer as architect.
Fischer had already planned a Protestant church for Munich-Giesing as a central building on an oval ground plan, but this was not realized. In 1926, two years before his retirement, he created one of his most famous late works in Planegg.
In 1922 Otto Bartning had designed his Sternkirche, a circular building in whose raised center he placed the altar and pulpit as the focal point of liturgy and church. In 1929, Bartning realized his concept in the Church of the Resurrection in Essen.
Theodor Fischer was therefore at the height of his times when he built the Waldkirche in 1926. In an article on the Waldkirche published in the journal Kirche und Kunst in July 1927, he himself commented on his unusual building: With the Waldkirche, he had tried to find a place for the two equally important things, the pulpit and the altar, where they could be placed in the congregation and in good harmony.
Exterior Construction
Located in a wooded area on the outskirts of Planegg, the free-standing stucco building is covered by an octagonal tiled tent roof with large dormers. Between the church and the tower is the much lower parish hall with a pitched roof.
The interior of the church rises above an octagonal floor plan on the same side, its surrounding gallery supported by slender larch-clad pillars that reach a height of eleven meters under the coffered roof.
The church can be entered from three sides. In the center is the sanctuary, where the altar originally stood. However, it has been moved half a meter to the east, closer to the pulpit that stands in front of the eastern wall.
Behind it is a rectangular extension that houses the community room and, at its eastern end, the sacristy, which also forms the foundation for the church tower.
Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architect: Theodor Fischer. Photo: Daniela Christmann
Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architect: Theodor Fischer. Photo: Daniela Christmann
Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architect: Theodor Fischer. Photo: Daniela Christmann
Interior
Slightly ascending steps lead from each of the three entrances to the octagonal sanctuary in the center of the church. The pulpit rises behind the altar on the east side of the octagon, halfway up the steps. The folding wall behind it opens to the parish hall behind it.
On the other seven sides of the church, the pews rise to the rear. The congregation surrounds the altar like an amphitheater. The space is surrounded by an eight-sided gallery, which extends in the center under the steep pointed roof and is illuminated by a surrounding glass frieze.
The interior is dominated by larch wood. In contrast, the walls are white and the pews are gray. The only pictorial decoration is on the pulpit lectern and around the gallery balustrade.
Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architect: Theodor Fischer. Photo: Daniela Christmann
Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architect: Theodor Fischer. Photo: Daniela Christmann
Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architect: Theodor Fischer. Photo: Daniela Christmann
Decoration
The partly sculptural, partly painted gallery decoration on the east side and the altar are by Ernst Penzoldt.
The decoration of the Waldkirche is deliberately kept simple: Images are only found on the gallery balustrade. Of particular note is the depiction of the Holy Trinity by the artist and writer Ernst Penzoldt, which is mounted as a kind of altarpiece above the east side.
During the Nazi era, the work was deemed “degenerate” and replaced with a crucifix by Helmut Imman.
In 1977 the parish restored it to its original state.
The other paintings on the gallery balustrade are by landscape painter Bernhard Jäger and depict biblical landscapes.
The flat carvings in the wood of the pulpit lectern are by the sculptor Hans Wimmer. They depict the Apostle Paul on the front and his ministries on the sides.
Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architect: Theodor Fischer. Photo: Daniela Christmann
Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architect: Theodor Fischer. Photo: Daniela Christmann
Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architect: Theodor Fischer. Photo: Daniela Christmann
Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architect: Theodor Fischer. Photo: Daniela Christmann
Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architect: Theodor Fischer. Photo: Daniela Christmann
Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architect: Theodor Fischer. Photo: Daniela Christmann
Renovation
The Waldkirche has been identified as in need of renovation, which is scheduled to be completed by 2023.
The work began with the wooden supports in the interior. The interior consists of glued wooden planks covered with larch wood.
Over time, the glue came loose, so in December 2023, the wooden layers were stabilized with screws. The screws were covered with wooden plugs to protect the building.
In the next phase of construction, the exterior facade and roof will be renovated in 2025. The renovation of the interior is planned for 2026.
Waldkirche, 1925-1926. Architect: Theodor Fischer. Photo: Daniela Christmann