Predigerkirche Zurich

on the so-called Murerplan of 1576 Located nearby the medieval Neumarkt quarter, the church that commonly is named Predigerkirche was mentioned for the first time in 1234 AD as the Predigerkloster monastery of the Dominican Order. The first Dominican friars settled, according to the chronicler Heinrich Brennwald, outside of the city walls of medieval Zürich at Stadelhofen in 1230, and the construction of a new convent in Zürich was first mentioned in 1231. The monastery consisted of a Romanesque church at the same place as today, and the monastic buildings built around the adjointed cloister to its west. In 1254 the establishment of a cemetery at Zähringerstrasse was allowed to the so-called "prayer" (used for Dominican friars, the 'blackfriars') abbey, and repealed in 1843. The order purchased 28 houses in the 13th and early 14th century. The convent was in close connection to the city nobility and landed gentry in Zürich and the surrounding area, among them the Bilgeri family (Grimmenturm) and the House of Rapperswil, where they received asylum in Rapperswil after their expulsion by 1348. Memorial measurements had to be held at Grossmünster until the 14th century, because thus the most income was achieved. Until the Reformation in Zürich all income obtained with the funerals had also to be delivered to the Grossmünster abbey. Within the late medieval city, as the other "mendicant" orders, the Dominicans have been reduced to the function of area pastors. The convent was abolished on 3 December 1524, the worship in the church was discontinued, and the buildings and income of the monastery were assigned to the Heilig-Geist-Spital, then an hospital of the city of Zürich. The pastor of the "preachers" was initially subordinated to the parish of the Grossmünster, in 1571 raised to the rank of a Grossmünster Canon Regular, and in 1575 he was allowed to share the ''Lord's Supper according to the Reformed liturgy, the so-called Abendmahlsgottesdienst''. In 1614 the church was raised to a separate parish for the Neumarkt and Niederdorf districts within the city, as well as the then independent municipalities of Oberstrass and Unterstrass–Fluntern were assigned to the parish. The French revolutionary troops allowed again the Catholic worship, but after only two years, the parish was reverted into a Reformed church on 17 October 1801. in fact built as a parish church, but as a place of encounter and of the church community from the inner city, as well as of the suburban region. == Architecture ==

The first Romanesque church , the Zentralbibliothek building in the foreground According to the building-historical research of the years 1990/96, the first church of the Dominicans was built in 1231 as a distinct Romanesque Basilica including a transept and two small apses in the spiral arms of the transept. The closed choir was fairly spacious, with an area of 10 x , being a reminiscent of the still existing choir of the former Fraumünster basilica, that only a few years before was built. Archaeological finds show that the church had been planned to be originally shorter in the length than it is today. During the construction period, the building was extended on the today's west facade. The first church was very long, measuring in the interior of the central nave, but its height of around and width of rather low. The Romanesque church seems to have caught fire, possibly several times. The fire in the Romanesque choir was arguably even occasion for its new building, as the wall in the western facade had several traces of fire. Probably the original Romanesque western facade had smaller windows then shown in the Murerplan, three narrow, high arched windows, similar to the still extant windows in the choir of the Fraumünster church. The entire church had a flat wooden ceiling. was followed by a period of economic uncertainty reaching its peak with the plague of 1348/49, the persecution and killing of the Jewish citizens of the so-called Synagogengasse in 1349, as well as the "Zürich night of murder" (Mordnacht) in 1350, a failed counter coup of Brun's opposition under the son of Johann I (Habsburg-Laufenburg), Ridge turret respectively bell tower The high, hexagonal ridge turret is made of oak, and a masterpiece of carpenter technology, towering above the roof ridge, at the same height as the walls of the choir. The dendrochronological analysis show that the belfry construction was done in 1475, which has arisen in the supporting structure of the choir, that was added in 1496. The roof shingles of the open belfry and the hexagonal pointed helmet have been applied in several layers on the wooden formwork. The latest dendrochronological provisions on wooden spire show that this wood was hit in 1628, and the roof turret was built in 1629, followed by several repairs. The bracing cross pieces of the lower frame structure are applied, while there are at the top of the cross pieces of wood mortise and tenon joints. The pediments over the open belfry are crowned with golden knobs, and the roof spouts are decorated with Gargoyles from painted copper sheets. The subsequent installation of two tie rods was done in 1778, and included the removal of the shingle at the bottom of the screen for the installation of tie rods, in order to stabilize the pointed helmet. These were anchored to the belfry and thus passed the bells vibrations directly to the construction of the turret's vault. Renovations of the church tower were made in 1920, 1931, 1957, and 1993, which were traditionally documented inside the tower ball. == Contemporary restorations & renovations==

1960s to 2010s In 1965−1967 the nave was restored, and the original west facade of the church building largely rebuilt and renovated. At that time the first studies of retaining the Gothic era abbey−choir building for the Zentralbibliothek Zürich (literally Zürich Central Library) or reuniting it with the former nave were done. In 1989 a fierce public debate rose on those options, culminating in a cantonal−wide referendum. The proponents for retaining it for civic use won the ballot referendum. In the 1990−1996 remodeling of the library, the choir was retained as part of the library, and houses its Musikabteilung (music collections department). In 1974 the facade of the choir building was restored, and the shingles of the roof rider renewed. The leak and weathered roofing was replaced on the basis of existing records in the pointed knob with handmade impregnated roofing shingles. The hue of the top coat was held in an oxide-red tone. The bearing of the weather cock was made accessible, and the pommel balls over the gables and the tower were re-plated in gold. On occasion of the state examination in 2008, there were various defects found in the roof work. The bell almost touched one side of the roof turret-bell tower, although this was to have been addressed in 2006 renovations. To avoid damage to the historic building, the weakened structural parts were restored, strengthened, and when necessary replaced. The hexagonal roof turret's pointed helmet had to be stabilized, and many components were in poor condition, the shingles were very brittle, there were cracked sheet metal seams, and the copper plate did not keep even slight pressure. The main reinforcements and restoration work in the choir building were completed in 2010. 2012 restoration In 2012 the choir building's owners, including Reformierte Kirchgemeinde Predigern (church congregation) and Zentralbibliothek (central library), and the city of Zürich's departments of Praktische Denkmalpflege' and Archäologie des Amts für Städtebau, commissioned the Gugler construction company to repair the roof's skylights during the summer season. The restoration work was designed and specified to last for a minimum of 50 years, to avoid any more repetitions of extensive structural work for decades. The renovations, repairs, and additions to the historic roof structure proceeded cautiously and with due diligence research, although both records of the supporting structure and documentation of previous restorations was lacking. In collaboration with the city of Zürich, a high scaffolding tower was erected. The southwest side hip rafters of fir wood roof of the plant had moisture damage due to leaking roof shingles. It was plated with two dry, one year stored spruce wood parts, that were cope planed, glued together and the cross-sectional dimensions of wood connected with wooden screws. In addition to the general repairs to the structural stabilization of the first stator, the fixing of the rafter positions took was effected. Collar beam and strut pairs were cut off or removed in the roof structure. The respective opposite tower stands of the bell tower were stabilized with a total of three tie rods, and no longer repairable oak timbers were replaced. The iron forged bolt lugs and nails ware extensively restored and reused. The wooden surfaces of the tower threshold ring, the moisture damage and the weakened old anchoring system of hexagonal roof turret-pointed helmet, required extensive reinforcements and repair measures, so that the existing bell bearings could be obtained. The new roof shingles of the bell tower consist of radially to the root-derived spruce wood, which has been pressure treated prior to assembly. The shingles were placed on the hexagonal spire and the tower shaft offset strengthened with thin lead plates, so-called nouques. The shingles were painted with the color Caput Mortuum V (Violet), based on the color analysis on the roof turret itself, on research in the city archives and based on color of the tower of the church and the sandstone used in the choir. The crowning feature (knobs) and the lip contours, eyes and teeth of the Gargoyles were covered with gold leaf. The costs amounted to 1.1 million Swiss Francs. == Pipe organ ==

The first pipe organ was installed in 1503 and 24 years later broken in the aftermath of the Reformation struggle. The first early Baroque Protestant church in the southern German culture area is mentioned in 1614, so it is assumed that the organ may have been re-used. In 1879 the first new organ after the Reformation was installed, and in 1911 the organ was enlarged by Goll und Kuhn. In 1923 it was replaced by a new organ. The organ in the gallery was built by Paul Hintermann and Jakob Schmidt on behalf of Kuhn Orgelbau in 1970: The slider chests instrument has 46 registers on three manuals and pedals. 1) floating, comp system with 6 combinations. The church organ is owned by the Kirchgemeinde Predigern, and used by the Kantorei zu Predigern. The "Mittagsmusik im Predigerchor" concert series is administrated and partially published by the Musikabteilung. == Abbey—Choir building ==

Grave plate of 1270 around 1300 AD, ledger stone made of Bollingen sandstone. From 1917 to 1919, the final transformation of the choir to library purposes took place, and in 1919 the choir was leased to the Canton of Zürich, The Musikabteilung was founded in 1971, as a scholarly music collection of European importance. In addition to larger stocks of printed music and sound recordings, it compromises one of the largest Wagnerian collections in the world, and has become a major repository of Swiss music manuscripts. The collection includes around 180 legacies of deceased composers, musicians, and musicologists. It also houses corporate archives and historical library collections of important music institutions such as the Opernhaus Zürich, the Konzerthalle concert hall, the Zürich conservatory, and the Allgemeine Musikgesellschaft (AMG) record label. The music department publishes the materials in its collections periodically as CDs and online. The repertoire ranges from early 16th-century spiritual music of Huldrych Zwingli's 15th century to the late 20th century. The music collection is released under the label "Musik aus der Zentralbibliothek Zürich", as well as "Mittagsmusik im Predigerchor" for the Predigerkirche pipe organ concert series recordings. == Cultural Heritage ==

The Predigerkirche church building and adjoining abbey−choir building are listed in the Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance as a Class A properties of national significance. == Literature ==

• Dölf Wild, Urs Jäggin, Felix Wyss: Die Zürcher Predigerkirche – Wichtige Etappen der Baugeschichte. Auf dem Murerplan beschönigt? – Untersuchungen an der Westfassade der Predigerkirche. Amt für Städtebau der Stadt Zürich, Zürich 2006. • Walter Baumann: Zürichs Kirchen, Klöster und Kapellen bis zur Reformation. Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), Zürich 1994, . • Martina Wehrli-Johns: Geschichte des Zürcher Predigerkonvents (1230–1524). Mendikantentum zwischen Kirche, Adel und Stadt. Hans Rohr, Zürich 1980, . == References ==