St. Mark's parish
A piece of modern Venice on the Buchhügel: the freestanding campanile, the 36-metre-high bell tower, rings out its bells across the landscape. A majestic lion made of gold-colored, tinted mosaic stones, the symbol of the evangelist Mark, sits enthroned on the church façade. The interior is filled with a variety of colors ranging from countless white to colorful glass stones.
Built in 1961, St. Mark's Church pays homage in many details to its world-famous big brother, St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice. The nationally active architect Fritz Reichard, church warden of St. Mark's parish, designed his magnum opus. Characteristic of the building are the transparent walls made partly of colored glass and concrete, whose light-guiding effect unfolds inside and shines outwards from the interior during night services. As a 'concert church', the focus was set on what is still the case today: Worship, music and culture. The avant-garde organ by Gebr. Link, Giengen, designed by Helmut Bornefeld, with its 38 stops on three manuals and pedal, is a kind of icon of musical modernism. The copper entrance doors by Offenbach sculptors Karl- Heinz and Willy Klemisch depict scenes from the Gospel of St. Mark. The five-metre-high wooden cross on the altar wall is decorated with copper stylized thorns and crowns, symbols of suffering and redemption. This symbolism is continued in the candlesticks on the altar and on the handle of the baptismal font.