Travelogue: Churches in Zürich
Whenever we have the chance to visit Europe, I end up marveling that the people could have become so secular while their churches are utterly exquisite. This dreadful contrast is so saddening. Then my second thought is that the stones indeed cry out when these have become silenced. By contrast, our churches in the US are pretty bland for the most part, and much as I hate to admit it, a banner does not go nearly far enough to beautify our sacred spaces. It’s one of the reasons the window clings are my favorite part of the business: they give a more permanent sense of meaning to the church building. I wish our churches had the budgets to create and harbor the beauty that our European forebears did so many hundreds of years ago.
All good Lutherans know our history with Zwingli, the Swiss reformer who agreed on so many points with Dr Luther, but could not accept the real presence, and for this reason, we would not be in fellowship with him. Zwingli’s church is the Wasserkirche on the Limmat River in Zürich. If you go below into the crypt you will find a statue dated to around 1300 of Charlemagne. It makes history come alive, especially when traveling with one’s homeschool children.
Another church I enjoy visiting in Zurich is the Grossmunster Cathedral. It has used thinly sliced agate for light around the doors, the light shines through the stone, bringing an ephemeral hue to the inside of the church. The doors of this church are fascinating, I wish I had traveled with a step ladder, so that I could get a better look at the images higher up, but alas, ladders don’t fit in my luggage. This church was built around the 12th century AD, and is also Calvinist.
Across the river are two more beautiful churches, the Fraumünster Church which quite a few thousand of our customers have given greeting cards depicting. We photographed the spire in 2013 and used it for a condolence card when we launched Ad Crucem.
These beauties are all in the tourist district and probably get hundreds of visitors a day. But high above the bustle of the city, on a quieter road, lies my very favorite church. Few tourists know of it, as it sits as a silent witness to a disinterested people. The Liebfrauenkirche is a 19th century delight. I visit there to read my bible and marvel at the murals. My photos don’t do this beautiful church justice. My hope is that someday we will have the ability to make our churches as beautiful as these, while keeping our lights shining and our wicks trimmed.
Come visit Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church UAC in Milwaukee. We have beauty and use TLH!
The German protestant church went over to the Third Reich nearly 100% - is anyone surprised why no one participates. My second cousin got his Ph. D. in protestant theology from the University of Erlangen in 1954 - bad career move. His professors visited Minneapolis for the Lutheran World Convention around 1957 - The photos I took of these guys are creepy - especially their eyes. Something went wrong - Bonhoeffer was quite alone and special. Study his colleagues. There are few books about the collaboration.