(ffm) With a Eucharistic celebration, the Dotation Church of St. Leonhard has reopened after extensive renovation and restoration work and can be handed over to the congregation as well as visited by visitors. Bishop Georg Bätzing will consecrate the altar during the service.
"The church of St. Leonhard is one of the most significant and impressive monuments in the city of Frankfurt. It has an outstanding historical position and I am pleased that, after the long and extensive but necessary renovation work, we can today make the church largely accessible to the public again. Making this possible in time for the 800th anniversary was a great concern of mine, even though the original planning had envisaged a much earlier completion. However, extensive finds of buried cultural-historical treasures, changes to the building and other factors led to an extension of the construction time. The present opening is therefore an even greater cause for celebration. The Church of St. Leonhard is very close to my heart, as it is to many people in Frankfurt," says Mayor and Church Department Head Uwe Becker.
During the renovation work, which has been ongoing since 2011, it was possible to excavate a piece of the Romanesque predecessor building at a depth of two meters under the northern side apse, and it was also possible to prove the existence of components of another, even older building. In the side apse facing the Main, a group of figures from the late Gothic period representing three lamenting people was found, which is considered a sensational find. Further excavation of the previous church floor uncovered an "Atzmann", a stone figure almost the size of a man, also from the 15th century. The "Atzmann" probably stood near the altar and carried the Bible or liturgical books. Remains of a wall painting could also be found, painted on the former outer wall of the sacristy. Remains of a wall painting were also found, which were painted on the former outer wall of the sacristy. St. Leonhard hid many extraordinary treasures.
"The outstanding historical position of St. Leonhard has only been further underscored 800 years later by the finds made during the work," Becker emphasized. "Now, at last, after many years of work that were repeatedly delayed by unforeseen surprises during the extensive renovation work, as well as by the historical treasures that were found, the church can shine in new splendor."
As a late Romanesque basilica, it was built in 1219 as a pilgrimage church on the historic Way of St. James and the road to Jerusalem, and later rebuilt in Gothic style. For its construction, the Staufer king Frederick II donated the land to the city, which can be seen in a document from 1219. St. Leonhard is thus Frankfurt's second collegiate church after the cathedral. The church survived the Second World War without major damage. Nevertheless, the endowment church of St. Leonhard had to be extensively renovated and refurbished in recent years.
The endowment obligation of the city of Frankfurt is unique in Germany and in the so-called endowment deeds, the council of the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt, then a sovereign state, granted the churches to maintain the buildings in good condition permanently. For this reason, eight Protestant and Catholic inner-city churches have been owned by the City of Frankfurt am Main since the beginning of the 19th century. Today, our commitment goes far beyond building maintenance, because for the city of Frankfurt am Main, the endowment obligation is also a commitment to its own cultural history.
From 2005 to 2008, the exterior of the Church of St. Leonhard was extensively renovated, at a cost of around 3 million euros. From 2011 to 2019, the interior of the church was renovated. The total cost of the interior renovation is about 11.25 million euros.
