St Joseph's Church in the

Limpertsberg Limpertsberg (, ) is a quarter in north-western Luxembourg City, in the centre of Luxembourg. , Limpertsberg had a population of about 11,521 inhabitants. Overview In the south, on the border with the main city is the Glacis, a large open air ...

district of

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

is a Roman Catholic church in the

Neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

style. Designed by the Luxembourg architect Nicolas Petit (1876–1953), it was completed in 1913 and consecrated the same year on 30 April. The interior was substantially renovated in 1976 by the German architect Willy Hahn who added a tabernacle column symbolizing the

tree of life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythology, mythological, religion, religious, and philosophy, philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The ...

History

In 1909, the city council of Luxembourg decided a church with an adjoining rectory should be built in Limpertsberg, given the district's growing population (then some 3,000) and its considerable distance from the city's

Notre-Dame Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. It ...

. Planned by Luxembourg City's architect Nicolas Petit, construction of the church was undertaken by Achille Giorgetti from 1910 to 1913, reflecting the growing prosperity of the Limpersberg district. It was consecrated in 1913. In 1976, the city and parochial authorities sought to enhance the interior by improving the furnishings, calling on the services of the architect Willy Hahn from nearby

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

. At the same time, with a view to improving the lighting, new windows illuminating the nave were created by the Luxembourg architect and artist

André Haagen André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries, as well in Portugal, ...

(born 1938).

Architecture and furnishings

The church is one of Luxembourg's main examples of Romanesque Revival architecture. In addition to an imposing exterior making it one of Limpertsberg's most outstanding buildings, the well-proportioned interior is reminiscent of the 13th-century Romanesque churches of the

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

. The style is similar to that of

Clervaux Abbey The Abbey of St. Maurice and St. Maurus of Clervaux () (), founded in 1890, is a Benedictine monastery in Clervaux, Luxembourg. It is a member of the Solesmes Congregation in the Benedictine Confederation. History The abbey was founded by the Be ...

which had been designed by the Dutch-German architect Johannes Franziskus Klomp (1865–1946) a few years earlier. St Joseph's holds a special place in Luxembourg architecture as it is the last church to have been built in the Neo-Romanesque style. As for the furnishings, the tabernacle column behind the altar is of special note. Symbolizing the tree of life, it rises to a height of and is topped by a

calvary Calvary ( or ) or Golgotha () was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, Jesus was crucified. Since at least the early medieval period, it has been a destination for pilgrimage. ...

. The church also houses a 17th-century statue of the Immaculate Conception enhanced with a sculpture of

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

created by the Luxembourger Albert Hames (1910–89). The original organ was replaced in 1955 by a larger instrument manufactured by Kemper & Sohn of

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph's Church, Limpertsberg Architecture in Luxembourg Roman Catholic churches completed in 1913 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings Romanesque Revival church buildings Roman Catholic churches in Luxembourg City