Schleicher . Ragaller Architekten BDA

Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart

Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun

Church St. Fidelis in Stuttgart

Schleicher ragaller architekten

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Domenik Schleicher, Michael Ragaller 

TALIP EKIZOGLU
Catholic Decanate City of Stuttgart

MANUFACTURERS
Vectorworks, horgenglarus

ENGINEERING
Harald Klotz Engineers

ARTIST
Martin Bruno Schmid

DESIGN TEAM
Talip Ekizoglu

LIGHT
Karlsruhe, LunaLicht

PHOTOGRAPHS
Zooey Braun

YEAR
2019

LOCATION
Stuttgart, Germany

CATEGORY
Churches, Renovation

Text description provided by architect.

More and more people are leaving the church, more and more are in search of spirituality. St Fidelis in Stuttgart reacts to this with an open programme.

Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun

Since December 2019, the almost 100 years old Catholic church has also been a centre of spirituality and church music. schleicher.ragaller architekten designed a place of silence for believers and those looking for life’s meaning.

Buses, suburban railways, cars – Seidenstrasse in the west of Stuttgart is characterized by traffic and noise.

Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun

Yet amid the hectic everyday life, St Fidelis offers contemplative quietness. The Catholic church was built in 1924/1925 according to plans by Clemens Hummel, modelled on Italian basilicas and in a stylistic competition of historicism and modernism.

Destroyed down to the outer walls in 1944, the house of God was reconstructed by Hugo Schlösser with a homogeneous interior regarding the colours. After the Second Vatican Council in 1964, Rudolf und Maria Schwarz newly oriented the church.

Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun

After this eventful history and the most recent renovation by schleicher.ragaller architekten, St Fidelis has now come to rest for the time being. The as subtle as ubiquitous feeling of soothing silence suddenly sets in.

It is the elimination of everything that is superfluous and the focus on all that is necessary which dominates the three-nave church.

Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun

The continuous Travertine floor and the unobtrusive wooden coffered ceiling produce generous, homogeneous surfaces. The atmosphere is festively bright.

The stained-glass windows created by Georg Meistermann can now take effect just as much as his images of the Stations of the Cross in the aisles.

Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun

Inspired by Leo von Klenze, figures of saints and votive candles come into their own on stone pedestals in concave niches.

It was the late Maria Schwarz who, in personal conversations, had encouraged the architects to implement the idea of communion.

This community spirit becomes manifest in the new seating arrangement of St Fidelis. The ambo and the altar produce a longitudinal axis in the central nave.

Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun

Parallel to it, the faithful are sitting facing each other during the service. In a fascinating way, the Stuttgart artist Martin Bruno Schmid developed the liturgical elements out of a single limestone monolith.

The architects integrated a room of silence into the chancel.

This wooden “inside chancel” illuminated from above is the heart of the spiritual centre. Nothing distracts from one’s own self.

Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun

With six portal doors, this place of meditation and prayer can be opened to the church hall. The rush of the street stays outside.


Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun


Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
© Zooey Braun


Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
Site plan
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
plan


Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
Section 01
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
Section 02
Church St. Fidelis In Stuttgart
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Schleicher . Ragaller Architekten BDA
T +49 711 88289000
Schleicher . Ragaller Architekten BDA
Immenhofer Str. 17/1, 70180 Stuttgart, Germany