© NELE STRÖBEL

St. Quirinus Church in Tegernsee

A new liturgical center for the St. Quirinus church in Tegernsee.
Altar, ambos and minister seating built of oak.

Altar

This is the focus of the thanksgiving which reaches consummation in the Eucharist. It is the center of all other worship services. This altar of the Lord stands in the former monastery church, St. Quirinus, at the end of a long, upward path taken by believers. To represent this path, I have given the altar the form of three arches. These are foreshortened towards the center.

The new altar mirrors the path visitors take from the monastery parvis to the doors of the church, through to the nave and then further into the presbytery.

The altar reflects the trinity:

The large outer form represents the sacrificial altar of the old testament. It is an immovable block, anchored in the ground on the right side.

It is complemented by a second alter to the left which balances it optically as well.

The front vertical lines of the third element in the center are rotated towards the middle axis of the nave.
This element embodies the path to God and directs light and shadow into the diagonals of the presbytery. A relic of St. Quirinus is contained within the middle of the side wall.

The altar is transformed on St. Quirinus' Saint's Day.

The middle section is turned towards the north so that it stands in a 45° angle to the middle axis.

At the Anticipation, Lent, and Advent, the altar remains in its basic form. All elements are parallel; the material and surroundings reciprocate.

The ambo, place of the anticipation:

The ambo assumes the dialog between light and air in harmony with the material.

Minister seating

Like altar and ambo, these are formed according to the principle of "flowing wood" in the same structure and in simple celebration.