In Switzerland, churches gradually disappear from the landscape. Between drop in the number of faithful, dilapidated buildings and land pressure, several places of worship have been demolished in recent years to make way for housing. Latest example: the Catholic church of Hägendorf, in the canton of Soline.
The mechanical shovels to assault the Catholic Church of Hägendorf. For workers, this is the first time that they cut off a religious building. A particular mission.
“We work with a lot of precautions. But in the end we use heavy construction machines. At one point, it cracks and the house collapses,” says Patrik Kellerhals, site manager.
A few months earlier, calm still reigned in the church garden which welcomed its last mass before being desecrated. “It’s a bit like when you have to leave your house due to age. It is certainly a very similar feeling,” said Daniel Konrad, priest to Hägendorf.
Eleven chuters destroyed in 25 years
In the absence of means to renovate a building in poor condition, the parish opted for demolition. A difficult but increasingly frequent decision.
In 25 years, eleven churches have been destroyed in Switzerland, including four in Geneva. Five others should follow the same path.
For Johannes Stückelberger, professor of religious aesthetics at the University of Bern, this movement will continue. “In cities, for example, if the church is on a choice of choice, this land can be used in a more interesting way, because it can bring money,” he explains.
Destruction that does not only affect practitioners
In Onex, in the canton of Geneva, the Saint-Marc church has already given way to a building. Only a small chapel remains on the ground floor.
This type of disappearance does not only affect practitioners. “People far from the church often have a particular attachment to the religious building, because for them, it is quite simply the village church,” said Johannes Stückelberger.
In Hägendorf, there is now nothing left of the church in the center of the locality. In his place, soon, homes will see the light of day.
TV report: Julien Guillaume with SRF
Adaptation web: ther
