Parish Church of the Most Holy Trinity

“I held the opinion that the church itself should not have an urban character, but at the same time, its outdoor areas should involve a sensitive integration into the surrounding environment.”
The Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity with a parish office, belfry, kindergarten, and convent of nuns in the satellite town of Langwasser on the southeastern edge of Nuremberg began to be designed concurrently with the commencement of the Second Vatican Council. The building was consecrated two years later. Thus, the church was completed a year before the ecumenical council in the Vatican concluded. At the ceremonial opening, the then Bishop Josef Schröffer pointed to the perfect translation of the ideas of the Second Vatican Council into stone. The church has a clear message. It represents an optimistic spirit. The reduced language of modern architecture evokes a meditative yet simultaneously majestic atmosphere. Inside the elliptical space with a capacity of 500 seats, one can find classical, Palladian, or early Christian elements. The central space is supported by round columns without base or capital evenly circling the entire perimeter of the main hall. The wooden ceiling leaves partially exposed beams. The only source of natural light is a square skylight above the stone altar by Bavarian sculptor Blasius Gerg. In the northern part of the church, there is a baptismal font made of Jurassic marble placed in a semicircular projection of raw brick. Next to the entrance, there is a daily chapel where light penetrates through a quartet of narrow strips with colored stained glass.