ESEARCHING organ accompaniments for a famous Lenten hymn—Attende Domine—I stumbled across something strange. In Würtzburg, Saint Augustine Catholic Church renovated their church building about ten years ago, and the town went crazy when the results were released. There were riots, and the faithful kept writing angry criticisms in the Church’s guestbook. Here’s how the Church looked in the 1930s and 1970s:
Here’s how it looks after being “renovated” in 2010:
Can anyone send more (high resolution) photographs of what the Church used to look like? Search for: “Kirche der Augustiner in Würzburg.” It’s difficult to find photographs because the 13th-century building has undergone many restorations through the centuries, especially after the Allied fire bombing of Würzburg on 16 March 1945. Online it says: “It was not until the September 2010 revamping that it deviated from the Baroque design by adopting the communion model as an architecture concept; that’s why the Altar is on the same level as the people.” Leave your comments in the Facebook combox. Thanks!
By the way, the organist at Saint Augustine’s in Würzburg is phenomenal. Listen to him accompany “Attende Domine” in German:
* Mp3 Download • Clever Organ Accompaniment
—Recorded at the Augustinian Church in Würzburg.
