HolyHydra Festivals for Catholic youth at the Church of the Green Anchor
In all my days working on this blog, I have never seen anything quite so shattering of all that is good and holy.
To begin at the beginning, on the banks of the Danube in Linz on the site of a hospice built by the Capuchin Order in 1681, a Capuchin church and monastery was built from 1690 to 1694 and consecrated in 1702. The monastery was abolished under Emperor Joseph II. The monastery church became the Parish church of Urfahr in 1784. The reminiscence with the city parish church is a reminder of Urfahr as an independent municipality, which was elevated to the status of a market town in 1808 and a city in 1882, becoming part of the city of Linz in 1919.The former monastery garden with monastery walls made of quarry stones became the Urfahr parish cemetery.
The simple church building, typical of the Capuchins, has a single-nave barrel-vaulted nave and an indented lower barrel-vaulted rectangular choir. South of the nave is a side chapel used as a baptistery with a passage to the choir and a sacristy at the choir. To the north of the choir is an annexed corridor to the former monastery. After the elevation to parish church, the choir was extended from 1789 to 1790 by incorporating the former monk's choir. From 1791 to 1793, a baroque-classicist main façade with a façade tower was built on the outside according to the plans of Franz Xaver Martinelli. After a fire, the tower was given an onion dome with lantern in 1833. Under the nave, there is a crypt which is not accessible.
The historicist wall division inside the church was designed by the master builder, Michael Riedl in 1884. Two stained glass windows with neo-baroque decoration date from 1900. The ornamental stained glass windows of the baptistery were created by the painter Rudolf Kolbitsch in 1976. The wall paintings in the nave and choir from 1884 to 1887 by the painter Max Gehri were whitewashed.
For reasons of economy, the Capuchins transferred numerous furnishings from other churches. The altar from 1654 was transferred from the demolished Franz Xaver Chapel of the Jesuit College in Linz. The altarpiece Holy Family was painted by Johann Karl von Reslfeld in 1694.
I have spent many hours praying in this church of old.
Then came:
"The Green Anchor" Youth Church
After initially being used on a temporary basis, the Youth Church of the Diocese of Linz, Der Grüne Anker, was opened on 4 February 2015 in the Urfahr bank, Church of St Joseph, the aim of which is to create spiritual offerings for adolescents and young adults. The formats are aimed at people close to the church as well as those far away from the church, aged 14-24
The church building was specially adapted for this purpose. The interior of the baroque Josefkirche was converted to mobile seating in order to make the church space flexible and versatile. The outer façade of the church is decorated with an art project entitled "Slide into Life", which highlights the tension between the sacred space and the space for youth culture.
Needless to say the Green Anchor Church is very involved in Fridays for the Future. The chance that they may be interested in the First Friday Devotion to the Sacred Heart is remote to the point of vanishingly small....
Not only was the dedication changed from a Christian saint to a Green Anchor, but architects were paid good money to affect this conversion.
The Church of St Joseph now celebrates Holy Hydra festivals and they have done so for the last five years.
"Under the title "Holy Hydra", the Linz Youth Church "Grüner Anker" will once again open its sacred space for the two-day light and sound art festival for all age groups. It will take place on Thursday, 8 September (6.30 pm) and Friday, 9 September (7 pm). The aim is to make the space experienceable for people, regardless of their faith, as places of encounter and cultural exchange. Out of fascination for special places and a passion for techno, people will dance at the interface of club culture, religion and society. Sacred architecture is enchanted with spherical sounds and hard beats. Sacred space meets urban space, "bumbum meets level" - already the fifth year, says the announcement.
Linz's "Hydra Cultural Association" sees itself as "the many-headed creature from Linz's underworld, fighting day and night for sub-culture". The many heads symbolise the independent scene. Founded in 2016 as the event collective "the Horny Hydra", it is now a cultural association. "Since 2018, I'm so big that once a year I'm entrusted with a church. Then for two days, I'm not just the Hydra, but the Holy Hydra. And that needs to be celebrated!" it says on the association's website."
No surprise that the Great Linz Corpus Christi Scandal took place in the shadow of the Church.
HolyHydra 2020
HolyHydra 2020- as seen by the disc jockey, heard as tecbo with a machine gun rhythm
HolyHydra 2019 Intergalactic Symposium Sacred Space versus City Space. (Cathcon: City Space clearly won this battle!)
HolyHydra 2018 Intergalactic Symposium Sacred Space versus City Space.
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