Station: [103] The Roman Catholic Church of St. Peter & St. Paul

F: If you decide to visit the Roman Catholic Church, here's a tip: make your way along the nave to the very front and then turn around and look back. That will give you a stunning view of an impressive stained glass window above the main portal, called "Outpouring of the Holy Spirit". It was created by the artist Rudolf Walter Haegele.

M: Haegele trained at Stuttgart's Academy of Art. During a study visit to Paris, he met the writer and philosopher Albert Camus, who went on to be a major influence on his work as an artist. From 1965, Haegele taught as a professor of painting at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart. If you're lucky, and visit on a sunny day, the church window will gleam in the most beautiful shades of yellow, blue and violet.

F: Rudolf Walter Haegele isn't the only celebrated artist whose work is featured in this church. The altar and the reading desk are by Otto Herbert Hajek, a leading Stuttgart artist.

M: Hajek worked as an abstract sculptor, painter and graphic artist. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, was chairman of the German Artists' Association and later taught as a professor at the University of Art and Design in Karlsruhe. His works have been exhibited at the Documenta in Kassel, at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf and at the Venice Biennale. Hajek's influence is especially evident in his home town of Stuttgart, where his works still dominate the public space.

F: The altar Hajek created is made of muschelkalk, a type of shell-bearing limestone. It shows Saint Michael and the sacrificial lamb surrounded by angels with trumpets. The ambo features Christ the Teacher and the apostles. Hajek's Pieta, to the left of the entrance, was initially rejected by the congregation and sent back. Too modern, they said at the time. It was only when the church was remodelled in 2010 that the Pieta was brought back.
  
M: A third celebrated artist is also represented in the church: Sieger Köder. He created the Crucifixion cycle on the west wall. Köder, himself a Roman Catholic priest, was one of the most famous 20th century German painters to work mainly in the field of Christian art. His paintings are considered powerful and vibrantly colourful, which earned him the nickname "preacher with pictures".
 
Fotos: © Jürgen Bahnmayer