Siegerland motorway church, North Rhine-West-phalia, Germany-Filling up, eating, praying

摘要

"Fill up in Siegerland! Maxi, your maximum service centre!" This is how the private operator of eleven German motorway service stops advertises Wilnsdorf Autohof (off-motorway service station) on the busy A45. Germany's 40th motorway church was recently opened beside the car park, filling station, branch of Burger King, and amusement arcade.This gleaming white church is almost entirely timber built. Special species People who regularly use German motorways are familiar with the pictogram showing the stylised black silhouette of a village church against a square white background, generally accompanied by similar black and white signs such as a petrol pump or a knife and fork, all mounted on a blue shield. "Motorway church" is what the sign conveys and indicates a place that allows travellers to escape the noise and constant movement to somewhere they can reflect or meditate. The consecration of Siegerland motorway church, which is open 24 hours a day, marks the provisional end of the history of this special kind of church that began back in 1958 with the first church in Adelsried in Bavaria. That this should be in Wilnsdorf, halfway between the Rhine-Main region and the Ruhr, and of such great architectural quality is thanks to a married couple from Siegerland, Hanneliese and Hartmut Hering.