Guided tours / Explanations

Meditations on the Chagall windows with Monsignore Klaus Mayer
"These windows make us so happy," is often the first reaction of visitors to the Church. They convey optimism, hope, joy of life.
In his nine stained glass windows in the East apse and the transept Marc Chagall has set a sign for Franco-German friendship, international relations, Jewish-Christian attachment.
They are his only windows in Germany with a total glass surface of 177.6 square meters, his greatest work of glass art in the world, the last of his long artistic career (1976-1985).
Marc Chagall (1887-1985) painted "supra-natural". He is concerned not only about the Superficial but more about the enigmatic, the mysterious. He makes us experience the invisible in the visible, the eternal in the temporal, and the Creator in creation.

To demonstrate the transparency of creation in works of art created by Marc Chagall is the task of the "meditations" to the Biblical message in the church windows that Monsignore Klaus Mayer offers, also on two DVDs, four art book volumes and in the "Kleiner Künstführer zu St. Stephan in Mainz".
Klaus Mayer

Guided tour to the Chagall windows and a walk through the cloisters

The parish of St. Stephen's offers tours to the Chagall windows of about one hour duration. Participants will learn about the life of Marc Chagall and the content and the message of his stained glass in the windows of the East apse.
A tour through the cloisters can be offered that opens up the impressive architecture and epigraphy. A visit to the belfry and tower guard's residence in the tower is also possible.
Recurrent dates can be found here:
Visitors without registration may join guided tours at the specified times
Groups can contact the parish office to make an appointment:
Tel 06131-231640 or touristik@st-stephan-Mainz.de

Explanations of the Chagall windows

Every Sunday around 12.00 o'clock (after the 11:00-clock-worship) short explanations of the Chagall windows (about 20-30 minutes) are offered.

Visit at the opening times of the Church
- individual viewing is possible at the opening times of the Church.
- you can find the opening times here.
- religious services always have priority. Private guiding tours are not allowed.

Picture credits:
Chagall, Marc / Marq, Charles, center window, The God of the Fathers © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2014
Photo credits: ars liturgica Book & Art Publishing House MARIA LAACH, 2014

English Translation: Reinhard Goebel, 2014

Bildnachweis:

Chagall, Marc/Marq, Charles, Mittelfenster, Der Gott der Väter 
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2014 
Fotorechte: ars liturgica Buch- & Kunstverlag MARIA LAACH, 2014