Klaus Ringwald, a ‘controversial figure with rough edges’, created numerous liturgical furnishings and sculptures in south-west Germany. In 1985, he caused a scandal when, on a bronze portal of Villingen Minster, he gave the facial features of the former judge from Marine and Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg, Hans Filbinger, to a biblical judge who had passed an unjust judgement. In 1990, as a gesture of reconciliation, he created a monumental figure of Christ enthroned for the Christchurch Gate of Canterbury Cathedral.
Drawing inspiration from the Italian sculptor Giacomo Manzù (1908–1991), Ringwald combined the tradition of figurative-realist sculpture with the abstract and expressive forms of modernism, as well as contemporary references. He often supplemented his reliefs with explanatory text.
In harmony with Emil Wachter’s tapestries, Ringwald created an ensemble comprising an ambo, a tabernacle, a triumphal cross and two antependia for the high altar. He combined monumental forms such as columns, round arches and lozenges with intricate ornamental bands.
At the centre of the reliefs are biblical or contemporary scenes, depicted in an expressively condensed manner. This is particularly evident in the round-arch reliefs of the antependia: biblical scenes are each linked with depictions from the present day.
Thus, the healing of the blind man relates to two elderly people sitting under a tree and, by extension, to the neighbouring parish garden and St Anna’s Care Home. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem corresponds to the congregation’s entry into Herz-Jesu-Kirche. The motif of Pilate is also given a contemporary twist: beneath him, a man in uniform, carrying a fluttering flag – a symbol of a murderous ideology – pursues two people fleeing. The Christian message is thus deliberately related to the here and now.
The Herz-Jesu-Kirche in Singen also had its altar area refurbished following the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Furthermore, an earthquake in 1969 had damaged the high altar, which dated from the period of its construction between 1909 and 1911; it was subsequently demolished.
