A transverse church (German: Querkirche) is a form of church construction in whose plan the transept is considerably larger than the nave. The latter is almost completely eliminated. The principle of the cross church was understood as that of the Reformation central church as an architectural implementation of the principle of the ” priesthood of all believers.” Choirs and ships were no longer considered a constitutive (fundamental) part of the church building.

History
The Querkirche developed from the late medieval unformatted long church, in which the pulpit was usually attached to the side of a central pier. Prior to this, the congregation had gathered during the sermon. With the Reformation, the Mass at the altar in front was abolished and the altar table placed in front of the pulpit, z. For example, in Strasbourg, and a side of the pulpit and the altar facing stalls created, for example, in the Berlin Marienkirche. With this functional turn to the south, north, and sometimes even west, the east did not matter anymore.

Querkirchen as new buildings emerged until the advent of historicism in the 19th century more in reformed than in Lutheran areas. In Switzerland’s Reformed church, the Querkirche was a popular concept, especially in late Baroque and Classicism. The reasons are to be found in the fact that the Reformed theology of Huldrych Zwingli and Jean Calvin envisages a radical renunciation of images and altars that go far beyond the Lutheran ideals. In search of an ideal space concept, the Querkirche, which offers a view of the pulpit as the center of the Reformed preaching service, appeared optimal. The layouts are varied, ranging from oval churches to rectangular buildings to churches with a cross layout. Also typical of the Reformed church are the U-shaped galleries that best come into their own in the churches of Wädenswil and Horgen, the largest and most important cross churches on Swiss soil.

After 1815, Protestant sacral architecture was more oriented towards medieval concepts. The Eisenach Regulation of 1861 recommended the Gothic formal canon for church construction, in which the sacrament (the altar), but not the sermon (the pulpit) is the center of attention. This concept met with resistance from liberal Lutherans and Reformed and was replaced by the Wiesbaden program in 1891. Many church buildings of the Wiesbadener program as well as the modern and postmodernism are laid out as central buildings and come often close to the concept of the cross church.

Isolated Catholic churches were also executed as cross-churches, albeit for practical reasons. The best known example of this is Gianlorenzo Bernini’s church Sant’Andrea al Quirinale in Rome.

Examples of cross churches

Germany
Protestant Church (Bellersheim)
Paulskirche Dinkelsbühl
Castle Church (Eisenberg)
City Church Erbach (Odenwald)
Frankfurt Paulskirche
Castle Church Friedberg
Church (Heftrich), Hesse
Moravian prayer room
Protestant church Carlsdorf, Hofgeismar
Paulskirche (Kirchheimbolanden), Donnersbergkreis
Peterskirche (Kirchheimbolanden), Donnersbergkreis
Parish church Jugenheim
Evangelical Reformed Church Langsdorf
Church (Lichenroth), Hesse
Reformed Church (Lübeck)
St. Mary’s (Neuruppin)
Luther Church (Pirmasens)
St. Peter’s Church Ratzeburg
Little church Rodheim
Evangelical Church (Ruppertsburg)
Ludwigskirche (Saarbrücken)
Sandkirche Schlitz, Vogelsbergkreis
Kreuzkirche (Sehnde)
Evangelical Church (Wabern)
Bartholomew Church (Vellberg-Großaltdorf)
Church (Wissmar), Hesse
Evangelical Reformed Church Wölfersheim
Michaelis Church (Wolfsburg-Fallersleben)
The castle church of Plassenburg in Kulmbach was the second Protestant cross church ever built. It was not rebuilt into a long church until the 19th century.

To the cross church converted Längskirchen
Au Church (Monschau)

Switzerland
Existing cross churches
Church of Chêne-Pâquier, 1667
Reformed Church Wilchingen, 1676
Reformed Church Samedan, after 1682
Reformed Church Sornetan in Sornetan, 1708-09
Reformed Church Zurzach, 1716-1724
Temple Neuf (La Neuveville), 1720
Reformed Church Chaindon, 1739-1740
Reformed Church Yverdon, 1753-1757
Reformed Church Chêne-Bougeries, 1756-1758
Reformed Church of Le Locle, 1758-1759
Reformed Church Wädenswil, 1764-1767
Reformed chapel Bémont, 1767
Reformed Church Bauma, 1769-1770
Reformed Church Embrach, 1779-1780
Reformed Church Horgen, 1779-1782
Reformed church Grüningen, 1782-1783
Reformed Church Kloten, 1785-1790
Reformed Church Hinwil, 1786-1787
Reformed Church Memory AR, 1808-10
Evangelical Church Altnau, 1810-12
Reformed Church Netstal, 1811-1813
Old church Albisrieden, 1816-1817
Reformed Church Gossau, 1820-1821
Reformed Church of Saint-Sulpice NE, 1820-1821
Reformed Church Seengen, 1820-1821
Reformed Church Meisterschwanden, 1820-1822
Reformed Church Uster, 1822-1828
Reformed Church Bäretswil, 1825-1827
Reformed Church Colombier, 1828
Reformed Church Sonvilier, 1831-1832
Reformed Church Wattwil, 1844-1848
Reformed Church Thalwil, 1846-1847
Grossmünsterkapelle Zurich, 1858-60
Kirchgemeindehaus Liebestrasse Winterthur, 1911-1913

To the cross church converted Längskirchen
Reformed church La Brévine, 1604 (reconstruction:?)
Nossa Donna Castelmur, around 1100 (reconstruction: 1840-63)
Reformed Church Baulmes, 11th century (reconstruction: 1871)
Reformed Church Zurich-Unterstrass, 1882-1884 (reconstruction: 1962-63)
Reformed church Hausen am Albis, 1751 (reconstruction: 1970)
Reformed Church Rüschlikon, 1713-14 (reconstruction: 1971-72)

To the longitudinal church rebuilt Querkirchen
Reformed Church Courtelary in Courtelary, medieval building, expanded to cross church in 1642/1733, rebuilt in 1933-36 to the longitudinal hall
Reformed church Tavannes, construction from 1385, 1728 extended to the cross church, 1971-72 converted to the longitudinal hall
Reformed Church Oron-la-Ville, 1678 (rebuilt: 1816)
Temple du Bas (Neuchâtel), 1695-1703 (reconstruction: 20th century)
Reformed church Péry in Péry, 1706 (reconstruction: 1910)
Reformed Church Maienfeld, 1721-1724 (reconstruction: 1931)
Reformed Church Sombeval in Sonceboz-Sombeval, 1733-1737 (reconstruction: 1866)
Reformed church Heiden AR, 1837-1839 (reconstruction: 1936)

«Wrong cross churches»
In some buildings, the axis of the exterior structure suggests a cross church, but the interior is seated as a longitudinal church.
Reformed Church Othmarsingen, 1675 (tower: 1895)
Reformed Church Schwerzenbach, 1812-13
Reformed Church Gächlingen, 1844-45

Cross churches within building complexes
Reformed Church Greifensee, 1344
St. Mark’s Church Zurich-Seebach, 1947-48
Reformed Church Rosenberg, 1964-66
Gellert Church (Basel), 1964
Evangelical Church Center Jona, 1975

Netherlands
Reformed denomination
Zuiderkerk (Amsterdam), 1603-1611
Westerkerk (Amsterdam), 1620-1631
Protestant Kerk, Bloemendaal, 1635-1636
Nieuwe Kerk (The Hague), 1649-56
Leiden, Waardkerk, 1662
Lutheran denomination
Lopikerkapel, Lopik
Lutherse Kerk, Utrecht
Lutherse Kerk, Zaandam
Mennonite denomination
Doopsgezinde Kerk, Workum
Singelkerk, Amsterdam

Denmark
Christian Church (Copenhagen)

Norway
New Church Bergen, 1700-02

France
Church Waldersbach

Italy
Pazzi Chapel in Florence, 1442-1461 by Filippo Brunelleschi
Madonna di Piè di Piazza in Pescia, 1447 by Andrea Cavalcanti
Sant’Andrea al Quirinale in Rome, 1658-1670 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
San Giovanni in Bassano del Grappa, 1747 and 1782-85
Great Britain
Old Congregational Chapel, Walpole (Suffolk), 1647
Friar Street Chapel, Ipswich

USA
Wethersfield, Connecticut, 1761

Source from Wikipedia