At the beginning of 1873, the Christ Church Choir was founded by music-loving members of the congregation. Its first major performance was at the inauguration of Christ Church on November 1, 1882. The choir's work was only interrupted during the war years of World War I and World War II.
After 1945, August Hoos, Otto Früh, and from 1952 the full-time cantor Wolfgang von Rein led the choir. When a new parish district with its own church was established in Dudweiler-Süd in 1967, another young choir group was formed there under the direction of Erich Nikolaus. This group of 17 singers had their first performance at the consecration of the Holy Spirit Church on May 21, 1967.
After the departure of the cantor from Rein, the two choir groups merged on January 31, 1978, to form the united church choir of Dudweiler. Since then, the choir has regularly held evening concerts during the Advent season alongside their participation in worship services and has contributed to numerous radio services. Additionally, the partnership of the church community with the Polish Protestant congregation in Ustron originally stems from a cross-border choir connection.
The Zelter Plaque is awarded during a festive service on the 2nd Sunday of Advent, December 8th, at 10 a.m. in the Christuskirche Dudweiler (Saarbrücker Straße 286). The church choir will perform in the service together with the trombone choir under the direction of Judith Gelz, who took over the choir work of the parish in January 2006 following Erich Nikolaus. After the service, the Dudweiler/Herrensohr parish invites you to a reception.
Background
The Zelter Plaque is the highest German award for amateur choirs. Established by Theodor Heuss in 1956, it is annually awarded by the incumbent Federal President to choirs that have been musically active for at least 100 years and have earned special merit through many years of work in the preservation of choral music, thereby promoting cultural life. Along with the Zelter Plaque, a certificate signed by the Federal President is presented.
