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Sigrist Werner Meier wanted to meet with the heating installer on Tuesday morning. He was denied entry to the church due to the wooden decks lying around. He then obtained this through the side entrance door. “The view of the interior was a total nightmare for me,” Meier told the media yesterday.
There is still no explanation for the incident.
There was thick black smoke everywhere, which initially did not allow anyone to see what had happened, much less give an answer on the extent of the damage. After the smoke cleared a bit, Meier realized that the rear area of the main entrance was badly affected. Debris, wood chips and other objects were everywhere, which must have been caused by a violent explosion in the area of the electrical switch box. Neither the electrician, whom they called immediately, nor the Elektra Baselland installers found an explanation for the incident.
Currently, under the direction of the Kirchengut Baselland Foundation, construction insurance and police are carrying out extensive clarifications and investigations using modern forensic methods. One of the many questions is the connection between the heating system, which is no longer working properly and which is also controlled from this control box installed in 2005. Christoph Schaffner, President of Church Care Wintersingen-Nusshof, is also looking for explanations: ” The last revision of all electrical installations was carried out in 2017. Therefore, they are intact systems. “
“We all had a guardian angel”
Despite all the misfortune, Martin Innerbichler, administrator of the Kirchengut Foundation, was somewhat relieved that “this explosion could have set the whole church on fire.” And what if Sigrist Meier had been in the church a few minutes earlier with the heating engineer? “We all had a guardian angel,” Innerbichler said. Damage of this degree to the many churches in the Basel area has never been there, continues the administrator. The last serious event was the crash of a bell in Oberdorf 60 years ago.
In view of the massive damage to the doors, fixtures and organ, as well as deposits of dust from the penetrating smoke, repair work on this magnificent angled hook church should take at least six months. And that’s with a cost estimate in the high six-digit range.
Services and other church events are out of the question for now. Therefore, the community has quickly and without bureaucracy provided an alternative room in the community center. However, church maintenance president Schaffner still sees positive things in this sad climax of the church year: “We are happy that no people have been hurt and that the beautiful church in Wintersingen is still standing.”
