Standing on Reiserstrasse, look straight ahead for a large, pale building with a broad front and a tall, square clock tower topped with a star, rising high above everything else - that’s the Church of Peace (Friedenskirche)!
Alright, get ready for a story with a bit of everything: bold architects, rumbling organs, mysterious bullet holes, and bells that don’t just ring-they sing!
Picture yourself here in the late 1920s. The city needed a new church to replace the smaller, older one on Sälistrasse-a building that had seen its fair share of stories, standing across from the home of the legendary railway pioneer, Niklaus Riggenbach. Riggenbach, by the way, was so passionate about supporting the Reformed community that I suspect even his trains might have paused for Sunday service if he’d had his way! Instead of steam engines today, though, you’ve got a structure built in 1928 and 1929 by Fritz von Niederhäusern, a man who left fingerprints all over Olten’s architectural history. Just imagine him, blueprint in hand, shaping not just this church, but also famous places like the city’s historical museum and the Schweizerhof Hotel.
Today, the Friedenskirche is the largest Reformed church in the Olten district. On a packed Sunday, seven hundred sixty people can gather inside. The front steps lead up to those grand arches-on a sunny morning, you might even spot some locals greeting neighbors or heading in for a quiet moment of reflection.
But it’s when you step through the doors (and don’t worry, you can just imagine this for now) that the air changes. High above you, nestled in a space large enough for even the tallest altarpieces to feel small, is the famous Kuhn organ, installed in 1929. Back then, this was the biggest organ in Olten! Picture a sea of gleaming pipes, and try to hear it in your mind: the deep, rolling notes washing across the pews. The organ is nearly the same as when it was first built, making it a true monument of musical history. The church even has a smaller Walcker organ tucked in its chapel, for those days when you want a bit less “thunder and lightning” in your music.
Outside, you can’t miss the massive sixty-meter tower, which houses an ensemble of five bells, each cast by Rüetschi AG of Aarau. When they ring, they’re tuned to a melody popular in Swiss churches: “Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying.” But here’s a twist-after decades of chiming away, the entire bell installation was renewed in 2015. The city didn’t just replace the old parts; they improved them, adding new clappers for a softer, more harmonious tone. Imagine the echo pulsing down across the rooftops, carrying words inspired by reformers like Luther and Zwingli, engraved on each bell. At night, though, the timekeeping chimes go silent so you won’t have to worry about hourly wake-up calls!
And lurking up on that tall spire is something for the mystery lovers among us-during recent restoration, workers discovered bullet holes riddling the tower. Who fired at the church, and why? No one knows! The only thing reported was a baffled congregation and some serious repair work.
If you look closely at the church’s wall by the parsonage, you’ll see a fountain, a gift from Olten, with the years 1928 and 1929 carved into stone-a quiet reminder of beginnings, perseverance, and maybe a little Olten stubbornness. Some say the view from the top of the tower is worth the climb: stare out and you’ll see the whole city spread out like a patchwork quilt, stretching north to the foot of the Jura mountains.
So, as you stand here, listen for echoes of the organ, the song of the bells, and the laughter that must have filled these steps over generations. The Church of Peace is more than just a building-it’s a woven tapestry of history, music, and mysteries waiting for their next chapter. And hey, keep an ear out-those bells might be ringing just for you!
