Forgotten mural rediscovered at former Coventry church

A forgotten mural painted by a renowned German artist has been rediscovered at a former Coventry church.

The 40ft wall painting was completed by Hans Feibusch in 1963 in St Mark’s Church, in Stoney Stanton Road.

The church was closed ten years later and was leased by the NHS as an outpatients department until 2006.

For nearly 40 years the door to the side chapel containing the mural remained mainly shut and the imposing image was rarely seen.

But now a campaign is underway to allow as many people as possible to enjoy the painting.

The mural came to light again thanks to John Payne, a member of the Coventry Society committee.

He said: “In the 1990s I was the council’s area co-ordinator in Hillfields.

"I put a website together about the history of the area and local residents told me about the mural.

"I wanted to see it but I was always busy working and I never got around to it. Then last Christmas I took early retirement.

“I visited Upton House in Banbury and they were showing paintings that had been created for BP buildings.

"I saw one by Hans Feibusch and it triggered my memory about the St Mark’s mural.

"I got in touch with the Diocese as I thought it would be lovely to see it.

"I thought maybe it had been covered up behind a partition.

"When I saw it I was absolutely taken aback. I was fascinated by it.”

He is now working with the Coventry Diocese to try and open the church up more regularly for people to see the mural.

Graeme Pringle, communications officer for the Coventry Diocese, which still owns the church, said he was delighted the mural has been rediscovered.

“The painting depicts Christ on the Day of Judgement. It’s 40ft high and 20ft across. It was painted by a German artist called Hans Feibusch in 1963 and was only there for ten years before the church was closed.

“He had been famous in Germany but as a Jew had to flee the country to Britain, where he converted to Christianity.

At the time he painted the mural he was not famous here and was only paid about £1,000.

When the church was leased by the NHS in 1973 he still wasn’t that well known but his name and work has since become internationally recognised.

“The mural was not closed off from view but it is in a side chapel that people wouldn’t visit much.

"The out patients department was closed in 2006 and the church has been empty ever since.”

Helen McGowan leads the Diocese’s Divine Inspiration Project, which is highlighting interesting churches in the region. She said: “Our aim is to help people understand what church buildings are about.

“They are not just places for worship but places where things happen seven days a week. “We’ve known about St Mark’s for a long time but it has been a closed church.

“We’re very excited now the mural has been brought to our attention and we’re hoping people will want to come and see it.”

* Visit http://www.divine-inspiration.org.uk for more information.

Coventry's Feibusch mural 'is historically important'

A 1960s mural which was hidden in a boarded-up Coventry church for years has been recognised as historically important by English Heritage.

The 40ft mural, on a wall inside St Mark's Church in the city's Swanswell area, is said to depict the second coming of Christ.

It was painted in 1963 by German-born Jew Hans Feibusch, who fled from Nazis in his home country in 1933.

The mural's new recognition means it will have protected status in future.

St Mark's Church, which is Grade II-listed, was built in 1869.

In 1970 it was declared redundant and was taken over by the Coventry and Warwickshire hospital who used it as an outpatients department.

The hospital stopped using the building in 2006 and it has remained empty ever since.

'Preserved for generations'

John Payne from the Coventry Society, which has campaigned for the mural to get protected status, said he was pleased its national importance had now been recognised.

He said: "We are hopeful that a productive use for the church will come forward in the near future and the mural will be preserved for future generations."

Feibusch was forced to escape from Germany after his work was featured in the 1937 Degenerate Art Exhibition put on by the Nazis to single out the modern style they saw as causing "cultural disintegration".

Once in Britain, the artist painted church murals and later converted to become a member of the Anglican church.

However, in 1992 he reconverted to Judaism. He died six years later.