Crypt of the former St. Liudger Church

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The crypt of the former church of St. Liudger

The crypt of the former church of St. Liudger in the Reformed cemetery in the East Frisian district town of Leer in Lower Saxony is the last remnant of the medieval church building, which was demolished in the 18th century because of dilapidation and stood on the site of the first church donated by St. Liudger in East Frisia. It has served as a memorial for the victims of both world wars since 1955.

history

In the year 791 the Frisian apostle Liudger evangelized the Leeraner after their integration into the Franconian Empire and founded the first chapel in the East Frisian area on the western edge of the settlement at that time. It represented one of the ecclesiastical focal points of the dominant lordship of the Werden monastery in Friesland . As a result of archaeological investigations, the residents of the place in the 7th and 8th centuries threw a 150 m long, 70 m wide and 1.30 m high cemetery at today's cemetery Throws up from plagues . They built a wooden church on it in the 10th century. This is indicated by two fire horizons, which the archaeologists discovered north of the crypt and dated to the 10th and 12th centuries. The church founded by Liudger, however, has not yet been discovered.

Construction of the Romanesque St. Liudger Church began around 1189, replacing the older wooden building. It was a flat-roofed hall with two apses . In the course of this construction, the crypt was also built , which was probably initially built more or less above ground before the area was then increased. As a provost church , the Leeraner church played a leading role in the Moormerland during the Middle Ages .

From the middle of the 17th century this church became increasingly dilapidated. Maintenance work was necessary more and more frequently. In addition, the had stains empty towards the port and Leda shifted so that the church at the periphery of the community fell. During a hurricane in 1777, the pastor and worshipers fled the building because they feared it would collapse. The church continued to be used, but more and more parishioners stayed away from the church.

After disputes about a suitable new building at a central point further east in the direction of the harbor, collections were carried out and draft sketches made from 1783. Against the advice of the presbytery , a community assembly decided in 1783 to intensify these collections in the Reformed communities of East Frisia and the Groningen communities. The pastors took the initiative and bought property from a leather manufacturer for 450 pistols gold. Under pressure from the church authorities, the church council approved the construction on June 1, 1785. The master carpenter Isaak Wortmann from Leer received the building contract. The foundation stone was laid on September 16, 1785, and after 22 months the building was completed and approved by the supervisory authority. The new, large church was inaugurated on July 15, 1787 by the first pastor and consistorial councilor Johann Eilshemius, who also held the position of reformed chief inspector.

Even before the completion of the new building, it was decided to demolish the old Liudgerikirche. It was only removed up to the level of the floor in order to preserve the peace of the dead for those buried in the crypt . On June 6, 1787, the old church was auctioned in twenty-four single lots as part of a sales event in the new church . The Great Church was extended in 1805 by a large, magnificent church tower. The crypt of the old church was sealed and has been preserved to this day. This is where the oldest vault in East Frisia is located .

Building description

The east wall of the crypt with the recessed grave slabs.

The crypt in the reformed cemetery in Leer is a two-aisled vaulted lower church with a two apsidial east end.

It is considered to be evidence of the early use of bricks in East Frisia. The execution of the inner brick shell of the crypt masonry, which still has a few trusses inserted at an indefinite distance, fits into the construction period around 1200. The bricks of the inner shell are plastered and rest on a boulder foundation. The outer shell is made of field stones. On the floor there was a screed of clay on the hill of plagues. In the southern apse, archaeologists have found the foundation of an altar as well as several graves there and under the central yoke of the southern nave.

Both ships originally had a barrel vault with the same crown height and stitch caps. The cross vaults with broad ribbon ribs in the two east bays of the north aisle, which were renewed around 1250/60, are somewhat younger. The wall openings probably once served as air shafts. The vaults in the middle and in the east of the northern nave stand on pillars that were subsequently drawn in, which were apparently drawn in during repair work in the 14th century.

Several grave slabs, including those of Junker Arend Frese († 1582), Ortigse van Wersabe († 1617) and Claes Frese († 1589), are embedded on the east wall above ground . They show the deceased in life size. The trapezoidal tombstone for Johannis Lenghen († 1542) is probably a Romanesque plate that was recycled.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rudolf Kötzschke: The economic constitution and administration of the large manorial rule Werden , Bonn 1958, p. CCLIII.
  2. ^ A b Paul Weßels (working group of the local chronicles of the East Frisian landscape ): Leer. City and district (PDF; 154 kB). Retrieved October 4, 2016.
  3. ↑ a b c Rolf Bärenfänger : The crypt in the reformed cemetery in Leer . In: ders. (Ed.), Ostfriesland (Guide to archaeological monuments in Germany, 35), Stuttgart 1999, pp. 189–191.
  4. ^ Homepage of the parish: History , as seen on September 11, 2012.
  5. ^ Genealogy forum: The ev.-ref. Church Leer ( Memento of the original from February 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , as seen May 26, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.genealogie-forum.de
  6. ^ Segebade: Reformed Churches on the Ems. 1999, p. 56.
  7. ↑ Smid: East Frisian Church History . 1974, p. 413.
  8. ↑ Kiesow: Architecture Guide Ostfriesland. 2010, p. 138.
  9. ^ Hermann Haiduck: The architecture of the medieval churches in the East Frisian coastal area . Verlag Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich 1986, ISBN 3-925365-07-9 , p. 38 .
  10. ^ Georg Dehio: Dehio - Handbook of German Art Monuments: Handbook of German Art Monuments, Bremen, Lower Saxony . German art publisher; Edition: revision, greatly expanded edition. Munich, Berlin (January 1, 1992), ISBN 3-422-03022-0 , pp. 835f.
  11. ↑ Leer.de: Sights: The crypt . Retrieved October 4, 2016.

Coordinates: 53 ° 13 ′ 44.6 ″  N , 7 ° 26 ′ 27.6 ″  E