Upper Church of St. Nikolai
The Upper Church of St. Nikolai is a late Gothic brick church in Cottbus in Brandenburg . The church is on Oberkirchplatz and Sandower Straße near the Altmarkt . The so-called Upper Church is the largest medieval church in Lower Lusatia .
history
The upper church is mentioned for the first time in 1156. Remnants of a smaller previous building from the 13th century were found during renovation work in 1910. Today's church was built in the second half of the 15th century, and construction continued into the 16th century. It is believed that the church was built in three sections. First, the outer walls of the nave were built. Due to the fire in 1468, the building plan was probably changed and construction started again. In the third construction phase, the chapels were added on the north and south sides.
Between 1910 and 1911 the church was extensively renovated. During the Second World War , the church burned down in 1945. In 1946 other parts of the church collapsed. The reconstruction took place in the post-war period; the roof was finished around 1960. In 1965 the last window was installed. Between 1993 and 1995 the church roof was renewed.
architecture
The church is a three-aisled brick hall with an ambulatory choir. The tower is not in the axis, it is shifted to the north. It is presented on the west side of the sandstone facade, has a rectangular floor plan and four storeys. On the fourth floor, the bell chamber , high lancet windows open on all sides . The tower is crowned by a windowed, white plastered drum and a baroque hood with a lantern attachment . The 55 m high tower can be climbed as an observation tower and offers a good view of Cottbus.
The nave and choir are divided by high tracery windows. The sacristy is built on the north side of the choir and extends over two bays. To the west of it is the north chapel, between the sacristy and north chapel there is a building that was added later. The north chapel is now the church's baptistery. The south chapel is on the south side. To the west of the south chapel is a portal vestibule. There are murals on the walls, but a large part was destroyed in the church fire in 1600. The paintings visible today were uncovered in 1951.
Furnishing
The altarpiece dates from 1664, so it is a work of the early baroque. The tower was restored between 1953 and 1964, and the burnt wooden tower was replaced. The altarpiece is multi-storey, eleven meters high and shows a figural relief. In the base there is a picture of the birth of Christ, in the predella there is a picture of the Lord's Supper. In the main field there is a picture of Christ's resurrection.
organ
The baroque, richly gilded organ prospect with music-making angels and putti was built by Johann Gottfried Stecher in 1759 , the corresponding organ was made by Johann Georg Schön and Adam Gottfried Oehme from 1756 to 1759 . In 1906 it was expanded from the demolished town church in Hainichen near Chemnitz. The prospectus has since been renewed. Today's organ was built in 1984 by the organ building company Eule (Bautzen) . The instrument has 50 stops on three manuals and a pedal . The game actions are mechanical, the stop actions are electric.
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- Coupling: II / I, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
- Playing aids : 32-fold setting system, tremulants infinitely adjustable, register crescendo, individual storage (tongues)
Bells
The ringing consists of three bells. The big bell has a diameter of 1.64 meters and was cast by Franciskus Voillard in 1671. The bell is richly decorated, including the city coat of arms, a crucifixion group and a Madonna. The middle bell was also cast by Voillard in 1671. The diameter is 1.4 meters. It is decorated with a crescent Madonna and a crucifixion group. The third bell comes from the Luther Church in Cottbus and was cast in 1926.
Funerary monuments
In the choir there is a figure tombstone for Gebhard von Alvensleben (died 1627), on the south wall of the choir the tombstone of Elisabeth von Zabeltitz (died 1607), as well as four damaged tombstones for children here and on the north side of the choir. On the north side there is an epitaph of the governor Heinrich von Pack (died 1554). In the north chapel there is a tomb for Emerenciana of Pack, 1545 by the Dresden sculptor Christoph Walther I created.
literature
- Georg Dehio : Handbook of the German art monuments . Founded by the Day for Monument Preservation 1900, continued by Ernst Gall , revised by the Dehio Association and the Association of State Monument Preservationists in the Federal Republic of Germany, represented by: Brandenburg State Office for Monument Preservation and State Archaeological Museum. Brandenburg: edited by Gerhard Vinken and others, 2000, Deutscher Kunstverlag Munich Berlin, ISBN 3-422-03054-9 , pages 184 to 188.
- Irmgard Ackermann, Marcus Cante, Antje Mues and others, Monuments in Brandenburg, City of Cottbus, Part 1, Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, worms am Rhein, 2001, ISBN 3-88462-176-9
Individual evidence
- ↑ Upper Church St. Nikolai on spreewald-info.de
- ↑ More information about the organ
Web links
- Entry in the monument database of the State of Brandenburg
- Parish website
- Side of the city of Cottbus to the church
Coordinates: 51 ° 45 ′ 40 " N , 14 ° 20 ′ 11.9" E