Old church in Volpertshausen

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Church from the south in 2020

The old church in Volpertshausen , a district of Hüttenberg in the Lahn-Dill district ( Central Hesse ), is the former Protestant church of the village. As the oldest building in the town, the hall church with its octagonal roof turret is a Hessian cultural monument for historical, artistic and urban planning reasons .

history

Volpertshausen church door in the north wall by Emha.jpg
Volpertshausen Old Church 2433.jpg


Medieval north portal with Kaltenborn coat of arms before and after the uncovering in 2019

The beginnings of the church are unknown. The oldest surviving components are dated around 1200. In 1349 a clergyman and in 1540 a pastor are recorded. At the end of the Middle Ages, Volpertshausen belonged to the Archipresbyterate Wetzlar of the Archdeaconate St. Lubentius Dietkirchen in the Diocese of Trier . The nearby Weidenhausen was parish after Volpertshausen. In the first half of the 15th century, the north portal was enlarged and given a pointed arch. In the keystone is the coat of arms of those of Kaltenborn (desert 3 km west of Weilburg), who presumably held the right of patronage at that time . In 1474 it came from the Counts of Nassau-Weilburg as a fief to the Lords of Buseck . In the 14th or 15th century, the church was expanded in an easterly direction, as indicated by the different foundation made of smaller stones. After dendrochronological studies, the choir wall was built in half-timbered construction in 1483 . In this context, the church received a new roof structure with ridge turrets in a Gothic shape.

Wall paintings on the north wall

With the introduction of the Reformation , Volpertshausen switched to the evangelical creed. The first Protestant pastor, who was given the first name Nikolaus, worked from 1540 to 1551. In 1593, Vollnkirchen was parish off to Volpertshausen. During a comprehensive interior renovation in 1597/1598, the men's stage (gallery) on the northern long side was newly installed or comprehensively renewed. In addition, the church received a new interior painting. The wall paintings were created either in 1598 or as early as 1483 in the course of the church's expansion. The altar, which had suffered from the rising damp, was renovated as well as the church stalls, a new baptismal table was purchased and the roof turret was reinforced with additional struts. In 1603 new pews were erected and the gallery stairs were moved, in 1621 new women's pews were purchased. After the Thirty Years' War the church received two new wooden doors during a major renovation in 1656 (which indicates the existence of the west entrance at that time). After the French looted the church in 1673/1674, a new one was created for the destroyed pulpit. As early as 1594, the roof turret had a bell; In 1684 one of two bells jumped and was replaced in 1688 by Dilman Schmid of Asslar with a larger one weighing 400 pounds. Next to her hung in 1835 a bell made by the bell founder Hoen from Frankfurt. One bell was replaced in 1866 by Georg Otto from Gießen and the other in 1872 by Friedrich Wilhelm Rincker from Sinn. The Otto bell had to be delivered in 1917 for armament purposes and was replaced by Rincker in 1922. It was melted down in 1941 and replaced in 1964. The preserved Rincker bells from 1872 and 1964 are now hanging in the new church.

Volpertshausen Church View into the chancel by Emha.jpg
Volpertshausen Old Church 2431.jpg


Interior towards the altar 2012 and 2020

[[File: | mini | Interior before evacuation towards the altar (2012)]] The ceiling of the old church was raised in the eastern part in 1708/1709 with curved beams, possibly to make room for an organ, which was not installed until 1753 . Due to a chair arrangement from 1737, additional seats had to be created in the church, so that in 1738/1739 the east and west galleries were installed, which were accessible through an external staircase after a wall breakthrough. In this context, the north portal was probably walled up, so that more space was created for pews. The western entrance received a canopy. In 1771 the pulpit was moved and provided with a staircase. In 1915/1916 an oven was installed. The men's stage was expanded in 1923 so that another bench could be set up.

After the inauguration of the new evangelical church in 1965, the old church was no longer used for worship and became increasingly dilapidated. The building and equipment suffered considerable damage from fire exercises, which led to a ruinous condition. A move to the Hessenpark planned in 1979 , for which the roof had already been covered and most of the interior plaster had been removed, did not materialize when medieval wall paintings were discovered on December 23, 1980. Until then, the construction time was set in the 17th century. The State Office for Monument Preservation of Hesse refused to move the building in 1982. In 1985 the Marburg “Förderkreis Alte Kirchen” acquired the church, which had already shown interest in the building from around 1975. From 1986, clean-up work and renovation measures followed: a drainage system, the reconstruction of the roof and securing of the quarry stone masonry. After the sponsorship group ran out of funds, work on the church stopped for a few years.

The municipality of Hüttenberg took over the building for € 10,000 in 2010 and continued the renovation as the new owner. The inventory items received were removed from the warehouse. The interior of the church was newly plastered with clay plaster, which had to dry again and again in layers. Two more consecration crosses came to light on the west side . The exposed wall paintings on the north side have been restored. On the left they show a house with a hermit with a torch, in the middle Christophorus with Jesus on his shoulders and on the right the crucifixion scene. The floor was re-laid with bricks, the old, walled-up north portal was reopened and the gallery on the east wall was restored and provided with a staircase. This was followed by installation of ceiling heating and the restoration of the sacrament niche. Since its tympanum was lost, it had to be recreated. Finally the roof was re-covered and the half-timbering in the east was shingled. A reopening for cultural purposes and as a studio and workshop church for visual artists is planned after completion of the renovation work from 2020.

architecture

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Front end from 1738/1739 before and after the restoration (2018 and 2019)
Volpertshausen Church from the East by Emha.jpg
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East side from 1483 with half-timbering, which was shingled in 2019

The white plaster, nearly geostete hall church is built in the south of the village in a valley. It stands in the middle of a cemetery area, the walls of which are only partially preserved. During excavations, the coarse foundations of a smaller core building with a choir room were discovered. The eastern extension from the Gothic period has a much smaller foundation.

In the southern long side, three high rectangular windows were broken into, further to the west a small transverse rectangular window with lattice structure below the eaves. The upper area of ​​the east wall from 1483 is half-timbered with high rectangular compartments in four levels up to the gable triangle. Two small round arched windows are attached here and in the lower area a transverse rectangular window with lattice structure. The north wall has a raised door in the west, which served as access to the gallery, below the eaves two rectangular windows are let in.

The old north portal further to the east was walled up and exposed in 2019. It has an ogival, chamfered garment in Gothic style and the inner reveal has a stitch arch. Above the arch there is a coat of arms of the von Kaltenborn family. It shows an early form of the coat of arms with a horizontally divided shield, double-cut shield head and three lilies in the shield base. The west side of the church has no windows. A high rectangular portal with a wooden, slated canopy, which was built in 1736/1739, opens up the church. Above the front door there is an inscription with a Bible verse: “Keep your foot when you go to the house of God and come, that you may hear. Pred. Sal. 4,17 “( Koh 4,17  LUT ).

A completely slated octagonal roof turret is placed in the middle of the slated gable roof with a crooked hip in the east. It was renewed in 1981 together with the crooked hip roof according to the original.

Furnishing

Interior after renovation

The flat-roofed interior is closed off by a beamed ceiling, which is slightly vaulted in the eastern part. The three-sided circumferential wooden gallery rested on posts. The south side was left out as a site for the pulpit.

Remains of wall paintings from the 15th to 18th centuries have been preserved, including a consecration cross from the 14th century and a depiction of Christophorus and a crucifixion scene from 1483 or 1598 on the north wall. The paintings belong to the second or third of eleven phases with a total of 43 layers (plasters and paints) that were identified during the restoration.

Remains of the wooden church furnishings from the Baroque period have been preserved. The polygonal pulpit from 1674 has coffered pulpit fields. The church stalls have curved cheeks.

For the planned demolition of the church, the frame and the coat of arms stone of the late Gothic sacrament niche were broken off. The framing stones are still there, the medieval lattice and the coat of arms stone in the arched tympanum have been lost since then.

A baroque tombstone from 1758 is placed on the northern outer wall.

organ

Remains of the organ case from 1753

The former organ had eight registers and no pedal . The instrument from 1753 goes back to the organ builder Johann Georg Dreuth from Griedel. The five-part prospectus has an elevated, trapezoidal central tower and two pointed towers at the sides, which are connected by flat fields under a common cornice. The continuous lower cornice with frieze is richly profiled like the upper one. The pipe fields are divided by strips with carved flowers and fruits on cords and closed at the top by flat-carved veil boards. Openwork acanthus with rocailles is attached to the side. The original disposition was as follows.

Manual C–
Dumped 8th'
Viol di Gamba (from c 0 ) 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Dumped 4 ′
Quint 3 ′
Octav 2 ′
Super octave 1'
Mixture III 1'

The disposition was changed in 1879 by Adam Karl Bernhard . In 1923 the organ was replaced by a new one, but the prospectus was retained. The organ had 6 stops, mechanical cone chests and a two-manual console . According to Orgelbau Hardt , Gustav Raßmann is said to have carried out the new building.

literature

  • Friedrich Kilian Abicht: The district of Wetzlar, presented historically, statistically and topographically. Volume 2. Wetzlar 1836, pp. 91-92 ( online ).
  • Franz Bösken : Sources and research on the organ history of the Middle Rhine. Vol. 2: The area of ​​the former government district Wiesbaden (=  contributions to the Middle Rhine music history 7.2 . Part 2 (L – Z)). Schott, Mainz 1975, ISBN 3-7957-1370-6 , p. 724 .
  • Folkhard Cremer (Red.): Dehio-Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Hessen I: Gießen and Kassel administrative districts. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-422-03092-3 , p. 904.
  • Maria Wenzel; State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (Ed.): Cultural monuments in Hesse. Lahn-Dill District II (old district of Wetzlar). (Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany). Theiss, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 978-3-8062-1652-3 , pp. 350-351.

Web links

Commons : Alte Kirche (Volpertshausen)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Circle of Friends of the Old Volpertshausen Church , accessed on August 13, 2018.
  2. ^ State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (ed.): Cultural monuments in Hesse. Lahn-Dill-Kreis II. 2003, p. 351.
  3. ^ Abicht: The Wetzlar district. Volume 2. Wetzlar 1836, p. 91 ( online , accessed August 13, 2018)
  4. ↑ DENKmal. Newspaper for the "Open Monument Day" in Hesse on September 14, 2008, accessed on August 13, 2018 (PDF).
  5. ^ Gerhard Kleinfeldt, Hans Weirich: The medieval church organization in the Upper Hessian-Nassau area (= writings of the Institute for historical regional studies of Hesse and Nassau 16 ). NG Elwert, Marburg 1937, ND 1984, p. 205.
  6. ↑ a b Volpertshausen. Historical local dictionary for Hessen. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on August 13, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Kaltenborn. Historical local dictionary for Hessen. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on August 27, 2018 .
  8. ↑ a b c d e f g State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse (ed.): Former Evangelical Church In: DenkXweb, online edition of cultural monuments in Hesse
  9. ↑ Hellmut Schliephake: Bell customer of the district of Wetzlar. In: Heimatkundliche Arbeitsgemeinschaft Lahntal e. V. 12th yearbook. 1989, ISSN  0722-1126 , pp. 5-150, here p. 142.
  10. ↑ Constantin Hoppe: A church that the church no longer wanted. In: Gießener Allgemeine Zeitung of September 6, 2019, accessed on September 16, 2019.
  11. ↑ Gießener Allgemeine Zeitung of April 5, 2011: Support group saved churches from demolition , accessed on August 27, 2018.
  12. ↑ a b Dehio-Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Hessen I. 2008, p. 904.
  13. ↑ a b Bösken: Sources and research on the organ history of the Middle Rhine. Vol. 2/2. 1975, p. 784.

Coordinates: 50 ° 30 '7.77 "  N , 8 ° 32' 35.34"  O