Wommelshausen old church
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The listed old church is in Wommelshausen, Hesse ( Bad Endbach municipality , Marburg-Biedenkopf district ). It belongs to the type of the early medieval / high medieval towerless simple hall churches (one-room churches). It is assumed that it is far older than 900 years.
description
The rectangular building has a basic size of approx. 13.00 x 9.30 m with an average eaves height of 6.00 m and is covered with a 45 ° pitched roof with a ridge height of 5.00 m . The roof is dominated by a 10.00 m high, slim octagonal roof turret with a Gothic pointed helmet. An originally existing, transversely drawn in 6.10 m × 3.50 m choir was demolished in 1720.
Neither the construction time nor the client are known. It could have been a private church of a noble or spiritual landlord. Typical Romanesque geometric proportions and stylistic features, such as the ratio of the height of the eaves to the width of the building, point to old age . The structure with its massive masonry (wall thickness approx. 1.2 m to 1.3 m) in pure field stone construction (no stone, no corner blocks) has high-lying small round-arched window openings in the south wall, which have unusually compact pointed arches on the outside, which is a sign of one Remodeling applies. All walls consist of plastered double-shell quarry stone masonry made of greywacke in ample mortar bedding. At least the south side is still in its original condition when it was built.
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The window in the west wall and the window in the north wall were enlarged in previous renovations. Both were probably the same size as the windows in the south wall and were at the same height. The main entrance, formerly a lay entrance, is on the north side, below the current rectangular window. The former priest's gate in the eastern part of the south wall is clearly Romanesque. It was walled up and reopened during the 1996 renovation. Today it is the entrance to the chapel.
The building is attributed to the transition from the pre-Romanesque to the Romanesque period from the 10th to the 12th century. A simple hall building (hall church) with a flat ceiling or open visible roof beams, as it was in simple village churches until the 11th century.
The thick brickwork, the high-lying small windows and the relatively narrow, easily secured entrances are features that could indicate a passive fortified church , a shelter, even for supplies in troubled times.
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It is possible that the structure was created under the influence of the Worms construction hut , as it is similar to the larger and, in essence, much older Magnus Church (Worms) . In the region, the bishopric of Worms (Diocese of Worms) once had many rights and extensive possessions. The Wommelshausen Chapel is also very similar to the slightly larger Ev. Margarethenkirche in Krofdorf.
In the second half of the 13th century (1269, 1274 and 1284) , renovations and alterations were carried out on the crown of the south wall and the two gable walls based on dendrochronological studies.
Possible predecessor structure
Remnants of the foundations under the west wall and stone layers under the foundation of the northwest corner indicate that the chapel was built on the foundations of an even older building. The floor plan with the excavated and proven former retracted rectangular choir fits perfectly into the image of the churches from Carolingian times.
Repairs and galleries
From 1485 to 1487, extensive renovations were carried out on the structure and roof turrets. In this context, the west and south pores were built into the interior in an L-shape (dendrochronologically documented). These are the earliest documented galleries in the near and far area.
In 1652/60 the gable, masonry, roof and roof turrets had to be repaired again due to severe damage caused by looting and the effects of war during the Thirty Years' War .
Extensive renovation, choir broken off and drunk
In the following years the building fell into disrepair because it was not used sufficiently for worship. At massive pressure (threat of punishment) by the superior secular and ecclesiastical authorities, the community, as the owner of the building, had to undertake extensive renovations and alterations in the years 1720/26. Landgrave Ernst Ludwig von Hessen-Darmstadt approved a collection in the "Oberfürstentum".
The dilapidated choir was demolished, the choir property was sold to the neighbors and the proceeds were “drunk” by the community fathers, as noted in the church register. The passage to the choir and the southern gate were walled up, and the small west window was enlarged. In the middle of the room and behind the altar, new oak ceiling pillars were set up, the ceiling of the hall was renewed and a new baroque pulpit with a parish stand was built. The west gallery was extended with a high gallery. All the balustrades of the galleries were renewed, the half-timbered structures were filled with square bars and place numbers were carved onto the balustrade beams (still visible today). The women's benches below the galleries were also given place numbers; like all the pews in the church, they had no backrests.
The interior was painted in baroque style and the entire woodwork was painted dark green u. a. with floral elements on the beams of the galleries and on the pulpit. A picture depicting the baptism of Jesus was attached to the large central column. The medieval wall paintings were probably painted over during this renovation. A baroque crucifix was attached to the foot beam of the west gallery (today in the funeral hall of the cemetery).
In 1726, a bell clock was built into the roof turret, made by a blacksmith from Niederweidbach , which was in service until 1965.
From the end of the 19th century, a second crucifix stood on the altar, donated by the court decorator at the royal court in Dresden, Carl Müller (his mother came from Wommelshausen) (today in the Heimatmuseum).
Damage to the roof, roof turrets and masonry had to be repaired and renovations carried out at regular intervals. So 1778, 1785, 1851 (wall anchors installed) and 1892/94. The chronically poor state of construction could not be remedied by repairs in 1918, 1922 and 1925 (enlargement of the north window). Repeatedly there were massive complaints, and the building supervisors also got involved. Lack of money and the global economic crisis at the end of the 1920s prevented extensive renovation. In 1934 they thought of replacing the church with a new building, as it was no longer worth repairs. In a visitation report it is noted: " ... there is a Siberian climate in the church, it is more like a stable than a church ".
Renovation in 1950
A reconstruction plan from 1939 provided for extensive changes to the structure, which were not made after the outbreak of war . In 1949/50 the repair work was resumed and ended without taking into account the renovation plan and without the consent of the superior departments, independently by the political community and in close coordination with the pastor. The floral paintings on the entablature and the pulpit, classified by the preservation authorities as worthy of preservation, have been painted over with brown oil paint, including the picture with the baptism of Jesus on the central column. Walls and ceilings were given a light coat of paint with small color accents. There was also a new entrance door, new bench seats with backrests and a wooden floor was laid in the area of the women's seats.
The renovation did not last long. Because of irreparable damage and decay, the building supervision threatened to close it. In 1960/61 the decision was made to build a new church at a different location, which was inaugurated on August 29, 1965.
Fate of the old church after the inauguration of the new church in 1965
With the solemn inauguration of the New Church , the Old Church faced an uncertain fate. The smaller of the two bells was included in the peal of the New Church ; the second bell remained with the striking clock, which is now in the local museum.
The old church had thus served its purpose as a place of worship . There were no concrete plans for further use either in the parishes / parishes responsible at the time, or in the case of the owner of the building, the political community of Wommelshausen. The subject of debate was the sale of the property to someone “who will do it” and in the back of his mind the demolition, as had already happened in other places in the then Biedenkopf district.
Controversial decay / demolition
Just a few years after it was abandoned as a place of worship, the building began to show signs of deterioration. The old church was used as a storage space for junk z. B. old agricultural equipment and the fire brigade. The district administration had already dealt specifically with a demolition permit.
sale
On October 30, 1980, the municipality of Bad Endbach, which had meanwhile become responsible, sold the property with the church for 2 DM to an architect in Oberursel with the condition that the building be preserved and renovated. The structural damage had meanwhile increased sharply, the new owner did nothing and the structure continued to deteriorate.
In the meantime, parts of the population became more interested in preserving the historically significant building. In 1980 and 1985, two essays appeared in the Hinterländer Geschichtsbl Blätter, a supplement to the "Hinterländer Anzeiger", dealing with the history and importance of the old church. In 1985, residents removed the remaining steel bell and the old clock with its striking mechanism and ensured both. The clock with striking mechanism and bell are now fully functional in the local history museum.
The building is subject to monument protection
The “Förderkreis Alte Kirchen”, Marburg, (FaK) worked hard to preserve the listed building since 1958 and advertised its renovation in the brochure “Verlassene Kirche Wommelshausen” published in 1985. Private interventions followed in 1988 to the district president in Gießen and the district administrator of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district. The press also took up the topic.
expropriation
In October 1998, the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments submitted an application to the regional council in Gießen for expropriation in favor of the Bad Endbach community, which, however, could not decide to take over. The procedure was unsuccessful. The damage to the roof, the masonry and the interior was increasing, so that the structure threatened to pose a threat to public safety. The press again drew attention to this untenable situation. Wommelshausen citizens founded the working group “Save the Old Church of Wommelshausen” in 1992, appealed to the authorities and collected signatures for the preservation of the building. Despite the conditions imposed by the lower monument protection authority and the district building authority, the owner did not act and only inadequately fulfilled his obligation until the end of 1992.
The district administration therefore had the roof renewed and the ridge turret secured in early 1993 by way of replacement . Protective scaffolding against falling roof parts had already been installed in 1984. A second expropriation procedure, which was initiated by the State Office for Monument Preservation at the request of the Marburg – Biedenkopf district in February 1993, ended in 1994 with a settlement. The district took over the old church on April 6, 1994 as a cultural monument . The previous owner received DM 13,000 in compensation for his verifiably asserted expenses.
renovation
In the years 1995/96 the church was examined in terms of architectural history and in 1997 archaeologically, and from 1996 to 2000 the district extensively renovated it according to monument conservation criteria. The roof turret with spire and cock has been completely renewed. During the restoration, the presumed medieval wall paintings were found on the northern inner wall and the floral paintings on the beams of the galleries, which were covered by a coat of paint. Several segments under the paint were exposed.
With a ceremony on May 7, 2000, the old church was opened to the public again. Your rescue was awarded the " scallop shell ". In 2001, the district contractually gave the church to the Protestant parish of Wommelshausen for use for church and cultural events.
Architecturally remarkable sacred building ( DEHIO, Handbook of German Art Monuments )
The substance of the building from the Romanesque has been preserved in its epoch-typical simplicity to this day. Except for the demolition of the choir, no significant changes to the building can be proven. Despite construction defects and many repairs, the church has survived for more than 9 centuries. Unfortunately, the two bronze bells from the 14th century were confiscated and melted down during the First and Second World Wars.
The old church was included in 2008 in “DEHIO, Handbook of German Art Monuments, Hesse I” as a sacred building with remarkable architectural history .
Renewed structural damage
After the renovation, renewed rise in moisture in the masonry led to dry rot , so that the foundations had to be drained and refurbished at great expense in 2009. In this context, the foundations were archaeologically examined and documented. In the process, layers of soil and stone layers were found again, which could point to a previous building.
The floor was given a new covering made of sandstone slabs. A trace heating system has been integrated into the base of the wall and into the floor. The Hessian Ministry for Science and Art sponsored these measures.
Capacity
Until the split of the parish of Hartenrod from Gladenbach in the middle of the 14th century, Wommelshausen with its chapel was a branch of the Martinskirche Gladenbach , then until 1969 a branch of the mother church in Hartenrod. From 1969 to 1971 Wommelshausen belonged to the parish of Endbach. From 1971 Wommelshausen has the status of its own parish.
What is remarkable about the chapel is its capacity. A list from 1939 mentions around 160 seats. At the end of the 15th century there were only 100 to 120 inhabitants in the village of Wommelshausen and it was not until the end of the 16th century that the population grew to 130 to 150 people. Pastor Johannes Achenbach listed all residents by name in a “list of souls” in 1668, including the children, and came to a total of 141. The medieval chapel was therefore rather generously dimensioned for the village of Wommelshausen.
Trivia
According to a legend, the old church is said to have been a Lady Chapel , which was also a destination for pilgrims before the Reformation because of a miraculous spring that emerged from under the choir .
Web links
- see also: Bad Endbach # buildings
- see also: List of churches in the Marburg-Biedenkopf district
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gerald Bamberger: “Leave the church in the village”. The history of the churches and chapels in the old parish of Hartenrod , edited by the Ev. Church community Bad Endbach, Bottenhorn with Dernbach and Hülshof, Günterod, Hartenrod with Schlierbach and Wommelshausen (pages 273-314), Gladenbach 1997
- ↑ Horst W. Müller: "Old Church Wommelshausen, building history and reconstruction of the building design". Hinterland history sheets, No. 4, December 2012 and No. 1, April 2013, Biedenkopf
- ^ Ulrich Lennarz: The territorial history of the Hessian hinterland. Studies and materials on constitutional and regional history , published by the Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies, NGElwert, Marburg 1973, ISBN 3-7708-0491-0
- ↑ Free Institute for Building Research and Documentation eV “Building History Investigation Report - Wommelshausen, Old Church”, Marburg, June 1995
- ^ Free Institute for Building Research and Documentation eV "Archaeological Soil Investigation - Wommelshausen, Old Church", Marburg, August 1997
- ↑ Petra Burk-Wagner: Mühlen im Salzbödetal , communications from the Association for History and Folklore Lohra, special issue, 2 1986, pages 40 and 41, Viktoria Katharina Müller geb. Seip from the Hintermühle, poet a. a. of the poem / song set to music "Over in the hinterland ..."
- ↑ Festschrift 50 Years, 1965-2015, New Evangelical Church Wommelshausen , publisher Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Wommelshausen, Bad Endbach 2015, pages 30 to 43 (Old Church)
- ↑ Personal communication from the former head of the Biedenkopf district building authority
- ↑ Horst W. Müller: "The old chapel in Wommelshausen", stories and legends, facts and opinions on the village and church history, Hinterländer Geschichtsblätter No. 3, October 1980
- ↑ Horst W. Müller: "Is the Wommelshausen Chapel already 1200 years old?", An attempt to classify it in time according to proportions and construction features, Hinterländer Geschichtsblätter No. 3, November 1985
- ↑ Sponsorship group old churches: Abandoned church Wommelshausen. Edited by the Alte Kirchen support group, Marburg 1985.
- ^ Georg Dehio: Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Hessen I , Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich Berlin 2008, p. 986, ISBN 978-3-422-03092-3
- ^ Free Institute for Building Research and Documentation eV "Investigation Report, Bad Endbach-Wommelshausen, Old Church", Marburg, July 2010
- ↑ Lothar Adam: The Wommelshausen Chapel , in Hinterländer Heimatkalender 1950 , Ed. Volksbildungsverein Biedenkopf 1949, pp. 25-27 (legend about the source)
Coordinates: 50 ° 45 ′ 52 ″ N , 8 ° 29 ′ 35 ″ E