Old Town Church (Hofgeismar)
The Old Town Church is the church built in the old town of Hofgeismar from the 12th century .
history
The settlement "Hove Geismari" received city rights in 1223 by Archbishop Sigfried II of Mainz , after it had already developed into the center of a church district. The Archidiakonatssitz was a collegiate in the Old Town of Our Lady Church, the Virgin Mary had been consecrated.
The area between Diemel and the Upper Weser also belonged to the secular sphere of influence of the Archdiocese of Mainz . Today's "Old Town Church", the former collegiate church of St. Maria , dates from the founding years of the city in the 13th century. The construction of this church began in the first half of the 12th century in the Mainz "Hovestätte Geismari" and is now located in Mainz the Hofgeismar Passion Altar from the early 14th century is located.
As early as the 16th century, the former collegiate church became the church of the Protestant community in the old town of Hofgeismar. Under the rule of Landgrave Philip I , Hofgeismar - now a town in the Landgraviate of Hesse - became Protestant. Along with Saxony and Württemberg, Hesse was one of the pioneers of the Reformation in the German Empire .
architecture
The former Romanesque pillar basilica was converted into a Gothic hall church from 1330 and then underwent various modifications. In the 19th century the church received a neo-Gothic choir closure and a (reduced) sacristy in a neo-Gothic form.
Romanesque arcades can be found in the west tower, Romanesque door pullers (lion's head) on the west portal, which was renewed in the 19th century and through which one can enter the church today. Behind it is the entrance hall of the former fortified tower, after which you enter the nave through a Romanesque arch. With the exception of the main altar, all the other altars in the church are no longer preserved. Before the Protestant pastors took office at the beginning of the 16th century, up to 15 altars are said to have been in the former Catholic church.
Carl Wiederhold painted the church between 1898 and 1899. Since the restoration around 1960, the painting is no longer visible and today's existence is unclear. At the same time, the building was restored with the help of Gustav Schönermark . With the Wiederhold'schen wall painting one began to decorate all the windows of the church with stained glass by the Ely brothers; In 1913 this was completed.
Hofgeismar Passion Altar
The Hofgeismar Passion Altar from around 1310 has been part of the valuable furnishings of the church since 1889, an early Gothic table work of which the two altar wings with two fields each exist. The middle part with probably four individual fields is missing.
The altar fragment was stored on the church vault until 1862. In its original form, the altar showed the Passion of Jesus Christ , beginning with the prayer on the Mount of Olives to the Resurrection.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Götz J. Pfeiffer: The window cycle of the Protestant old town church at Hofgeismar. Completed 100 years ago by Ely glass painting from Kassel-Wehlheiden . In: District of Kassel. Yearbook . 2013, pp. 131-136.
literature
- Götz J. Pfeiffer: The window cycle of the ev. Old town church to Hofgeismar. Completed 100 years ago by Ely glass painting from Kassel-Wehlheiden . In: District of Kassel. Yearbook . 2013, pp. 131-136.
- District Hofgeismar: Handbook of the Heimatbund for Kurhessen, Waldeck and Upper Hesse III . Marburg / Lahn 1966, p. 124 ff.
- Jochen Desel : The old town church in Hofgeismar . Melsungen 1982, ISBN 3-87280-013-2 .
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 29 ′ 43.2 " N , 9 ° 22 ′ 40.7" E