Preach
The term Prieche (originally synonymous with gallery ) is used in northern Germany to denote the seat of the higher classes in a parish, separated from the general church pews. Today the seats , which were once differentiated as the official chair and prayer room, are collectively called Prieche. Preaching is common in the Protestant church building tradition.
Corresponding church seats were provided for their representatives in accordance with the status regulations. In the city churches, representatives of the administration, the military, academic life, craft guilds and the common people each had their own place. Likewise in the country, where church fathers, adults and youth were divided. A basic distinction was made between women's and men's positions. The owner was responsible for the financing and maintenance of the Prieche.
The official chair
The official chair was a gallery or a seat highlighted by special partitions such as barriers, doors, windows and canopies for holders of a church or municipal office or a professional stand.
The prayer room
Zedler distinguishes the so-called prayer rooms, church rooms or chapels intended for the patron from the common church seats . They were built like rooms or chambers, lockable, and had an entrance outside the church. Where it was safe to do so, they were equipped with an oven. This wind furnace could hold fire over the whole time of the service.
"Men = and women = persons" were allowed to stay together in the church rooms; they were not designed for individuals but for entire families. The worship service communication could be regulated by bars or lockable glass windows.
Church pews, unlike common pews, were inheritable.
See also
literature
- Wolfgang Lück: The image in the Church of the Word: An introduction to the world of images in Protestant churches . 2001, ISBN 3-8258-5265-2 , p. 65 ff.
- Treatise on the Church Seats and Prayer Rooms , No. 28 and 29 of the leipz. Int. Bl. V. J. 1769. (Note from Zedler)