Bevenser seven star
The Bevenser Siebenstern is a traditional wooden chandelier that has been in households in Bad Bevensen for over 200 years .
shape
The seven star is a turned wood chandelier, about 40 cm high. The candles are arranged on the rotating crossbars in the shape of a pyramid: on the central bar, which tapers upwards, three cross bars are attached about 8 cm apart. The candles are in small bowls at the ends and on the tip of the central pole. The central pole stands on a round wooden base. If the crossbars are offset, the candles form a hexagon when viewed from above. In its original form, the crossbars were boards, the base was designed as a cross
history
The Bevenser Siebenstern is probably one of the pyramids of light, as they are known in Scandinavian and northern Germany. The origin could go back to the beginning of the 19th century. Such chandeliers were also lit in the Advent and Christmas season. Citizens' offices No. 76 and 95 were closely linked to the tradition of the Bevens Seven Star. In February 1699, Frantz Hinrich Eckhoff, Bürgerstelle 76 (today in Lüneburger Straße), received his master's certificate as a master turner and turned the Bevenser Siebenstern here. In Bürgerstelle 95 (near the church 3), master turner Jürgen Heinrich Schenk produced Bevenser seven stars until his death in 1929.
The Christmas use in the church began in 1842: in the morning mass on Christmas Day, the Bevens seven stars of the worshipers illuminated the church. Because savings had to be made and the early mass on Christmas Day was considered a relic of the Catholic “Shepherd's Mass” by the Protestant church , the money for the lighting in this service was canceled. Therefore the vicar in charge, Pastor Herbst, asked the parishioners to bring their seven-star candlesticks.
This custom has been preserved to this day. Meanwhile, the worshipers come from far away. Since the guests also want to experience this particularly festive atmosphere, there are “seven-star church services” now on the afternoons of the Advent Sundays.
literature
- Martin Stünkel The Bevenser Siebenstern , Siebenstern-Druckerei Schliekau, no year, 3118 Bad Bevensen
- Fritz Riggert The Bevenser Seven Star: Heimatkundl. Contemplation and telling of its origins. Series of publications by the Bad Bevensen City Archives, Volume 2, 1994.
