Broager Kirke

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Broager Kirke (German: Church of Broacker)

Broager Kirke (2018)

Basic data
Denomination Evangelical Lutheran
place Broager near Grasten , North Schleswig , Denmark
Regional church North Schleswig community of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany
Building history
start of building 12th Century
Building description
Architectural style Romanesque with a Gothic double tower
Coordinates 54 ° 53 '29.7 "  N , 9 ° 40' 27.5"  E Coordinates: 54 ° 53 '29.7 "  N , 9 ° 40' 27.5"  E
Template: Info box church building / maintenance / function and title missing North Schleswig congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany Template: Info box church building / maintenance / dedication or patronage missing

The Broager Kirke ( German  Church of Broacker ) is a twin tower church in the northern Schleswig town of Broager on the Broager Land peninsula on the north side of the Flensburg Fjord in Denmark . The Evangelical Lutheran parish of the Danish People's Church is now part of the Haderslev diocese .

history

The church was built around 1200 on the northern outskirts on a 40 meter high hill. It was first mentioned in 1209 when the Schleswig bishop transferred income from the parish to the Rudekloster . Presumably it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary .

The Romanesque church was built from monastery stones ( Danish munkesten ) and is whitewashed, at least today. The original structure consisted of an apse , choir , a nave and probably a simple tower. Around 1250 the building was extended to a cross-shaped floor plan with two transepts and received the conspicuous double tower (twin towers). Between 1400 and 1500 Gothic rib vaults were drawn in and a sacristy was added to the building. The west wall of the tower was reinforced at the end of the 19th century. The church has been covered with slate throughout since 1896. From 1924 to 1927 the church was extensively restored. In the process, old frescos were rediscovered and renewed. Another restoration took place in the 1990s.

Broager Kirke as a landmark on the Flensburg Fjord , view from Germany ( Holnis peninsula ), 2015

Due to its high location on one of the highest points of the Broager Land peninsula, visible from all sides, the church was used from the water as a navigation mark for shipping on the Flensburg Fjord in earlier times . The church has been a photo and postcard motif in the region since the beginning of the 20th century.

The twin towers gained military importance in the spring of 1864 as part of the fighting of the German-Danish War over the Düppeler Schanzen . The attacking Prussian troops posted a lookout post on the spire of the church, which observed the artillery fire of the Prussian cannons of the Gammelmark battery south of the Vemmingbund when shelling the Düppeler Schanzen and was able to correct the accuracy of the gunners.

Furnishing

The frescoes found in 1924 come from four periods: When it was built around 1200, the choir arch and the niches of the side altars were decorated and the consecration crosses were attached. Around 1250 the enthroned Christ was created in the mandorla in the apse. The people around him, presumably the apostles, are incomplete. The vault, which was drawn in in the 15th century, and the side aisles were painted around 1500. a. with a large-scale depiction of the Last Judgment in the nave. The artist Peter Ly.kt can be identified by the shape of the tendrils, which are similarly found in other churches in the neighborhood. Last in 1587, after the Reformation , were the evangelists in the choir vault.

The simple granite baptism with four men's heads at the base comes from the time it was built, the wooden ceiling in the form of a crown from 1780. The Romanesque triumphal cross is a work from around 1250. It originally hung in the choir arch.

The Renaissance pulpit dates from 1591. The six colored reliefs show scenes from the history of salvation (the fall of man , the bronze serpent , birth of Christ, crucifixion, resurrection, last judgment). The explanatory texts are in Low German. The pulpit is probably the work of Johan van Bremen, who also created the pulpit in the Johanniskirche in Flensburg. The theological picture program corresponds to the pulpits of the so-called East Flensburg pulpit type by his pupil Heinrich Ringerink . The square pulpit cover was not created until 1780.

The church has a baroque altarpiece with a painted depiction of the crucifixion in the middle field in a richly carved frame in the style of acanthus baroque from 1717. The carving is the work of the Sonderborg sculptor Anthon Günther Lundt, the pictures were painted by the Flensburg “sign maker” Friedrich Wilhelm Petersen. In 1994 it was removed from its previous place on the altar table and after the renovation in 2001 it is in the south transept.

In 1967 an organ from the workshop of the Danish organ builder Marcussen & Søn was built into the baroque organ front from 1740 .

A special feature is the large wooden figure of Saint George slaying a dragon, which used to be in the tower room and can now be found in the north chapel of the church. It dates from around 1500. A very similar representation from the medieval Marienkirche in Husum is in the State Museum for Art and Cultural History at Gottorf Castle . Behind the figure in the north chapel is a fresco from 1500 depicting the legend of the saint.

  • The inside of the church with a view towards the altar.

  • Wooden figure of Saint George

  • Fresco in front of the choir arch in the vault depicting the Last Judgment

  • Fresco depicting the evangelist Matthew and his symbol , the angel

  • The organ of the church.

  • Pulpit of the church

graveyard

Around the church there is a cemetery with numerous graves. The monuments there commemorate the Schleswig-Holstein uprising from 1848 to 1851 , the German-Danish War of 1864 and the First World War (1914-18) . In 1922 a memorial mound in the form of a barrow was built for 180 parish residents who died in the First World War (see: Monument to Fallen in Broager ). Not far from the western entrance is a memorial stone that commemorates two gendarmes who died in a concentration camp in 1944.

Bell house Broager Kirke, 2012

Bell house

To the east of the church in the cemetery there is a free-standing wooden bell house. It was built in 1650 as a stack of bells that had to accommodate the three church tower bells , as the actual church tower was not sufficiently stable. After the church tower was strengthened in the 19th century, the bells were moved back in 1904. The bell house with a base area of ​​7 by 7 m has an eight-sided, pointed shingle roof. In 1976 the building was restored. It has served as a burial chapel ever since. The bell house is said to be the largest of its kind in all of North and South Schleswig . In addition, the building will also be Denmark's largest free-standing bell tower.

Say to the church

In addition to the saga about the Düppeler Stein , in which Broagers' church is occasionally mentioned, the following sagas exist:

Legend of the twin towers of Broager

There is a legend about the construction of the twin tower of Broager Church that the knight of Broager Castle once had the church built at his own expense. But before it was completed, he decided to go to the Holy Land . He asked his pregnant wife to continue the construction. If she gave birth to a son, she should have a pointed tower built. If she had a daughter, she should have a blunt tower built. When the knight returned one day, he saw from a great distance that two pointed towers adorned the church. His wife had done as he asked. They had two boys at once. - This legend is still often told and passed on on the German side of the fjord, especially when looking from Holnis , where the towers are easy to see.

Say of the grown together sisters

Another legend explains that the church was built by two sisters who “grew together” (cf. Siamese twins ) and lived on the nearby castle called Schmölwall . But one of the sisters died seven years before the other, which is why one of the two towers is shorter.

Contrary to what is reported in this legend, the two towers are the same height, even if it is sometimes perceived differently. This legend, which provides a further explanation for the shape of the two church towers, is probably less well known than the former.

Story of a tunnel between the Schmölwall and Broager Church

Tales of a tunnel between Schmölwall and Broager Church are now considered fictitious.

Web links

Commons : Broager Church  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Martin Becker: Kulturlandschaft Flensburger Förde , 2006, p. 103
  2. ↑ a b c Broager Kirke. German summary. English Summary, p. 22
  3. ↑ Broager Kirke . In: Danmarks Kirker , ed. from the National Museum. Volume 4 Sonderjylland . Copenhagen 1961, pp. 240-284; P. 240 (PDF, accessed on May 27, 2020)
  4. ↑ Broager Kirke , p. 248
  5. ↑ The reinforcement apparently took place gradually. Decades that are mentioned are: 1804, 1880 (in each case according to: Broager Kirke. German summary. English Summary, p. 19) and 1894 (according to Martin Becker: Kulturlandschaft Flensburger Förde , 2006, p. 103).
  6. ↑ See for example: Postcard "Greetings from Broacker" with a picture of the church (1904)
  7. ↑ Karl-Theo Schleicher and Dr. Heinrich Walle: The German-Danish War of 1864 - excursion on the history of war from 10.-13. October 2013. Freundeskreis Officers der Panzertruppe eV, June 6, 2015, accessed on June 4, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Lime painter (Danish)
  9. ↑ a b inventory (Danish)
  10. ↑ Broager Kirke , p. 272
  11. ↑ Broager Kirke , p. 264
  12. ↑ Broacker Church. The North Schleswig community, accessed on June 4, 2020 .
  13. ↑ a b Visit Sonderborg. Broager Church , accessed: May 24, 2020
  14. ↑ Broager Kirke. German summary. English Summary, pp. 19 and 22
  15. ↑ Travel blog: Insider travel destinations and vacation tips. The Broager Twin Towers , Retrieved on: May 24, 2020
  16. ^ Writings of the Society for Flensburg City History (ed.): Flensburg in history and present . Flensburg 1972, 275
  17. ^ Karl Müllenhoff : Legends, fairy tales and songs of the duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg. Kiel 1845, number 164 II.
  18. ↑ Manfred-Guido Schmitz (Ed.): Hundred sagas from North Schleswig . Nordstrand 2013, page 18.f.
  19. ↑ See also: Marsch und Förde, Smøl Vold , accessed on: December 5, 2014
  20. ^ Karl Müllenhoff : Legends, fairy tales and songs of the duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg. Kiel 1845, number 164 I.
  21. ↑ Gamle sagn: Siamesiske tvillinger. Broager Kirke, archived from the original on October 20, 2011 ; accessed on May 28, 2020 (Danish).
  22. ↑ Manfred-Guido Schmitz (Ed.): Hundred sagas from North Schleswig . Nordstrand 2013, page 18.f.
  23. ↑ Danish description of the picture Udsigt fra Smøl Vold and picture Udsigt fra Smøl Vold ; Accessed on: April 29, 2017
  24. ↑ Jesper Asmussen: Gendarmstien , Chapter: Smøl Vold, (Danish)
  25. ↑ March and Fjord. Smøl Vold , dated: June 20, 2004; Retrieved on: April 29, 2017