Christ and Garrison Church (Wilhelmshaven)
The Evangelical Lutheran Christ and Garrison Church is a neo-Gothic church in Wilhelmshaven . The church, built from 1869, was consecrated in 1872 under the name Elisabethkirche . It served as the naval garrison church in the newly founded Wilhelmshaven. During the Second World War , the church was badly damaged by Allied bombing raids. In 1959 she was re-consecrated and was given the double name "Christ and the Garrison Church," the to the likewise destroyed in World War II Christ Church is to remind the congregation.
History from the foundation to 1918
The Christ and Garrison Church in the center of Wilhelmshaven, the city itself and the navy are closely linked through their common origins. The founding document of this church from 1869 is also the document in which King Wilhelm I , the future emperor, gave the young Prussian city its name. On June 17, 1869, the king himself laid the foundation stone of this first garrison church , which he had built for the Protestant soldiers.
The building was designed by Friedrich Adler and inaugurated at Pentecost 1872 under the name Elisabethkirche (after Queen Elisabeth , widow of the late King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. ). The first bell was in March 1871 for peace with France . What is remarkable about the exterior of the neo-Gothic brick building is the 55-meter-high tower above the crossing (crossing of aisles and transepts). The western part of the nave could - according to the original option - have been extended by one to two bay sections to the west if necessary without great effort.
More than the original name Elisabethkirche, the name of its function had initially established itself: Naval Garrison Church. As such, it was initially available not only to Protestant but also to Catholic marines and the civil parishes of both denominations . The Protestant civil parish only got its own church on Adalbertstrasse (corner of Peterstrasse) in 1901 , the Christ Church , which was destroyed in the Second World War .
In 1889 Kaiser Wilhelm II had the first memorial plaques put up on the side walls of the nave; In the years that followed, their number increased to nine marble tablets, on which crew members of the Prussian and Imperial Navy are listed who died in armed conflicts in the colonies , but also in accidents or shipwrecks between 1856 and 1911 .
Between the world wars
After the First World War - in the 1920s - naval flags, lifebuoys and ship's coats of arms were brought inside the church. Today's coats of arms on the benches are replicas from 1959 by J. Schulz, Wilhelmshaven. This also includes the old standards of the House of Hohenzollern , the former command flags of the Navy and the steering wheel of the Kaiserjacht Hohenzollern . The first memorial for those who fell in the First World War was erected: the names of the 34,834 German navy dead were entered in a book of honor; the losses of ships and naval aircraft were recorded on a wooden board.
On May 31, 1926, the tenth anniversary of the Skagerrak Battle , the altarpiece created by the Hamburg seaman painter Hugo Schnars-Alquist was unveiled. The sea surface is interpreted as that of the Skagerrakschlacht - it became the grave of over 8,000 German and English seamen. The cross over the water as a symbol of consolation and help also determines the title of the picture: Through the cross to the light! The original altarpiece The Resurrection of Christ by Paul Stankiewicz , donated by Kaiser Wilhelm I for inauguration in 1872 , has since been on the southern gallery .
The sail on the north wall of the nave dates from the 1930s in memory of the crew of the sailing training ship Niobe , which capsized in a fall in July 1932 off the island of Fehmarn . 69 officers , cadets and men were killed. The lifebuoy with the inscription sailing training ship Niobe, the figurehead and the steering wheel in the left aisle with the inscription God with us come from this ship .
During the Second World War , in September 1942, the church was badly damaged by bombs. But by Christmas of the same year the church was poorly repaired so that services could be celebrated again.
After 1945
The makeshift condition lasted until autumn 1957, when further damage became apparent and the church had to be closed by the building authorities .
Shortly before, in June 1957, the new memorial for the German naval members who died in both world wars was inaugurated in the converted north ship . In the center of the memorial is the grave of an unknown seaman designed by Ludwig Gies (professor at the Kölner Werkschulen ) - representing all those who could not be returned to their homeland. In the window behind it by L. P. Kowalski, Berlin , the theme of the altarpiece returns in a modern form. The left side of the memorial commemorates the dead of the Navy in the First World War, the right side those of the Second World War. In the niches on both sides there are caskets with lists of names, the book in front of the right niche contains 63,686 names of missing and fallen German marines of the Second World War.
In addition, there are further memorial plaques on the side galleries for marines and naval paymasters who died in the First World War and a plaque with the names of the dead of the submarine U 18, which sank in Lübeck Bay in 1936 .
In 1956 Wilhelmshaven was again a naval garrison when the Bundeswehr was founded . In 1959, the federal government handed over the church and property to the Ev.-luth. Wilhelmshaven parish. In the same year, the church was restored on condition that it was also preserved as a traditional naval site.
The double name Christ and Garrison Church comes from this time . Because the church should also take up the tradition of the destroyed Christ Church. As a sign of this, the image of Christ carved in stone from that church was placed over the main entrance and the certificate of the laying of the foundation stone was now sunk in the chancel of this church. In addition, their memorial plaques for those who died were also adopted.
On December 20, 1959, the 4th Sunday in Advent, the church was consecrated again. Since then the church officially bears the double name Christ and Garrison Church. The three colorful choir windows that the Wilhelmshaven artist Ivar O. Lim created in 1959 and 1960 refer to the name Christ Church . The windows depict the life story of Jesus Christ , from the adoration of the wise men from the Orient to the crucifixion and resurrection to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on his disciples.
The organ was also built in 1959/60 by Alfred Führer , Wilhelmshaven, and renovated by Detlef Kleuker , Bielefeld , in 1981/82. It contains 32 stops in three manuals and a pedal , a mechanical performance and an electrical stop action.
Two elements of the divine service date from the 1990s: the candlestick in the shape of a globe for prayer and silent remembrance and the green baptismal tree, on which the pictures of the baptized for a year are collected in memory.
From July 2010 to December 2011 the church was completely renovated. In particular, the outer shell of the church was checked and numerous joints and shaped stones were renewed. The gable of the church was re-covered with copper and the entire choir area was re-covered with slate. A new energy-saving heating system was installed inside, so that the old heating ducts in front of the walls were no longer necessary and the now indirectly heated bench seats could be placed closer to the walls. As a result of this measure, the central aisle could be widened significantly. Furthermore, the lighting and the sound system of the church were technically modernized. The chancel was redesigned and the walls and ceilings of the church were cleaned and repainted. On the 3rd Advent 2011, the parish moved back into its church with great sympathy from the Wilhelmshaven population.
Timeline of the Christ and Garrison Church and its parish
(as well as the former Christ Church, the city of Wilhelmshaven and according to Prussian data)
- until 1858 King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia
- July 20, 1853 Signing of the Jade Treaty for the acquisition of approx. 310 hectares of land (between Prussia and Oldenburg )
- November 23, 1854 Handover of the Jade region to Prussia
- 1856–1871 under hydraulic engineering inspector Heinr. Wilh. Goeker's first port construction work
- February 2, 1861 King Wilhelm I ascended to the throne (after the death of Friedr. Wilh. IV)
- August 31, 1865 Order of the Royal. Marine Ministry to Friedrich Adler for the building of a Protestant church in the Prussian Jade region
- March 1, 1869 Foundation work for the garrison church begins
- May 27, 1869 Issuance of the Wilhelmshaven founding document by King Wilhelm I. and v. Roon
- June 17, 1869 Foundation stone laid for the garrison church by King Wilhelm I.
- Nov. 1870 The screw frigate "Elizabeth" is running as the first ship in the new harbor a
- March 1871 First bells for the peace celebration from the tower of the new church
- October 18, 1871 Proclamation of the German Empire in Versailles
- May 19, 1872 Pentecost: Inauguration as a Protestant garrison church with the name "Elisabethkirche"
- 1872–1882 Erich Langheld first (naval) pastor at the church
- 1873 Wilhelmshaven is expanded by another 109 hectares (up to Grenzstraße), becomes subordinate to the civil administrations of Landdrostei Aurich and the Wittmund office and receives city rights . (Wilhelmshaven was previously subordinate to the Admiralty Commisariat in Oldenburg, which has now been dissolved)
- 1879 The Belfort, Metz and Sedan settlements become an independent municipality of Bant
- 1882 Foundation of the “civil” Evangelical Lutheran parish in Wilhelmshaven
- 1882–1928 Christian Jahn's first pastor of the civil parish (inauguration on December 3, 1882)
- July 19, 1883 First “civil” service in the garrison church
- December 14, 1883 First Church Board election of the "civil" parish Wilhelmshaven
- January 1, 1886 The civil parish joins the ev.-luth. Regional Church of Hanover (according to Church Law of October 28, 1885)
- May 28, 1886 First Holy Mass for the Catholic soldiers of the naval garrison
- March 9, 1888 Death of Wilhelm I. Accession to the throne by Friedrich III (already terminally ill)
- June 15, 1888 death of Friedrich III. The eldest son Wilhelm II ascends the throne
- 1889 First memorial plaques on the side walls of the garrison church (originally made of wood)
- Nov. 1892 First church visitation of the young civil parish
- 1892 Wilhelmshaven receives its town hall on the corner of Gökerstrasse and Rheinstrasse
- 19 September 1895 instruction of 200,000 Mk for the construction of a church for the civil parish by Kaiser Wilhelm II.
- June 7, 1898 Laying of the foundation stone for the "civil" Christ Church (corner of Peterstrasse and Adalbertstrasse)
- around 1900 the (Prussian) Wilhelmshaven has approx. 17,400 inhabitants (additional approx. 27,600 from Bant, Neuende and Heppens, altogether 45,000)
- March 24, 1901 10:00 a.m .: Inauguration of the Christ Church (on Judica Sunday)
- May 1, 1911 Bant, Heppens and Neuende become the town of Rüstringen
- 1914 The “civil” Christ Church temporarily becomes a mass quarter
- September 14, 1915 Friedrich A. Ronneberger becomes a garrison pastor
- July 18, 1917 Start of the expansion of the two large bells from the Christ Church
- 1918 Population in both Jade cities (excluding the military): 82,000 (Wilhelmshaven 24,000 and Rüstringen 58,000; the shipyard alone employs around 20,000 workers)
- April 12, 1925 Inauguration of the new bells in the garrison church
- May 31, 1926 Unveiling of the altarpiece by Hugo Schnars-Alquist in the garrison church
- May 9, 1927 Visit of the Reich President von Hindenburg to the city and the garrison church
- on?.?. 1933 Visit by Hitler in town and church
- August 5, 1934 Inauguration of the "Niobe" memorial in the garrison church
- April 1, 1937 Wilhelmshaven and Rüstringen are merged to form the Oldenburg town of Wilhelmshaven
- 1938 Wilhelmshaven is a big city
- 1940 Wilhelmshaven has reached its peak with approx. 133,000 inhabitants
- from 1941 the "civil" Christ Church destroyed by several bomb attacks, it is no longer used * from ... (?)
- 14./15. September 1942 The garrison church was seriously damaged by bombs; then provisional restoration
- from December 23, 1942 The garrison church is used again; Wilhelmshaven suffered a total of 102 air raids with approx. 11,000 high explosive bombs and approx. 73,000 incendiary bombs in the Second World War ; approx. 50% of the urban area were destroyed
- 1946 Wilhelmshaven is in the country Lower Saxony incorporated
- April 1955 Chancellor Konrad Adenauer visits the garrison church
- June 2, 1957 Inauguration of the Naval Memorial in the Garrison Church
- 3rd Advent 1957 Closure of the garrison church due to danger of collapse
- 1958/1959 Thorough restoration of the church
- April 23, 1959 Acquisition of the garrison church from the federal government by the parish
- July 18, 1959 Two sleeves with documents are walled up in the chancel
- November 17, 1959 Re-inauguration with the double name "Christ and Garrison Church" by Regional Bishop Jacobi
- April 1, 1960 Agreement on the joint use of the church for purposes of military chaplaincy
- December 24, 1960 Inauguration of the new organ (by Alfred Führer)
- 8./9 (?). August 1965 Federal Chancellor Erhard visits (including laying a wreath at the memorial)
- May 19, 1972 8 p.m .: Festival service for the 100th parish fair
- October 23, 1973 Theft of flags and the crucifix from the altar of the garrison church
- December 24, 1977 Storm damage to the roof of the church
- November 13, 1979 Organ repairs (in the church) by Kleuker
- December 21, 1980 laying of the foundation stone for the parish hall on the church square
- April 22, 1981 Topping-out ceremony for the parish hall on Kirchplatz
- October 3rd, 1981 Inauguration of the new parish hall on Kirchplatz
- 1982 Renewal of the organ and expansion from 29 to 32 registers by Kleuker
- 1982 interior renovation of the church (wall painting and chancel)
- November 12, 1986 Arson in the church and destruction of the altarpiece
- 1989 renovation of the church tower
- 1998 renovation of the bell cage
- 1999 Restoration of the choir windows, renewal of the tower clock hands, repainting of the choir room
- May 2000 redesign of the south aisle
- July 2010 to December 2011 Fundamental renovation of the church
See also
literature
- Hans-Bernd Rödiger, Waldemar Reinhardt: Frisian Churches - Rüstringen, Friesische Wehde, Butjadingen, Stedingen and City of Wilhelmshaven , Volume 4. Verlag CL Mettcker & Söhne, Jever 1982, p. 21 ff.
- Robert Noah, Martin Stromann: God's houses in Friesland and Wilhelmshaven. Verlag Soltau-Kurier-Norden, Norden 1991, ISBN 978-3-922365-95-2 , p. 118 ff.
- Martin Stolzenau: Star architect commissioned with the design . In: Heimat am Meer , supplement to Wilhelmshavener Zeitung , No. 13/2019, from June 22, 2019, p. 52.
Web links
- Internet presence of the ev.-luth. Wilhelmshaven parish , accessed on September 7, 2018.
- Full bell of the Christ and Garrison Church Wilhelmshaven, accessed on September 7, 2018.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christ and Garrison Church, freshly renovated and reopened from 3rd Advent , accessed on December 25, 2011
- ↑ Christ News : A Great Day in Church History , accessed December 25, 2011
Coordinates: 53 ° 31 '2.93 " N , 8 ° 7' 15.78" E