Christ Church (Andernach)
Today's Evangelical Christ Church Andernach is a high-Gothic , two-aisled hall church with a main nave and the right aisle with a three-bay long choir and many late-Gothic structural elements in Andernach . It was the St. Nicholas Church of the Minorite Monastery until 1802 .
history
The earliest possible date for the foundation of the monastery is given as 1226, but possibly not until 1240. It goes back to a foundation by the Counts of Virneburg (probably Ruprecht I († 1242) or his successor Heinrich von Virneburg). The monks were initially allowed to use a building of the Andernach court estate of the Counts of Virneburg. Only a wall of this remains on the south side of the church, seen from the choir on the right behind the church. It should be noted that shortly after its founding, Dietrich I von Trier, 7th abbot of the Laach monastery (1235–1247), joined the monastery after giving up the leadership of Laach. A safe date for construction activity is 1244, as indulgences were granted several days that year. In 1245 at the latest, the walls of the choir and apse were built and this area was used for services. Around 1300 at least part of the western part with today's main entrance was walled up. At the end of the 14th and 15th centuries, the church, including the choir and apse, was vaulted. In 1616 the Franciscan order replaced the Minorites, their number had dropped to four. Major repair work has been handed down for the same year and 1620. The church was destroyed in 1633, but rebuilt in 1709.
In 1802/1803 the monastery was dissolved in the course of Napoleon's secularization . The monastery and church initially served the Napoleonic army, later the Prussians as barracks, depot and horse stable. On November 30, 1854, it was given to the Protestant parish by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. With a sum of money intended for the renovation. It was then called "Evangelical City Church" and in 1855 was given its current name. The new inauguration took place on September 6, 1855 in the choir room by Pastor Albrecht Julius Schöler, the successor of Gustav Ilse, the first pastor (1850 to January 14, 1854) of the Protestant parish of Andernach, which was only independent from October 31, 1854. A side portal existed under the eighth north window until the 20th century.
To establish the military district command, most of the monastery complex was demolished by 1905. Only the northern part of the former cloister and part of the former dormitory , which is now the parish hall, have been preserved. The church was extensively restored from 1913 to 1914, as well as from 1955 to 1969 after the Second World War to repair the war damage.
- Coat of arms on the keystones in the nave
Architecture and equipment
The 50.60 m long church consists of an uneven nave and an east choir built the width of the nave. To the right of the nave is a somewhat narrower aisle . Between the nave and aisle there are slender pillars that reach up to the roof. The nave is along the road with a high over six of the ten (5 to 10) Gewölbejoche of the main vessel protracted southern sides ship , which is fully integrated in the interior of the space of the elongated vessel. While the main nave has oblong yokes, those of the aisle are square. The length of the nave is 50.60 meters, the width 14 meters, the vault height 14.60 meters. The 25-meter-high church building does not have a bell tower , instead a 15-meter-high turret between the 4th and 5th yoke that was newly erected as part of repair work from 1857–1861 . The old one with an onion roof was lost after 1794. In 1862 a neo-Gothic rood screen was installed in the second choir bay, which was removed in 1955. It is not documented whether a medieval rood screen existed before.
The church is considered one of the most important and impressive Rhenish minority churches and for centuries was the burial place of the founding family, the Middle Rhine nobility and wealthy citizens of the city, whose coats of arms are placed in the cross vaults. Remnants of a previous flat-roofed building may have been integrated. It was famous for its wall paintings, some of which were found behind plaster and paint and could be preserved.
Only a few tombstones and the frescoes with the donor's coat of arms in the vaulted caps from the time of construction have been preserved from the original furnishings of the church . The remains of a niche tomb from the 14th century, rediscovered in 1955, are now placed in a niche on the left of the choir. It is a crucifixion group with two donor figures .
- Coat of arms on the vaulted caps in the nave
organ
The installation of an organ, presumably by Stumm, was first handed down to us in 1752. In 1865 a new instrument was installed by the Weil / Neuwied company. Today's instrument goes back to the Link / Giengen company built in 1914. The instrument had 36 registers on pneumatically controlled cone chests . In 1938 it was converted to neo-baroque timbres in keeping with the spirit of the times, and in 1957 the pneumatic system was replaced by an electropneumatic one.
In 1985 the presbytery decided to replace the organ, which was classified as not worth preserving in an expert opinion, with a new building. A rethink took place in 1994 and based on new reports it was decided to restore the organ to its 1914 state. Out of 36 registers only 8 had to be made anew, the others were original or at least partially preserved. The work was carried out by the organ building company Peter in Cologne. The costs of 550,000 DM were almost without exception raised by donations.
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- Coupling: II / I, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P
- Annotation:
- (n) = new register
use
The church is one of two churches in the Protestant parish of Andernach with around 5300 parishioners. In addition to regular church services and concerts, events that are more unusual for a church, such as "Dinner in Church", take place here. The services are celebrated in the tradition of the so-called "uniate" liturgy (union agendas).
Web links
- Christian School, The Church of Challenges; On the history of today's “Christ Church” in Andernach
- Year of origin 1914, link organ in the Protestant church Andernach
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Hanna Adenauer, Josef Busley, Heinrich Neu: The art monuments of the Mayen district . In: Paul Clemen : The art monuments of the Rhineland . Vol. 17, Department II, L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1941.
- ↑ Christian School, The Church of Challenges; On the history of today's “Christ Church” in Andernach
- ↑ a b Internet presence of the Protestant parish of Andernach
- ↑ The ambitious organ project in Andernach. Retrieved September 11, 2017 .
Coordinates: 50 ° 26 ′ 22.4 " N , 7 ° 24 ′ 10.5" E