Christ Church (Borkum)
The Christ Church in Borkum is the Evangelical Lutheran place of worship on the otherwise largely Reformed East Frisian island . It was built in 1899.
history
local community
The population of Borkum was mostly evangelical reformed under the political and cultural influence of the Netherlands since the Reformation. Few Lutherans have been recorded on the island since the 16th century. Only after the spa tourism began in the 19th century did Evangelical Lutheran and Roman Catholic Christians move in. In 1860 ten Lutheran families lived on Borkum who wanted to found their own congregation. In addition, there were seasonal bathers of the Lutheran denomination .
The Evangelical Lutheran population was initially looked after by the local Reformed pastor. In 1895 A. Butenberg gave the Lutherans a building site to build a church . At a gathering of the island's Lutherans on May 7, 1897, 39 heads of families founded the Lutheran Association in Köhler's village hotel, chaired by Wilhelm Oppermann. The association celebrated its first service on October 16, 1898 in the dining room of the Hotel Eltze . The Lutheran parish of Borkums was officially registered on July 24, 1903, and the rectory was built in 1905.
In 1920 Ludwig Münchmeyer became pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran parish on Borkum. He excelled with anti-Semitic inflammatory speeches and thus promoted bath anti-Semitism - i.e. the exclusion of Jewish guests - long before 1933. He caused a nationwide sensation in the so-called " Münchmeyer Trial ", in the course of which he was forced to give up his office as pastor .
Church building
The community asked bathers and the island's population for donations to build the church. Construction began on April 24, 1899 and was completed within two and a half months. The dedication service took place on July 9, 1899. The building was built from bricks as a long, rectangular structure, with the entrance in the east and a rectangular choir in the west. The two long walls are divided by eight arched windows each, two of which are always combined in pairs. The very simple and functional historicist building was reminiscent of a tram depot in terms of design and appearance.
From 1958 the church was redesigned. This year it was initially given a westwork (east of the nave) in a moderate home style , the ground floor of which serves as an entrance hall, the first floor of which created space for an organ gallery and the upper floor of which serves as a bell tower. This conversion removed the very secular impression that the original building had. In 1961 the chancel was redesigned and got contemporary stained glass windows . In 1980 Rudolf Janke from Bovenden built an organ with 16 registers on two manuals and a pedal in a baroque atmosphere on the gallery . In 1998 the interior was again extensively renovated, and the windows of the nave were also glazed with modern stained glass windows.
Today four bronze bells from the renowned Otto bell foundry from Hemelingen / Bremen hang in the westwork. The bells were cast in 1958. They have the strike tone series g '- a' - b '- c' '. Their diameters are: 1028 mm, 915 mm, 864 mm, 770 mm. They weigh approx. 680 kg, 480 kg, 310 kg and 280 kg.
| Bell jar | I. | II | III | IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diameter in mm | 1028 | 915 | 864 | 770 |
| Weight in kg (approx.) | 680 | 480 | 410 | 280 |
| Chime | G' | a ' | b ' | c '' |
See also
literature
- Hans-Bernd Rödiger, Menno Smid : Frisian churches in Emden, Leer, Borkum, Mormerland, Uplengen, Overledingen and Reiderland , volume 3. Verlag CL Mettcker & Söhne, Jever 1980, p. 42.
- Gerhard Reinhold: Otto Glocken - Family and company history of the bell foundry dynasty Otto . Essen 2019, ISBN 978-3-00-063109-2 .
- Gerhard Reinhold: Church bells - Christian world cultural heritage, illustrated using the example of the bell founder Otto . Hemelingen / Bremen. Diss.Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, 2019, DNB access signature L-2019-333968.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Borkum parishes: Ev.-luth. Christ Congregation: History , accessed October 7, 2010
- ↑ Cuno Horkenbach: The German Empire from 1918 to today. Department: Leaders. Berlin 1931.
- ^ Janke organ , accessed on January 28, 2016.
- ^ Gerhard Reinhold: Otto bells. Family and company history of the Otto bell foundry dynasty . Self-published, Essen 2019, ISBN 978-3-00-063109-2 , p. 588, here in particular pp. 262, 263, 412, 555 .
- ↑ Gerhard Reinhold: Church bells - Christian world cultural heritage, illustrated using the example of the bell founder Otto, Hemelingen / Bremen . Nijmegen / NL 2019, p. 556, here in particular pp. 242, 243, 388, 510 , urn : nbn: nl: ui: 22-2066 / 204770 (dissertation at Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen).
Coordinates: 53 ° 35 ′ 17.5 " N , 6 ° 39 ′ 36.8" E