Christ Church (Hanover)

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View of the south side

The Christ Church is an Evangelical Lutheran church in Hanover . It is located in the district of North city northwest of the suit market and was 1859-1864 by Conrad Wilhelm Hase as a residence Church of George V built. The neo-Gothic brick building is the first new church in Hanover after 1747 and a model church based on the Eisenacher Regulativ , a recommendation issued in 1861 for the design of Protestant church buildings that lasted until 1890. As a residential church, the Christ Church was only used once (on the day of inauguration). However, there is still contact with the former Hanoverian royal house through the patronage of Ernst August Prince of Hanover .

description

Klagesmarkt with Christ Church around 1900

The most striking architectural feature is the tower with its over 70 m high, stone pyramid, which is moved into the central nave due to the small east-west expansion of the building site. Another feature is the protruding polygonal chapel wreath on the choir and the filigree design in the roof area with a multitude of pinnacles , gargoyles and decorative gables made of sandstone from the Deister . The imposing west facade is based on the Freiburg and Strasbourg Minster . The main portal with eyelashes and rose windows is located between the buttresses that have been extended far forward .

organ

The completion of the renovation work carried out after the war was the installation of the new organ by master organ builder Hillebrand . It was inaugurated on the 4th of Advent in 1958. The slider chests -instrument has 55 registers on four manuals and pedal . The actions are mechanical.

I Rückpositiv C – g 3
Dumped 8th'
Quintad 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Reed flute 4 ′
octave 2 ′
Fifth 1 1 ⁄ 2  ′
Sharp
Rankett 16 ′
Vox humana 8th'
Clarine 4 ′
Tremulant
II Hauptwerk C – g 3
Quintad 16 ′
Principal 8th'
Capstan flute 8th'
octave 4 ′
Flute 4 ′
Fifth 3 ′
octave 2 ′
Cornett IV
Large mixture VI-VII
Mixture III
Trumpet 16 ′
Trumpet 8th'
III Oberwerk C – g 3
Principal 8th'
Reed flute 8th'
octave 4 ′
Coupling flute 4 ′
Night horn 2 ′
Nasat 3 ′
Sif flute 1 1 ⁄ 2  ′
Terzian 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
Mixture V-VI
Octave cymbal III
Dulcian 16 ′
Krummhorn 8th'
Tremulant
IV breastwork C – g 3
Dumped 8th'
Pointed flute 4 ′
Forest flute 2 ′
octave 1'
Terzian II
Sharp cymbal III
shelf 8th'
Tremulant
Pedal C – f 1
Principal 16 ′
Sub bass 16 ′
Dumped 16 ′
Octave bass 8th'
Pommer 8th'
octave 4 ′
Gemshorn 4 ′
Flat flute 2 ′
Great Mixture VI
Bass cymbal III
trombone 16 ′
Trumpet 8th'
Dulcian 8th'
zinc 4 ′
  • Pair : I / P, II / P, I / II, III / II

Peal

The ringing, consisting of three steel bells from 1920, sounds as a full bell for festivals and church services, as well as quarter-hourly single strikes for the hour-bell. The original four bronze bells of the emergency bell, which was completed in 1883, were confiscated as essential war material due to a decree of March 1, 1917 and melted down except for a small bell, which was sold to Ebersgrün in July 1921 .

Bell dates and inscriptions:

lower bell - a ° - Ø 1,988 mm - 3,399 kg
JESUS ​​CHRIST, YESTERDAY AND TODAY, AND THE SAME ALSO IN ETERNITY. IN DIFFICULT TIMES, THE SACRIFICE OF THE COMMON ANNO DOM FOUNDED ME. 1920

middle bell - c '- Ø 1,673 mm - 1,893 kg
O LAND, LAND, LAND HEAR THE LORD'S WORD!

upper bell - d '- Ø 1,490 mm - 1,374 kg
PEACE TO BE WITH YOU! THE EARLIER HANGED HERE THE BELLS AFTER THE WAR. NO MORE, PEACE TO US WITH GOD AND PEOPLE!

Foundry note on all three bells:
GEG. V. BOCHUMER ASSOCIATION I. BOCHUM 1920

history

construction

Line of sight to the Welfenschloss , the reason for the east-west orientation of the church

The construction of the church was preceded by a lengthy debate about the location. In 1858 the decision was made for a place northwest of the Klagesmarkt, where there was a partly silted up cattle pond (the "ox pump"). Georg V commissioned Conrad Wilhelm Hase and carried the costs for the building. George V had the first draft enlarged, and he also insisted that the church be designed as dignified as possible. The building was built in the east-west orientation customary at the time with the apse facing east and the tower facing west. It is therefore inclined to the litigation market. In order to emphasize the line of sight to the Welfenschloss , which was built at the same time , the street Am Judenkirchhof was originally intended to be extended westward, but this did not happen.

September 21, the birthday of the then heir to the throne, Ernst August , plays a major role in the construction of the church . The laying of the foundation stone in 1859, the topping-out ceremony in 1861 and the inauguration, which was carried out in 1864 by Consistorial Councilor Gerhard Uhlhorn , all took place on this anniversary. This date is still remembered today with recurring festive worship services. For practical reasons, however, mostly in connection with the Open Monument Day , when more visitor interest can be expected.

The sculptures on the north, south and west portal were created around 1860 by the sculptors Christian Mohr , Peter Fuchs and Edmund Renard from Cologne Cathedral .

On May 1, 1884, the church of the Apostles was founded as a subsidiary of the Christ Church, because the Christ Church was no longer sufficient for the then 30,000 parishioners.

A new parish and parish house for the Christ Church was built in 1906. Karl Börgemann realized the building opposite the west side of the church, at the confluence with the street Am Judenkirchhof . The facade is faced with red clinker bricks and decorated with green glazed shaped stones. The house has a large stepped gable towards the church forecourt and a tower-like corner structure towards the confluence of the street.

  • Entrance and tower on the west

  • inner space

  • Tower entrance

  • Karl Börgemann's parish and parish house

Destruction and rebuilding

In the course of the air raids on Hanover during the Second World War , the church, which was renovated in 1934, was severely damaged several times. The interior with the wooden church stalls burned out completely on March 25, 1945, as did the organ, organ gallery and the belfry with the three steel bells weighing more than 6 tons. The bells survived the fall from a height of over 20 m, however, almost undamaged.

With the reconstruction could begin because of the difficult post-war years until 1,951th The necessary renovation funds were raised from donations from parishioners, funds from the regional church and contributions from the newly founded church building association. On Christmas Eve 1953, a service took place again for the first time. In the same year, in 1953, the nine-storey trade union building of the German Trade Union Federation of Lower Saxony was completed as an urban counterpart at the other end of the Klagesmarkt .

Younger story

Grandstand in the interior
The opening concert of the Chortage Hannover 2015 in the Christ Church: "Sold out"

In cooperation with the Diakonisches Werk Hannover, extensive renovations took place in the tower area from 1996 onwards. As an “oasis in the tower”, the former baptistery was given a multifunctional use as a seminar, exhibition and prayer room. On the northern side, the sanitary area was modernized and a small tea kitchen was installed.

As a diaconal church , the Christ Church was part of the ecclesiastical Expo presence from June 1 to October 31, 2000 .

At the 30th German Evangelical Church Congress from May 25 to 29, 2005 in Hanover, the church celebrated unprecedented visitor records.

The church forecourt in Conrad-Wilhelm-Hase-Platz was named during the parish festival on June 17, 2007 as the preliminary completion of the external renovation and in honor of the church builder who died in 1902.

In the year of the garden region Hanover , the Christ Church presented itself from April 12th. until October 4, 2009 there are no benches, Mediterranean greenery and artistically alienated by Anne Nissen as the Garden of Eden . More than 50,000 visitors viewed the art project, for which a 32-page catalog was published.

In spring 2010 donations were collected for the necessary interior renovation.

With the redesign of the children's and youth choir center in 2013, the Christ Church again received a new interior. The old church stalls were dismantled and most of them donated to Grodno / Belarus. On the vacated space, a rehearsal room rising towards the organ was implemented as a reversible room-in-room concept. The stepped ceiling is accessible and also serves as a seating stand. The Hillebrand organ in need of repair was dismantled and stored. The vaulted ceiling was renovated and provided with new star decorations based on old templates. Floors, heating and technology were renewed. The north portal, walled up in the 1950s, was reopened. Despite the work that was not yet fully completed, the Hannover Girls Choir was able to move in as a permanent tenant in September 2014. At the same time, the Hanover International Children's and Youth Choir Center was opened with guests from the Czech Republic and Switzerland. The aim of the future here is to promote young musicians through regular workshops and concert events. In addition, the church can still be used for church services. The Hanns Lilje Foundation has been promoting cultural events as part of its cultural church initiative for several years.

Surroundings of the church

Metro station

Glazed entrance to the subway station

On the north side of the church is the octagonal, all-glass entrance building to the subway station of the same name . The trams 6 (Nordhafen – Messe / Ost) and 11 (Halthoffstrasse – Zoo) run here. At the exits there is a connection to the “Erlebnis” bus line 100/200, which connects the districts of Linden, Mitte, Oststadt, Vahrenwald and Nordstadt every ten minutes.

As is usual in Hanover, the station design takes on the structural situation of the surrounding area, whereby the station is pillar-free and has a vaulted ceiling as a special feature. The floor consists of a sandstone-colored terrazzo paving. The outer walls, like the church facade, are made of red bricks. Mirrors make the room appear larger. Street lights provide adequate lighting.

New building on Conrad-Wilhelm-Hase-Platz

The new building in autumn 2015

In 2013, planning began for a new residential and commercial building on Conrad-Wilhelm-Hase-Platz, northwest of the Christ Church. The draft sparked controversy; the planned construction was criticized by local politicians and residents as too massive. The building historian Sid Auffarth criticized the “modernist transverse gable”, which did not fit the historical axis from church to parish hall. 15 condominiums are to be accommodated in the house, a shop and a restaurant are planned for the ground floor.

literature

Tomb of an unidentified sculptor for August Friedrich von Spörcken in the Christ Church
  • Stefanie Sonnenburg, Felicitas Kröger, Wolfgang Pietsch, Claudia Probst, Peter Troche, Rolf Wießell: 1859–2009. 150 years of the Christ Church in Hanover. Akzent-Druck, Hanover 2009. Available from the Nordstädter Kirchengemeinde, An der Lutherkirche 12, 30167 Hanover.
  • Richard Greve : The Christ Church in Hanover. Records from the 50-year history of a metropolitan community. Heinrich Feesche publishing house, Hanover 1909.
  • Wilhelm Rothert : The Gothic style and the Protestant church building with a special relationship to the Christ Church in Hanover. Lecture ... at the same time a guide through the Christ Church . Meyer, Hanover 1873
  • The Apostle Church Congregation. 75 church anniversary , Hanover 1959
  • 100 years of the Apostle Church in Hanover , Hanover 1984
  • Hans Josef Böker : The portal sculptures of the Christ Church in Hanover. Additions to the work of the Cologne cathedral sculptors Christian Mohr, Peter Fuchs and Edmund Renard . In: Low German contributions to art history 24 (1985), pp. 185–200.
  • Ulfrid Müller, Horst Winkler, Dieter Schmalstieg: Securing the tower helmet of the Evangelical Lutheran. Christ Church in Hanover. In: Hans-Herbert Möller (Ed.): Restoration of cultural monuments. Examples from the preservation of monuments in Lower Saxony (= reports on preservation of monuments , supplement 2), Lower Saxony State Administration Office - Institute for Monument Preservation , Niemeyer, Hameln 1989, ISBN 3-87585-152-8 , pp. 97–114
  • Florian Hoffmann, Waldemar R. Röhrbein : Christ Church . In: Klaus Mlynek, Waldemar R. Röhrbein (eds.) U. a .: City Lexicon Hanover . From the beginning to the present. Schlütersche, Hannover 2009, ISBN 978-3-89993-662-9 , p. 112.

Web links

Commons : Christ Church  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ More information about the organ
  2. ↑ Festschrift: 150 Jahre - Christuskirchengemeinde, Kirchenvorstand (ed.), Hannover 2009, p. 177
  3. ↑ a b c d Wolfgang Neß, Ilse Rüttgerodt-Riechmann, Gerd Weiß, Marianne Zehnpfenning (eds.): Architectural monuments in Lower Saxony . Vol. 10 City of Hanover , Part 1. Friedrich Vieweg and Son, Braunschweig / Wiesbaden 1983. ISBN 3-528-06203-7 .
  4. ↑ Hans Josef Böker: The portal sculptures of the Christ Church in Hanover. Additions to the work of the Cologne cathedral sculptors Christian Mohr, Peter Fuchs and Edmund Renard . In: Low German contributions to art history 24 (1985), pp. 185–200.
  5. ↑ Helmut Knocke , Hugo Thielen : Otto-Brenner-Straße 1. In: Dirk Böttcher, Klaus Mlynek (ed.): Hannover. Art and culture lexicon. Handbook and city guide. 4th, updated and expanded edition. New edition. zu Klampen, Springe 2007, ISBN 978-3-934920-53-8 , p. 178.
  6. ↑ Juliane Kaune: A little piece of paradise. In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung , April 11, 2009, p. 17.
  7. ↑ Juliane Kaune: Paradise remains for three days. "Garden of Eden Church" ends. In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, October 2, 2009, p. 18
  8. ^ Juliane Kaune: 35,000 guests in Paradieskirche. Catalog published. In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, August 14, 2009, p. 17.
  9. ↑ Kristian Teetz: Christ Church hopes for a blessing , in Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung , March 11, 2010.
  10. ↑ a b Gable too massive for a historical ensemble? , Article on HAZ.de, published on November 27, 2013. Retrieved on October 9, 2015.
  11. ↑ Concern for a new building next to Christkuskriche , article on HAZ.de, published on April 5, 2014. Accessed on October 9, 2015.
  12. ^ New building at Christ Church splits the minds , article on HAZ.de, published on May 12, 2015. Accessed on October 9, 2015.

Coordinates: 52 ° 22 ′ 52.3 "  N , 9 ° 43 ′ 34.2"  E