Cobstadt Church

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Cobstadt church from the southwest, June 2017

The Church of Cobstädt is the evangelical local church. Unlike the churches in the area, it has no name . The church belongs to the parish association seamounts in the church district Gotha of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany .

history

It emerged from a chapel that was expanded and converted into a church after the Reformation . Beck writes that it was not known to whom the church was dedicated. However, this does not mean that the chapel / church does not also have a name, e.g. B. had a saint. The keystone of the arched door on the east side shows the carved year 1653. A post stone set upside down on the same door bears the year 1568 and probably comes from the previous chapel. In addition, the letters CS are incised under the year (upside down: above the number), an interpretation is currently not available, it may be the initials of a bricklayer, the builder or architect of the chapel.

The first Protestant service was held by a pastor Andreas Wiegand in 1540, that is, in the previous church. The priests lived in the houses around the church, which were burned down by angry peasants during the Peasants' War in 1525. The cited source contains a list of 21 pastors who headed the parish between 1540 and 1856. The parish salary was paid: 42 Rthlr. (Reichstaler) in cash, 181 Rthlr. Real estate income, 43 Rthlr. Wood, 13 Rthlr. Fruits, 6 Rthlr. Accidents, 30 Rthlr. Flat. The church property was 5195 Rthlr., Of which 1800 Rthlr. Property value.

Current

After the church tower, previously owned by the community, was acquired by the parish association, some repair work was carried out in July and August 2017: B. a restoration of the lamellas in a sound arcade , repair of the clockwork with renewal of the dial, cleaning, front opening and rear closure of the owl hatch . On August 19, 2017, the church was thoroughly cleaned with the clearing of the tower room, the restoration of the accessibility of the second gallery and various work in the bell stalls. The results were duly celebrated on September 3, 2017 in an "Open Church Door Day" with the participation of numerous guests from the village and the surrounding area.

Years

The church shows different dates in the door and window frames:

  • A brick next to the staircase on the south wall of the church bears the engraving "C" and a cross. A village chronicler interpreted this as the year "100 AD". If this is true, this would be the oldest datable and built brick in the church wall.
  • 1580 is the earliest given year. It is engraved in the keystone of the upper gallery door on the south side.
  • 1582 is carved into the lintel of a window in the south wall.
  • 1653 are the dates carved into the keystones of the gate in the east wall.
  • 1653 is also engraved in the two keystones of the lower gate on the south side.
  • 1653 is also on the keystone of the arched door in the south of the nave .
  • 1568 is a special case: This year is written on a stone in the south gate. It is walled in upside down and probably comes from the previous chapel.

It can therefore be assumed that the chapel was expanded into a church between 1568 and 1580. The mentioned first service must therefore have taken place in the previous building.

Various finds suggest that a castle or castle previously stood on the site of the church, the stones of which were later used in the construction of the church.

Nave

Church interior

The choir and nave form a rectangle of 15.8 × 7.9 m, i.e. exactly in the ratio 2: 1. The church is oriented in an east-west direction ( faces east ). This means that the altar / choir is at the east end of the church. Thus, the first light of the rising sun falls on the altar area during the early morning service. Here, in the east wall, is the large church window with the Luther rose . In 1957 the entire church roof, including the roof beams, was renewed at a cost of 16,000 marks and covered with beaver tails . After the interior had also received "a new dress", the church was consecrated on November 3, 1957 by the superintendent Pope.

Furnishing

Windows and doors indicate different times of origin. The pointed arch door inside from the nave to the tower is Gothic , so it could have been from the previous building. On the south side there are three rectangular windows and one small ogival window. This is partially covered by the staircase. Of the other three, the middle one has a late Gothic (around 1500) ornamentation of the lintel .

A round window at the top left on the east side (today bricked up and plastered) was the rest of the Romanesque predecessor building.

In 1874 the chancel was newly varnished and the font was repainted by the Gotha painter Wachsmuth. The baptismal font was given its permanent location that year, where it still stands today. Mrs. Fröbing, the wife of the innkeeper of the community tavern at the time, had the windows of the sacristy covered with white curtains, as did the stairway to the pulpit with rough, green fabric.

In 1895 the nave was embellished: all interior walls were painted with glue paint, and there were also a few other improvements. In 1896 the exterior of the nave was repaired. "The lower part, where the lime plaster had largely fallen off, was plastered with cement mixture ."

A presentation cross is attached to a wooden post near the altar . The nave houses a barrel vault from the 17th century.

  • Gothic pointed arch door to the tower room

  • Keystone of the tower room door with unexplained symbol

  • Wooden ceiling as barrel vault

  • Baptismal font / holy water bowl

  • Eastern church window with the Luther rose , symbol of Evangelical Lutheran churches

  • Organ from 1863

  • Old offering box

pulpit

The pulpit is, as usual, on the south side of the nave, on the "Epistle". The pulpit is supported by a pillar, leans against the wall, dates from the 17th century, is made of wood in the Renaissance style and has a sound cover that was renewed in 1850 . Three of the six visible sides of the pulpit basket bear the Christian symbols Christ monogram , the noun sacrum IHS and "Alpha and Omega" on their surfaces . The Greek letters X and P written on top of each other, for example ☧, are the Greek first letters of Christ. The noun sacrum consists of the first three letters of the Greek name for Jesus "Ι Η Σ Ο Υ Σ". Α and Ω, the first and the last letter of the classical Greek alphabet, are a symbol for the beginning and the end, thus for the comprehensive, for God and especially for Christ as the first and last.

The sound cover over the pulpit is attached to the lower edge of the barrel vault with two iron bars. The bottom is decorated with the image of a dove of peace , a symbol of God's peace with man and a symbol of the Holy Spirit . The sound cover has an iron mesh that is supposed to represent a crown instead of the frequently found figure of Christ.

At various points on the cladding of the staircase to the pulpit, the paint has been removed a little, which means that the painting below can be seen. Some of the benches in the church also have these characteristics.

Today the pulpit is no longer used for its original purpose, the preaching of the clergyman.

  • Pulpit with staircase and sound cover

  • Pulpit

  • Sound cover with dove of peace

  • Sound cover from above

  • Pulpit area with alpha and omega

  • Pulpit area with IHS

  • Pulpit cage area with PX

organ

The organ is part of the interior . According to the church register, a new organ was installed in 1720, for which the community paid 180 (currency unknown, probably guilders ). The same source states that the organ was repaired from the municipality's funds in 1824/25, 1828, 1847 and 1871 (?). In 1863 a new organ was purchased for 500 thalers, which is still in the church today. It has two manuals , a pedal and 12 registers . The organ builder and the number of pipes are unknown, the visible pipes have no musical function. In 1962 the organ got a new engine.

tower

The tower with a square base and a side length of 7.8 m stands on the west side of the nave. The tower was repaired in 1778. In 1887 the church, especially the tower, was extensively restored. In the records of Pastor A. Pfeiffer in the church register from 1965, it is noted that the tower roof is to be re-supplied in 1966.

Bells and tower clockwork

Bells

  • The oldest bells were from 1669 and 1657 and contained the following inscription (s):
    • The big bell from 1669: It was replaced on July 26, 1874 in the Cobstadt church.
Johannes Gualterus Pastor
Peter Ladensack Schulteis
Gerge Berlet Heim
Hanns Friedland altarist
Through God's help Hanns Severus poured me treasure in Gotha. Anno 1669
    • The little bell from 1657:
Johann Walter Pfarher [ as before ]
JB Schmid
LH Kerst
H. Meder
L. Kerst
Shop sack
L. Schilling
Gos. MM Wolfgeier in Efurt ( sic! )
1657
  • On July 29, 1894, the church received two new bells. With the help of two donor families (Schultheiß Prauße and Mrs. Emilie Altenburg), the bells were picked up free of charge from the Wandersleben train station, while a fitter arrived from Leipzig at the same time. For the celebration of the changing of bells, there was another farewell ring with the old bells. After the men's choir, led by the teacher Rohbock, had performed the Ambrosian hymn of praise, followed by the consecration prayer, the Lord's Prayer and the blessing, the two bells were ceremoniously raised on the same day. The carpenter Emil Zeitsch from Grabsleben had made the belfry. Now the pageant went to the village, only to return after an hour and a half when the bells had been hung up. Then the bells rang for the first time, first individually and then in threes, together with the old remaining bell. Although they were satisfied with the overall design of the bells, the community could not come to terms with the fact that the bells could not be struck in time due to the construction of the suspension. Therefore, in 1895, the construction of the central bell's suspension was changed. You got round instead of journal bearings. However, the desired effect was not achieved. The bells could only be rung at a very rapid pace. This deficiency was corrected in the following year, so that the bells could be rung in any quick succession. The financial outlay for the new bells was 2,200 Mk. With the procurement of the new bells, a custom that had been inactive for four years was reintroduced, the noon bells . For this, the reintroduction of the evening bells had to be dispensed with in consideration of the additional burden .
  • In 1917 two of the three bronze bells were given for war purposes.
  • In 1932, according to the bell inscription, Hugo and Ida Stichling, b. Henkel, the new little bell from the Erfurt bell foundry Kurt Wettrien.
  • In 1939 two bells were again given for war purposes, while the third, remaining, oldest bell could remain, as it had been donated by sticklebacks.
  • On December 26, 1961, two new cast steel bells were consecrated by the regional bishop Moritz Mitzenheim . Both bells were made by the Schilling and Lattermann bell foundry in Apolda . The big bell with the tone b has a weight of 530 kg and a diameter of 108 cm. The small bell rings in it, weighs 210 kg and measures 79 cm in diameter. The cost of the two bells was 2,000 DM.
  • The big bell bears the words "O country, country, country, hear the Lord's word" on the bell shoulder, as well as the year 1961 and a cross, the small one the inscription: "Do not be afraid, you little flock" and the year 1961. The third bell, in the middle of the belfry, bears the inscriptions: on the shoulder: "Peace on earth". Below: The characters PX and ΑΩ, below: "I live and die for my community".

clockwork

  • In 1875, Friedrich Kühn & Sohn from Graefenroda installed a new clockwork with heavy stone weights. Since the tower clock and the striking mechanism of the bells are operated electrically today, the historical clockwork is only of museum value.
  • In 1962 the bell was given a new bell.
  • Clockwork and bells

  • clockwork

  • clockwork

  • Weights

  • Weights

  • Pendulum slot

  • Church bell made by sticklebacks from the Kurt Wettrien foundry in Erfurt

  • Church bell with inscription: Peace on Earth. Below: The characters PX and ΑΩ, below: I live and die for my community.

  • Church bell from 1961

Others

Furthermore there are

  • a simple table altar. For this or one of his predecessors, purple clothing was purchased in 1895, the cost of which had been collected for two years. Now one had clothing in all liturgical colors .
  • an octagonal, cup-shaped, wooden baptismal font from the Renaissance , with carved angel heads attached to the shaft.
  • a Luther painting next to the pulpit. The village chronicle mentions another picture next to it in 1895. Portraying Philipp Melanchthon ; the two pictures were hung on the opposite wall that year. The picture of Melanchthon has disappeared.
  • an old offering box on the first gallery
  • a beautiful church window with a Luther rose

Listed in the sources but missing are:

graveyard

Grave slabs

Grave slab of the "Magister" on the church wall

In the churchyard, leaning against the church wall, there are seven sandstone tombstones from the mid-18th century. Two of them are quite well preserved, the inscriptions on the other five are weathered.

  • One of them is about 1.50 m high. It dates from around 1760 and shows an old man with a small head on broad shoulders, a bald head and hair that falls down to the side, shoulder-length. The forehead is wrinkled, the gaze is penetrating, the upper lip of the narrow-lipped mouth has a narrow mustache with slightly twisted ends, a narrow goatee "hangs" in the middle of the lower lip. The man is wearing over a waist-length petticoat about a long, vielknöpfigen Rock (about 25 buttons in a row) in Magister - costume . He wears a scarf that was fashionable at the time. The right hand is held in front of the chest and carries a plant, in the drooping left are a pair of gloves . Overall, the presentation is very realistic. In keeping with the zeitgeist of the 18th century, it is a realistic representation of a well-known person (e.g. a teacher, notary, etc.) whose name did not need to be mentioned on the grave slab. The figure stands in front of a back plate, which is intended as a tail arch niche , the pilaster of which is decorated with flower hangings. In front of it stand an hourglass ( hourglass ) on the left and on the right a skull , symbols for the transience of life (see hourglass and skull as symbols of transience ).
The epitaph is crowned by a bowl-shaped relief in which the words are carved: “I know that my savior lives”. Left and right at shoulder height of the man there used to be a putti carrying urns , one of which is missing today, the other is badly damaged.
  • Another grave slab shows a peasant woman with a baby in her arms, according to Lehfeldt, a motif that occurs frequently in the area. This as well as some other gravestones, whose inscriptions can no longer be recognized, probably date from the 18th century.

Morgue

At the western end of the cemetery to the south and west of the church is a morgue, which is no longer used for its original purpose. Currently (August 2017) it holds two historical bier and four wooden trestles on which two coffins can rest. In the back of the small building is a round window with lead glazing.

Grave areas

In addition to the normal grave areas, the cemetery also has a green area for anonymous burials, bounded by two low box hedges .

Rectory

The building south of the cemetery has served as the rectory since around the 18th century. A much older wall, now part of the rectory wall, was probably a part of the cemetery wall. In 1962 the power supply was switched from 110 V to 220, at the same time an electric heater was set up in the parish hall of the rectory and the stalls there were increased to 30 seats. In 1975 the parsonage was in poor condition according to the parish register and accommodated four families. In the same year it was renovated at a cost of 8,500 marks, the roof completely renewed, lighting in the wash house, ten new windows installed and "the cesspool connected to the local sewer system". In addition, the community hall and an apartment were renovated.

literature

  • August Beck: History of the Gothaic country towns, market towns and villages ..., Part I. , 1875, Gotha, pp. 84–89
  • Paul Lehfeldt: Architectural and Art Monuments of Thuringia, Volume VIII., Duchy of Saxony Coburg and Gotha , 1891, Jena, pp. 16-17

Web links

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

Remarks

  1. ↑ In the source, the church book, a sacristy near the age is mentioned, of which the author could not see anything in 2017. Perhaps it is the small anteroom in front of the stairs to the pulpit, which is still called the "sacristy" today.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Village chronicler Herbert May (†) in his Cobstadt village chronicle
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Church book Cobstädt from 1853 in the Seebergen parish
  3. ↑ August Beck: History of the Gothaischen Land
  4. ↑ Church book in the Seebergen parish office
  5. ↑ ( information ).

Coordinates: 50 ° 55 ′ 25 ″  N , 10 ° 50 ′ 8 ″  E