Riga Cathedral

Riga Cathedral

Riga Cathedral - interior view

Riga Cathedral - Pulpit

The Riga Cathedral ( Latvian : Rīgas Doms ) is the cathedral church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Evaņģēliski Luteriskā Baznīca) and is the largest church in the Baltic States .

history

The Riga Cathedral was built at the instigation of the first Bishop of Riga , Albert von Buxthoeven . According to a document dated July 25, 1211, the authenticity of which is disputed, on the same day he laid the foundation stone for a monastery and an adjacent church. The church replaced Riga's first cathedral, a wooden structure within Riga's city walls that was destroyed in a fire in 1215. There is no record of a consecration date; In any case, in 1226 the cathedral was so far completed that a synod could take place in it, in which Wilhelm of Modena took part as papal legate . For more than 300 years the cathedral was the cathedral of the Diocese of Riga (from 1255 the Archbishopric).

The position of the archbishop in the city was decisively weakened when its citizens turned to the Reformation and Wolter von Plettenberg , the Landmeister of the Teutonic Order in Livonia, certified the Lutheran creed for the city of Riga on September 21, 1525. With the collapse of old Livonia in the Livonian War in 1561, the first Catholic Archdiocese of Riga also perished in 1563. From then on, the cathedral served the (German-speaking) Evangelical Lutheran congregation. In 1923 the Latvian state confirmed the ownership of the cathedral to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, which was constituted in 1920/1922. From 1959 to 1962 the cathedral served as a concert hall, the altar was removed and the rows of seats were aligned towards the organ.

Building history

Originally the church and monastery stood on a small elevation outside the city walls. Today they are below street level because the surrounding streets have been piled up several times to reduce the risk of flooding by the Daugava . Due to multiple renovations, the original structure of the church is barely recognizable today.

The oldest parts of the cathedral are the choir and the transept in Romanesque style. In the further construction of the nave , pointed arches were used, the pillars of which are decorated in the middle by columns with capitals . The cloister on the south side of the church also dates from the time of Bishop Albert.

The north portal (formerly the main entrance) impresses with its design from the Gothic period. Of the planned two towers, only one was built due to lack of funds, which burned down in 1547. In 1595 a new tower - partly made of wood - was built, which at 140 m was the highest church tower in Riga (the tower of St. Peter's Church was a few meters lower). The tower became dilapidated over the centuries (various wooden structures were buried). Therefore, in 1775, the Riga Council decided to replace it. In the following year, today's 90 m high tower was built in baroque style.

The original design of the church fell victim to iconoclasts of the Reformation in 1524 , the fire of 1547 did the rest. Today the interior of the church appears in Mannerist and Baroque designs.

Furnishing

Worth seeing are u. a .:

• the font from the end of the 12th century. It comes from the church in Ikšķile , the first church in what is now Latvia, and was installed in the central aisle of the main nave during the renovation of the cathedral in 2009.
• the grave of the first bishop of Livonia , Meinhard , on the left wall of the choir
• the baroque carvings on the wooden pulpit (around 1641)
• the memorial stone of the Small Guild (19th century)

A special feature of the cathedral is the bell made in Morgenröthe (Saxony) in 1926/1927 . It is the largest bell of its kind made there and weighs 8.5 tons, has a diameter of 2.50 m and a height of 3.00 m .

organ

In 1882/1883, the Walcker organ building workshop from Ludwigsburg built the present organ with mechanical action mechanisms, 6718 pipes and 124 registers on 4 manuals and pedal (op. 413). It was inaugurated on January 31, 1884 and was the largest in the world at the time. The lavish early Baroque prospect of the previous instrument, the middle section of which with the three crowning turrets and the Rückpositiv, originally created by Jakob Raab from Lübeck and completed in 1601, has been preserved. In 1733 Andreas Contius added the pedal towers and connected them to the Raab prospectus with concave pipe fields on their inside. It is the oldest organ prospectus in the Baltic and one of the oldest organ prospectuses in the world. In 1829 52 registers are said to have been built in behind it.

At the inauguration of the Walcker work, the arrangement of the chorale created for this occasion was heard from Now everyone thanks God by Franz Liszt , who, however, had not seen or played this organ at the time. In 1962, Hermann Eule Orgelbau Bautzen thoroughly repaired the organ and replaced pipes that were lost in the Second World War. For the 100th anniversary the Walcker organ was completely renewed in 1983/1984 under the guidance of the Dutch organ building company Flentrop . There is a second, separate console only for playing the IV. Manual and the expression pedal on the lower gallery, at the level of the back positive.

Walcker organ console

I Manual C – f 3 Principal 16 ′ Flauto major 16 ′ Viola di gamba0 16 ′ Octav 08th' Hollow flute 08th' Viola di gamba 08th' Double flute 08th' Gemshorn 08th' Quintatön 08th' Bourdon 08th' Dulciana 08th' Fifth 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Octav 04 ′ Gemshorn 04 ′ Gamba 04 ′ Hollow flute 04 ′ Reed flute 04 ′

(Continuation) third 3 1 ⁄ 5  ′ Fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Octav 02 ′ Super octave 01' Sesquialtera II Cornet V 08th' Mixture VI 04 ′ Scharff IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Contrabassoon 16 ′ Tuba mirabilis 08th' Trumpet harm.0 08th' Cor anglais 08th' Euphon 08th' Clairon 04 ′ Cornettino 02 ′

II Manual C – f 3 Violin principal0 16 ′ Bourdon 16 ′ Principal 08th' Fugara 08th' Pointed flute 08th' Reed flute 08th' Concert flute 08th' Darling Covered 08th' Viola di Alta 08th' Dolce 08th' Principal 04 ′ Fugara 04 ′ Salicet 04 ′ Flauto dolce 04 ′

(Continuation) Fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Super octave 02 ′ Forest flute 02 ′ third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ Sesquialtera II Cornet V 08th' Mixture V 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Aeolodicon 16 ′ Ophicleide 08th' Bassoon / oboe (*)0 08th' oboe 04 ′ (*) Tremolo

III Manual C – f 3 Salicional 16 ′ Lovely covered0 16 ′ Violin principal 08th' Viola d'amour 08th' Viennese flute 08th' Covered 08th' Salicional 08th' harmonica 08th' Bourdon d'echo 08th' Bifra 8 ′ + 4 ′ Violin principal 04 ′ Pointed flute 04 ′ Transverse flute 04 ′ Dolce 04 ′ Piccolo 02 ′ Mixture IV 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Vox humana (*) 08th' Basson 08th' Clarinet 08th' (*) Tremolo

IV Swell C – f 3 Quintatön 16 ′ Flute Principal 08th' Unda maris 08th' Melodica 08th' Flûte traversière 08th' Bourdon doux 08th' Aeolines 08th' Voix céleste 08th' Viola tremolo 08th' Piffaro 8 ′ + 2 ′ Flute Principal 04 ′ Covered flute 04 ′ Vox angelica 04 ′ Salicet 02 ′ Harmonia etheria III0 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Trumpet 08th' Physharmonica 08th'

Pedal C – d 1 Principal bass 32 ′ Octavbass 16 ′ Violon bass 16 ′ Contraviolon bass 16 ′ Sub bass 16 ′ Flute bass 16 ′ Covered bass 16 ′ Quintbass 10 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Octavbass 08th' Hollow flute bass 08th' Covered bass 08th' violoncello 08th' Third bass 6 2 ⁄ 5  ′ Octavbass 04 ′ Hollow flute 04 ′ Octav 02 ′ Sesquialtera II Mixture V 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Grand Bourdon V.0 32 ′ Bombardon 32 ′ trombone 16 ′ Trumpet 08th' Corno 04 ′

Expression pedal C – d 1 Violon 16 ′ Bourdon 16 ′ Dolce flute 08th' Violon 08th' viola 04 ′ Flautino 02 ′ Serpent 16 ′ Bassethorn 08th'

• Pair : II / I, III / I, IV / I, III / II, IV / II, I / P, II / P, III / P, IV / P, I – IV / P, P / I (last joking labeled with “noli me tangere”, “don't touch me”) .
• Note on the register "Grand Bourdon V": Consists of the existing registers open bass 16 ′, fifth bass 10 ² ⁄ ₃  ′, octave bass 8 ′, third bass 6 ² ⁄ ₅  ′, octave 4 ′
• Note on the register "Sesquialtera II" in the pedal: Consists of the existing registers fifth bass 10 ² ⁄ ₃  '' and third bass 6 ² ⁄ ₅  ''

literature

• Wilhelm Neumann : Medieval Riga. Berlin, 1892 ( digitized version )
• Wilhelm Neumann : The cathedral to St. Mary in Riga. Riga, 1912 ( digitized )

Web links

Commons : Riga Dome Cathedral  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Riga Cathedral - website of the Evangelical Lutheran Cathedral Community of Riga (English, German version no longer accessible on December 20, 2013)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bernhart Jähnig : The beginnings of the sacred topography of Riga . In: Manfred Hellmann (ed.): Studies on the beginnings of the mission in Livonia (= Constance working group for medieval history: lectures and research , special volume 37). Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1989, ISBN 3-7995-6697-X , pp. 123-158.
2. ^ Andris Kolbergs: Portrait of a city. History of Riga - Old Town . Jāņa Sēta. Riga 1998. ISBN 9984-07-113-8 . P. 102.
3. ↑ Reinhard Wittram : Baltic history. The Baltic countries of Livonia, Estonia, Courland 1180–1918. Basics and perspectives. Oldenbourg, Munich 1954. p. 61.
4. ↑ History of the ELCL , accessed December 20, 2013.
5. ↑ Reinhold Guleke : Figure panels for the Riga Cathedral . Laakmann , Dorpat 1884, p. 4: "In 1775 the high tower, which can be seen on the engraving from 1612, was removed down to the masonry because it was swaying, and it was replaced by a lower one."
6. ↑ Riga, St. Mary's Cathedral in Opus list of Walcker Company, accessed on May 8 2017th
7. ^ Jochen Könnecke: Riga . Dumont, Ostfildern 2011, p. 31.
8. ^ Baltic States , 1st edition 2005, Verlag Karl Baedeker , page 300
9. ↑ ^{a b} http://www.music.lv/organ/organs/Riga_Dom.html (translation into German with Google translator)
10. ^ The organ of Riga Dom Cathedral , accessed May 8, 2017.

Coordinates: 56 ° 56 ′ 57 ″  N , 24 ° 6 ′ 16 ″  E