Tartu Cathedral
The Tartu Cathedral ( Estonian Tartu toomkirik ) is one of the landmarks of the second largest Estonian city of Tartu (German Dorpat ). Today the building stands as an imposing ruin above the lower town. In the renovated part is the History Museum of the University of Tartu , which is also used for large receptions at the University of Tartu.
History of the cathedral
The later Toompea of Tartu on the Emajõgi River was probably one of the largest fortresses of the pagan Estonians from the earliest times. It was destroyed in 1224 by the Christian invaders of Livonia . Shortly after the conquest, the Christians began building a bishop's castle , the Castrum Tarbatae , at this strategic location. The castle was lost in a fire in 1667. The Dorpat observatory is now located there . Parts of the old ramparts of the Estonian fortress have been uncovered through archaeological excavations.
The construction of a Gothic cathedral on the north side of Toompea probably began in the second half of the 13th century. It was surrounded by a cemetery and houses for the members of the cathedral chapter . The cathedral was dedicated to the apostles Peter and Paul , the city patrons of Tartus. It was the main church of the diocese of Tartu and one of the largest sacred buildings in Eastern Europe.
The church was originally planned as a basilica and was later given the character of a hall church with the three-nave choir . In 1299 the choir and nave were already in use. Around 1470, the high choir with its columns and arches in the brick Gothic style was completed. The cathedral was completed at the end of the 15th century with the erection of the two massive and fortress-like 66 m high twin towers on the west facade. A wall separated the area of the cathedral and the bishop's castle from the Tartu lower town.
Decay of the cathedral
In the mid-1520s, the Reformation reached Tartu. On January 10, 1525, the church was badly damaged by the Reformation iconoclasts . In the following years the cathedral deteriorated more and more. After the exile of the last Catholic bishop of Tartu, Hermann II. Wesel (bishop from 1552 to 1558, † 1563), to Russia, the cathedral was finally abandoned. During the Livonian War (1558–1583), Russian troops devastated Tartu. When Tartu fell to Poland in 1582 , the new Catholic rulers initially planned to rebuild the church. However, the plans had to be abandoned by the following Polish-Swedish war (1600–1629). A fire in 1624 continued to affect the building. In 1629 Tartu became Swedish, and the new masters of the city showed little inclination to take care of the place of worship.
Under Swedish rule, the cathedral continued to decline and was only used as a burial place by the Tartu townspeople until the 18th century. In addition, it served as a haystack and storage facility. In the 1760s, the two twin towers were also trimmed to the height of the nave and converted into a shooting platform for cannons. At the same time the main portal was bricked up. In 1806 a description of the ruin was made.
University of Tartu
With the re-establishment of the University of Tartu as the German-speaking Imperial University of Dorpat by the Russian Tsar Alexander I in 1802, the Baltic German architect Johann Wilhelm Krause was commissioned to build the university library in parts of the ruins of the cathedral church. It was built as a three-storey extension between 1804 and 1807. Krause also planned the construction of an observatory in one of the towers, but this was never carried out. At the end of the 19th century, the north tower was converted into a water tower. In the 1920s the university library was expanded and a central heating system was installed.
The library was redesigned again in the 1960s. When a new, functional building for the Tartu University Library was completed in 1981, the History Museum of the University of Tartu ( Tartu Ülikooli ajaloomuuseum ) moved into the old premises . It was thoroughly rebuilt in 1985 and partially furnished with an interior from the 19th century. The museum now houses important historical exhibits on Tartu university history, scientific instruments and valuable books. The remains of the ruin with the outer walls of the choir room were structurally secured.
Toompea
The Toomemägi, which surrounds the historic cathedral church , was transformed into a quiet park in the 19th century. In addition to a café pavilion, there are numerous monuments to personalities who are connected to the scientific and literary tradition of Tartu. a. Karl Ernst von Baer (1792–1876), the most important natural scientist of Tartus, Kristjan Jaak Peterson (1801–1822), the first Estonian poet, Nikolai Pirogow (1810–1881), the great Russian medic, and Friedrich Robert Faehlmann (1798–1850 ), the initiator of the Estonian national epic Kalevipoeg . Behind the monument to Peterson is the so-called "Kussberg", which invites lovers. The Engels Bridge ( Inglisild , probably a corruption of the actual term "English Bridge"), which was built between 1814 and 1816, spans the way to the lower town . A portrait relief in the middle commemorates the first rector of the university, which was re-established in 1802, Georg Friedrich Parrot (1767–1852), and contains the inscription Otium reficit vires (“Leisure renews strength”). The Toompea is also home to the Estonian State Court of Justice , the Dorpat ( tähetorn ) observatory built in 1811 and the old anatomy of the university.
literature
- Tõnis Lukas : Tartu toomhärrad 1224–1558. Tartu 1998.
- Aili Suur: Tartu Toome Hill. Tallinn 1968.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Fall of the Castle (English) .
- ↑ Document BM10025AB ( Memento of July 7, 2002 in the Internet Archive ) ... Choir of the old cathedral ruin at Dorpat from 1806 which has now been set up as an academic library ... JW Kraause; Eduard Koerber ; the view - source: Latvian State Archives Riga, "Collection of Liefländischer Monuments ..." Volume 10, Part 1
Coordinates: 58 ° 22 ′ 48 ″ N , 26 ° 42 ′ 54 ″ E