Marienfelde village church
The village Marienfelde in Berlin district Marienfelde is the center of the central village green. It is traditionally said with Kurt Pomplun that the stone church was built "around 1220" and thus "undoubtedly the oldest of all village churches in Berlin and one of the oldest in Mittelmark ". A roof beam found in 1995 was dendrochronologically dated to 1230; However, since it was in a second use, the church can hardly have been built before 1240. Nevertheless, it is undoubtedly one of the oldest village churches in Berlin and the Mittelmark, where a village church that is definitely older is not known.
Emergence
The stone church was built around 1240 on an existing burial site, because Christian burials were found under the church (skeleton pit with glass cover in the tower hall). It can therefore be assumed that there was already a wooden church building at this location. The assertion of local homeland research (without source evidence ) that the stone church was built by the Zinna monastery building works is untenable, because art historical research has generally not been able to find any evidence for the "myth" of Cistercian building huts (cf. Problematic local history ideas about the [Berlin] village churches ).
As with other medieval buildings, the date of the start of construction and completion has not been handed down and can only be narrowed down on the basis of art-historical and archaeological findings. The dendrochronological findings on a roof beam dating from 1230 are hard to find. This justifies the assumption that the church was completed around 1231/1232. However, traces of editing on this bar indicate that it was previously used for another purpose. In such cases, dendrochronology assumes that there was more than just one or two years between the felling date (here: 1230) and the second use. Even with a date of around 1240, there is some evidence that the Marienfelde village church is older than its competitors in Karow and Biesdorf, and is therefore to be regarded as the oldest known village church in Berlin.
No evidence could be found for the assumption that other church buildings in Berlin are older (see Karow village church , supposedly the oldest church building on Barnim ; unlikely: Biesdorf village church ). Meanwhile, today's Tempelhof village church (around 1250) had a stone predecessor, which was archaeologically established on the occasion of the reconstruction of the Tempelhof village church, which was destroyed in the war. The excavators put this building, which was probably destroyed by fire in the Teltow War around 1239–1245, in the period around 1200. This suggests that the church of the Commander's Courtyard of the Knights Templar must have been older than the church in the Templar subsidiary village of Marienfelde.
The church is late Romanesque with Gothic additions (sacristy). The walls between 1.10 and 1.75 meters thick, the originally slit-like windows and the heavy doors (secured by wooden locking beams) bear witness to the protective function of the church structure. The church is also remarkable because it was started from the outset on the complete floor plan, i.e. not built component after component. It is the only complete complex in the urban area of Berlin with a west tower (which has the full width of the nave ), nave , choir and apse , which - unlike the only other comparative example of a four-part apse church in Berlin, the Mariendorf village church - extends to the transverse saddle roof of the Tower was completed continuously. Despite some later additions (sacristy, mansion, vestibule) it is still clearly recognizable in its original form. The presence of three arched portals in the tower (south, west and north) is also unique in Berlin. The small, raised windows also had round arches. With the exception of the west portal, all arched openings have been blocked; some of the traces can still be seen in the masonry. After the Reformation, larger windows were broken in to have more light for reading the newly introduced hymn books.
Further building history
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Dorfkirche.Marienfelde.P1056845.jpg/220px-Dorfkirche.Marienfelde.P1056845.jpg)
Around the middle of the 14th century, a sacristy was added to the south wall of the choir , the gable of which is decorated with pointed arches made of red bricks. Around 1400, the north side of the choir was also given an extension, which was expanded into a patronage box from 1835–1837 . The type of vault (barrel vault, compartment ceiling) changed several times. Around 1456 the church received a new tower roof and in 1595 also a new choir roof.
After the Reformation was introduced, the interior was redesigned in 1539. Choir stalls and choir screen have been removed. The wind vane , a replica of which today crowns the tower, dates from 1595 . In 1624 the altar and in 1629 the baptismal font were re-donated. The baptismal font with the eagle of the city of Cölln is still in the church today. A pulpit altar replaced the picture altar from 1624. In 1712 and 1782–1804 there were minor renovations and alterations.
Between 1920 and 1921 the church was restored and redesigned under the direction of the Marienfelde architect Bruno Möhring . The side galleries and the pulpit altar from 1835 have been removed. The organ gallery was extended into the tower and a barrel ceiling was installed. The entrance situation was newly created. The side doors were locked and a vestibule was placed in front of the original west portal. The threshold of the portal is about 60 centimeters lower than the top step of the vestibule. This means that the ground around the church has "grown up" by around 60 centimeters during the 800 years of its existence, due to broken material in the case of church fires, especially the roof structure, and excavation for the graves.
The village church survived the Second World War largely unscathed. 1953-1958 the patron's box was removed and two windows were inserted in the choir square. The remaining extension now serves as a heating cellar and disturbs the sight of the perfection of the "complete system". The art nouveau wall paintings by Bruno Möhring were removed by painting over them. The windows of the apse were redesigned with glass work on the theme of the creation story by Georg Lippmann .
As part of repairs between 1993 and 1997, archaeological investigations were carried out inside the church in 1994. 20 grave sites were uncovered, some of which date from before the church was built. A male skeleton was left where it was found in the tower entrance and can be viewed through a glass cover. Finding the post holes for the medieval scaffolding on the inside of the apse was of similar archaeological interest. A new organ has made the village church a sought-after location for organ concerts since 1994. In 1997 a new altar was erected.
Until October 1889, the churchyard around the village church was the burial place for Marienfelde. Then the new cemetery of the Protestant parish in Marienfelde north of the village meadow was inaugurated. Some tombs are still preserved in the old churchyard. The burial place of the Adolf Kiepert family is still in use after 1889 .
organ
The organ was designed by the Danish organ builder in 1994 Th. Frobenius og Sønner Orgelbyggeri A / S built. The instrument has 32 registers on three manuals and a pedal . The carillon was added in 2004.
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- Coupling : I / II, III / II; II / III; I / P, II / P, III / P
literature
- Ulrich Waack: The field stone masonry of the Marienfelde village church (Berlin). Considerations and assessments of medieval building activity. In: Yearbook for Berlin-Brandenburg Church History . 67th year, Berlin 2010, pp. 49-68.
- Hans-Werner Fabarius: Marienfelde - From the village to the district of Berlin . Parish council of the Protestant parish Marienfelde, Berlin 2001.
- Jan Feustel : Old village churches in Berlin , Quintessenz Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-8148-0089-3 .
- Marcus Cante: Churches until 1618 . In: Berlin and its buildings, part VI sacred buildings . Ernst & Sohn Verlag für Architektur, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-433-01016-1 .
- Matthias Hoffmann-Tauschwitz: Old Churches in Berlin. 33 visits to the oldest churches in the western part of the city . 2. revised Edition, Wichern-Verlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-88981-048-9 , pp. 18-23.
- Hans-Werner Fabarius: From the history of the Evangelical Church Community Berlin-Marienfelde . Parish council of the Protestant parish Marienfelde, Berlin 1984.
- Kurt Pomplun : Berlin's old village churches . 4th edition, Haude & Spenersche Verlagbuchhandlung, Berlin 1973, ISBN 3-7759-0160-4 .
- Walter C. Türck: The village churches of Berlin . Evangelische Verlagsanstalt Berlin, Berlin 1950.
Web links
- History of the village church, information about the organ and pictures on the website of the Evangelical Church Community Marienfelde
- What time is it? The church tower clock of the Marienfelde village church shows the current time.
- Entry in the Berlin State Monument List
- Romanesque routes in Berlin and Brandenburg - Marienfelde village church
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kurt Pomplun : Berlins old village churches , Berlin 1962, p. 69 f.
- ^ Ulrich Waack: The field stone masonry of the village church Marienfelde (Berlin). Considerations and assessments of medieval building activity. In: Yearbook for Berlin-Brandenburg Church History 67/2010, p. 49.
- ↑ Jens Rüffer: The Cistercians and their monasteries. Living and Building for God , Darmstadt 2008, pp. 23–26.
- ↑ Ernst Heinrich: The village church of Tempelhof. An examination of the building history. In: Der Bär von Berlin , 4, 1954, pp. 45–88.
- ↑ Compare also the entrance situation of the Berlin Marienkirche.
- ↑ More information about the organ (PDF; 66 kB)
Coordinates: 52 ° 24 ′ 44 ″ N , 13 ° 22 ′ 3 ″ E