Ruhlsdorf village church (Teltow)

Village church in Ruhlsdorf

Tomb of Joh. Siegfried Boettger and his in-laws

East gable of the village church

The village church Ruhlsdorf is a religious building from the 13th century in the district of the same name in the town of Teltow in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district .

Architecture and history

The church was probably built towards the end of the 13th century at the eastern end of the village green on a hill next to the Gutsteich. The building is an unplastered , square stone building with a gable roof and two bat dormers , the ship of which is around 12.10 m long and around 8.40 m wide. It is fitted with a simple, gray-painted wooden ceiling, while exposed beams can be seen on a painted flat ceiling in the choir . An apse was dispensed with in favor of a simple east wall with three windows. It is noticeable that the first layer on the side of the cuboid is comparatively large. Due to the different heights of the stones, the same level is only achieved with the second layer, which is made from significantly smaller stones. The drawn-in rectangular choir measures 7.20 m × 6.40 m. The brightly plastered west tower with four sound arcades was only built around 1759, as indicated by the year "1759" on the western portal. The conclusion is made with a ball, a wind vane and a star. The entrance to the patron's box is also located in the tower . On July 21, 1783, the tower was destroyed by a lightning strike and rebuilt by the Teltow citizen Peter Eichelkraut . The flat-arched windows in the choir and in the nave are significantly larger and must therefore only be installed at a later date. Originally the windows were designed with a round arch and were significantly narrower. One of these windows is to the north of the ship and two more on the east wall. There is a cross-shaped opening in the gable. Two walled-up windows can be seen on the south side of the nave and on the side choir. There is also a round arched niche in the choir wall. In 1929 and 1930, the north extension and the vestibule with an organ gallery and a heating cellar were built. In the course of this construction work, the upper part of the tower was also completely renewed. In 1931 two consecration crosses were discovered . They are designed in red and white in the form of a disk and are located in the choir and on the southern wall of the nave. In 1984 the north porch was renovated , and in 2002 the pulpit was renovated. Two years later, damaged roof tiles were replaced. The eaves cornices were also renewed and the lightning protection modernized. In 2005 the interior as well as the benches and doors were painted in a simple light gray.

Inside there is a brick floor and a high, round choir arch between the nave and the choir. This makes it look more Romanesque , while the windows are more early Gothic . There is another round, baroque connecting arch between the tower and the nave , which is now covered with a wooden wall. The east side is equipped with a wood-paneled sacrament niche, which is accessed via an old wooden door.

Furnishing

Patronage Lodge

The altar is kept simple, the altar retable dates from the first half of the 20th century. According to the Dehio manual , the panel paintings are said to date from the early 16th century. However, the community found invoices from an artist, which suggest that the pictures were made around 1931. The pictures show Jesus Christ and the four apostles John, Paul, Jacob and Peter. The pulpit shows Jesus Christ and the four evangelists in arched fields and is dated to the year 1594 with inscriptions. The angel heads in the arched spandrels were added at a later date. It was assembled and disassembled several times in the past centuries, so that the railing and the foot are no longer original. The same applies to the decorations on the sound cover . In contrast to the still existing north gallery, the south pore no longer exists. The patronage box has been preserved for this.

The furnishings also include a pewter bowl with a diameter of around 30 cm from 1814 and two 39 cm high pewter candlesticks from 1816.

The ringing consists of two bells.

Church grounds

The graves of the von Stockheim, Böttger, Romanus and Bouvier families are well worth seeing. The latter were the owners of the property that is adjacent to the church. The tomb of Joh. Siegfried Boettger and his in-laws, the pastor Joh. Christoph Sturm and his wife Maria Elisabeth (née Lunte) dates from 1791. It's to the left of the entrance to the church. A few meters further there is a memorial to those who died in the First World War . It was built by the warrior comradeship.