Spremberg village church

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The Evangelical Lutheran village church of Spremberg , today the main church of the two churches in the city of Neusalza-Spremberg , belongs to the Ephorie Löbau-Zittau of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony , like the Trinity Church in Neusalza .

View over the Spree to the Spremberger Church

The foundation of the village and probably the first (wooden) church building

The larger of the two churches of the city, which was only united in 1920, once the church of the Spremberg village community , is much older than the former "Exulantenkirche" Neusalza . The beginnings of the Spremberg Church go back to the 13th century. The village settlement of Spremberg was created in the course of the feudal German settlement in the east, when it was cleared as a forest hoof village by colonists from Franconia and Thuringia on both sides of the upper reaches of the Spree . Hertwicus de Sprewemberch , who was documented in 1242, is regarded as the settler or locator of Spremberg . One can only speculate about a previous sacred historical building. It can be assumed that it was built between the years 1230 and 1270. It could have been a simple half-timbered building made of wood and clay, which was covered with the usual thatched roof, since the Franconian and Thuringian settlers also used this architectural style in their new home - the Oberlausitzer Bergland . In any case, the new German settlers thought strategically and built their church in a central location on the plateau of the steeply sloping hill on three sides to the Spree and later so-called Kirchberg . The hill (341 m) was at the same time a bastion for them - a place of refuge in times of war. The first church made of field stones was later built at the same location.

In any case, the Spremberg Church already existed before 1271. In that year there was a scandal between the Margraves of Brandenburg as the new rulers of Upper Lusatia and the Diocese of Meißen , including six imperially privileged estates or villages in the region concerned Beiersdorf , Cunewalde , Spremberg and Friedersdorf , owned as monastery estates. As a result, the diocese also exercised land rule there through monastery officials. The cause of the differences lay in the execution of the jurisdiction , which the bailiffs of both feudal powers, the secular and the spiritual, pursued and interpreted in their own way. The consequence was legal overlap. In order to put pressure on the rulership of the Brandenburg margraves, "... the Meißner Bishop Withego I [1266–1293] had therefore suspended the service in these places." The dispute between the two authorities was resolved a little later by sworn arbitrators through a settlement on 21. January 1272 in Bautzen and the suspension of worship in the villages concerned lifted. There are no traces of the historical predecessor of the Spremberg Church.

The second (stone) church building and its fate until 1430

“But as early as the 14th century, between 1300 and 1400, the nave of the old church, which was demolished in 1901 , was probably built, because the thick stone walls suggest it is so old. The masonry was grouted with clay mortar and the irregular windows were probably only broken through later. ”Glass for the church windows was only available later. The massive construction made of field stones could certainly have been a kind of fortified church into which the Spremberg villagers could retreat in case of danger. An early Gothic, pointed arched sandstone gate that frames the portal at the western entrance on the south side of the current church is considered a relic from that time. The gate, decorated with simple but elegant lines and small rosettes, was reused, like the other two, in the new building in 1901/02. The historic stone church was a small rectangular building in terms of its floor plan , had no apse , but already a sacristy and only a wooden tower , called "Seigertum", with two bells, the location of which is still unknown to this day. The place Spremberg and its church must have had a certain regional importance at that time - in Catholic times. According to a register of the diocese of Meißen from 1346, the Spremberger church had a bishop's tenth of 8 marks, while the neighboring parishes of Oppach were charged with 4, Taubenheim and Dürrhennersdorf with 2 each, Ebersbach with 1.5 and Schönbach only with 1 mark were. In addition to the Saxon Spremberg ( Amt Stolpen ), Fugau (today wüst) and Königswalde in Northern Bohemia as well as Friedersdorf in Lausitz belonged to the Spremberg parish (Parochie), so that the municipalities were legally in three different countries.

During the Hussite Wars (1419-1437), of Bohemia from the Oberlausitz as bohemian side land covered, even Spremberg was probably struck in connection with the Hussite attacks on Bautzen in the years 1429 and 1431 and its then important church to its foundation walls burned down. The occasion for this was apparently provided by the secular and spiritual village authorities at that time, represented in the person of the Spremberg landlord Sigmund von Raussendorf (Rawsendorff) and his brother, the pastor Friedrich von Raussendorf . He is the first documented pastor of the Spremberg parish. As Catholics loyal to the Emperor and Pope, they emerged as irreconcilable opponents of the Hussite popular movement and also made pacts for the sake of their advantage with the northern Bohemian robber baron Mixi Panzer (Mikusch) von Smoyn, who was plundering the area between Bautzen and Löbau and feuding with both of the six cities lay. The burnt-out church in the village must have been rebuilt in 1432. "An inscription 'Anno 1432', which, according to credible evidence, was affixed to a window arch of the old church, which was demolished in 1901, suggests that the church, which was destroyed by the Hussites , was restored that year."

With Luther's posting of the theses in Wittenberg in 1517 and the ensuing Reformation in Germany, a fundamental ecclesiastical and social change took place. Protestant Lutheran doctrine spread rapidly. With the transition of Spremberg to the Protestant electorate of Saxony in 1559, the Reformation was introduced in the Spremberg parish by the lordly representative Hennigke von Raussendorf on May 1st of the same year. With David Styrius, a native of Silesia, who studied in Leipzig and received his ordination in Wittenberg , the Spremberg parish received its first Protestant pastor, who he presided over from 1555 to 1559.

Extensions and conversions from the 16th to 19th centuries

In the second half of the 16th century a major renovation must have taken place, of which two gates in the Renaissance style from around 1600 are reminiscent. The larger one is on the north side of today's church, the smaller one on the south-eastern stair tower . In 1657, nine years after the Peace of Westphalia , the massive tower that still exists today was built on the northeast corner of the nave by the old sacristy . On the contractual basis of the manors of Upper and Lower Premberg and church patrons, Gotthard von Bündemann and Wolf-Ulrich von Raußendorf, and pastor Andreas Meyer, who worked in Spremberg from 1650 to 1679, built master mason Christoff Michel from the north Bohemian Königswalde, today a district of City of Schluckenau , with helpers the new tower for 50 thalers "... 6 cubits [= 3.39 m] above the previous church wall". At that time, the construction of a new nave gable also proved to be urgently needed. The wood (35 tree trunks) and 2,000 bricks required for the new building were bought for a total of 12 thalers in Löbau.

Historical view of Spremberg

As the new tower turned out to be too low, one year later (1658) the manor and parish signed the master mason George Paul from the neighboring town of Ebersbach / Sa. to raise the tower another 6 cubits. The master carpenter Simon Bischoff from Kunnersdorf / OL, however, received the order for 60 thalers to build the wooden superstructure of the tower analogous to the tower of the church in Oberoderwitz and at the same time to prepare a bell cage for three bells. The copper tower button was made for nine thalers in Löbau. The Spremberger village blacksmith delivered the iron flagpole for five talers. The previous two bells were placed in the clapboard-covered tower. The old “Seigerturm”, on the other hand, was repaired, repainted and the button and the flagpole with weathercock put back on. Thus the Spremberg church temporarily had two towers. The existing old clock , which turned out to be a very inaccurate timepiece, had to undergo costly repairs almost every year. At that time there was also a sundial .

In the meantime, the Spremberg church had become dilapidated despite many repairs, and on the other hand it no longer corresponded to the increased number of churchgoers. So, in the second half of the 17th century, it was decided to completely rebuild and expand. For this purpose, the Bautzen master builder Martin Pötzsch was won over, who after preliminary work in 1664, added the apse on the east side, which still exists today, in 1665 and 1666 . With the addition of the stylish apse (choir) - a neat pointed arched vault with rich decorations and the slogans " Gloria in excelsis Deo " and "Jesus, God's word stays forever" - the volume of the church increased by a third. The year 1666 stands out above the triumphal arch . “Inside [the church], the three-sided closed choir created by… Martin Pötzsch in 1666 can be considered a special treasure. Its vault is decorated on ridges and ribbons as well as on the fields with wreaths, grapes, rosettes, angel and lion heads. ”The entire building cost around 1,200 thalers. The two small, neat towers with pointed dome-shaped ends, which are located on the north-east and south-east corner of the apse, were probably built at that time. In any case, they were already there when the new building was built in 1901/02 and until recently they served as stairways - inside with spiral staircases - to the galleries. Today the covered stairs on both long sides of the nave form the ascent to the galleries.

In the run-up to the construction work, the bricks had to be transported from Rumburg , Neugersdorf and Schirgiswalde , as there were kilns there. The lime even came from Ostritz near Görlitz and from Nechern near Weißenberg . The transport work was mostly carried out by the Spremberg farmers with their horse-drawn vehicles. During this time, carpentry and carpentry work began at the same time for the installation of galleries and the further finishing and paneling of the ceilings in the nave, so that the new building was only completed in the following years. In the 235 years from 1666 to 1901, hardly anything changed in the external appearance of the Spremberg Church. In 1685 the old and smaller Seiger tower made of wood was demolished, in 1701 a new sacristy was built on the south wall of the Spremberg Church and the church tower was covered with clapboards. Since the church roof required constant repairs, it was re-roofed with slate between 1718 and 1722 . The roofing material had to be brought from Weesenstein in Saxon Switzerland .

In the middle of the 18th century, the growing number of parishioners required the installation of new church stalls (1782/83) and “Porkirchen” or galleries , including the so-called “Junggesellen-Porkirche” and the “Fugauer Porkirche”. The latter reminded of the former Protestant churchgoers from the neighboring Catholic-Bohemian border village Fugau . At that time, the lordly box of the Niederfriedersdorf manor owners of Oppell, in white and gold, was installed . The neat five-part wooden prayer room is located next to the choir at the level of the first gallery on the south side. Opposite it stands out the younger box built in 1901 on the north side in the tower of the last Spremberg manor of warriors.

In 1738 - probably during a storm - the button and flag fell from the spire onto the church roof, damaging it considerably. The repair work was carried out by master roofer Gottfried Richter from Königstein . The roof repair took seven weeks. In 1801, the button and the weather vane from 1792 had to be renewed and were given new gilding in 1863. Both were struck by lightning in 1891 and required further repairs.

In those "repair times", precisely on the night of January 22nd to 23rd, 1854, vandalism struck the Spremberg church. The burglars, who apparently couldn't find what they were looking for, tore off the altar and pulpit clothing, cut them up and stained them, including the small pewter baptismal font. The criminal case remained unsolved. The Spremberg community youth took care of the repair and replacement of the damage.

From the new building in 1901/02 to today

In the second half of the 19th century efforts began for a radical renovation of the Spremberg Church, which on January 25, 1866 - in the year of the Prussian-German War - led to the establishment of a "church building association". However, the donations required for this initially dried up as a result of the political changes in small-state fragmented Germany and the establishment of the German Empire in 1871. But in 1883 there was talk of new collections by the Spremberg church council. A renovation of the church planned for 1884 did not materialize, but the visitation in 1897 gave a new impetus. At first they only thought of a conversion. However, one year later, on August 29, 1898, the responsible church bodies finally decided after many deliberations in favor of a new building. Fritz Reuter from Dresden became the architect and Johann Ernst Fabian from Ebersbach / Sa. Committed. On Easter Monday, April 8, 1901, the last service took place in the old church. The nave was demolished the following day. The church tower, apse and the two tower-like staircases to the galleries remained unchanged and were integrated into the new nave as the construction work continued, as were the aforementioned historical arches from the 14th (Gothic) and 16th century (Renaissance).

The apse, the stair tower and the church tower were preserved, the nave was renewed.

The two tower-like staircases act as a link between the nave and the apse in the building ensemble. The pointed roof of the semicircular apse was not connected to the church roof. As a result, the east gable of the nave appears as an isosceles triangle. The colorful church windows were made by the Richard Schlein company in Zittau . At the same time, the new church was equipped with a low-pressure steam heater from the Körting brothers in Dresden .

The monuments on the old nave were given a new place on the southern cemetery wall. The rapid construction work made it possible for the topping-out ceremony to take place on July 6, 1901. After a further eight months, on March 9, 1902, the new Spremberg church was inaugurated. The new building cost a total of 72,848 marks.

A contemporary witness, the parish priest Franz Ferdinand Rietzsch, who worked from 1904 to 1935, commented on the interior design: “The church makes a very good atmospheric impression on the visitor. If you enter through the main entrance on the west side, the apse with its baroque ornamentation and beautiful colorful windows with depictions of the life of Jesus captivates the eye. Above the triumphal arch appears the picture of the Savior, donated by the “Association for Church Art” and painted by Albert Bothe (Dresden), who preaches to the people in front of the city. To the left the box of the Spremberg rulership, adorned with the arms of the von Criegern, on the right that of the Niederfriedersdorfer rulership, with the von Oppell coat of arms. An approx. 1.5 m wide corridor runs through the longitudinal axis of the ship…. There are two galleries on either side of the nave. Opposite the apse, on the only gallery (organ gallery) there is, the magnificent organ built by Owl is presented , above whose three towers ornate gilded wood carvings, with which the organ of the old church was adorned in 1701. The ceiling of the nave shows the emblems of the four evangelists, wrapped in rose tendrils. "

“When the Spree Bridge was blown up in 1945, the Second World War also left its mark on the (Spremberger) Church. A large part of the church windows broke, and from then on the church roof had to be repaired again and again. ”In addition, the passage of time had severely damaged the masonry and the slate covering or hangings on the church tower. A repair of the damage, which was to take place in 1954, was not carried out due to the lack of the necessary scaffolding. On the occasion of the apse built three hundred years ago (1666), it was restored in 1966. In the same year a partition was installed under the organ gallery. A rafter that slumbered for ten years in the side aisle of the church, which was necessary for the stability of the upper part of the tower, was finally used on the west side of the tower when the old plans were implemented in 1974/75. A copper donation from the partner community of Neusalza-Sprembergs, the Garßen district of Celle , wood from the Putzkau church forest and the provision of the scaffolding by the Evangelical Lutheran Church Office of Saxony , as well as numerous donations and voluntary work assignments, gave the tower its current appearance in those years . One grievance that has troubled church building for ages is the recurring sponge that was mentioned as early as 1677. An extensive sponge control and renovation took place in the years 1993 to 1995, whereby the church had to be closed temporarily. In this context, however, the church heating, which failed during the Second World War, could not yet be renewed. However, in 1993, the overdue re-roofing of the church roof and a new exterior painting finally started. The old church tower clock and its dial were also repaired and modernized by equipping them with a timer for the daily chime.

While the interior architecture of the Spremberg Church according to Siegfried Seifert can be described as "moderate Art Nouveau ", its external appearance is difficult to assign to a specific architectural style. As explained, several additions, conversions and new constructions were carried out on the church building between the 15th and 20th centuries, which therefore contain elements of the respective art epochs. Thus, at the Spremberg village church, a mixed or mixed architectural style emerged in the sequence of Gothic , Renaissance , Baroque and Neoclassicism , the latter two being particularly pronounced. However, this does not affect the architecture of the church, but rather reflects a harmonious whole with special architectural attributes. “Due to its architectural beauty, structural features and its geographically high location above the Spree, the church is a much admired gem of our city. It is particularly impressive when illuminated at night. "

organ

After the major renovations in 1665/66, the Spremberg church received its first organ . Until then, a positive borrowed from Taubenheim / Spree was used . The first Spremberger organ came from Lauban , a town in six , which had to be fetched from there with two carts. An organ builder from Schluckenau , probably Georg Weindt, had made them for 93 thalers. The organ was placed in the second gallery. The instrument, which was surely outdated at the time, was already so out of tune in 1679 that the organ specialist Prätorius in Reichenbach / OL had to repair it. After 25 years it was obsolete. Therefore, the representatives of the Spremberg manor and the parish, including the pastor and multiple Magister Zacharias Steinel , signed a contract on August 16, 1691 with the organ builder Johann Rätze from Zittau . The Rätze organ, completed in 1696, cost 230 thalers. The work had ten registers in the manual . Voluntary donations made it possible to paint and decorate the organ with valuable baroque carvings, which were used on the owl organ from 1901/02.

In 1755/56 this organ received two new voices and new bellows from the Zittau specialist Gottlieb Tamitius. Eighty years later, in 1837, Friedrich Reiss from Neugersdorf added a lull register to the organ . With the demolition of the old Spremberg church in 1901, their fate was sealed. Considered a very good organ work by contemporaries, "... it has faithfully fulfilled its purpose for 200 years and has done its master builder [Johann Rätze] honor."

Organ of the Spremberg village church

With the construction of the new church at the beginning of the 20th century, a new, more splendidly equipped organ (25 stops, II manuals) moved into the Spremberg church, which was made by the Bautzen organ building company Hermann Eule and is still in use today. "Above the three towers of the organ are the artistically gilded wood carvings with which the organ in the old church was decorated as early as 1701."

At the beginning of the 1960s, the organ was cleaned and, in connection with this, the woodworm infestation was combated. Due to the aforementioned construction work in and on the church in the years after the fall of the Wall , which caused a lot of dust, a cleaning and general overhaul had to be carried out from 2005 to 2007. The cost was 42,000 euros.

Today's disposition of the organ ( Opus 91): 25 stops , 2 manuals , pedal , pocket drawer , pneumatic action .

Spremberger bells

For the new church tower in 1657, the bell cage was intended for three bells, but until 1787 the ringing consisted of only two bells. The larger bell weighed 301 kg, the smaller 162 kg. On Christmas Eve of 1746 the clapper of the larger bell broke and in 1779 it cracked itself. The Spremberger bell was cast by the electoral piece and bell caster August Sigismund Weinhold (1738–1796) in Dresden for 137 thalers. After casting, it weighed 297.5 kg. In 1787, the little bell suffered the same fate - it broke. The Spremberg parish has now commissioned Sigismund Weinhold to produce a new bell. He cast a large bell weighing 599.5 kg and a small one 150 kg. The middle bell from 1779 completed the three-part, but not entirely harmonious sounding bell. The new big bell was donated by the community of Oberfriedersdorf, which at that time was parish in Spremberg. According to his bill of November 26, 1787, the "Weinholdschen bells" cost a total of 640 thalers, whereby the cracked bell was accepted and offset with 88 thalers.

On February 19, 1849, the big bell burst at midday, whereupon the Dresden royal main item caster Johann Gotthelf Große (1808–1869) commissioned a new ringing of three bells.

1. The new big bell, adorned with God's eye or “ Eye of Providence ”, oak leaves and vine leaves, bore the following long inscription: “Praise the Lord who dwells in Zion” and: “To peace resound from the high throne, / to Peace in the choirs of prayer, / and in the consecration of the infant their tone, / and when the heart swears loyalty. / Invite the weary to peace, / to quiet rest and eternal peace. "
2. The new central bell, decorated with vine tendrils (above) and ears of corn and cornflower (below) as well as a chalice and host above, showed the following inscriptions: “Live God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” “To unity, to heartfelt associations / Gather the loving community. "
3. The little bell, decorated with sunflower tendrils and a dance of angels, showed a banner with the following text: “Holy, holy, holy is our God ...” Below were rose threads and a metaphor of the Savior with the inscription: “Enter into the joy of your Lord . "" O, learn that there is nothing here / that everything earthly passes. "

The bells, which recorded the name of the bell founder and the tone, were consecrated on September 8, 1849 by pastor Eduard Herrmann Volkmar Ficker . They sounded for the first time on Thanksgiving the following Sunday. The bronze peal (1042.5 kg, 522.5 kg, 304 kg) in E flat major (tones: E flat, g, b) was checked for voice purity by the cantor of the Dresden Kreuzkirche , Ernst Julius Otto (1804–1877) rated as good. Johann Gotthelf Großes's bill from September 8, 1849 amounted to 1,153 thalers, with 860 thalers being charged for receiving the old bells. During the First World War , the large and the middle Spremberg bell were melted down. The parish was only allowed the small bell that it sold in January 1925.

In 1922 the community was able to set a new ring of three steel bells, which the Bochum steelworks cast. The big bell (1429 kg, tone: D) - donated by the parish - bears the inscription: "In serious time", on the middle bell (1036 kg, tone: F) - carried by the local farm workers - is closed read: "Consecrated to the Lord" and on the small bell (650.5 kg, tone: G) - donated by the gentlemen of Spremberg and Nieder-Friedersdorf at the time - the following words are engraved: "Uns to bliss". In contrast to the Neusalza bronze church bells, the steel Spremberger bell survived the Second World War and is still heard today.

Monuments on the church and in the old cemetery

(According to Cornelius Gurlitt (1910), p. 549ff, Walter Heinich (1918), p. 113ff and Lutz Mohr (2011), p. 11ff)

At the church (apse)

(Order from left to right or south to north)

  • Epitaph of the pastor and multiple Magister Zacharias Steinel (1657–1710). Rectangular sandstone (83 × 180 cm) with a cornice above and below. There is a large cartridge at the top and a small one at the bottom, framed by tendrils . The longer inscription refers to the life, studies (Rostock, Leipzig) and work of the important clergyman.
  • Epitaph of Seyfrid (Siegfried) von Metzradt (1600–1660). Rectangular sandstone slab (94 × 215 cm). In the middle is the oval framed coat of arms of those of Metzradt. The inscription refers to the fact that S. von Metzradt as a landowner to upper-Spremberg influential offices of the Electoral Saxon Landkammer Council and Office captain of domination Hoyerswerda exercised.
  • Epitaph of the three women and four children of Pastor Zacharias Steinel (around 1700). Sandstone with attachment (98 × 225 cm), rectangular below. On the epitaph there are three oval cartouches adorned with tendrils, and above them two floating child angels pointing to a glory . Above the cornice is a cartouche-shaped attachment with a relief of a landscape. Rays burst out of the clouds, towards which three birds set off. On a tape and above the glory there is a very long inscription that was already barely legible by 1918. The text reminded in particular of the painful blows of fate that the deserving clergyman suffered with the early death of his three wives and several children.
  • Epitaph of Helene von Salza geb. von Uechtritz (1585–1655). Rectangular plain slab made of sandstone (90 × 177 cm). At the four corners one finds the coats of arms of the noble families von Uechtritz from the house Steinkirch, von Gersdorf from the house Olbersdorf, von Nostitz from the house Sprotkischedorf and von Braun from the house Ottendorf. The inscription indicates that she died as the widow of Herr zu Langen Oelsa, today Olszyna , cradle of Salza, at the age of 70.
  • Epitaph of Johanna Margareta von Leubnitz born. von Dallwitz (1670–1697). Rectangular sandstone slab (92 × 180 cm) with a chiseled skull on crossbones in the lower center. The oval of the inscription, framed by tendrils, is surrounded by the coats of arms of the following noble families: von Dallwitz, von Gersdorf , von Loeben , von Pilgram, von Schönberg , von Ponikau , von Tschammer and von Carlowitz . A long text in the middle reports that she was the wife of Lord von Ober-, Mittel- and Nieder-Friedersdorf, the knight Wolf Ernst von Leubnitz, and died at the age of 27 after a painful birth.
  • Epitaph of Wolf Heinrich von Leubnitz (1601–1665). Rectangular sandstone slab (91 × 185 cm). The epitaph shows a man in armor with long curly hair and a warrior's armband. The right arm is supported by a stick, the left arm is placed on a cartridge on which the helmet lies. In front of the lower leg is the coat of arms of the von Leubnitz family framed with laurel with the signum WH / v. L. recognizable. The inscription on the cartouche shows that Wolf Heinrich von Leubnitz held the office of "Commissarius" (representative, envoy) of the Margraviate of Upper Lusatia for thirty years and died at the age of 64.

Funerary monuments (selection)

on the old cemetery (Kirchberg), which existed until July 1862:

  • Gravestone of the long-distance merchant Friedrich Vogtlitz or Vognels († 1745) on the south wall of the old cemetery. The large sandstone (140 × 150 cm) was apparently the substructure of a magnificent tomb. In the middle of the stone you can find the god Mercury with a winged hat, holding a snake staff in his right hand and a tall inscription cartouche with his left. The right foot is placed on a ball of goods on which a crying child angel is sitting. Behind the whole thing is a spread cloth, which probably hung from a pyramid-shaped structure. From the inscription only the following fragment was recognizable around 1918: "... Mr. Friedrich Vogtlitz ..." According to a church bill from 1745, however, this stone was erected on the grave of Friedrich Vognels (?), A long-distance merchant from London , who was in Neusalza or Spremberg died of Schlagfluss (stroke) and was buried on May 30, 1745 in the Spremberg cemetery. This grave monument documents the lively trade relations between the city of Neusalza and the village of Spremberg with Lausitz cloths in the 18th and 19th centuries, which extended to Hamburg and even England in addition to Saxony .
  • Gravestone of Johann George Grosche (1692–1749) and his first wife Dorothea geb. Israel († 1744) in the southeast corner of the cemetery. Sandstone (100 × 170 cm). Base with corpse text cartridges, above two shield-like inscription panels. The longer text reports on the local court elder and canvas dealer JG Grosche and the happy marriages with his wives Dorothea Israel and Anna Maria Scholdt, that he had six sons and two daughters and died at the age of 57.
  • Gravestone of the pastor Magister Israel Traugott Garmann (1684–1746) and his wife Regina Elisabeth geb. Citizen († 1737) on the southern churchyard wall. Sandstone (76 × 190 cm). Rectangular plate with chipped side parts, on it two inscription ovals, above an inscription cartouche. There is a coat of arms between the ovals below. The longer inscription tells about his origins and childhood in Meißnischen , his studies in Wittenberg, that he was married twice, fathered nine children and died at the age of 53.
  • Gravestone of Caroline Friedricke Dorothea Schuchardt (1746–1759) in front of the southern cemetery wall. Sandstone (100 × 170 cm). On the front (probably formerly the back) there is a wide inscription field, rounded in semicircles at the bottom, and above it a large, superscript in the same shape. At the top on the side there is a mutilated child angel and a vase. The long inscriptions on the front and back indicate that she was the daughter of the learned and local pastor Magister Karl David Schuchardt , suffered from a serious illness and died at the age of thirteen.
  • Gravestone of pastor Johann Konrad Tietze (1730–1809) and his wife Johanna Maria geb. Lehmann († 1790). Sandstone (76 × 170 cm). Simple inscription plaque crowned by an urn. The inscription documents the life, studies, marriage and children of the Spremberg clergyman, who died at the age of 77.
  • Gravestone of Karl Gottlieb Queißer (1742–1806). Heavily weathered sandstone, square block, then crowned with an urn. From the inscription it emerged that KG Queißer, Meister und Bleicher (dyer) in Spremberg, with Mrs. Elisabeth born. Bock from Bautzen was married and died at the age of 64.

Lost monuments

Many notable testimonies to the local and church history of the village of Spremberg were lost over time, especially during the construction of the Spremberg church in 1901/02. Fortunately, these stone witnesses can still be found in literature. The following are considered to have disappeared:

  • The lordly crypt with several gravestones of the local noble family von Rodewitz, owners of manors from Spremberg and Friedersdorf in the 16th and 17th centuries, which were located inside the demolished church. The gravestones are apparently also bricked up in the foundation of the new nave. A descendant of this old line, the royal Saxon chamberlain and manor owner of Nieder-Friedersdorf, Hans Leo von Oppell , made copies of the grave inscriptions historically consciously at the time. Accordingly, the country nobles buried in Spremberg were the Friedersdorfer manor owners Christoph von Rodewitz († September 18, 1595), Caspar Heinrich von Rodewitz († July 18, 1614) and Adam von Rodewitz, whose date of death has not been recorded. The relief portraits of the deceased in knight armor with the coats of arms of the noble families von Rodewitz and von Gersdorf were on the grave slabs .
  • The manorial crypt of the Spremberg manor owners von Haugwitz and von Leubnitz, which Johann Adolf von Haugwitz had built in 1564. It seems to have been leveled during or shortly after the Second World War (1939–1945). The crypt was a simple building with a hipped roof . On the lintel arch of the door was the alliance coat of arms of the von Haugwitz and von Lützelburg . In the crypt, those noble families were buried in the 17th and 19th centuries, for example Johann Adolf von Haugwitz's second wife, a born von Lützelburg († November 23, 1664), Auguste Sophie Fredericke von Leubnitz, née von Lützelburg. von Polenz († May 30, 1843), Johann August Ludwig von Leubnitz († January 16, 1837), Christiane Charlotte von Beust b. von Carlowitz († January 9, 1848), Hans Anton August von Schlieben († October 25, 1873) and his wife Auguste Adelheid von Schlieben born. von Beust († June 3, 1900).
  • The atonement cross at Rainbauer's estate in Spremberg from 1697, which commemorates the murder of the Sorbian servant from Rascha and judicial servants in Ebersbach, Johann Jordan or Pordan. On August 24th of that year the servant was stabbed to death by the false Neu-Salza journeyman executioner Andreas Schubert on the way to the market in Neu-Salza at the farm mentioned above, probably in today's Talstrasse. The atonement cross made of sandstone, which was reported about as late as 1870/72, bore the inscription: "In memory ... (the) father had his son Johann Pordan set a sand-cross stone at his expense, the day and the year, when the deed happened, let it cut in. "

Remarks: Analogous to the Neusalzer Dreifaltigkeitskirche , the corresponding inventories for both churches, which Cornelius Gurlitt (Churches Neusalza and Spremberg, 1910), FF Rietzsch (Church Spremberg, 1910) and W. Heinich (Church Spremberg, 1918) presented, are outdated today. The current directory “ Vasa Sacra ” from 1937, which has to be compared every time a new pastor is inaugurated, is currently not available for publication.

Survey of the Spremberg village church

In contrast to the Dreifaltigkeitskirche Neusalza, no measurements of the Spremberg village church were noted in writing by previous authors. For example, Eberhard W. Winkler and Günter Hensel, friends of the Neusalza-Spremberger homeland and members of the “local history” interest group of the city, can claim that they were the first to measure the church. Your surveying work on April 16, 2013, which turned out to be far more complicated than at the Neusalza church, yielded the following results: Church tower height (up to the spire star): 28.50 m, church tower height (up to the tower ball): 26.80 m, tower base width (north side ): 6.20 m, ridge height of the nave: 16.00 m, ridge height of the porch: 13 m, width of the nave: 13.66 m, length of the nave (without chancel and apse): 25.00 m, dimensions of the church porch : 7.90 m × 2.90 m = 22.91 m², total length of the church (from the beginning of the porch to the end of the apse): 34.65 m “Perspective distortions are partially taken into account. The accuracy of a theodolite or a measuring chamber was of course not achieved. In the measurement drawing for the Spremberg church, the apse is missing because the building is built in. "

Sources and literature

  • Georg Dehio : Handbook of the German art monuments - Saxony. Munich: Deutscher Kunstverlag 1990 (contains neither floor plans nor dimensions of the Neusalza-Spremberger churches)
  • Cornelius Gurlitt : Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony. Issue 34: Official Authority Löbau. Dresden: CC Meinhold & Söhne 1910 (contains floor plans, but no dimensions of the Neusalza-Spremberger churches)
  • Walter Heinich : Spremberg. Attempt on a local history of the parish village Spremberg in the Saxon Upper Lusatia. Spremberg 1918
  • Carl Gottlob Hohlfeld: 100 years of the city of Neusalza. Historical report ... 1768. Transferred and edited by Siegfried Seifert. Neusalza-Spremberg: M. Voigt 2002
  • Gunther Leupolt : The history of the Spremberg church. In: History and stories from Neusalza-Spremberg , Volume 3. Neusalza-Spremberg: Kultur- und Heimatfreunde e. V. 2007, pp. 15-23
  • Gunther Leupolt, Siegfried Seifert u. a .: Development of the city of Neusalza-Spremberg. Historical timetable. Neusalza-Spremberg: M. Voigt 1992
  • Lutz Mohr : Hussites and robber barons in and around Spremberg. History and legend. In: History and stories from Neusalza-Spremberg , Volume 3, ed. by Gunther Leupolt. Neusalza-Spremberg: Kultur- und Heimatfreunde e. V. 2007, pp. 24-29
  • Lutz Mohr: Neusalza-Spremberg and its monuments. About bizarre natural structures and stone witnesses of local history. In: History and stories from Neusalza-Spremberg , Volume 4, ed. by Günter Hensel. Neusalza-Spremberg: Kultur- und Heimatfreunde e. V. 2011, pp. 5–28
  • Lutz Mohr: The Fugau people in conflict with church and God. A reminder of an inglorious chapter in local history. Pp. 51-58
  • Lutz Mohr: Neusalza-Spremberg - A small town in Upper Lusatia. Highlights from history and legend. Series: History and stories from Neusalza-Spremberg. Special edition No. 1/2012. Greifswald and Neusalza-Spremberg: self-published 2012
  • Ernst Seidel u. Herbert Körner (edit.): Bells of the church district Löbau in the Saxon Upper Lusatia. Löbau: Hohlfeld & Witte 1931
  • Karin Wirsing u. Angelika Hanel (text), Lothar Neumann (photos), Günter Paulik (foreword): Neusalza-Spremberg. Portrait of a small town in Upper Lusatia. Horb am Neckar: Geiger-Verlag 1999
  • Franz Ferdinand Rietzsch: Spremberg and his church. Contribution to the (new) Saxon church gallery. Handwritten concept from 1910. Edited by Siegfried Seifert. Neusalza-Spremberg / Lawalde 2001
  • Gustav Hermann Schulze : From Neusalza's past and the second secular celebration. With a foreword by Hermann Kurt Schulze. Ebersbach: RO Gnauck 1917. Photomechanical reprint. Neusalza-Spremberg: M. Voigt 1998
  • Theodor Schütze (Ed.): Between Strohmberg, Czorneboh and Kottmar (= values ​​of our homeland . Volume 24). 1st edition. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1974.

References and comments

  1. ^ Hermann Kurt Schulze (ed.): From Neusalza's prehistory and the second secular celebration by Gustav Hermann Schulze. Ebersbach: RO Gnauck 1917, p. 13.
  2. ^ Walter Heinich: Spremberg. Attempt on a local history of the parish village Spremberg in the Saxon Upper Lusatia. Spremberg u. Schirgiswalde 1918, p. 90
  3. Walter Heinich 1918, p. 92
  4. ^ Franz Ferdinand Rietzsch: Spremberg (and his church). Contribution to the (new) Saxon church gallery. Handwritten concept from 1910. Edited by Siegfried Seifert. Neusalza-Spremberg u. Lawalde 2001, p. 3
  5. See Lutz Mohr: Hussites and robber barons in and around Spremberg. History and legend. In: Gunther Leupolt (arr.): Stories and history from Neusalza-Spremberg, Volume 3. Neusalza-Spremberg: Kultur- und Heimatfreunde e. V. 2007. pp. 28f
  6. ^ Franz Ferdinand Rietzsch, p. 3. The first nave therefore existed for over five hundred years.
  7. a b Walter Heinich, p. 82
  8. Between Strohmberg, Czorneboh and Kottmar (= values ​​of our homeland . Volume 24). 1st edition. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1974, p. 146.
  9. Cf. Lutz Mohr: The Fugauer in conflict with church and God. A reminder of an inglorious chapter in local history. In: Günter Hensel (Ed.): History and stories from Neusalza-Spremberg, Volume 4, Kultur- und Heimatfreunde Neusalza-Spremberg e. V. 2011, p. 51ff
  10. Cf. Cornelius Gurlitt: Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony. Issue 34: Official Authority Löbau. Dresden: CC Meinhold & Sons 1910, p. 545f. (His work contains floor plans of the Spremberg Church, but no dimensions), cf. also Walter Heinich, p. 101
  11. ^ Franz Ferdinand Rietzsch, p. 7ff
  12. Cf. Walter Heinich, p. 96. Unfortunately, no dimensions of the Spremberg church were found anywhere
  13. ^ Franz Ferdinand Rietzsch, p. 8 f.
  14. Gunther Leupolt: The history of the Spremberg church. In: History and stories from Neusalza-Spremberg, Volume 3, Neusalza-Spremberg: Kultur- und Heimatfreunde e. V. 2007, p. 22
  15. a b c Gunther Leupolt, 2007, p. 23
  16. a b According to the cantor i. R. Siegfried Seifert, Neusalza-Spremberg, now Lawalde, from January 31, 2013 to Lutz Mohr.
  17. a b Walter Heinich, p. 97
  18. Walter Heinich, p. 96
  19. ^ Klaus Theodor Henke: Church building and sacred art in Upper Lusatia. Spitzkunnersdorf: Oberlausitzer Verlag Frank Nürnberger 2011, Kirchenort Neusalza-Spremberg, p. 78 (75-78).
  20. a b c cf. Ernst Seidel u. Herbert Körner: Bell customer of the church district Löbau in the Saxon Upper Lusatia. Löbau: Hohlfeld & Witte 1931, p. 23
  21. a b Walter Heinich, p. 113f.
  22. ^ Lutz Mohr: Neusalza-Spremberg. A small town in Upper Lusatia. History and legend. (Jubilee publication [1242–2012]). Greifswald u. Neusalza-Spremberg 2012. Chapter: The Neu-Salza executioners - a Pitaval from Upper Lusatia , pp. 49–58. Special edition No. 1/2012 of the series: History and stories from Neusalza-Spremberg.
  23. ^ Message from the surveyor to Lutz Mohr, April 19, 2013

Web links

Commons : Dorfkirche Spremberg  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 51 ° 2 '18.4 "  N , 14 ° 32' 7.2"  E