Dreifaltigkeitskirche (Finsterbergen)

church

View to the altar

The Dreifaltigkeitskirche is the parish church of Finsterbergen in Thuringia.

history

In 1632 a plan to build a church failed because of the Thirty Years War . After the foundation of a building plot by the citizen Hans Faulstich in 1661, a small half-timbered church was built in 1662, which was inaugurated on October 26, 1662 in the presence of Duke Ernst the Pious . The church tower was built in 1683. In 1728 the foundation stone was laid for a larger stone church, which was consecrated as a church on Sunday, June 25, 1730. This carefully chosen date relates to the 200 year old Augsburg Confession of Saturday, June 25th 1530. The organ has been enlarged and improved. Renovations and restorations took place in the years 1839 and 1968 (church roof) and 1974 to 1976 (interior). Now the interior shone in full splendor.

Furnishing

Sanctuary

Two ceiling paintings, detail: birth and resurrection of Christ

Baptismal font

organ

Tower door

Behind the pulpit altar from the middle of the 18th century under the picture of the Trinity , a painting depicts an open curtain. The opening represents the way into the Holy of Holies . The church council chairs in the chancel were removed at the beginning of the 20th century. On Taufbaum on the left chancel wall, the baptized are noted.

The four fields of the ceiling painting by the court painter Conrad Dörffling on the baroque barrel vault represent the main Christian festivals: Christmas (birth of Jesus), Easter (resurrection of Jesus), Ascension and Pentecost (festival of the Holy Spirit). The ceiling painting is flanked by a pink frieze . On the two long sides of the ceiling is the Gotha coat of arms, on the sides of the four paintings there are four pairs of angels with Adam in paradise, eating from the tree of knowledge , the expulsion from paradise and Cain's fratricide. In the middle of the ceiling hangs a multi-armed chandelier in the shape of a Flemish crown .

Originally the galleries were reserved for men, while women sat in the nave, supposedly to prevent indecent thoughts or fights. The gallery to the left of the altar belonged to the ducal forester, as Finsterbergen did not have its own noble family. His forester's house was opposite the church, and the path led from his front door straight through the tower door into the church.

The baptismal font is made of wood.

After the church fell into disrepair from the beginning to the middle of the 20th century, the church roof was restored in 1974, the rest of the church from 1974 to 1976. The whitewashing from 1913, which was in keeping with the fashion of the time, was removed and the church was given the original painting.

Through the tower door one enters an exhibition room on the history of the building and the restoration work, separated from the nave by a glass wall.

organ

The organ was presumably built in 1830 by the organ builder Georg Franz Ratzmann and his son Friedrich Heinrich Ratzmann (Ohrdruf) and replaced a smaller one lower down in the tower. The prospectus dates back to 1739. The two angels to the left and right of the organ, holding French horns, and the decorative epitaph come from the previous organ.

The organ was restored in 1974/75 and equipped with baroque registers . In 2008 the organ was largely restored to its historical state. The slider chest instrument has stops on two manuals and a pedal . The playing and stop actions are mechanical.

I main work C – f ³
1.	Drone	16 ′	O
2.	Principal	8th'	O
3.	Hollow flute	8th'	O
4th	Dumped	8th'	O
5.	Viol	8th'	O
6th	Octave	4 ′	o / r
7th	Dumped	4 ′
8th.	Fifth	2 ² ⁄ ₃  ′	O
9.	Octave	2 ′	O
10.	Mixture IV		o / r

II Oberwerk C – f ³
11.	Dumped	8th'	O
12.	Quintatön	8th'	O
13.	Principal	4 ′	O
14th	Pointed flute	4 ′	O
15th	Forest flute	2 ′	O
16.	Fifth	1 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′
17th	Sif flute	1'
18th	Vox humana	8th'	n
	Tremulant

Pedal C – d ¹
19th	Sub bass	16 ′	O
20th	Violon	16 ′	O
21st	Octavbass	8th'	O
22nd	trombone	16 ′	n

Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
Remarks:

o = register from 1830

r = reconstructed register

n = new register from 2008

tower

The bronze tower bells were melted down during World War II. Since 1959, three chill cast iron bells have been ringing (Sunday, prayer and baptism bell), which have been operated electrically since 1983. A radio-controlled bronze hour bell has been striking in the tower lantern since 2002. It replaced the cock bell from 1767, which was used as a striking bell and was close to destruction.

graveyard

The cemetery was deedicated in 1900 and rebuilt at the Hüllrod .

House of Encounter

The House of Encounter next to the church was inaugurated in March 1987 and named after the former Thuringian regional bishop Moritz Mitzenheim . It serves as a church service room, meeting place and various events.

Pastor

Until 1927 the parish of Finsterbergen was looked after as a branch parish by the pastors from Altenbergen. After that, the parish had three long-term pastors:

Pastor Jaschke led the parish with his wife for 38 years. He wrote two plays that tell about Finsterbergen and its history.
Pastor Titelbach-Helmrich was his successor in office from 1965 to 1974. He was then appointed as superintendent in Arnstadt and died there in 2001.
Pastor Keimling succeeded him in office and led the parish for 28 years. His term of office included the restoration of the church, the construction of the House of Encounter and other structural advances.