Erasmus Chapel (Berlin)

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Erasmus Chapel, around 1900
Friedrich Wilhelm IV. In his study in the Erasmus Chapel, oil painting by Franz Krüger , Berlin 1846

The Erasmus Chapel (historically often Erasmuskirche , ecclesia Sancti Erasmi ) was a church building in the Berlin Palace on the Spree island of Kölln .

history

A church may have existed before the castle was built. In 1450 it was consecrated as a parish church with the patronage of St. Erasmus of Antioch . In 1465 the collegiate monastery Kölln was established at the Erasmus Church and occupied by canons.

From 1536 it was again a simple castle church after the monastery had moved to the neighboring Dominican monastery. After the Reformation was introduced in 1539, it was used by Electress Hedwig as a Catholic chapel. Deceased members of the electoral family were laid out there until the funeral and buried in the newly built crypt. After Elector Joachim Friedrich converted to the Reformed Confession in 1613, it was allowed to be used as a chapel for the Lutheran servants at court. In the 19th century, King Friedrich Wilhelm IV used part of the chapel as a work and reading room with a library.

In 1945 the chapel with the castle was badly damaged by air raids and demolished in 1950.

Building history

Only a few traces are known of the first church building around 1450 (or earlier). Around 1540 the church was rebuilt in the Saxon-Bohemian late-Gothic style by the master builder Caspar Theiss during the castle renovation according to plans by the architect Konrad Krebs . A tower ( green hat ) was put on, a crypt for burial places was built in and a loop rib vault was attached to the ceiling.

Between 1772 and 1778 a false ceiling and a staircase were installed. From 1824 to 1827, according to plans by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, the upper part of the choir was converted into a work space for Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm. The nave became a visitor and reception room. In 1892/93 the upper floor was divided into three rooms. At the beginning of the 20th century, these divisions were reversed.

More chapels in the castle

  • Old chapel , 1699/1701 by Andreas Schlueter , with organ, since 1879 chapter house of the Knights of the Black Eagle Order
  • New chapel , by Eosander, converted into the White Hall in 1723
  • Palace chapel , also known as the Great Chapel , made by Stüler in 1845 under the great dome

literature

  • Annette Wigger: Berlin-Cölln. Kollegiatstift . In: Heinz-Dieter Heimann , Klaus Neitmann , Winfried Schich (eds.): Brandenburg monastery book. Handbook of the monasteries, monasteries and the coming up to the middle of the 16th century (= Brandenburg historical studies, volume 14). Volume 1. Be.bra-Wissenschaft-Verlag, Berlin 2007. ISBN 978-3-937233-26-0 . Pp. 172-181, here pp. 172, 176f.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Entombments in the Cathedral of Berlin (and in the Erasmus Church)
  2. ↑ Loop rib vault in the Erasmus Chapel
  3. ↑ Old Chapel, Chapter House
  4. ↑ Richard Borrmann: The architectural and art monuments of Berlin. Berlin 1893. p. 288