Evangelical Reformed Church (Weener)

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Southwest side of the Georgskirche
North extension of the Georgskirche

The Evangelical Reformed Church in Weener in the East Frisian Rheiderland was built as a brick church around 1230 and expanded several times over the centuries. The Georgskirche received a Gothic style choir in 1462 and a north transept in 1893 .

history

Around 900 monks from the Werden monastery built the first wooden church on today's old cemetery next to the church tower, which was dedicated to John the Baptist . This Johanneskirche was no longer sufficient for the growing population in the 13th century. A lord of the castle donated the "Memmingaburg", a stone house that was located on the highest point of the settlement and was converted into a one-room hall. In this way, the church dedicated to St. George was built around 1230 . From the 13th century until the Reformation , Weener was the seat of a provost in the diocese of Münster . When half of the Propstei Hatzum Weener was closed in 1467 , the other half was combined with the Marien- and Sebastian Vicarie, so that two provosts officiated in Weener. In this way, Weener rose to become the ecclesiastical center of what was then the Rheiderland. In the course of the Reformation, the parish probably changed to the Reformed Confession as early as 1524 under its pastor Johannes Schulte (n) .

Choir with pillars

The choir was built in 1462 as Ulrich I's foundation . The Münster bishop had Weener and the church looted and burned down in 1492, which caused considerable damage to the building and the loss of all interior furnishings. During the reconstruction, the ceiling height of the low nave was adapted to the choir and a wooden beam ceiling was added. In 1600 Count Enno III donated. the congregation received the bell from the Sielmönken monastery , which Arnt van Wou had cast in 1508. Various furnishings such as the pulpit and the Lord's Supper table were donated in the 17th century . The medieval furnishings in the choir such as the altar and baptismal font as well as the sacrament house were preserved until 1777.

After trying unsuccessfully in 1765 to support the choir vault with a buttress, a wooden barrel vault was installed in the nave , which was also extended to the choir in 1780 after the stone vault had been demolished there. In this move the Gothic rood screen was broken off, the organ was moved further east in front of the choir and the large pointed arched triumphal arch between nave and choir was re-performed. An adjoining hearing chamber (sacristy), which served as a place for citizens' meetings and also the Latin school, was demolished in 1786. The old internal staircase of the northern choir wall, which enabled the ascent to the hearing chamber, was preserved and has served as access to the balgem pore of the Schnitger organ since the 1970s. Harald Vogel suspects that this internal staircase originally led to a choir organ and that the extension served as a bellows room; A niche can still be seen under the vault in the choir. In 1893, the church was enlarged on the north side by a transept to the current T-shape.

In the years 1970 to 1972 the church was completely renovated. Meanwhile, the services took place in the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer. A new heating system and a new floor made of Weser sandstone slabs were installed, which were laid in the area of ​​the old nave 30 cm lower at the height of the first floor. A narrow, arched opening in the northern choir wall and a new connecting staircase to the old internal staircase have since provided access to the organ's balgem pore. This replaced the old wooden staircase. The pulpit was raised by about one meter by a few additional steps. The missing choir windows were renovated and the ceiling in the choir room was renewed. Old grave slabs were erected here in chronological order. Finally, the nave and choir were given a new color scheme.

Building description

Church tower from the south

From the original Romanesque shape of the simple, flat-roofed apse hall , only the remains of the frieze , the arched windows and the walled-up portals can be recognized. As a replacement for the apse, the polygonal Gothic choir was created in 1462 based on the model of the Martinikerk in Groningen , which receives light through three large ogival windows with tracery . The services and remains of the Gothic vaulting still bear witness to the original choir vault. Today a flat wooden beam ceiling has been installed. The large, pointed triumphal arch can only be seen from the choir room. The spacious north wing gives the interior the shape of a half-cross. The annex buildings between the medieval nave and the northern extension from 1893 are connected to the naves by large round arches. Its exterior design is neo-Gothic with the pointed arched windows, the frieze and the staggered blindwork .

A portal with a curved gable and basket arch from 1754 leads to the cemetery southeast in front of the church between two neighboring houses. On the other side of Norderstrasse, where the old Johanneskirche stood, a bell tower was built separately from the church. When this was lost, it gave way to today's tower, which was built from brick in 1738. A plate above the east entrance bears the building inscription: “MET DEZEN TOREN IS BEGONNEN TE BAUWEN ANNO 1738 THE 3 MAY AS HINRICH MESCHER EN HINRICH MOERKRAMER KERK VOOGDEN WAREN”. It is structured by pilaster strips , provided with small arched sound arcades and is closed off by a pyramid helmet with a wooden lantern . The oldest bell dates from 1477.

Furnishing

Longhouse to the west

The nave and north wing are closed off by a wooden barrel vault on strong consoles. A wooden wall separates the choir from the ship. A double gallery is built into the west side. The pulpit from 1649 in the late Renaissance style is richly decorated with fittings, Ionic corner columns on lion heads and profiled cushion fillings in the fields and has a hexagonal sound cover. The Lord's Supper table with baluster feet and the bench under the pulpit date from the first half of the 17th century. The year 1626 can be read on the clock on the western wall. In 1633 a brass chandelier was donated, on which symbols of seafaring can be seen: mermaids, treasure chests, heralds and sea lions. The baroque box stalls with doors face the pulpit on the south wall, as does the attached side wing, giving the church the character of a central building . The oak stalls from 1640 under the organ have carved cheeks. The oldest dated tombstones from East Frisia from Romanesque and Gothic times are preserved in the church. Provost Tammo (1439–1464 / 65) is probably depicted on four fragments, while the name Laduic Jacobus and the year of his death 1342 is carved on another epitaph . The Vasa Sacra include cups from 1623 and 1624, from the 17th century and from 1858 as well as two bread plates from 1844 and 1903.

Schnitger organ from 1710

The nationally important Schnitger organ was built by Arp Schnitger and his sons in 1710 on the newly built east gallery in front of the choir and extended in 1782 by Johann Friedrich Wenthin with free-standing pedal towers in a rococo case . The gallery balustrade and the painted curtain behind the organ were also created at this time. After further modifications and restorations, the organ has 29 registers on two manuals and a pedal .

See also

literature

  • Walter Hilbrands : On the history of the reformed church in Weener . In: Church council of the evangelical reformed community Weener (ed.): Festschrift 300 years of the Arp Schnitger organ . H. Risius, Weener 2010, p. 63-83 .
  • Gottfried Kiesow : Architecture Guide East Friesland . Verlag Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz , Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-86795-021-3 .
  • Monika van Lengen: Rheiderland churches. Journey of discovery to places of worship from eight centuries in the west of East Frisia . H. Risius, Weener 2000, p. 34 .
  • Siegmund Meier: The Arp Schnitger organ in the Evangelical Reformed Church in Weener . In: Church council of the evangelical reformed community Weener (ed.): Festschrift 300 years of the Arp Schnitger organ . H. Risius, Weener 2010, p. 23-49 .
  • Robert Noah: God's houses in East Frisia . Soltau-Kurier, Norden 1989, ISBN 3-922365-80-9 .
  • Aeil Risius: From Weener's ecclesiastical past . In: Church council of the evangelical reformed community Weener (ed.): Festschrift for the commissioning of the renovated St. George's Church in Weener . Weener 1972, p. 17-28 .
  • Aeil Risius: Weener (Ems) - History of the city in the Rheiderland . H. Risius, Weener 1983, ISBN 3-88761-011-3 .
  • Hans-Bernd Rödiger, Menno Smid : Frisian churches in Emden, Leer, Borkum, Mormerland, Uplengen, Overledingen and Reiderland , volume 3. Verlag CL Mettcker & Sons, Jever 1980, p. 96 f.
  • Insa Segebade: Reformed churches on the Ems . Evangelical Reformed Church, Leer 1999, ISBN 3-00-004645-3 .

Web links

Commons : St. George's Church (Weener)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Walter Hilbrands: On the history of the reformed church in Weener . In: Church council of the evangelical reformed community Weener (ed.): Festschrift 300 years of the Arp Schnitger organ . H. Risius, Weener 2010, p. 64 .
  2. ^ Monika van Lengen: Rheiderland churches. Journey of discovery to places of worship from eight centuries in the west of East Frisia . H. Risius, Weener 2000, p. 34 .
  3. ↑ Menno Smid: East Frisian Church History . Self-published, Pewsum 1974, p. 42 (Ostfriesland im Schutz des Deiches, Vol. 6).
  4. ^ A b Walter Hilbrands: On the history of the reformed church in Weener . In: Church council of the evangelical reformed community Weener (ed.): Festschrift 300 years of the Arp Schnitger organ . H. Risius, Weener 2010, p. 66 .
  5. ↑ Homepage of the parish: History of our Church , accessed on November 5, 2018.
  6. ↑ a b c d Gottfried Kiesow: Architectural Guide Ostfriesland . Verlag Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-86795-021-3 , p. 167 .
  7. ^ Walter Hilbrands: On the history of the reformed church in Weener . In: Church council of the evangelical reformed community Weener (ed.): Festschrift 300 years of the Arp Schnitger organ . H. Risius, Weener 2010, p. 71 .
  8. ↑ a b c d Alfred Rauhaus : Evangelical Reformed Church Weener , accessed on November 5, 2018.
  9. ^ Siegmund Meier: The Arp Schnitger organ in the Evangelical Reformed Church in Weener . In: Church council of the evangelical reformed community Weener (ed.): Festschrift 300 years of the Arp Schnitger organ . H. Risius, Weener 2010, p. 24, 42 f .
  10. ↑ a b Ortschronisten der Ostfriesischen Landschaft : Weener , accessed on November 5, 2018 (PDF file; 75 kB).
  11. ^ Siegmund Meier: The Arp Schnitger organ in the Evangelical Reformed Church in Weener . In: Church council of the evangelical reformed community Weener (ed.): Festschrift 300 years of the Arp Schnitger organ . H. Risius, Weener 2010, p. 42 f .
  12. ^ Segebade: Reformed Churches on the Ems. 1999, p. 40.
  13. ↑ Gottfried Kiesow: Architectural Guide Ostfriesland . Verlag Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-86795-021-3 , p. 166 .
  14. ↑ Gottfried Kiesow: Architectural Guide Ostfriesland . Verlag Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-86795-021-3 , p. 169 .
  15. ↑ Gottfried Kiesow: Architectural Guide Ostfriesland . Verlag Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-86795-021-3 , p. 168 .
  16. ↑ a b Georgskirche on weener.de , accessed on November 5, 2018.
  17. ↑ organ in Weener at NOMINE eV , accessed on 5 November 2018th

Coordinates: 53 ° 9 ′ 55.9 ″  N , 7 ° 21 ′ 16.7 ″  E