Evangelical Reformed Church (Gambach)

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Church from the southeast

The Evangelical Reformed Church in Gambach , a district of Munzenberg in the Wetterau district ( Hesse ), was built between 1698 and 1703 instead of a previous medieval building. The hall church has an unusual shape with short cross arms and is designed as a Protestant preaching church . The west tower from 1710 has a three-tier helmet structure. The baroque church is a defining feature of the town and a Hessian cultural monument .

history

Coat of arms of the wife Magdalene Sophie
Painted coat of arms of Count Wilhelm Moritz on the east wall

The church and parish of Gambach were built around 1260. The church in Trais , first mentioned in a document around 800, is believed to be the mother church . A vice-pleban is proven in a document from the Arnsburg monastery in 1291 . One altar was dedicated to Our Lady (Mary). At a Romanesque previous building has a round-arched window piece, which was integrated into the tower wall in the new construction 1710th The small hall building stood in the middle of the cemetery, which was surrounded by a defensive wall. Gambach had its own broadcasting district in the Middle Ages and belonged to the church of the Friedberg deacon in the archdeacon of St. Maria ad Gradus in the Archdiocese of Mainz . As late as 1549, on the occasion of a church visit, it is stated: “In Gambach, the priest Petrus Ratz has the holy sacraments in his church with lights and otherwise cleanly with due honor also all ornaments and church decorations in good custody, teaches Christian and well and there is no shortage with him than the one that he has a wife for his wife whom he does not intend to leave. "

With the introduction of the Reformation under Count Philipp von Solms-Braunfels (1494–1581), the parish finally changed to the Lutheran confession in 1554 after the Reformation beginnings from 1549. A pleban has been recorded for the year 1566 . In the course of the "Second Reformation" under Count Konrad von Solms-Braunfels, the change to the Reformed Confession was decided on September 7, 1582 at the Hungen Synod . The subsidiary community of Ober-Hörgern was spiritually supplied by Eberstadt in the years 1612–1620 and 1624–1648 . Subsequently, Ober-Hörgern was finally parish in Gambach. A second pastor's office in the years 1691–1718 and 1758–1783 was set up with a deacon for senior listeners. As a result, the Gambach pastor was given the curious name "Ober-Pfarrer von Ober-Hörgern".

In the last quarter of the 17th century the medieval church was dilapidated and demolished in 1698/1699. Today's church was built under Count Wilhelm Moritz von Solms-Braunfels between 1698 and 1703. In view of the population of 563 people in 1694, the church was oversized with 700 seats. Through the pastor at the time, Johann Huldrich Werdmüller, who came from Zurich, connections were established with Swiss parishes who donated for the construction of the church. The count supported the construction project financially and created various plans and drawings. He traveled to Switzerland to ask the communities for donations. In addition, the neighboring Reformed churches in Gambach joined with donations. From the previous building stones, wood and sandstone slabs, which were decorated with ornaments, were reused. On August 5, 1703, a fire destroyed the entire place. Almost all buildings west of the Gambach were destroyed or badly damaged. Only the almost completed new church, town hall, rectory and a few court rides east of the Gambach were spared. The church was consecrated four weeks later, on September 2, 1703. The tower was not completed until 1710 for cost reasons. “Creutz and Gickel” as the crowning glory followed in 1721.

In 2003, Pastor Ulrike Eichler discovered a Bible from 1666 in the attic of the church, in the appendix of which the blueprint for the Temple of Solomon was heavily worn. She assumed the biblical building as a model, since the length of 30 meters (60  cubits ) and height of 15 meters (30 cubits) to the ridge corresponded to the biblical specifications from 1 Kings 6.2  LUT . However, the church is wider than the Temple of Solomon and thus approaches the golden section .

When the wooden barrel was lowered in 1750, the six supporting columns below and above the gallery were moved to the side and four more columns were added. In 1852 the east gallery was built in as an organ gallery and the pulpit, which had previously been placed on the east wall, was moved in front of the new gallery. Until then, the pulpit was accessible through a wall opening in the eastern side building, which led to a concealed staircase. The vacated west gallery (“Moritzbühne”) received two new rows of benches. In 1856 a white binder whitewashed the interior walls with coats of arms and inscriptions, and in 1890 the columns were marbled. After installing heating in 1911, the church was electrified in 1915. In 1922 a war memorial was erected at the church. The wrought iron roof crown was renewed in 1927. In the course of a renovation in 1934, the old paintwork was exposed and the blue-green frame of the columns was restored . The floor was re-covered and the east gallery was painted with the Bible verse from Joh 14,6  LUT . A comprehensive interior renovation followed in 1960–1962. In 1962 the church received an exterior plaster. A renewal of the tower roof was carried out in 1984 and an exterior renovation from 1997-1998. In 2013, tiles with a mandola motif were discovered under the communion table, which were taken over from the old church and which date from the 15th century.

The Gambach parish today has more than 1900 members and is parishally connected to Ober-Hörgern. In the Gambach parish, the parish belongs to the Wetterau deanery in the Oberhessen provost in the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau .

architecture

South portal
Parish church from the northeast

The high, white plastered hall building with corner blocks on a rectangular floor plan is not exactly easted , but oriented to the east-northeast. It is built over the foundations of the previous building, but protrudes beyond them to the north. With its risalit-like, short cross arms in the north, east and south, the building has a similar floor plan to the Johanniskirche in Dessau , which was built 1690–1702. In the high wall boundary with wehrhaftem character of the Middle Ages remains are of loopholes identified.

The church is dominated by the two-storey window arrangement and covered by a mansard roof. The rectangular windows in the lower zone, which have a stitch arch inside , correspond to stitch arch windows in the upper zone. The overall outer length is 37 meters, the width 21 meters. The central room without the tower and east niche measures 23.80 meters, the width without niches 13.45 meters. The vault is 15.00 meters high, the tower 52.00 meters. The inside of the tower is 7.50 meters long and 4.00 meters wide, the walls of the ship 1.20 meters thick and those of the tower 2.00 meters. The cross arms have slated gables and protrude 2.50 meters on the long sides. The church is accessed through three identical portals in the north and south cross arm and in the west tower. The arched portals are clad in red sandstone. An architrave with a flat triangular gable rests above two pilasters with ionizing capitals . The church can accommodate around 800 visitors.

The west tower is solidly bricked up in the lower area. A panel in the architrave of the west portal bears an inscription on the occasion of the new church building from 1703: “THIS CHURCH HAS BEEN HERBAVET IN 1703 ZVR TIME OF GOVERNMENT OF WEILAND HO GB [= highborn] GRAFFEN V [on] H [ungen] WILHELM MVRITZEN REIS G [= Reichsgraf ] ZV S [olms] BRAVN FELS V DER DL [= serene] GMALIN FRAV F [prince] MAGTALENA SVPHIA GB [= born] PRINCESN AVS DF [prince] HAVS HESSEN DRM STAT [= Darmstadt] ”. The tower hall serves as the west entrance and has a double flight of stairs to the west gallery of the church. The three-tiered, octagonal hooded helmet with round-arched sound holes is completely slated. The crowning consists of a tower pommel, a wrought-iron cross with the letters "WGZSB & T" (= Wilhelm Graf zu Solms-Braunfels and Tecklenburg) and the details of the cardinal points, and a weathercock.

Furnishing

Interior facing east
Pulpit with stairs on both sides

The interior above the galleries is closed off by a stuccoed flat ceiling with putti in the corners . Stucco lists on the wooden barrel above the central room imitate a ribbed vault. The ribs end in medallions that appear like keystones and are decorated with fruits and leaves. The cross arms are separated by the galleries and serve as staircases for the galleries. The three-sided, U-shaped gallery rests on the long sides on Tuscan columns with high, square shafts and cuboid capitals . Above the gallery, the pillars to support the ceiling are continued. The parapets are painted with festoons that show bear-claw tendrils. The Count's coats of arms of Wilhelm Moritz and his wife Princess Magdalene Sophie von Hessen-Homburg are painted on the east wall of the church and flank the organ. The Bible verse from Ps 26,8  LUT and the inscription "Built in the year of the Lord 1703" are painted over the gallery on the west wall .

The pulpit, table and organ are arranged on the central axis. The polygonal, wooden pulpit from the time the church was built rests on a pillar and has a staircase on both sides. It was advanced in the course of the gallery expansion for the organ. The pulpit fields with rectangular panels are bordered by corner pillars. The marbled columns stand on small consoles and end in small capitals. The upper end of the pulpit is formed by a profiled cornice. The irregular hexagonal sound cover is richly profiled and has a flat tent roof with a simple cross as a crown. A painting of the sound cover with a Bible verse applied in 1934 was reversed in 1961. According to the Reformed tradition, the church does not have an altar, but a sacrament table on which the open Bible lies.

organ

Bernhard organ from 1854

A new organ was installed for the new church in 1719 by the Gambach organ builder Heinrich Grieb . 1778 there is talk of an organist activity. The old organ on the west gallery was auctioned off in 1855. From 1852 an organ gallery was built on three supports on the east side. In the years 1843/1854 Friedrich Wilhelm Bernhard , son of Johann Hartmann Bernhard , built today's organ there. The prospectus has an elevated central projection with a flat gable. In a round arch niche under a rose window there is a coupled round-arched pipe field. Two large round arches with flat panels flank the organ. 40 pewter pipes belonging to the principal in the prospectus were delivered in 1917 for armaments purposes. In 1958 the organ was renovated, rearranged and expanded by the Lich company Förster & Nicolaus , in 1987 an overhaul and replacement of some pipes, in 2002 another overhaul. The organ has 15 registers , which are distributed over a manual and pedal.

I Manual C – f 3
Principal 8th'
Quintatön 8th'
Bourdon 8th'
Salicional 8th'
Octav 4 ′
Dumped 4 ′
Octav 2 ′
recorder 2 ′
Sifflet 1'
Sesquialtera III
mixture IV
Pedal C – d 1
Sub-bass 16 ′
Octave bass 8th'
Reed flute 4 ′
Principal 2 ′

Peal

The church tower from 1710 houses a triple bell, for which Dilman Schmid and Philipp Schweitzer cast a large and a small bell in the same year. The oldest verifiable bell from 1629 by an unknown bell founder is said to have weighed 700 kg and was taken from the previous tower. The yoke for the large bell, which weighs 993 kg and has a diameter of 1.18 meters, was renewed in 1742. The middle one broke up in 1886 and was replaced by the bell foundry in Apolda (615 kg). In 1917 it was delivered for armament purposes and melted down. A new Rincker bell from 1922 was confiscated in 1942 and was lost. Rincker cast a new bell in 1949, the fourth middle bell. The large one also had to be delivered in 1942, but returned from Hamburg in 1947. The bell sounds in the Gloria motif.

No.
  		Casting year
  		Foundry, casting location
  		Chime
  		inscription
  		image
 
1 1710 Dilman Schmid and Philipp Schweitzer , Asslar e 1 " M. Thilmann Schmitt and Philippus Schweitzer von Aslar poured me / under the government of the High Born Count and Mr. Wilhelm Moritz, Imperial Count of Solms, Tecklenburg and Greece, Mr. zu Munzenberg, Püttlingen, Dorsweiler and Beaucourt, his royal majesty in Prussia a real secret council of state and the Prussian Order of the Black Eagle Knights of the Order. When you go to the house of God, come and hear. Johann Theophil Schwind, pastor; Kaspar Bus, Schultheiss and Heinrich Grieb, master builder " Evangelical parish church (Gambach) bells 07.JPG
2 1949 Gebr. Rincker , Sinn f sharp 1 " O country, country, country, hear the word of the Lord
1629 1886 1922 1949 "		 Evangelical parish church (Gambach) bells 11.JPG
3 1710 Philipp Schweitzer, Asslar a 1 [Relief with Saint Simon] Evangelical parish church (Gambach) bells 04.JPG

literature

  • Rudolf Adamy: Art monuments in the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Province of Upper Hesse. Friedberg district. Arnold Bergstraesser, Darmstadt 1895, pp. 126–127 ( online ).
  • Franz Bösken , Hermann Fischer : Sources and research on the organ history of the Middle Rhine. Vol. 3: Former province of Upper Hesse (=  contributions to the Middle Rhine music history 29.1 . Part 1 (A – L)). Schott, Mainz 1988, ISBN 3-7957-1330-7 , p. 341-343 .
  • Georg Dehio : Handbook of the German art monuments . Hesse II. Darmstadt administrative district. Edited by Folkhard Cremer, Tobias Michael Wolf and others. 3. Edition. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-422-03117-3 , p. 337.
  • Wilhelm Diehl : Construction book for the Protestant parishes of the sovereign lands and the acquired areas of Darmstadt. (= Hassia sacra; 8). Self-published, Darmstadt 1935, pp. 174–175.
  • Wilhelm Diehl: Pastor and schoolmaster book for the Hesse-Darmstadt sovereign lands. (Hassia sacra; 4). Self-published, Darmstadt 1930, pp. 157–159.
  • State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (ed.); Heinz Wionski (edit.): Cultural monuments in Hessen. Wetteraukreis II. Teilbd. 2. Bad Nauheim to Florstadt. (= Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany ). Theiss, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-528-06227-4 , pp. 798-799.
  • Karl Müller: History of the Evangelical Reformed community of Ober-Hörgern in the context of general local history. In: Festschrift 75 years of the choral society Germania Ober-Hörgern. Ober-Hörgern 1985, pp. 101-143.
  • Ulrich Schütte (Ed.): Churches and synagogues in the villages of the Wetterau. (= Wetterau history sheets 53 ). Verlag der Bindernagelschen Buchhandlung, Friedberg (Hessen) 2004, ISBN 3-87076-098-2 , pp. 400–402.
  • Horst Vetter: Heimatbuch Gambach. luwei pressure, Butzbach 1990.
  • Board of the Evangelical Reformed Church Community Gambach (Ed.): 300 Years of the Evangelical Church in Gambach. Gratzfeld, Butzbach [2003].

Web links

Commons : Evangelische Pfarrkirche (Gambach)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Adamy: Art monuments in the Grand Duchy of Hesse. 1895, p. 126 ( online ).
  2. ^ State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (ed.): Ev. Parish Church In: DenkXweb, online edition of cultural monuments in Hessen
  3. ↑ 300 years of the Evangelical Church in Gambach. 2003, p. 23.
  4. ^ Gerhard Kleinfeldt, Hans Weirich: The medieval church organization in the Upper Hessian-Nassau area. (= Writings of the institute for historical regional studies of Hesse and Nassau 16 ). NG Elwert, Marburg 1937, ND 1984, p. 21.
  5. ^ Vetter: Heimatbuch Gambach. 1990, p. 80.
  6. ↑ Gambach. Historical local dictionary for Hessen. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on February 17, 2015 .
  7. ↑ 300 years of the Evangelical Church in Gambach. 2003, p. 26.
  8. ^ Vetter: Heimatbuch Gambach. 1990, p. 84.
  9. ^ Müller: History of the Evangelical Reformed Congregation Ober-Hörgern. 1985, p. 105.
  10. ^ Vetter: Heimatbuch Gambach. 1990, p. 329.
  11. ^ Diehl: Pastor and schoolmaster book for the Hesse-Darmstadt sovereign lands. 1930, pp. 157-158, 197.
  12. ^ State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (ed.): Cultural monuments in Hesse. 1999, p. 798.
  13. ↑ a b wetteraukreis.de: Solomon temple and rural baroque , accessed on February 17, 2015.
  14. ↑ a b Vetter: Heimatbuch Gambach. 1990, p. 123.
  15. ^ Vetter: Heimatbuch Gambach. 1990, p. 127.
  16. ↑ a b c Dehio: Handbook of German Art Monuments. 2008, p. 337.
  17. ^ Vetter: Heimatbuch Gambach. 1990, p. 338.
  18. ^ Heinrich Walbe : Report on the architectural monuments in the province of Upper Hesse. In: Annual Report of the Preservation of Monuments in the People's State of Hesse 1913–1928. Vol. 4a. Staatsverlag, Darmstadt 1930, p. 226.
  19. ↑ Schütte (Ed.): Churches and synagogues in the villages of the Wetterau. 2004, p. 401.
  20. ^ A b Adamy: Art monuments in the Grand Duchy of Hesse. 1895, p. 127 ( online ).
  21. ↑ Internet presence in the Evangelical Dean's Office Wetterau , accessed on March 26, 2018.
  22. ↑ a b 300 years of the Evangelical Church in Gambach. 2003, p. 36.
  23. ^ Diehl: Construction book for the Protestant parishes. 1935, p. 174.
  24. ↑ 300 years of the Evangelical Church in Gambach. 2003, p. 43.
  25. ↑ 300 years of the Evangelical Church in Gambach. 2003, p. 62.
  26. ^ Vetter: Heimatbuch Gambach. 1990, p. 336.
  27. ^ Bösken, Fischer: Sources and research on the organ history of the Middle Rhine . 1988, p. 343.
  28. ↑ 300 years of the Evangelical Church in Gambach. 2003, pp. 44-45.

Coordinates: 50 ° 27 '44.38 "  N , 8 ° 43' 43.34"  O