Evangelical Church (Leidenhofen)

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Church in Leidenhofen from the northeast

The Evangelical Church in Leidenhofen in the municipality of Ebsdorfergrund in the Marburg-Biedenkopf district ( Hesse ) is a medieval choir tower church from the 13th century, the nave of which was renewed in 1967. The church, which is a listed building for historical and urban planning reasons, is the oldest building in the village and shapes the townscape with its notched defense tower.

history

Choir in the medieval tower hall
Medieval sacrament niche in the south wall of the choir tower

The church in Leidenhofen goes back to the first half of the 13th century at the latest. In the Gothic period, probably at the end of the 14th century, the choir tower was rebuilt to make it fortified. The coupled sound openings on the first floor were walled up and a crenellated floor in a coarser construction was added. During this course or a few decades later, he received his helmet with bay windows. In the late Middle Ages the place belonged to the sending district Ebsdorf and was assigned to the Amöneburg deanery of St. Stephan in the diocese of Mainz .

With the introduction of the Reformation , the place changed from 1527 under Conrad Schneider, who worked as a pastor in Ebsdorf, to the evangelical confession . The community of Leidenhofen and the mother church of Ebsdorf reported to Landgrave Philip of Hesse in 1563 about the dilapidation of the church, that “for a long time our church was in a state of building skin”. In 1606 the parish joined the Reformed Faith with Pastor Justus Textor and became Lutheran again after his transfer in 1624. In 1698 there is talk of a second door, which presumably led to the west gallery via an outside staircase. In 1721 a longitudinal gallery was added to the north wall, which existed until 1965. In addition, large square windows were broken into the medieval nave during the Baroque period and the Romanesque arched windows were walled up.

A renovation of the church took place in 1826, during which the medieval vaults were broken out, the roof structure was renewed and a flat clay ceiling was put in. The cemetery on the church grounds was closed in 1830 and a new cemetery was set up on the northern outskirts, which was expanded in 1877. In 1875, the congregation purchased a harmonium to accompany the congregation singing . An interior renovation followed in 1893 according to plans by the architect Wilhelm Spahr , during which some pieces of equipment were replaced. In the two world wars, the large bell was confiscated and melted down for war purposes. Before installing two new bells in 1950, the roof and the belfry were replaced.

In 1964 the regional church office advocated demolishing the ship: “The church interior built into the tower is unadorned and its proportions are not very good. The repair work required here would at best result in a restoration of the room. ”The monument office agrees to the demolition. The demolition took place in autumn 1965, the foundations were laid by the end of the year, and in May 1966 the shell was built according to a revised design by the architect Christian Geiler. Erhardt Jakobus Klonk created the room-dominating fresco on the altar wall in the first months of 1967 . The chancel was also redesigned. The still intact stained glass window in the east, which showed the Lamb of God with the victory flag like a mosaic, was replaced by a modern window from Klonk. The sandstone altar gave way to an altar table made of square tubes with wooden panels and the old pulpit to a lectern. In addition, the community bought a new harmonium. The clock face of the tower clock was removed. The high cemetery wall and its Renaissance portal from 1598 made of sandstone boulders with a cantilever arch were replaced by a low wall. The inauguration of the new church took place in 1967, which in retrospect was judged as follows: "Today, these measures must be assessed as an irresponsible monument crime."

A memorial to those who died in the World War was erected between the church and the Luther house in 1975. The syringe and ladder house on the north side and the bakery, which had suffered serious damage in 1958 when a linden tree fell in a storm, were demolished and replaced by a freezer in 1960 . When this was no longer used by the village community, the parish acquired it in 2007 and converted it into a parish hall.

With regard to church furnishings , some decisions have been reversed over the years. Wolfgang Böttner built the first organ in 1977. For the standing desk, which was felt to be unsuitable, the community acquired a restored baroque pulpit in 1984, which was placed on a new base in front of the southern choir arch. The modern cross from 1967 has been replaced by the old altar cross from 1893. When the mural was damaged, the church council decided to renovate it in 2013, which was carried out in the same year for 10,000 euros. The war memorial was moved to the north wall of the church tower in 2015 so that the resulting open space could be used for church events. In 2017 the church tower received a clock and a dial again.

architecture

Nave from 1967
North-east side of the choir tower

The church , which is not exactly easted , but oriented east-northeast, is built in the center of the village. The surrounding cemetery has not been used for burials since 1830. The church consists of two structures, the late Romanesque choir tower in the east and the modern nave in the west. The old two-bay ship was probably built at the same time as the tower. The use of field stones is unusual for the region. The Romanesque masonry is 1.00 to 1.50 meters thick.

The ship from 1967 made of broken sandstone replaces the previous medieval building. A clear continuity was sought in terms of size, shape and material used, even if the old ship, which was accessed through a round arch portal in the north, was a bit flatter and narrower. A gable roof covers the ship and is towed over the protruding entrance on the western north side . The church is illuminated on the long sides through four high-lying rectangular windows. Three square windows are let into the gable triangle on the western narrow side. On the south side of the tower and the adjacent east side of the nave are two baroque tombstones made of red sandstone, which were made in the 18th century. Above the base area there is a writing field and above it the crucified and the family of the deceased is depicted.

The solidly bricked-up, undivided tower shaft on a square floor plan is made of plastered quarry stone masonry with corner blocks made of red sandstone. The first floor has a narrow loopholes on each of the three free-standing sides , which were probably only broken into in Gothic times. The second floor originally had coupled openings that are now walled up. The crenellated construction is still recognizable, on which a slate pyramid helmet is attached. It has a protruding bay window with a triangular gable on each side. The clock face of the tower clock is placed in front of the northern bay window. The spire is crowned by a tower pommel, a cross and a gilded weathercock.

Inside, the domed tower hall is arched on a ridge and in the east has a tall rectangular window with a flat arch, which probably dates from 1732/1733, and in the south a small pointed arch window above a square sacrament niche. Further to the west in the south wall is another square sacrament niche. A blunt pointed arch opens the choir to the church interior.

Furnishing

Old pulpit
Look at the mural by Klonk

The interior of the ship is closed off by a wood-paneled pointed ceiling. The west gallery serves as the installation site for the organ. The furnishings from the previous church were not taken over into the new building. The old altar wall with the choir arch is dominated by a monumental mural in various ocher tones, which Erhardt Jakobus Klonk from Wetter made in 1967 using a fresco technique. It shows the throne room vision with the adoration of the Lamb according to motifs from Rev 4, LUT  EU : in the center the throne of God with the slaughtered Lamb of God, below seven red seals and seven yellow flames, on the side in two semicircles the 24 crowned elders, those of four with Eyes occupied beings with the four evangelist symbols (man, bull, lion, eagle) are enclosed. On the left is the invitation to the great feast and on the right is the parable of the wise and foolish virgins .

An inscription on the north choir wall has been renewed several times and is only preserved in fragments, but it probably reads: "Oh, let you shepherd me broom / through Christ's Leipzig and blood recovered". Since the church was rebuilt, there has been a table-shaped altar in the tower hall made of iron square tubes and wooden panels. On the altar table is a wooden altar cross with crucifix from 1893. The polygonal wooden pulpit in front of the southern choir arch rests on an eight-sided column. The pulpit fields show flower tendrils between black marbled corner columns. The surrounding cornices are gilded. The four-sided baptismal font is set up on the north arch and a wooden lectern in the north-east corner. The church stalls consist of wide benches in dark green frames that form a central block.

organ

Böttner organ from 1967

On the west gallery is a balustrade organ from 1977 from the workshop of Wolfgang Böttner . Before that, the church did not have an organ. The single-manual organ has a console with a view of the community. The brochure is in five parts with crimson-framed boxes. The middle field is flanked by two narrow trapezoidal fields. Metal pipes are set up in the three middle fields, and wooden pipes in turquoise color in the peripheral fields. The also turquoise wooden pipes of the Subbass 16 '(pedal work) are placed behind. The pedal is firmly coupled. The disposition with seven registers is as follows:

I Manual C-g 3
Dumped 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Reed flute 4 ′
Forest flute 2 ′
Nasat 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Mixture III 1'
Pedal C – d 1
Sub bass 16 ′

Peal

The bell chamber houses a triple bell. The only bell broke in 1562 and was replaced that same year or 1563. In 1867 Georg Otto from Gießen cast one or two existing bells over. The big bell was delivered for armament purposes in 1917 and melted down. The Rincker company in Sinn replaced the bell in 1922. In 1942 it suffered the same fate as the previous bell, so that in 1950 the municipality had two new Rincker bells cast after the old bell cage was replaced. The small bell from 1867 has been retained. The big bell was donated by those interested in the forest and the middle one was financed by the parish. A special feature of the chime is that not only do the full chimes sound with all three bells during church services, but also daily as morning, noon and evening chimes. In 2017 the tower received a new clockwork. The old tower clock was restored by Uwe Hahn and is to be exhibited.

No. Casting year Foundry, casting location Chime inscription
1 1950 Rincker , Sinn a 1 " PRAISE THE LORD
OF THE CHURCH LEIDENHOFEN DONATED BY THE FOREST INTERESTING
A 1950 D GOSSEN MICH GEBRUEDER RINCKER SINN N O 7050 "
2 1950 Rincker, Sinn c 2 " HONOR TO GOD AT HEIGHT
A 1950 D GOSSEN ME BROTHER RINCKER SINN N O 7051 "
3 1867 Georg Otto, Giessen d 2

" Cast for Leidenhofen by GEORG OTTO in Giessen
AND PEACE ON EARTH
AND THE PEOPLE A WELL-PLEASED
+ A. DOM 1867 "

literature

  • Georg Dehio : Handbook of German art monuments , Hessen I. Administrative districts of Giessen and Kassel. Edited by Folkhard Cremer, Tobias Michael Wolf and others. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich a. a. 2008, ISBN 978-3-422-03092-3 , p. 555.
  • Heinrich von Dehn-Rotfelser, Wilhelm Lotz: The architectural monuments in the administrative district of Cassel. Described using official records and compiled in topographical-alphabetical order. Döll and Schäffer, Kassel 1870, p. 127 ( online ).
  • Felicitas Janson: Romanesque church buildings in the Rhine-Main area and in Upper Hesse. A contribution to Upper Rhine architecture (= sources and research on Hessian history. Vol. 97). Self-published by the Hessian Historical Commission Darmstadt and the Historical Commission for Hesse, Darmstadt 1994, ISBN 3-88443-186-2 , p. 155.
  • Peter Heidtmann-Unbelief: The church in Leidenhofen and its community. In: Heimat- und Kulturverein Leidenhofen eV (Ed.): From Liudenhoue to Leidenhofen. 1018 Liudenhoue, Leidenhofen 2018. Heimat- und Kulturverein Leidenhofen eV, Ebsdorfergrund-Leidenhofen 2018, pp. 272–307.
  • No rhyme for a rhyme. Mysterious things in the choir room, Leidenhofen's pastor is looking for proverbs. In: Oberhessische Presse Marburg. Vol. 118, Issue 162 of July 16, 1983, p. 9.
  • State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (ed.); Helmuth K. Stoffers (Red.): District of Marburg-Biedenkopf II (communities Ebsdorfergrund, Fronhausen, Lohra and Weimar) (= monument topography Federal Republic of Germany. Cultural monuments in Hesse ). Theiss, Darmstadt 2017, ISBN 978-3-8062-3550-0 , p. 214.
  • Herbert Merkel: The church was omnipresent. Lifelike and contemporary historiography from the church books of the Marburger Land. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2018, ISBN 978-3-7448-6647-7 , pp. 91–92, limited preview in Google Book Search.
  • Peter Unglaube: The Church History in Ebdsdorfergrund. In: Ebsdorfergrund community (ed.): The Ebsdorfer reason. Insights into a long history. Ebsdorf 2004, pp. 113-145.

Web links

Commons : Church of Leidenhofen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen : District Marburg-Biedenkopf II. 2017, p. 214.
  2. ↑ Heidtmann-Unbelief: The church in Leidenhofen and its community. 2018, p. 276.
  3. ^ Dehn-Rotfelser, Lotz: The architectural monuments in the administrative district of Cassel. 1870, p. 127 ( online ).
  4. ^ Dehio: Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Hessen I. 2008, p. 555.
  5. ^ Wilhelm Classen: The ecclesiastical organization of Althessen in the Middle Ages (= writings of the institute for historical regional studies of Hesse and Nassau , vol. 8). NG Elwert'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Marburg 1929, p. 100.
  6. ↑ Heidtmann-Unbelief: The church in Leidenhofen and its community. 2018, p. 282.
  7. ↑ Leidenhofen. Historical local dictionary for Hessen. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on November 14, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Heidtmann-Unbelief: The church in Leidenhofen and its community. 2018, pp. 277, 292.
  9. ↑ Heidtmann-Unbelief: The church in Leidenhofen and its community. 2018, pp. 295, 300.
  10. ↑ a b c Church on the website of the parish , accessed on November 15, 2018.
  11. ↑ Heidtmann-Unbelief: The church in Leidenhofen and its community. 2018, p. 301.
  12. ↑ Heidtmann-Unbelief: The church in Leidenhofen and its community. 2018, p. 304.
  13. ↑ Merkel: The church was omnipresent. 2018, p. 92, limited preview in Google Book search.
  14. ↑ a b New church tower clock for the Evang. Church in Leidenhofen , accessed on November 15, 2018.
  15. ↑ Merkel: The church was omnipresent. 2018, p. 91, limited preview in Google Book search.
  16. ↑ Janson: Romanesque church buildings in the Rhine-Main area and in Upper Hesse. 1994, p. 155.
  17. ↑ Drafts for an altar wall and an organ color scheme in the Evangelical Church in Leidenhofen , accessed on November 15, 2018.
  18. ↑ No rhyme to rhyme. Mysterious things in the choir room, Leidenhofen's pastor is looking for proverbs. 1983, p. 9.
  19. ↑ Heidtmann-Unbelief: The church in Leidenhofen and its community. 2018, p. 294.
  20. ↑ Heidtmann-Unbelief: The church in Leidenhofen and its community. 2018, pp. 282, 291.

Coordinates: 50 ° 43 ′ 33.84 "  N , 8 ° 49 ′ 8.95"  E