Evangelical Church (Runzhausen)

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Church from the northeast

The Evangelical Church in Runzhausen , a district of Gladenbach in the Hessian district of Marburg-Biedenkopf , is a half-timbered church from 1781. It was built as a central building according to plans by Georg Blecher in the Rococo style. Its cube-shaped shape over a square floor plan with the central roof turret has led to the popular name “Kaffeemühlenkirche”. The small church is a listed building and shapes the townscape.

history

Scaffolded church during restoration (2015)

At the end of the Middle Ages, Runzhausen was part of the Send District and Diaconate of Gladenbach in the Archdiaconate of St. Stephan in the Archdiocese of Mainz . In the pre-Reformation period, the Runzhausen branch church was parish off to Gladenbach. With the introduction of the Reformation in Gladenbach, Runzhausen also became Protestant in 1526. In 1606 there was a change to the Reformed creed, only to return to the Lutheran one in 1624.

Today's church had at least one previous building, probably a simple half-timbered church that was demolished in 1781 due to dilapidation. Its location can no longer be proven, but oral tradition speaks in favor of Untere Dorfstraße 6. The fire insurance value was estimated at 200 guilders in 1777, while the new building cost 1000 guilders and led the community into a financial bottleneck for several decades. According to the building inscription in the beam above the entrance door, the church was built by master carpenter Johann Georg Blöcher (Blecher): “Through God's help and stercke makes / this church is repaired / let us tread and pray to the highest / kom god creator holy spirit . GEORG BLECHER from ACHE BACH WERCKMEIST [ER] d. 16 t MEY ANNO 1781 ". Blecher built the Allna Evangelical Church in 1782 . Only after the completion of the church did the Runzhäuser ask the landgrave to carry out a collection, since the community, including the residents, only consisted of 36 people.

In the course of an interior renovation in 1812, the Gladenbach barrel painter and white binder Georg Ernst Justus Kaiser and his son Johann August Kaiser embellished the interior with a few wall inscriptions and framed the church stalls and the galleries in smalt blue . When the church was electrified and a chimney was installed in 1920, the wall paintings were whitewashed and partially destroyed.

During the fundamental renovation from 1981 to 1983, the base walls and the entrance stairs were redeveloped, the wall inscriptions exposed again, the pulpit placed on a pillar and provided with a new pulpit staircase, the standing gallery converted into a seating gallery with benches, the west window behind the organ locked and a new east window installed.

A comprehensive, listed exterior and interior renovation in 2015/2016 included, among other things, the replacement of damaged wooden beams, the new lining of the compartments with clay bricks, the renewal of the plaster and the paint, a new slate as well as the refreshment of the colorful wall inscriptions. The costs amounted to € 300,000, of which the parish had to pay € 56,000.

In 1966 Runzhausen was raised to an independent parish and separated from Gladenbach. It includes around 700 members in the towns of Runzhausen, Bellnhausen and Rachelshausen , so that the name RuBelRa was created as an acronym . The Evangelical Lutheran parish belongs to the Evangelical Dean's Office Biedenkopf-Gladenbach and the Propstei Nord-Nassau to the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau .

architecture

Church from the northwest
Shingled south side

The roughly east-facing church is built on the highest point in the old village center. The cube-shaped central building rests as a half-timbered structure in post construction over a stone base, which has been made of field stone in the north and diabase on the west side since 1983 . Corner and bundle stands run through to the eaves. The interior is designed to be two-storey in line with the built-in gallery and is accessed through a high rectangular west door under a canopy. The lower area is illuminated in the north by a small rectangular window and in the south by two small rectangular windows, the upper area is supplied with light in the north and south by three lead glass windows with honeycomb panes under an arched arch. Erhardt Jakobus Klonk designed the eastern choir window with an arched arch . The colorful stained glass window symbolizes Pentecost and the Holy Spirit with its strong orange tones . From above, a white stream of grace with red spots, which stand for warmth and divine love, pours into a brown vessel and causes it to overflow. The stylized dove of the Holy Spirit is reminiscent of Noah's dove, the framing gold background symbolizes divinity.

While the north and east sides show the half-timbered structure, the west and south sides are completely clad. On both storeys, transom transoms appear to form two levels each, which are supported by storey-high central and side struts with small counter struts.

The church is covered by a flat tent roof, hipped on all sides, on which a square and completely shingled roof turret is placed in the middle . A roof leads from the cube-shaped shaft to the eight-sided hood lantern, which has sound holes for the bell on four sides . The hood is crowned by a tower pommel, a wrought-iron, ornate cross and a gold-plated weathercock. The roof turret houses a medieval bronze bell from 1400, which has a lower diameter of 0.42 meters. As one of the first bells it bears an inscription in Gothic minuscule : "MCCCC IHS" (1400 Jesus).

Interior

East wall with biblical wall inscriptions
Pulpit in front of the sacristy
Ornate Bible verse

The interior is closed off by a flat ceiling. The wooden, three-sided gallery rests on square oak columns, which are chamfered in the middle , so that the simple bases and capitals stand out. Under the east end of the north gallery is a sacristy with an openwork diamond work, which until 1983 led through a narrow staircase directly to the pulpit. The different shades of blue of the galleries and the church stalls dominate the interior and correspond to the original color scheme. The too narrow and too steep benches were replaced in 1983. In the entrance area, the old curved cheeks have been preserved on four benches, the others have been recreated.

In front of the barred sacristy, the wood-sighted polygonal pulpit from 1780 rests on a turned round column, which was originally a gallery column from the early 17th century from the church in Ewersbach . The pulpit fields are richly decorated with inlays in different colors. The upper surrounding cornice of the pulpit is profiled, veil boards as bas-reliefs with lily motifs form the lower end. The altar area is raised by one step. The table altar made of red sandstone, which is stylistically indebted to the Baroque , is also from the construction period . It has four profiled baluster feet with a bulbous middle section.

The inner walls are painted in six places with Bible verses in black Fraktur script with large initials . They are framed by golden yellow rocailles with floral elements (carnations, tulips and roses). The painters father and son Kaiser immortalized themselves in an inscription under the east window behind the altar: “To the glory of God, this church was rebuilt in 1781, completely renovated in 1812, Bey the then pastor N: Hüffel, Second pastor Mr N: Kolb, Schulteis Andreas Koch, church elder Jost Koch, church elder Johann Georg Wagner at the same time head, Johann Henrich head Joh: Peter Koch, borough master / ready on July 21, painter and white-binder Georg Ernst Justus Kaiser , and his son Johann August Kaiser von Gladenbach. ”Above the pulpit the Bible verse can be read:“ The teachers, however, will shine like the shine of heaven and will point as many to justice as the stars always and forever. There: 12. V: 3. “On the right side is the psalm words:“ How lovely are your homes, Lord of hosts, my soul longs and longs for the courts of the Lord, my body and soul rejoice in the living God. Psalm 84, verse 2 u. 3. “Below, below the south pore, the verses from Ps 121,1–2  LUT are painted, on the west wall to the left of the organ Ps 27,4  LUT and to the right of the organ Ps 100,2 + 4  LUT , on the left under the organ loft Koh 12,1  LUT . On the south wall there is an old weathercock marked with the year 1781.

The floor is covered with slabs of red sandstone . The simple, eight-sided, cup-shaped baptismal font is also made of red sandstone to match the altar.

organ

Organ from 1975

The first organ was built by the Oberlinger brothers in 1975. In the prospectus is the principal 2 ′, above the veil made of 13 stems with stylized leaves. The instrument has four registers on one manual . The pedal is attached. The actions are carried out with mechanical sliding chests. The organ has the following disposition :

Manual C – d 3
Dumped 8th'
Reed flute 4 ′
Principal 2 ′
Fifth 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Pedal C – d 1
attached

literature

  • Gerald Bamberger: The half-timbered chapels of Frohnhausen, Seelbach and Runzhausen. In: Hinterland history sheets. Vol. 84, No. 4, December 2005, pp. 148-149, here: pp. 148-149.
  • Dieter Blume, Jürgen Runzheimer: Gladenbach and Blankenstein Castle. From the history and nature of an office in the Hessian hinterland. Hitzeroth, Marburg 1987, ISBN 3-925944-15-X , pp. 304-307.
  • Irmgard Bott et al. (Arrangement): Half-timbered churches in Hessen . Ed .: Förderkreis Alte Kirchen eV, Marburg. 4th edition. Langewiesche, Königstein im Taunus 1987, ISBN 3-7845-2442-7 .
  • 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. 799.
  • Karl Huth : Gladenbach. A city through the centuries . Ed .: Magistrate of the City of Gladenbach. Magistrate of the City of Gladenbach, Gladenbach 1974, DNB  790637227 .
  • Hans Feldtkeller (arrangement): The architectural and art monuments of the Biedenkopf district. Eduard Roether, Darmstadt 1958, p. 35.
  • Frank W. Rudolph: Evangelical churches in the dean's office Gladenbach . Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin / Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-422-02288-1 , p. 82-83 .

Web links

Commons : Church (Runzhausen)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Rudolph: Evangelical churches in the dean's office in Gladenbach. 2010, p. 82.
  2. ^ Wilhelm Diehl : Pastor and schoolmaster book for the acquired lands and the lost territories (= Hassia sacra. Vol. 7). Self-published, Darmstadt 1933, p. 211.
  3. ^ Runzhausen. Historical local dictionary for Hessen. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on May 23, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b c Homepage of the parish , accessed on May 23, 2017.
  5. ^ Bott: half-timbered churches in Hessen. 1987, p. 36.
  6. ↑ a b Bamberger: The half-timbered chapels of Frohnhausen, Seelbach and Runzhausen. 2005, p. 148.
  7. ^ Bott: half-timbered churches in Hessen. 1987, p. 22.
  8. ↑ a b Rudolph: Evangelical Churches in the Deanery Gladenbach. 2010, p. 83.
  9. ↑ Wernerarchitekten: Refurbishment Ev. Gladenbach-Runzhausen Church , accessed on May 23, 2017.
  10. ^ Deanery Biedenkopf-Gladenbach: Church renovation in Runzhausen , accessed on May 23, 2017.
  11. ↑ Feldtkeller: The architectural and art monuments of the Biedenkopf district. 1958, p. 35.
  12. ↑ Blume, Runzheimer: Gladenbach and Blankenstein Castle. 1987, p. 306.
  13. ^ Dehio: Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Hessen I. 2008, p. 799.
  14. ^ Organ in Runzhausen , accessed on May 23, 2017.

Coordinates: 50 ° 47 '33.67 "  N , 8 ° 33' 32.4"  O