Evangelical Church (Wirberg)

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Church from the south
West gable side

The Evangelical Church in Wirberg , a district of Reiskirchen in the district of Gießen in Central Hesse , was built between 1753 and 1754 in place of the destroyed monastery church. The baroque hall church, visible from afar, with a three-sided east end and two-storey roof turret is a Hessian cultural monument .

history

The castle Wirberg ("Werberch"), probably built at the beginning of the 12th century, was under the castle lords Manegold von Hagen. Widow Imecha and daughter Aurelia turned the castle 1129-1149 in a Norbertine - double monastery to which was in 1149 first mentioned. The two were also the first nuns on the Wirberg. The sisters switched to the Augustinian women choirs in the middle of the 13th century . In the Middle Ages, Wirberg was assigned to the Archdeaconate of St. Stephan in the Archdiocese of Mainz as an exemte parish . The Wirberg parish included Beltershain, Bollnbach, Göbelnrod, Groß-Lumda and Reinhardshain and the second parish Veitsberg / Saasen the branches Harbach and Lindenstruth. With the introduction of the Reformation , the monastery was closed in 1527. Wirberg accepted the evangelical creed and the church became a Lutheran parish church. Johannes Wagner was the first Protestant pastor to work here from 1527 to around 1531. The ownership of the monastery came to the University of Marburg, 1607 to the University of Gießen , 1624 back to Marburg and in 1649 finally to Gießen. Wirberg remained the seat of a large parish even in the post-Reformation period. In 1858 the parish Wirberg comprised 2,645 people.

During the Thirty Years War , large parts of the monastery complex were destroyed and in 1635 the old monastery church, which was consecrated to Mary and Saint Martin , was badly damaged. A major restoration followed in 1658, which included a new roof. The church is described in a report from that year as "very fine Gebew". When the tower collapsed in 1716, the nave was completely destroyed. In the next decades, the adjoining cloister with its red columned arcades, which remained undamaged and was walled up, served as an emergency church. By 1735, the building was so dilapidated that you “couldn't stand dry” there.

Instead of the monastery church, the Giessen University built the current church from 1753–1754 using stones from the monastery building. It was supported by the Lutheran assembly in Vienna and the city of Lübeck with “mild contributions”. The floor was covered with sandstone slabs in 1863 and in the same year the altar was moved a little forward and redesigned in a smaller form, presumably to make room for the organ gallery. The church stalls received a new oil painting in 1886/1887, the ceilings were whitewashed and partly painted. In 1939/1940 the tower was completely rebuilt, the church roof only partially. 1964 to 1966 the roof of the church was slated. The stalls were replaced with the old cheeks. In 1992/1993 a roof renovation and an interior renovation followed, in which a new heating system was installed and the interior received new lighting and a new coat of paint.

Wirberg, Beltershain, Göbelnrod and Reinhardshain have been part of the Wirberg parish since 1973.

architecture

East end, on the right remains of the old monastery walls

The geostete hall church is visible from afar on the highest point of the Wirbergs, 315 meters above sea level. There is a cemetery to the north. In the northeast, the last remains of the wall of the original monastery complex have been preserved. The church is not in the same place as the old monastery church. In 1963, the remains of columns from the old cloister were discovered in front of the west portal.

The white plastered church on a rectangular floor plan has a three-sided choir and a high, slated gable roof, which is covered with three dormers on each side. A round-arched west portal made of reused lung stone from Romanesque times opens up the building, high round-arched windows on three sides illuminate it. On the west side, two round windows flank the portal. The two-storey roof turret ends flush with the west gable. It develops from a cube-shaped bell projectile. A curved monopitch roof leads to the small octagonal upper floor with a Welsch hood , which is crowned by a knob, a wrought-iron cross and a weather vane with the inscription "DH 1754".

Furnishing

Old baptismal font
Interior to the east

The interior is closed off by a hollow ceiling with a valley. A colorful frieze is painted under the surrounding wooden cornice , which for cost reasons was only exposed on a one meter long section. An angled gallery is built in on the west and north sides, which rests on round wooden columns with high square bases and long square capitals. The small bows are decorated with simple carving. The coffered fillings of the parapet are structured by openwork fretwork ornaments with obelisks. The organ is placed on a trapezoidal projecting east gallery from 1863 with supports from the 18th century. The church pews from 1754 with the old, profiled, curved cheeks leave a central aisle free.

The cup-shaped, octagonal baptismal font made of basalt lava (0.95 meters in diameter, 0.67 meters high) probably comes from the old monastery church and is dated to the 14th century. It stood for a long time in the parish garden and in front of the church and was restored in 1985 and placed in the altar area. The altar is covered by a red sandstone slab with consecration crosses on all four corners .

The octagonal wooden pulpit on the raised south side was probably created in the late 18th century. Your parapet is covered with walnut and other woods. A wooden parsonage with openwork latticework gives access to the pulpit. In 1993 Oliver Müller from Göbelnrod created a lectern in the style of the pulpit.

organ

Interior to the east

The new church remained without an organ for more than 20 years . In 1775, the community asked the University of Giessen to give it the organ of the Giessen Castle Church. After the organ loft was built in 1778, the requested organ, which an unknown organ builder with five registers had built in 1654 , was installed. In 1863, Karl Rudolf Bernhard from Romrod created a new instrument with two box bellows and ten registers, which were distributed over a manual and pedal. The inauguration took place on October 1st, 1864. In 1879 Johann Georg Förster carried out a repair. For the pinnacle prospect pipes delivered in 1917, zinc pipes were later installed as replacements. In the course of a renovation by Förster & Nicolaus Orgelbau in 1951, the disposition was changed. In 1971 the installation of an electric fan followed, in 1993 another change in the disposition and the reinstallation of tin pipes in the prospectus. For the 150th anniversary of the organ, the organ received a new motor in 2014. The prospectus is divided into three arched pipe fields by pilasters. The disposition has been as follows since 1993:

Manual C – f 3
Principal 8th'
Bourdon 8th'
Salicional 8th'
octave 4 ′
flute 4 ′
Fifth 2 23
octave 2 ′
third 1 35
Mixture III
Pedal C – d 1
Sub-bass 16 ′
Violon 8th'

Bells

The roof turret houses a bronze four-bell ring. The oldest bell has an inscription in Gothic capitals . It was probably cast in the 14th century for the Grünberg Barefoot Monastery (1272–1528), which, like the bell , was consecrated to St. Francis . In 1788 Friedrich Wilhelm Otto from Gießen cast the big bell. Due to their historical significance, the two bells did not have to be delivered to the armaments industry during the two world wars. In 1996, the Rincker company completed the four-bell ringing with two small bronze bells. The bells ring in the Westminster motif.

No.
 
Surname
 
Casting year
 
Foundry, casting location
 
Diameter
(mm)
Chime
 
inscription
 
image
 
1 Our Father Bell 1788 Friedrich Wilhelm Otto, Giessen 800 c 2 Cast at the University of Giessen's expense as the Professores iur. d. Jaup Rector / D. Koch Canzlar and D. Musaeus Syndicus / sodan L. Oswald Univ. Oeconomus / further Hoffmann Oeconomus zu Gruenberg / Bernbeck pastor / and Greb school servant zu Wirberg / As often as I resound all peoples praise the Lord / the Triune God / who be honor and prize in eternity " Evangelical Church Wirberg Bell 1.jpg
2 Francis bell 14th century 710 f 2 " Dum resono, Francisce, deo fer vota meorum " (As I sound, Francis, offer God the prayers of mine.) Evangelical Church Wirberg bell 2.jpg
3 Peace bell 1996 Rincker , Sinn 124 g 2 " Christ is our peace " Evangelical Church Wirberg bell 3.jpg
4th Baptismal bell 1996 Rincker, Sinn 102 a 2 " God loves all children " Evangelical Church Wirberg bell 4.jpg

Evangelical pastor

The following pastors have been recorded since the Reformation:

  • 1527– around 1531: Johannes Wagner
  • 1535  : Emmericus000000000
  • around 1550–1569: Sebastian Heckersdorf, called Lauter
  • 1569–1574  : Konrad Corvinus0000
  • 1574–1589  : Johannes Armbroster0000
  • 1589–1619  : Heinrich Ruppersberg0000
  • 1619–1635  : Johannes Wetzelius0000
  • 1635  : Johannes Staudinger000000000
  • 1635– around 1677: Johannes Braun
  • 1651–1712  : Kaspar Reitz, first adjunct, then pastor0000
  • 1712–1715  : Johann Philipp Eckhard0000
  • 1715–1727  : Johannes Hess0000
  • 1727–1742  : Martin Balthasar Fischer0000
  • 1742–1771  : Johannes Jeremias Nebel0000
  • 1772–1784  : Jakob Heinrich Wilhelm Stipp0000
  • 1784–1816  : Johann Daniel Bernbeck0000
  • 1816–1832  : Ernst Friedrich Steinberger0000
  • 1835–1850  : Johann Wilhelm Röhrig0000
  • 1850–1855  : Friedrich August Herzberger0000
  • 1856–1875  : Hermann Hüffell0000
  • 1877–1887  : Georg Sehrt0000
  • 1891–1896  : Peter Ahlheim0000
  • 1897–1905  : Gustav Biedenkopf0000
  • 1906–1910  : Ernst Siebeck0000
  • 1911–1921  : Heinrich Blank0000
  • 1921–1933  : Otto Wilhelm Döll0000
  • 1933–1946  : Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Volz0000
  • 1946–1952  : Heinrich Wilhelm Schäfer0000
  • 1952–1954  : Ruprecht Erich Helmut Albrecht Spangenberg0000
  • 1954–1960  : Theo Gustav Weygandt0000
  • 1960–1971  : Walter Müller0000
  • 1971–1983  : Karl-Heinz Westenberger0000
  • since 1986 : Rolf Schmidt000000

literature

  • Franz Bösken : Sources and research on the organ history of the Middle Rhine . The area of ​​the former administrative district of Wiesbaden, part 2 (L – Z) (=  contributions to the music history of the Middle Rhine . Volume 2 , no. 7.2 ). Schott, Mainz 1975, ISBN 3-7957-1370-6 , p. 724 .
  • 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. 801.
  • Wilhelm Diehl : Construction book for the Protestant parishes of the Landgraviate of Hessen-Darmstadt. (= Hassia sacra; 5 ). Self-published, Darmstadt 1931, pp. 490–492.
  • Wilhelm Diehl: Hessen-Darmstadt pastors and schoolmaster book. (= Hassia sacra; 1 ). Self-published, Friedberg 1921, pp. 433-435.
  • Ev. Parish on the Wirberg (ed.): The evang.-luth. Parish church on the Wirberg 1754–2004. Printing collective, Giessen 2004.
  • Carl Glaser: On the history of the Wirberg monastery . In: Invitation to the school celebrations on March 12th, 13th and 14th in the Grand Duke. High school in Giessen . Giessen 1856, p. 3–16 ( digital copy [PDF]).
  • Gustav Ernst Köhler: Wirberg. Castle, monastery, parish. 2nd Edition. Local History Association, Reiskirchen 1998.
  • State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (ed.), Karlheinz Lang (edit.): Cultural monuments in Hesse. District of Giessen II. Buseck, Fernwald, Grünberg, Langgöns, Linden, Pohlheim, Rabenau. (= Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany ). Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2178-7 , p. 616 f.
  • Heinz P. Probst: The architectural and art monuments in the greater community of Grünberg. Issue 1. Churches. (= Series of publications of the Verkehrsverein 1896 Grünberg eV Local History Series , Vol. 2). Heinz Probst, Grünberg-Queckborn 2001, pp. 68-72.
  • Heinrich Walbe : The art monuments of the Gießen district. Vol. 1. Northern part. Hessisches Denkmalarchiv, Darmstadt 1938, pp. 372–376.
  • Peter Weyrauch : The churches of the old district of Giessen. Mittelhessische Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft, Gießen 1979, p. 198 f.

Web links

Commons : Wirberg  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (ed.): Cultural monuments in Hesse. 2010, p. 617.
  2. ^ State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (ed.): Cultural monuments in Hesse. 2010, p. 616.
  3. Probst: The architectural and art monuments. 2001, p. 69.
  4. ^ Weyrauch: The churches of the old district Gießen. 1979, p. 198.
  5. Wirberg. Historical local dictionary for Hessen. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on October 19, 2013 .
  6. ^ Diehl: Construction book for the Protestant parishes. 1931, p. 490.
  7. Probst: The architectural and art monuments. 2001, p. 70.
  8. ^ State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (ed.): Ev. Church on the Wirberg In: DenkXweb, online edition of cultural monuments in Hessen .
  9. ^ Diehl: Construction book for the Protestant parishes. 1931, p. 491.
  10. a b Weyrauch: The churches of the old district of Gießen. 1979, p. 199.
  11. Ev. Parish on the Wirberg (ed.): The evang.-luth. Parish church on the Wirberg 1754–2004. Druckkollektiv, Gießen 2004, p. 4.
  12. Walbe: The art monuments of the district of Giessen. 1938, p. 375.
  13. Ev. Parish on the Wirberg (ed.): The evang.-luth. Parish church on the Wirberg 1754–2004. Druckkollektiv, Gießen 2004, p. 3.
  14. Walbe: The art monuments of the district of Giessen. 1938, p. 374.
  15. a b Ev. Parish on the Wirberg (ed.): The evang.-luth. Parish church on the Wirberg 1754–2004. Druckkollektiv, Gießen 2004, p. 5.
  16. Probst: The architectural and art monuments. 2001, p. 72.
  17. ^ Dehio: Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Hessen I. 2008, p. 801.
  18. ^ Parish Wirberg , accessed on October 19, 2014.
  19. ^ Franz Bösken, Hermann Fischer: Sources and research on the organ history of the Middle Rhine . Former Province of Upper Hesse, Part 1 (M – Z) (=  Contributions to the Middle Rhine Music History . Volume 3 , no. 29.2 ). Schott, Mainz 1988, ISBN 3-7957-1331-5 , p. 974 f .
  20. Walbe: The art monuments of the district of Giessen. 1938, p. 376.
  21. hr4.de: Reiskirchen-Wirberg: Ev. Parish Church , accessed April 10, 2019.
  22. ^ Diehl: Hessen-Darmstädtisches Pastor and Schoolmaster Book. 1921, pp. 433-435.

Coordinates: 50 ° 36 ′ 16.7 "  N , 8 ° 54 ′ 24.7"  E