Evangelical Church Geiß-Nidda

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Church in Geiß-Nidda from the northeast
View of the choir

The Evangelical Church in Geiß-Nidda , a district of Nidda in Upper Hesse , is a three-aisled early Gothic village basilica with a Romanesque west tower and a single-aisle high-Gothic choir with a five-eighth closure . Not only is it one of the few Gothic pillar basilicas in Upper Hesse, it is also extraordinarily large and lavishly designed for a village church. The church is a Hessian cultural monument because of its historical and scientific importance .

history

The church at Geiß-Nidda is first mentioned in a document in 1234, when the Fulda Abbey held the collature and claimed the church as property. Two years earlier, the name of the patron Nikolaus was mentioned in a votive script in connection with Elisabeth of Thuringia , whose process for canonization was in progress.

The church was administered by the diocese of Mainz in 1336 , as a pastor is attested. In 1435 it was raised to an independent parish church and since then has been part of the Archdeaconate of St. Maria ad Gradus in the Archdiocese of Mainz .

Since the Reformation was introduced in 1526, it has belonged to the Evangelical Church in the Landgrave of Hesse . Johannes Koberger (1559–1574) can be verified as the first Protestant pastor. The collature passed to the Hessian landgraves with the Reformation. In the 17th and 18th centuries a long dispute arose over the right of the new pastors to present themselves, which the local lords of Rodenstein claimed for themselves in 1616 and 1656, just as unsuccessfully the Kruge von Nidda in 1665 and 1714, to which the fief was transferred, and in 1757 the The Rencker family as their legal successors.

At the beginning of the 18th century the church fell into disrepair and it is reported that the "otherwise very beautiful church ... is in great danger before you know it will fall over the heap". Repairs followed in 1710. In 1867 the tower was renovated and the walled-up windows were exposed. The windows of the church were renewed and the choir windows with their stained glass were restored. In addition, the tower clock received three new dials and new hands. A renovation in 1895/1896 included the drainage of the church and the removal of almost all church furnishings , including the galleries, the organ and the stove. The rectangular windows were redesigned into pointed arches.

The parish is connected to the parish of the Evangelical Church in Bad Salzhausen . It belongs to the Protestant deanery Büdinger Land in the provost of Upper Hesse in the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau .

Construction phases

Floor plan (reprint: 1844/45)*Klick!* Schlussstein: Christus, das Haupt der Gemeinde Gottes *Klick!* Schlussstein: Adler Chor Sakristei (im Grundriss nicht erfasst) Heizungsanbau (im Grundriss nicht erfasst) *Klick!* Hl. Sebastian, spätgotische Holzskulptur *Klick!* bemaltes Figuren-Kapitell Schlussstein: Christus-Lamm *Klick!* bemaltes Figuren-Kapitell Rundpfeiler *Klick!* Taufstein von 1660 *Klick!* Haupteingang/Portal *Klick!* Schlussstein mit lat. Inschrift, dt.:… 1500 … Pfarrer Nicolaus Scriptoris Schlussstein: Rosette *Klick!* Altarschrein mit Madonna/Orgel ehemaliger Eingang (zugemauert) *Klick!* Portal (Aufbewahrungsort) Seitenschiff Nord Seitenschiff Süd Turm
About this picture

The church in Geiß-Nidda was built in nine construction phases and has been renovated several times. The dating of 1205 is certain for the construction of the two-storey tower, the second storey of which is provided with round arches as a sound arcade . The west side of the tower served as the entrance, which was continued to the east in a round arched doorway to the church interior, which has meanwhile been walled up. Around 1215 the tower was raised by another storey with round arches.

In the second half of the 13th century, after a change of plan to the east, a three-aisled pillar basilica was built whose flat buttresses are characteristic of early Gothic construction. Since then, the tower is no longer in the central axis, from which it is concluded that the basilica was an enlarged new building that replaced a narrower previous building. The entrance from the north was given a pointed arch portal.

A choir was built in the first half of the 14th century and then a sacristy building was attached to it on the north side . The choir was replaced by a newer building until 1367. The tower was given an octagonal top with four gables in 1445 . The vault in the central nave was completed around 1500. Around 1570 the bell chamber in the tower was moved higher. In 1710 the roof structure was renewed as part of the renovation.

Renovations

During a renovation in 1895, the side galleries were expanded, the rectangular windows in the main and side aisles were converted into pointed arches, and a church window and pews for the interior were made. The pews and window were built into the local cemetery chapel during the 1993 renovation. Another renovation took place in 1959. In 1991 a heater was installed. During the renovation in 1993, an attempt was made to bring out the Gothic elements, which had lost their effect due to later installations (galleries, pulpit) - also through the risk of coloring.

architecture

Step portal on the north aisle
Early Gothic portal with St. Nicholas instead of Johannes

The roughly east- facing , small three-aisled basilica made of quarry stone masonry is built on a hilltop on the southwestern edge of the village, visible from afar. The masonry is plastered white on the outside and inside, with arches, walls , vault ribs, the corner blocks and other dividing elements made of red sandstone. The representative church consists of three structures: the Romanesque west tower, the early Gothic basilica and the late Gothic east choir.

The three-storey west tower on a transverse rectangular floor plan with corner blocks made of red sandstone has two upper floors, which are divided by a surrounding cornice. The coupled windows on both upper floors have central columns and are vaulted with a semicircular arch. The completely slated spire from around 1445 has a four-sided bell storey in half-timbered construction with paired, high-rectangular sound openings. From the four triangular gables, on which the four dials of the tower clock are attached, an octagonal pointed helmet develops, which is crowned by a tower knob, an ornate cross and a gilded weathercock. The west portal dates from the late Gothic period.

Capital with four faces (two of them semi-sculptural)
Capital round pillar south aisle

The pillar basilica has two square pillars in the west and two round pillars in the east, each with four small pillars, which rise as services for the vaults. The central nave and the two side aisles have three bays. The harmonious overall impression inside is determined by the wide rectangular belt arches that separate the yokes of the basilica from each other, and by the dividing arches of the central nave , which form squat, pointed arcades. The vaults in the side aisles are partly without ribs or with simple fluted ribs, in the central nave with a pear-shaped profile. The round pillars with their for the 12./13. The capitals with floral and figurative ornaments that were common in the 19th century also have an effect thanks to the color scheme that was chosen during the last renovation in 1993. On the long sides, the vaults of the aisles and the nave are supported by flat buttresses due to the mighty walls of the nave.

The early Gothic stepped portal on the north side from the second half of the 13th century is stepped several times and has bud capitals and pointed archivolts under an eyelash . The original figure tympanum was moved into the interior on the west wall of the south aisle for conservation reasons; there is a copy in the north portal. The depiction is unusual: Christ on the cross in the center, to the right, facing the viewer, stands where John , the disciple of Jesus, usually appears, a figure in a chasuble , reminiscent of the depiction of a monastery abbot, in saintly manner , probably St. . Nicholas , kneeling to the right of a donor figure , to the left of the cross, where otherwise one of the three Marys ( Joh 19.25  EU ) stands, a figure, facing the crucified, with a gesture of mourning . She apparently serves as a figure of identification for those entering the church. The further determination of this figure is unclear. According to the clothing, it could also be a monk, so that the two figures next to the cross reflected the monastic administration.

The five keystones in the vault are covered differently and point from east to west: in the choir the head of Christ ( Eph 1,22  EU ) and a nimbated bird with tape in its claws ( eagle: symbol of the Evangelist John ), in the central nave the Lamb of God ( Rev 5,12  EU ), a ring with a Latin inscription (translated and written out: "In the year of the Lord 1500 under the pastor Nicolaus Scriptoris") and a rosette .

The high-Gothic five-eighth closure has strongly formed buttresses that support a groin vault with coved ribs that rest on consoles. The two- and three-part ogival tracery windows in the choir were stained glass in the central window in 1867. In the quadruples of the pointed arch, Peter , John and Paul were added. The sacristy was added to the north side, and its pointed arched portal was taken over. The ribs and spars of the vault possibly date from the 13th century.

Furnishing

Baptismal font from 1660
Madonna around 1500

A sculpture of St. Sebastian with a loincloth and simple coat, but without arrows, dates from around 1450 and originally belonged to an altar. It was found in the tower, kept in the sacristy from 1890 and restored during the renovation of the church in 1993 and placed in the north aisle .

A late Gothic Madonna sculpture in a wooden shrine on the west wall of the central nave under the organ gallery was made around 1500. It stands under an openwork gilded scrollwork. A vault with tracery windows can be seen in the background. The sculpture also seems to have been part of a carved altar.

The red sandstone baptismal font is placed on the threshold of the choir room. A bowl rests on a column with an eight-sided base. A legend states the year 1660 as the time of origin.

A niche with a triangular gable is set in the south wall of the choir, which originally served as a three- seat priest's seat. In 1913 a memorial plaque based on a design by JW Kleukens from Darmstadt for the fallen soldiers of 1870/1871 was installed here.

During the renovation in 1993, the neo-Gothic pulpit was replaced by a lectern and the church stalls with individual chairs.

organ

Organ from 1967

Today's organ is the fifth in the church. In the last quarter of the 17th century, an organ was installed for the first time, which was described as a "minor work". It was replaced by a positive with four registers in 1745 . Johann Friedrich Syer was supposed to carry out a repair in 1758 and certified the instrument to be of inferior quality. Johann Andreas Heinemann from Gießen built a new organ with nine registers in 1772. A proposal by Johann Georg Förster in 1852 for an extension conversion was not carried out. It was not until 1894 that a two-manual new building with 13 registers on mechanical cone chests by Förster & Nicolaus Orgelbau on a wooden west gallery replaced the Heinemann organ, which was estimated at only 400 marks and was given away to Affolterbach . Today's instrument was installed in 1967 by Lothar Hinz in the central nave on a small gallery on the wall of the west tower. The two-manual organ has 13 registers. In 1994 it was completely overhauled. The disposition is as follows:

I Hauptwerk C – g 3
Reed flute 8th'
Singing principal 4 ′
Swiss pipe 2 ′
Sesquialter III
Mixture III-IV 2 ′
Tremulo
II substation C – g 3
Dumped 8th'
Reed flute 4 ′
Flat flute 2 ′
Chamois fifth 1 13
Third cymbal II-III
Tremulo
Pedal C – f 1
Pedestal 16 ′
Pointed 4 ′
Still bassoon 8th'

Tombstone

For "Mr. Johann Wilhelm Ruehle von Lilienstern, heir and court lord of Geisnidda, Mr. zu Geissenbach", who died on October 21, 1785, his heiress erected a tomb at the church. Geissenbach is a desert in the Markwald Berstadt .

literature

  • Franz Bösken , Hermann Fischer : Sources and research on the organ history of the Middle Rhine (=  contributions to the Middle Rhine music history . Volume 29.2 ). tape 3 : Former province of Upper Hesse. Part 2: M-Z . Schott, Mainz 1988, ISBN 3-7957-1331-5 , p. 354-357 .
  • Dehio-Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler. 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 , pp. 348-349.
  • Wilhelm Diehl : Construction book for the Protestant parishes of the Landgraviate of Hessen-Darmstadt (= Hassia sacra. Volume 5). Self-published, Darmstadt 1931, pp. 332–333.
  • Wilhelm Diehl: Hessen-Darmstädtisches Pfarrer- und Schulmeisterbuch (= Hassia sacra. Volume 1). Self-published, Darmstadt 1921, p. 340.
  • Georg Ulrich Großmann : South Hesse. Art guide. Imhof, Petersberg 2004, ISBN 3-935590-66-0 , p. 124.
  • Gerhard Kleinfeldt, Hans Weirich: The medieval church organization in the Upper Hesse-Nassau area (= writings of the institute for historical regional studies of Hesse and Nassau. Volume 16). Elwert, Marburg 1937, reprint 1984, pp. 19, 21.
  • Johannes Kögler: The Protestant parish church of Geiß-Nidda. In: Wetterau history sheets. Volume 41, 1992, ISSN  0508-6213 , pp. 5-45.
  • State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (ed.); Siegfried RCT Enders, Christoph Mohr (arrangement): Architectural monuments in Hessen. Wetteraukreis I (= monument topography Federal Republic of Germany ). Vieweg, Braunschweig / Wiesbaden 1982, ISBN 3-528-06231-2 , p. 309.
  • Heinrich Wagner: District of Büdingen (= art monuments in the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Province of Upper Hesse. Volume 1). Bergsträßer, Darmstadt 1890, pp. 137-144 ( online ).
  • Heinrich Walbe : architectural monuments in the province of Upper Hesse. In: Annual Report of the Preservation of Monuments in the People's State of Hesse IVa, 1913–1928. Ed. And ed. on behalf of the Hessian Minister for Culture and Education. Staatsverlag, Darmstadt 1930, pp. 149–308, here: pp. 196–198.

Web links

Commons : Evangelical Church Geiß-Nidda  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. See the pillar basilicas: Marienkirche in Gelnhausen and the abbey church in the Cistercian monastery in Arnsburg as well as the Walpurgis church (Alsfeld) and the town church of St. Marien (Homberg) .
  2. ^ A b c d State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (ed.): Cultural monuments in Hesse. Wetteraukreis I. 1982, p. 309.
  3. a b Geiß-Nidda. Historical local dictionary for Hessen. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on July 13, 2018 .
  4. Kleinfeldt, Weirich: The medieval church organization in the Upper Hessian-Nassau area. 1937, pp. 19, 21.
  5. ^ Diehl: Hessen-Darmstädtisches Pastor and Schoolmaster Book. 1921, p. 328.
  6. ^ Diehl: Construction book for the Protestant parishes. 1931, p. 332.
  7. ^ Diehl: Construction book for the Protestant parishes. 1931, p. 333.
  8. Internet presence of the Evangelical Dean's Office Büdinger Land , accessed on July 13, 2018.
  9. ^ Kögler: Parish Church. 1992, pp. 26–28, lists dendrochronological examinations at 20 locations in the Church.
  10. a b c d e Dehio-Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler. Hessen II. 2008, p. 348.
  11. Evidently there was a church building in Geiß-Nidda around 1000. Kögler: parish church. 1992, foreword p. 3.
  12. ^ Wagner: Büdingen district. 1890, p. 139 ( online ).
  13. ^ Extensive investigation by Kögler: Parish Church. 1992, pp. 11-14.
  14. ^ Wagner: Büdingen district. 1890, p. 141 ( online ).
  15. Kögler: Parish Church, 1992, p. 13.
  16. ^ Kögler: Parish Church. 1992, p. 20 assumes that it is a pelican - but this is neither surrounded by a nimbus nor is it holding a tape.
  17. ^ Kögler: Parish Church. 1992, p. 20.
  18. a b Wagner: Büdingen district. 1890, p. 142 ( online ).
  19. ^ Walbe: Monuments in the province of Upper Hesse. 1930, p. 196.
  20. ^ Homepage of the parish: Description of the Ev. Geiß-Nidda Church , accessed on July 12, 2018.
  21. ^ Bösken, Fischer: Sources and research on the organ history of the Middle Rhine. Vol. 3/2, 1988, p. 355.
  22. ^ Bösken, Fischer: Sources and research on the organ history of the Middle Rhine. Vol. 3/2, 1988, p. 357.
  23. ^ Wagner: Büdingen district. 1890, p. 143 ( online ).

Coordinates: 50 ° 24 ′ 12.6 ″  N , 8 ° 58 ′ 0.6 ″  E