Evangelical Church in Klettwitz
The Evangelical Church of Klettwitz is a church building in the Schipkau district of Klettwitz in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district in southern Brandenburg .
history
At the time of the first mention of the place in 1370, the construction of the stone chapel is assumed, which still exists today as the entrance to the church. It was a branch church of the Wormlager Church. With the Reformation in the Senftenberg office , the Wendish village of Klettwitz became an independent parish in 1540 . The parish included the neighboring towns of Särchen (today's Annahütte ), Meuro , Drochow and Kostebrau with the district of Wischgrund . The first pastor was Mathias Nuedemii von Klettwitz . The nave of today's church was probably built around this time.
In 1774 the church was rebuilt in the baroque style. The Wendish language was displaced by the influx of numerous workers from other areas . Pastor Friedrich Traugott Schlomka preached in Wendish for the last time in 1870. In 1880 Arnošt Muka described the ethnic situation in the parish of Klettwitz in such a way that the entire parish with all its villages except Schipkau was Germanized in the 19th century and only the old people understood Sorbian . Due to the population growth from the second half of the 19th century due to industrialization, the church was expanded from 1905 to 1907. The designs came from the architects Wilhelm Blaue and Karl Weber . The east gable was demolished during the expansion. The church was decorated and painted in the Art Nouveau style. The cemetery around the church was relocated to create construction space.
The bronze bells were melted down during the First World War . In 1921 the church received a new three-part steel bell.
Church life was made more difficult both in the time of National Socialism and in the GDR. In addition, the council of the Cottbus district decided that the place Klettwitz should be devastated by the opencast mine Klettwitz-Nord by 2004 . As a result of this decision, the population decreased, buildings and infrastructure were neglected and fell into disrepair. This also applied to the church. After German reunification and the abandonment of lignite mining in Lusatia, the church was restored from 1991 to 1996. The church building was restored in the version from 1906 for 3.2 million DM.
In addition to the Protestant church, there is also the Catholic Herz-Jesu-Kirche in Klettwitz .
Building description
Church building
The medieval chapel is designed as an entrance portal. Through it you get through the former north gate into the nave, which was built when the new church was built around 1540 and formed the church until the expansion in 1905. The church presented itself as a fortified church . Two transepts and a chancel were added to the nave.
There is a small gate under the organ gallery. It is the medieval west entrance to the church. At this gate, pans and crevices typical of Niederlausitz are cut. The west tower is behind the gate. This square tower is 40 meters high. The tower with the baroque dome has a tower clock from the Georg Richter tower clock factory in Berlin , which was manufactured in 1905. The three-part steel bell is in the tower.
Today's church has a capacity of 500 people.
Churchyard
In 1995 the churchyard was redesigned. The old tombstones found in the process were used to border the path. At the northern edge of the church yard there is a cast-iron grave monument of the Krüger family. The Royal Prussian Councilor Johann Christian Gottfried Krüger placed this monument on his parents' grave in 1835. He also founded the “Krüger Foundation”, which until 1945 honored the best students every year.
War memorial
On the opposite side of the church, a memorial for those who died in the First World War was erected. In 1945 the foliage-crowned helmets and the eagle were removed and buried next to the memorial. They were uncovered and reassembled during the renovation in 1995.
Interior
The interior of the church is brightly painted. The note coffered ceiling from 1906 features 91 motifs. A life-size crucifix, which was made in Berlin in 1905, hangs on the north wall.
altar
The altar of the church dates from Catholic times, nothing is known about its origin. Most of the pictures depict Mary and female martyrs. In the middle part there is a wooden sculpture depicting Mary with the Christ child in her arms. She stands as the queen of heaven on the crescent moon. Mary Magdalene is standing on Mary's right . To the left of Maria is Saint Martin , who shares the cloak at his feet.
On the upper left side wing, the patron saint of miners, Saint Barbara , is depicted in front of the tower in which she was locked by her father. The scene is shown when her father wants to behead her. In the lower part of the left side wing there is a sculpture of St. Margaret , who overcomes the dragon in the dungeon.
On the upper right side wing, Saint Catherine of Alexandria is depicted before being beheaded. Saint Dorothea can be seen at the bottom right .
Probably at the time of the baroque redesign of the church, the former winged altar was given a top painting depicting the Holy Communion. In the carving on the left and right are the coats of arms of the Margraviate of Meissen and the Electorate of Saxony as sovereign symbols. The symbols of the four evangelists are shown in the vaulted vault above the altar .
Baptismal font
The font is located approximately in the middle of the church. According to a tradition from 1669, Abraham Wunsch is said to have brought the baptismal font "out of deep darkness" into daylight in 1660 . The baptismal font depicts the baptism of Jesus on the Jordan . The baptismal bowl is a foundation of the “Churfürstl. Saxon. Ambtschössers zu Senftenbergk Christian Pöler ”from 1669.
A twelve-armed chandelier, which the Klettwitz master blacksmith Bernhard Semisch made in 1906, hangs above the font. On the stalls around the baptismal font are medieval paintings of unknown origin with biblical content.
organ
In the organ gallery there is an organ with 12 registers on two manuals and a pedal by Wilhelm Sauer . The pneumatic cone store instrument is already the fourth organ in the church. The first organ around 1740 came from Pulsnitz . Today's disposition is as follows:
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- Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
- Playing aids : Tutti
window
The history of the place is shown in the windows of the transepts. The Lusatian bull represents the original affiliation to the margraviate of Niederlausitz . The crossed swords and the Saxon coat of arms represent the affiliation to the Electorate of Saxony (1635-1815). The red eagle stands for the Prussian province of Brandenburg .
Individual evidence
- ^ Frank Förster : Disappeared Villages. The demolition of the Lusatian lignite mining area by 1993 . (= Writings of the Sorbian Institute. 8) Bautzen 1995. ISBN 3-7420-1623-7
- ↑ Information on the organ in the organ database Orgelbase.nl
literature
- Konrad Passkönig: Village forms in the west of the Senftenberg rule. Senftenberg District Museum , Senftenberg 1997.
- Churches in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district 2008. (Calendar of Sparkasse Niederlausitz)
Web links
- Entry in the monument database of the State of Brandenburg
- Presentation of the church on the homepage of the community of Schipkau, accessed on July 25, 2009
Coordinates: 51 ° 32 ′ 30.7 ″ N , 13 ° 53 ′ 40.5 ″ E