Orsoy Evangelical Church

Orsoy Evangelical Church (2014)

Fountain in the church square

The Evangelical Church of Orsoy is one of the most important brick Gothic buildings on the Lower Rhine . The three-nave, late Gothic step hall church is located in the center of Orsoy . In addition to its function as a Protestant parish church , the building is the cultural center of the place. In addition to the church service, readings and concerts take place here.

history

Today's church structure goes back to a previous building from the 12th century, which the Counts of Kleve had built as a separate church for the members of their lordship in Orsoy. The church was first mentioned in a document in 1223/25 as a branch church of the Rheinberg community . Before the Reformation it was under the patronage of St. Nicholas . Most of the written evidence of the history of the Protestant Orsoy Church was destroyed in the numerous wars and fires that Orsoy experienced. The church records from the time before the Reformation were destroyed in a damaging fire on May 5, 1587, when Italian occupation soldiers set fire to the church archives, among other things.

The first recorded Reformed preacher in Orsoy was Bernhard Benrad, according to another reading also B. von Rad, who was installed in 1547 by Duke Wilhelm V of Kleve . Orsoy is thus one of the oldest Reformed communities on the Lower Rhine. In 1564 Benrad was expelled and went to Sonsbeck , where he was expelled again when he tried to remove images of saints from the local church. Benrad was successively followed by the Catholic pastors Burchard Stier von Issel and Rudolf Frankomala (Frankenmüller) in office. In 1580, the reformed parish of Orsoy was affiliated with the Wesel convent . Six years later, in 1586, a decree by Johann Wilhelm forbade practicing the Reformed faith. As a result, there was a frequent change of priests of both denominations. Under Dutch occupation in 1632, the formerly Catholic St. Nicholas Church was ultimately reformed. The Catholic community was assigned the Orsoyer Gasthauskapelle in 1673 and was officially re-established in 1683. In the years 1843 to 1848/50, a new Catholic parish church in neo-Gothic style was built north of the Protestant church, which today continues the patronage.

Building history

View of the interior of the church

Floor plan of the Orsoy Evangelical Church

The broad brick church was built in the middle of the 15th century. The 5/8 choir is equipped with three pointed arched windows. A three-storey west tower with a total height of 36 meters is placed in front of the elevated central nave. The church was badly damaged in the damaging fire of 1587. After makeshift repairs in 1605, an emergency building was built in 1611 for worship. In 1638 the roof and the west tower could be restored. In 1755 the church was extensively rebuilt. Due to the constant risk of flooding, the interior space was repeatedly raised. The last time it was raised in this way was in 1855 by around 65 cm to match the street level, which was also raised. Overall, the original floor level can be assumed to be around 1.50 meters below the current church floor. In 1855/56 modifications were made to the west tower. At the same time, the west wall was equipped with a tracery gallery and corner branches.

On the inner walls of the tower hall, high water marks indicate the catastrophic floods of February 15, 1565 and February 28, 1687.

The oldest Lower Franconian inscription on the south side reads:

High water mark from 1565.

inscription	translation
1565 FEBRUARY 15, STUNT HERE AAN DE RYN BY STVCKONGH ISFFARRONGH WATERSGEFEAR GeschA T'ORSOY SCHADE GROT YNDE SWAER DES ÖRE NABVREN OP DEN RYN SET WEEPING MAY VERGETEN VNDE NYTH	On February 15, 1565 the Rhine stood here. Due to congestion, ice drift, danger of water Happened to Orsoy damage great and heavy What their descendants living on the Rhine Like to cry and not forget.

Opposite it on the north wall is a rectangular sandstone plaque with an inscription from 1687, also in Lower Franconia:

inscription	translation
1687 FEBRUARY 28: THE RHYN MET EYS COVERED, EEN VLOER IN FRONT OF PAARD AND SCALES, STAAKT ZYNEN LOOP, EN STAAT VAST AS EEN MUR, VOEL DAGEN. MAAR DOOR EEN ZOETE LUCHT OUTLAATEN, BREEKT ZYN DEXEL, EN RUCKT MET KRAAK OP KRAAK VORBY, GEEFT BREUK EN LETZEL AAN D'WERKEN DEEZER CITY AAN DYK EN DAM EN VELDEN DEAD HERE GINK ZYN VLOET, MEN REPORT AAN CHILD CHILD.	February 28, 1687 The Rhine covered with ice Flood for horse and wagon, Inhibits its course and stands Like walls solid, many days; However, a mild west When the river reaches the ceiling, And rolling away with a crash The Rhine in its basin. And leaves in fields only On walls and dams That wash its waves, Back track of misfortune Its floods struck Up to this stone. That it should be reported to the grandchildren You dug it in forever.

The water levels from March 1st and 2nd, 1855, January 30th to February 21st, 1799 and at the bottom February 29th, 1784 are marked on a third board on the north wall of the tower hall.

A specialty of the Ev. Orsoy Church are the 233 hereditary tombs under the church floor, which were occupied by Orsoy families between the 16th and 18th centuries. The tombs have not been accessible since the renovation in 1755 and are no longer visible today. However, a map from 1774 gives detailed information about the occupancy of the graves.

Remediation and archeology

Partly overlapping tombs in front of the south-east corner of the church during the excavations in summer 2010

Burial place on the south side during the excavations, summer 2010

In the Second World War badly damaged the church until 1952, has been restored. Due to increasing humidity, the building was renovated again in 1958/60 and 1977. A comprehensive renovation is currently being prepared under the direction of the Wesel cathedral master builder and architect Wolfgang G. Deurer .

In this context, among other things, the foundations of the church are excavated. On the north and south sides of the church and to the east of the apse, part of the church cemetery, which was abandoned in the 17th century, with a total of around 100 graves, was uncovered. A tombstone was also found, which is dated to the year 1661. The stone bears the inscription “M. GOTTERT • BARCKHAUS • CATTREINA • HIS • HOUSE • FRAW “. The stone will be displayed in the church after the renovation work is complete.

Furnishing

With the restoration work in the middle of the 19th century, the interior was also refurbished. After the renovation in 1958/60, the Protestant church received six new windows by the Dutch glass painter Henk Schilling .

pulpit

Pulpit from the middle of the 16th century

The Protestant church Orsoy houses one of the oldest Protestant pulpits on the Lower Rhine. The wooden work of art is attached to the first north pillar and dates from 1555, the time of Pastor Benrad. It is a foundation of Orsoyer alderman Dietrich von Hausen and shows a decoration made of rough carvings in the style of the Renaissance . The four relief images on the pulpit show a crucifixion scene, the Last Supper, the sacrifice of Isaac and the exaltation of the brazen serpent according to Moses . The pulpit door, which bears the year 1556, is also symbolically designed. Here, based on a Wittenberg pamphlet, the motif "Jesus in the sheepfold" from the Gospel according to John , chapter 10 1,2, was chosen. In the interpretation, monks climb over the roof of the stable, on which the Pope is enthroned, while Jesus Christ remains in front of the door. This reflects the debates of the Reformation period and open criticism of the papacy. The monks seek their way to paradise through ecclesiastical power, but without the involvement of Jesus Christ. In 1855 the pulpit was restored. The base of the pulpit bears the inscription in Gothic script: I stelt an godt .

Pulpit panel 1: Exaltation of the brazen serpent
Pulpit panel 2: Crucifixion scene
Pulpit 3: Last Supper
Pulpit panel 4: Sacrifice of Isaac
Pulpit door according to a Wittenberg pamphlet
Movement from 1903

Since the middle of February 2016, the restored Passion Altar has been temporarily on loan in the church, where it was there until 1638, because there are currently significant structural defects and moisture damage in the St. Nicholas Church and its renovation will take two to five years.

see: Passion Altar by Orsoy

organ

Organ from 1680

The organ prospectus by the organ builder Peter Weidtman (1647–1715) from Ratingen was installed in 1680. In 1855 the organ was expanded to include 18 registers. The original wooden prospectus has been preserved to this day.

I Rückpositiv C–
1.	Music-playing	8th'
2.	Flute Praestant	4 ′
3.	Funnel flute	2 ′
4th	Klein-Scharff IV	¹ ⁄ ₂ ′
5.	Vox humana	8th'

II main work C–
6th	Principal	8th'
7th	Hollow pipe	8th'
8th.	Octave	4 ′
9.	Capstan whistle	2 ′
10.	Sesquialtera II	2 ² ⁄ ₃  ′ + 1 ³ ⁄ ₅  ′
11.	Mixture IV	1 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′
12.	Trumpet	8th'

Pedals C–
13.	Sub-bass	16 ′
14th	Revelation	8th'
15th	Octave bass	4 ′
16.	Hollow clamp II
17th	Trumpet lovely	16 ′

Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P.
Playing aids : hand registers, a free combination, tutti

Bells

Main bell from 1663.

The ringing consists of five bells, which were tuned after the chorale “ Wachet, call us the voice ” in D 'FIS' GIS 'A' H '. Three bells date from 1663, 1638 and 1781. Two more were cast in 1969. The main bell from 1663 weighs approx. 1300 kg and bears the inscription:

JOHAN MAURIT'S PRINCE OF NASSAU OWNERSHIP. ALEXANDER BARON OF LANDDROST AND DROST TO ORSOY. PETER ERKENSWICK BUERMEISTER, THOMAS THERSTEGEN SCHEFFEN, FRANCISCUS SCRIVERCUS KIRCHMEISTER, CHRISTIAN TEW RICHTER

FRIEDRICH WILHELM CHURFÜRST. LOVISE D'ORANGE.

GLAVDILA MIRAL (?) BY BONN GOSS ME ANNO 1663.

The inscription on the second bell reads:

Psalm 150.WESSELL VON LOH BURGEM. ANTON VAN BEDBER KM. 1638.

The third bell bears the simple manufacturer's engraving:

HENRICUS PETIT ME FECIT 1781

Monument protection

The area of the church is a ground monument according to the law for the protection and care of monuments in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Monument Protection Act - DSchG) . Research and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval. Incidental finds are to be reported to the monument authorities.

literature

Jürgen Buschmann: The organ of the Protestant town church Dinslaken. In: home calendar of the Wesel district. (1989), pp. 166-169.
Paul Clemen : The art monuments of the district of Moers. Düsseldorf 1892, p. 43f.
Georg Dehio , Ernst Gall : Handbook of German art monuments. North Rhine-Westphalia, I. Rhineland. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1967, p. 533f.
Dieter Hupka, Dirk Herdemerten: Simply deepened - investigations in the Protestant church of Orsoy. In: Jürgen Kunow : Archeology in Rhineland 2013. Cologne 2014, ISBN 978-3-8062-2986-8 , pp. 220–222.
Dieter Kastner: Rhenish City Atlas, Volume IX. No. 51. Orsoy . R. Habelt 1989, ISBN 3-7927-1048-X , p. 12.
Dieter Kastner, Gerhard Köhnen: Orsoy. Story of a small town . Braun, Duisburg 1981, ISBN 3-87096-160-0 , pp. 217-220.
Otto Ottsen: Old Orsoy. Contributions to the history of the city and the office (the Drostei) Orsoy . Steiger, Moers 1980, ISBN 3-921564-16-6 (Repr. D. Aus. Orsoy 1934), pp. 55ff.
Gottfried B. Mertens: History of the city of Orsoy and its surroundings together with historical documents . Wallmann, Leipzig 1921.
Emil Stein: History of the Evangelical Reformed Parish Orsoy . Spaarmann, Moers 1893. ( digitized version )
Johann Heinrich Schürmann : Old and New from Orsoy . Self-published, Orsoy 1849.