Evangelical Cross Church (Wiedenest)
The Evangelical Kreuzkirche is a listed church building in Wiedenest , a district of Bergneustadt , in the Oberbergisches Kreis ( North Rhine-Westphalia ). It is one of the colorful churches in the Oberbergisches Land.
History and architecture
It was probably founded in the early 12th century as a branch of the parish church in Gummersbach , which belonged to the Severinstift in Cologne. In 1154 it was parish off and was given the right to its own pastor, baptismal font and cemetery. In 1301 the Wiedenest Church was also the parish church of the newly founded neighboring Veste Neustadt, today's Bergneustadt, for more than 400 years. From the 15th century the church was consecrated to the Holy Cross. The relic of the wood of Christ's cross was thought to have healing properties. The same is said of the spring above the church, which has never dried up and is now surrounded by a well. So the Wiedenest church became a pilgrimage church at that time .
The picturesquely situated three-aisled pillar basilica of two bays , with narrow aisles, stands on a walled cemetery away from the village on the slope of the Dörspetal. The west tower from the second half of the 12th century is in front, its eight-sided pyramid is roughly the same height as the masonry. It looks very high compared to the small nave with its two unequal length aisles. From 1452 to 1454 , the transept and the rectangular choir were built from a square choir building and a stilted semicircular apse instead of an east end, which was proven by an excavation .
During the comprehensive renovation of the interior of the church between 1962 and 1964, the medieval state was largely restored. The paintings uncovered from 1928 to 1932 were exempt from any additions. At the same time, the colored version of the architectural elements in gray was given a white joint coating and other things were renewed according to findings.
In 2010 new underfloor heating was installed. The bronze pulpit and the sound cover were removed. The bird's nest to which the sound cover was attached was left as a memento. The stone altar has been replaced by an oak one that has the cross in its legs as the motif of the church. A new lectern and a candlestick for the Easter candle were purchased. Modern halogen lighting was installed and the font was finally moved to the rear of the left aisle.
The unadorned exterior with a stone- covered quarry stone masonry is covered with slate . The gable roofs of the eastern parts are higher than those of the nave . The ogival west portal was probably built in later. Groin vaults were drawn into the central nave and nave . The transept and choir are also vaulted with ribs. The windows of the upper aisle are still in their original form, those of the side aisles were subsequently enlarged. The tracery of the windows has been reconstructed.
After the Reformation , the Catholic pilgrimage church became a Protestant church.
Murals
The wall painting cycle in the choir and transept, from the second half of the 15th century, in fresco-lime secco mixed technique is fragmentary. The adoration of the kings and standing figures of saints and apostles can still be seen in the picture strips of the choir. The individual scenes of the sequence of images in the transept arms, which are clamped into a framework, look like large altar panels. The paintings in the southern arm of the transept depict the legend of the cross according to the report in the Legenda aurea . In the northern transept, the Passion of Christ can be seen from the entry into Jerusalem to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Last Judgment is shown against a rosette-patterned background on the mural in the Vierungsgewölbe.
When Anton Bardenhewer was first uncovered, tendril paintings from the 15th century and figural paintings from the 16th century, and more paintings in the 1960s, were discovered. These ornamental paintings in the nave are assigned to the 13th century. Further restoration and conservation work followed in 1984 and 2015.
The wall painting of the Holy Cross legend belongs to the third painting of the church and offers a unique wealth of detail. “Due to its elaborate composition and the precise execution using valuable materials, the Holy Cross cycle in Wiedenest represents a unique historical legacy of its time for the Oberberg area Alps, in which the legend of the cross is told from the beginning from Adam to the end with Heraclius, and which also has its focus on Old Testament history. "
Furnishing
The oldest piece of furniture is a Romanesque font from around 1200 made of andesite . The six pillars were renewed.
The new furnishings include cast bronze pieces and a new cycle of stained glass by Hermann Gottfried .
Johannes Rohlf created the small organ as his opus 1 in 1964. The instrument has seven registers and is built into the parapet.
literature
- Oberbergisches Heimatbuch from 1936.
- Georg Dehio , edited by Claudia Euskirchen, Olaf Gisbertz, Ulrich Schäfer: Handbuch der deutschen Kunstdenkmäler. North Rhine-Westphalia I Rhineland . Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2005, ISBN 3-422-03093-X .
Web links
- The Kreuzkirche. Protestant parish Wiedenest
- Annette Jansen-Winkeln: Bergneustadt-Wiedenest, Evang. Kreuzkirche. In: glasmalerei-ev.de. Research Center for 20th Century Glass Painting Foundation
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Georg Dehio ; Edited by Magnus Backes : Hessen . In: Handbook of German Art Monuments . First volume. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich, Berlin 1966, p. 134 .
- ↑ a b Rebecca Tehrani: The medieval wall painting cycle of the Holy Cross legend . In: Bergischer Geschichtsverein - Oberbergische Department eV (Hrsg.): Contributions to the Oberbergischen history . tape 12 . Rosalie-Media, Gummersbach 2017, p. 41 ff .
- ↑ Verena Kessel: Last Judgment and balance of the soul: Great art in small churches. The colorful churches in Bergisches Land . Second volume. Bergisch Gladbach 2010, p. 44 .
Coordinates: 51 ° 1 ′ 16.6 " N , 7 ° 40 ′ 47.8" E