Friedenskirche (Potsdam)

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Friedenskirche
View of the Friedenskirche from the north

The Protestant Church of Peace in the Sanssouci Palace Park in Potsdam is in the Marly Gardens, right next to the green grid . The project followed on from the construction of the Heilandskirche at Port von Sacrow in the same style, the church arched style . This style related programmatically to the (at that time hardly known) early Christian church building and above all factually to Romanesque elements of church architecture in Italy and especially Rome. The whole complex is modeled on northern Italian monastery buildings.

The church is used for church services by the Evangelical Peace Church Community in Potsdam.

Planning and construction history

The future Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV had already made a sketch for the building of the Friedenskirche in 1839. This design was based on the early Christian church of San Clemente in Rome. The church was supposed to meet the courtly demands of a royal summer residence in Sanssouci . The building symbolically embodied the “Christian state” sought by Friedrich Wilhelm. The Friedenskirche should also emphasize its legitimation based on divine right . Friedrich Wilhelm had a mosaic in the apse reused that he had received in 1834 from the Church of San Cipriano in Murano , which was to be demolished a little later. The Byzantine mosaic shows Jesus Christ seated on a throne - a representation of his divinely inspired rule, deliberately staged by Friedrich Wilhelm IV.

Friedrich Wilhelm rejected the royal designs revised by the court architect Ludwig Persius several times: Among other things, he criticized the fact that the first design was missing a tower or that the proportions were incorrect. It was not until October 20, 1843, after almost two years of planning, that the king approved modified building plans. The model for the free-standing bell tower was the campanile of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome. The Crown Prince had got to know this church in the copperplate engravings Monuments of the Christian Churches of Rome . On April 14, 1845 the foundation stone of the Friedenskirche was laid. After the death of Ludwig Persius on July 12, 1845, Friedrich August Stüler was entrusted with the continuation. Construction management was given to Ferdinand von Arnim and Ludwig Ferdinand Hesse . On September 24, 1848, the Peace Church was consecrated in the presence of the King and Queen. The construction time on the ancillary facilities lasted until 1854.

Friedenskirche

architecture

Church of Peace and Campanile from the east

The church is a three-aisled pillar basilica without a transept with a 42 meter high campanile . The 42 meter high free-standing bell tower on the south side is modeled on the campanile of Santa Maria di Cosmedin in Rome. An aedicule on the east side shows a fresco Jesus in Gethsemane by Eduard Steinbrück . The tower has seven open upper floors. The four bells named Gratia, Clementia, Pax and Gloria ring from the third floor of the tower above the clockwork. In 1917 and 1945, except for the smallest , they were taken from the tower to be melted down for armaments production , but were able to escape their fate. The 13.50 meter high main nave towers over the half as wide aisles. Arched arcades indicate the transition. An early Christian idealized copper engraving of the Church of San Clemente in Rome served as a template for the Potsdam Church .

The religious Friedrich Wilhelm IV wanted a flat coffered ceiling inside. The fields contain gold stars on a blue background. The early Christian sacred buildings , which arose from market and court halls , seemed to the king to be particularly suitable as a structural model.

Mosaic (apse)

View into the apse

A largely preserved Veneto- Byzantine mosaic from the first third of the 13th century decorates the apse of the church. It was originally located in the church of San Cipriano (consecrated in 1109) on Murano near Venice, which was to be demolished . Friedrich Wilhelm had it auctioned for 385 thalers during his time as Crown Prince and brought it to Potsdam by water.

The depiction shows the Byzantine motif of the Deësis ( intercession ) with the enthroned Christ in the center. The Blessed Mother Mary on his right and John the Baptist on his left turn to him with arms and hands raised in a humble and pleading pose. The apostle Peter stands in a similar position to the right of Mary (from the perspective of the observer, on the far left) and, in mirror image, next to John, the patron saint of San Cipriano, the decapitated martyr Cyprianus in bishop's robe . Christ raised his right arm and right hand in a gesture of blessing. In his left hand he holds a lavishly decorated, closed book that is interpreted either as the “ Book of Life ” or as the Gospel . The dove adorns the top of the hemisphere as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The lamb appears as a symbol of Christ above the heads of the archangels Raphael and Michael . On the semicircle of the apse the Latin inscription in Luther's translation reads : "Lord, I love the place of your house and the place where your honor dwells".

The four dark green columns of the altar ciborium , made of Siberian jasper , are a gift from the Russian Tsar Nicholas I in 1842.

Baptistery and sacristy

The former baptistery is located in the extension of the right aisle. The six-sided font was moved to the church in 1965. As a counterpart to the baptistery, the sacristy is in the left aisle. After the death of Friedrich Wilhelm IV, it served temporarily as a mausoleum , also for members of the Hohenzollern family who died later . Two sons of Emperor Friedrich III. and his wife Victoria , Princes Sigismund and Waldemar , were laid out here until 1892. In 1920 the youngest son of the last German Emperor Wilhelm II , Prince Joachim (1890–1920) found a resting place in the sacristy. After 1931 it was transferred to the Temple of Antiquities . In the church, Kaiser Wilhelm II., Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia , Eitel Friedrich of Prussia , August Wilhelm of Prussia , Oskar of Prussia , Joachim of Prussia and Viktoria Luise of Prussia were blessed .

Royal tomb

Grave slab with inscriptions for Friedrich Wilhelm IV. And Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria in front of the altar
Crypt with the sarcophagi of Friedrich Wilhelm IV. And Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria below the altar

The royal crypt is located under two marble tablets that were set into the floor in front of the steps to the chancel. Friedrich Wilhelm IV died after several strokes on January 2, 1861. After the inauguration of the crypt in October 1864, his sarcophagus was placed there. The king's heart, however, rests in the mausoleum of Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin .

In 1873 he was followed by his wife Elisabeth Ludovika . Both English pewter sarcophagi bear the same inscriptions as the marble slabs in the church floor: Here rests in God, his Savior, in the hope of a blessed resurrection and a gracious judgment, based solely on the merit of Jesus Christ our Most Holy Redeemer and One Life .

In the year of the inauguration of the crypt, the floor design desired by Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Was completed in the church interior as an intertwined endless ribbon as a symbol of eternity.

organ

Organ brochure since 2004
Organ brochure (until 2003)

Today's Organ Church of Peace is partly from a 24 registers quite small predisposed organ, which in 1847 by the organ builder Gottlieb Heise had been built (Potsdam). The case, which was designed by Ferdinand von Arnim, has been preserved to this day.

Since the instrument was too weak for the church interior, it was rebuilt and supplemented several times after 1848. The organ builder Wilhelm Sauer (Frankfurt / Oder) made significant changes in 1909 . He added nine registers and redesigned the organ case, hiding the rose window behind the organ. The organ builder Alexander Schuke (Potsdam) made further drastic changes in 1930 . He added ten registers and redesigned the organ into a late-romantic symphonic instrument with baroque elements.

In 2003/04 the Marburg organ builder Gerald Woehl restored the instrument. The patron of the work was former Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker . The existing pipework was supplemented by a few registers to form a self-contained, symphonic instrument, the character of which combines elements of German and French (late) romantic organs.

One of the main goals was to dismantle the organ case in the course of the restoration and to restore the original spatial impression: since 2004 the rose window with its 2.50 meter diameter has been visible again, surrounded by the triumphal arch-like organ case. The space for the organ's pipework, which was lost due to the dismantling, was compensated for by side extensions and by using the lower case, where the pedal stops have been located since then.

The instrument has 47 registers (including 18 historical registers), a group slide (cornett), and two extensions and two transmissions (from the main work) in the pedal . It is equipped with a symphonic wind system consisting of seven bellows, two temples and two fans. The wind pressures are between 80 and 100 mm WS.

I main work C – a 3
01. Drone 16 ′ H
02. Principal 08th' H
03. Dumped 08th' H
04th Flûte harmonique 08th'
05. Viol 08th'
06th Octave 04 ′ H
07th Reed flute 04 ′ S.
08th. Nasard fifth 02 1 ⁄ 3  ′ S.
09. Octave 02 ′
10. Cornet II-IV 02 ′ Sch
11. Mixture V-VI 02 ′
12. bassoon 16 ′
13. Trumpet 08th'
II Upper structure (swellable) C – a 3
14th Dumped 16 ′ 0 S.
15th Principal 08th' H
16. Concert flute 08th' S.
17th Aeoline 08th' S.
18th Violin beat 08th' S.
19th Quintad 08th' S.
20th Dumped 08th' H
21st Octave 04 ′
22nd Flauto dolce 04 ′ H
23. Viola d'amour 04 ′
24. Flageolet 02 ′
25th Mixture IV 02 ′
26th bassoon 08th'
Tremulant (weak)
III Swell C – a 3
27. Quintaton 16 ′
28. Flauto traverso 08th'
29 Viole de Gambe 08th'
30th Voix céleste 08th'
31. Cor de nuit 08th'
32. Flûte octaviante 04 ′
33. Fifth 02 1 ⁄ 3  ′
34. Octavine 02 ′
35. Tierce 01 3 ⁄ 5  ′
36. Cornet V 08th'
37. Basson Hautbois 08th'
38. Vox humana 08th'
39. Trompette harmonique 08th'
40. Clairon harmonique 04 ′
Tremulant (strong)
Pedal C – a 1
41. Large Bordeaux (Ext No. 43) 32 ′ 0
42. double bass 16 ′ S.
43. Sub-bass 16 ′ S.
44. Violon (ext. No.46) 16 ′
45. Gedackt (= No. 1) 16 ′
46. Violon 08th'
47. Gedackt (= No. 3) 08th'
48. Octave bass 08th'
49. Octave 04 ′
50. trombone 16 ′ S.
51. Trumpet 08th'
52. Clarine 04 ′
  • Pairing :
    • Normal coupling: II / I, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
    • Bass-octave couplings: I / I, III / I, III / II, III / III
    • Treble octave coupler: III / P
  • Playing aids: crescendo roller, setting system with 5 × 999 combinations. Sequencer as buttons and steps.
  • Remarks:
  1. ↑ Overblowing from f 1 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Central German design.
  3. ↑ Overblowing from c 2 .
  4. ↑ Overblowing from c 1 .
  5. ↑ Overblowing from c 0 .
  6. ↑ Collective train No. 29, 32-35.
  7. ↑ a b c French design.
H = register from 1848 by Heise
S = Register from 1909 by Sauer
Sch = register from 1930 by Schuke

Bells

In the campanile of the Friedenskirche there are four bells that were cast in 1849 by the bell caster Hackenschmidt (Berlin). The bell has a total weight of 1890 kg. The bells have the strikes f 1 , a flat 1 , c 2 and e 2 .

patio

Inner courtyard with the Christ statue by Bertel Thorvaldsen

An open vestibule ( narthex ) along the west side of the portal opens onto an inner courtyard ( atrium ). The larger than life statue of Christ on the fountain is a copy of the marble original, which was created by Bertel Thorvaldsen in 1821 and is in Copenhagen's Frauenkirche . The ancient Greek inscription on the edge of the fountain says: Cleanse yourself from sins and not just your face . An arcade surrounds the inner courtyard.

Adjoining buildings

Kaiser Friedrich Mausoleum

Mausoleum from the outside
Kaiser Friedrich Mausoleum around 1900
Interior with the marble sarcophagi of the emperor and empress, 1994

The Kaiser-Friedrich-Mausoleum was added on the north side in 1888/90. The plans were drawn up by Julius Carl Raschdorff , based on whose designs the Berlin Cathedral was also built in the style of a Baroque- influenced Italian High Renaissance from 1893–1905 . The Holy Sepulcher Chapel in Innichen / South Tyrol from the 17th century served as a model for the mausoleum . Its construction, in turn, is modeled on the chapel on Jerusalem's Calvary .

The mausoleum is a domed structure on a circular floor plan with an attached rectangular chancel. Inside, a circumferential gallery and the roof dome are supported by two superimposed, circular black columns. A shiny gold mosaic inside the roof vault alternates between angels and palm trees.

In the center of the rotunda is a replica of the marble sarcophagus made by Reinhold Begas for Emperor Friedrich III, who died in 1888 . Wilhelm II had the original, originally displayed here and created by the same sculptor, transferred to the Berlin Cathedral in 1905 . The imperial widow Victoria , who died in 1901, rests next to her, whose sarcophagus, also created by Begas, was completed in 1903.

The same artist also created the sarcophagi on the side walls of the chancel of the early deceased sons of the imperial couple, Prince Sigismund (1864–1866) and Prince Waldemar (1868–1879), which were in the Friedenskirche until 1892. On the steps to the altar is the simple sarcophagus of the soldier king Friedrich Wilhelm I.

The following members of the House of Hohenzollern were buried in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Mausoleum:

King Friedrich Wilhelm I was originally buried like his son Friedrich the Great in the Potsdam Garrison Church. Their coffins, which were relocated in 1943, were after an odyssey from 1952 to 1991 at Hohenzollern Castle near Hechingen in Baden-Württemberg . Friedrich Wilhelm's inner coffin made of copper is in the mausoleum. Its black marble sarcophagus was destroyed in a fire in the church in 1945.

Arcade, cloister and Heilsbronn portal

Heilsbronn portal

A marble group in the southern part of the arcade is the last work of the sculptor Christian Daniel Rauch . It shows Moses in prayer, supported by the high priests Aaron and Hur .

The cloister with the Heilsbronn portal, an entrance to the Marly Gardens, runs parallel to the southern arcade . It is a replica of the Romanesque step portal on the former refectory in Heilsbronn Monastery in Middle Franconia . The architect Ludwig Ferdinand Hesse noticed it there during a study trip in 1828. Together with the Berlin clay manufacturer Tobias Feilner , the plan arose to recreate the archway in reddish terracotta . The portal was cast in plaster by Tobias Feilner and his brother Friedrich, a Nuremberg master potter, in 1829, then burned in clay in Berlin at their own expense and initially set up in the garden of Feilner's house in 1835 at the latest . The desired purchase by King Friedrich Wilhelm III. however did not materialize. His successor Friedrich Wilhelm IV also expressly rejected Hesse's proposal to include this copy in the peace church ensemble. The descendants of Feilner finally donated the portal to the king, and Hesse had it erected at its current location two years after the death of Friedrich Wilhelm IV , against the resistance of Peter Joseph Lenné . The original from Heilsbronn Monastery was bought by the then Crown Prince and later Emperor Friedrich III. 1884 for the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg . There it was almost completely destroyed at the end of the Second World War in 1945.

Cavalier's house and gates

As an extension of the bell tower (Campanile) , the Kavaliershaus , also known as Marly Castle, extends south , and is a former guest house. This is followed by the porter's house with its compact tower and the rectory and school house at right angles.

Friedrich Wilhelm IV had two park entrances laid out for the parish. A low side gate was built near the green grille . Through them, the visitor arrives in a "reverent stooping posture" on the grounds of the Friedenskirche.

A second access, which is no longer used, is on the eastern edge of the park near the obelisk portal . The Dreikönigstor was designed by Ludwig Ferdinand Hesse in the classical style in 1851 and shows sculptures of the kings David , Solomon and Charlemagne by Gustav Blaeser .

Parking area

Friedrich Wilhelm IV wanted to create a connection between the park and the city with the eastern edge of the site. In the Marlygarten, the kitchen garden of the soldier king Friedrich Wilhelm I , a place of silence was created. The garden architect Peter Joseph Lenné embedded the building ensemble in a charming park area with two views.

On the city side in the east, the Friedensgarten is rather cautiously planted with small groups of trees and bushes. The peace pond was created in this area. The water surrounds the church building on the north and east. The Marlygarten, only three hectares in size, adjoins the church grounds to the west. The dense planting through groups of trees and bushes, arcades, flower beds and sculptures reproduces an image of the romantic and playful.

literature

  • Sibylle Badstübner-Gröger: The Peace Church in Potsdam , Berlin 1986.
  • Thomas-Peter Gallon: ruler, judge, blessing giver? On the presence of Christ in the Veneto-Byzantine intercession mosaic of the Friedenskirche zu Sanssouci , in: Mitteilungen des Verein für Kultur und Geschichte Potsdam (Studiengemeinschaft Sanssouci eV), Vol. 18, Potsdam 2013, pp. 39-90 (with numerous references).
  • Horst Hallensleben: A Venetian mosaic of the Middle Ages in Potsdam. In: Max Planck Society, year book, Munich a. a. 1983 ( online )
  • Andreas Kitschke: The Peace Church in Potsdam-Sanssouci . Kunstverlag Peda , Passau 2011, ISBN 978-3-89643-814-0 (publisher: Evangelical Peace Church Community, Potsdam, Am Grünen Raster).

Web links

Commons : Friedenskirche  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Eva Börsch-Supan: Berliner Baukunst after Schinkel 1840-1870 , Munich 1977, p. 127f.
  2. ^ Anke Reiss: Reception of early Christian art in the 19th and early 20th centuries. a contribution to the history of Christian archeology and historicism. JHRöll Verlag. Dettelbach 2008. ISBN 978-3-89754-274-7 . P. 117.
  3. ↑ a b David E. Barclay: Anarchy and good will. Friedrich Wilhelm IV. And the Prussian monarchy . Settlers. Berlin 1995. ISBN 978-3886804634 . Pp. 51-52.
  4. ^ Horst Hallensleben: A Venetian mosaic of the Middle Ages in Potsdam. In: Max Planck Society, year book, Munich a. a. 1983, p. 756
  5. ^ Thomas-Peter Gallon: ruler, judge, blessing giver? In: Mitteilungen, Studiengemeinschaft Sanssouci, Potsdam 2013, p. 62 f. (see bibliography)
  6. ↑ Information on the Woehl organ
  7. ↑ Information on disposition
  8. ↑ Information about the bells
  9. ↑ Heilbronn portal
  10. ↑ Jan Mende: The pottery factory Tobias Chr. Feilner. Art and Industry in the Age of Schinkel , Berlin / Munich 2013, cat. E9
  11. ↑ Heilsbronn

Coordinates: 52 ° 24 '3.5 "  N , 13 ° 2' 36.3"  E