Gertrudenkapelle Uelzen
The St. Gertruden Chapel in Uelzen is dedicated to St. Gertrud von Nivelles . It is used by the Lutheran congregation of St. Petri and the Evangelical Reformed Church for church services.
Location and surroundings
The Gertrudenkapelle is located in front of the Gudestor on Gudesstraße in the Hanseatic city of Uelzen in the Lüneburg Heath .
history
Emergence
The Gertrudenkapelle was built between 1511 and 1513 as a foundation by Uelz citizen Hans Holsche and his wife. The foundation, which continues to this day under the name Gertrudenstiftung , has the patronage of the chapel. The purpose was not only to use it for church services, but also as a rest house for merchants who had not reached the gates of the city of Uelzen in time before sunset, because when the gates were closed, no more travelers had access. During the day the chapel was closed for fear of rabble, it was only opened for services during the day. The chapel was dedicated to St. Gertrude von Nivelles. She was abbess of the Nivelles monastery in Belgium and is seen in the Roman Catholic Church as the protector of all hikers and travelers.
In addition to the Gertruden Chapel, there were five other large spiritual foundations of the Middle Ages in Uelzen (the Holy Spirit Chapel, Apostles Chapel, Dreikönig Chapel and St. Viti Chapel); the Gertrudenkapelle was the last of them.
Gertrudenkapelle as a burial place
In April 1566 the plague broke out in Uelzen , in the following May the city council declared a state of emergency . In addition, the decision was made to create additional burial grounds at the Gertruden Chapel if the cemetery at St. Mary's Church was not enough. Since the epidemic cost fewer victims than feared, the new cemetery was only used as a final resting place for strangers from the city from 1580.
A third of the Uelzen population died of the plague in 1597. All non-citizens were buried in the Gertrudenkapelle. From 1600 the deceased from the surrounding villages of Ripdorf , Halligdorf , Niendorf and Woltersburg were buried on the chapel grounds . In this context, there is also talk of the Wendish cemetery. The chapel was used as a chapel for the dead until 1799; from 1866 to 1906, masses were celebrated in the chapel for the Catholic garrison members .
Destruction and rebuilding
During the Second World War , the chapel roof was destroyed by several hits from artillery in 1945 . On December 1, 1947, the board of the Gertrudenkapellen Foundation commissioned the architect Karl Schlockermann to rebuild; the architect submitted the plans to the board on March 10, 1948, but some changes were made to them. The low hanging wooden ceiling, for example, should now be replaced by a raised wicker arch. However, it was not yet settled how the reconstruction project should be financed. The idea of financing the construction costs through a long-term rental to the Free Church of the Christ Congregation failed. For this reason, the foundation's board of directors decided to implement the project with its own funds and grants from the city of Uelzen and the Mariengemeinde. In February 1949 the chapel roof was already tight, the roof turret was in place and the west gable with the portal was repaired. There was no further funding. Because the city council had previously donated DM 1,000 for the reconstruction of the Paulskirche in Frankfurt, the mayor decided in favor of an interest-free loan of DM 5,000 for the building of the chapel, whereupon the city council approved the loan.
Buildings and equipment
The Gertraud chapel is a single-nave building from brick under sloping gable roof . Both the six glass windows (1951) and the three-winged altarpiece (1953) were created by the Bielefeld artist Renate Strasser, the daughter of the Uelzer provost Ernst Strasser. All windows are foundations of Uelzen families in memory of their fallen in the war . Motifs on the windows include the Three Wise Men , the Good Samaritan , the Flight into Egypt and the Emmaus disciples.
literature
- Uwe Tack: The Gertrudenstiftung in Uelzen 1585–1679 / 80 as reflected in its sources. Uelzen: Verein Historisches Uelzen 2008 (= White Series - Lectures and Papers 11), ISSN 0948-8413.
- The board of directors of the Gertrudenstiftung zu Uelzen (ed.): St. Gertrud zu Uelzen. The chapel and its foundation from 1535. In memory of Ludwig König, the keeper of the foundation. Uelzen 2017.
- Christian Wiechel-Kramüller: Churches, monasteries and chapels in the Uelzen district . Suhlendorf WIEKRA Edition 2015, ISBN 3940189146
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gertrudenstiftung zu Uelzen (Ed.): St. Gertrud zu Uelzen. The chapel and its foundation from 1535. Uelzen 2017.
Coordinates: 52 ° 57 ′ 51 ″ N , 10 ° 33 ′ 57 ″ E