Great Church (Emden)

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The Great Church , now the seat of the
Johannes a Lasco Library

The Evangelical Reformed Great Church in Emden is one of the most important sites in East Frisian history . It is the Moederkerk (Dutch: mother church ) of the Reformed congregations in northern Germany and the Netherlands . After the destruction in World War II , no more services were held in the church. The Swiss church was built on part of the foundation walls for the parish. The Great Church now houses the Johannes a Lasco Library , which is considered to be one of the most important special theological libraries in Germany.

history

Building history

Large church from the southeast, around 1845

The establishment of the Great Church is closely connected with the establishment of the Frisian trading settlement, from which Emden later emerged. The place was founded in the 9th century on what was then the right bank of the Ems , near the confluence of a creek on a long throw up to six meters high . A burial ground to the west belonged to the settlement from the beginning. It was laid out on its own terp and provided with a small wooden church.

According to the results of dendrochronological studies, a younger wooden church dates to the year 966. It was built as the settlement enlarged and expanded further and further north. Around 1200 the residents of Emden began to erect a Romanesque single-nave brick building with a west tower in place of the wooden church that was under the patronage of Cosmas and Damians . This is possibly due to the Westphalian cobbones , to whom the settlement was subordinate, because Essen and Werden , as important centers of veneration for these two saints at that time, were within the control of the cobbones.

In the 13th century the church was expanded into a cross-shaped building, to which two aisles were added in the 14th century. Before 1403, it was expanded into a three-aisled hall church .

On November 25, 1403, the church was badly damaged in a severe storm surge. The repair work lasted until 1453. The west tower was demolished and a new tower was built on the north side. The Ulrich choir was added to the central nave in 1454 by extending the east choir by two bays . Around 1500 this choir was finally expanded to become the Last Supper choir, and a little later the trauchor and sacristy were built. In 1516–1517 the side choirs were separated from the main choir and the high altar with an elegant tracery grille made of sandstone.

Tomb of Count Enno II above the manor crypt.

Before 1558, Countess Anna had the Lords' Crypt laid out in East Friesland and the burial place from the Marienthal Abbey in the north . Between 1560 and 1570 it was transformed into a reformed church. The tower was connected to the main nave.

Even before the beginning of the 16th century, chapels were added to the choir in the north and south, which, together with the choir, were then extended by two more yokes to the east.

In 1861 the dilapidated north tower was demolished and replaced by a new building.

During the Second World War, the church was destroyed in an air raid on December 11, 1943. From 1948 to 1949 , with the help of the Evangelical Reformed Churches in Switzerland, a new church was built on part of the foundation walls , which has since been popularly known as the Swiss Church . The tower was rebuilt in the years 1965–1966 and received a new bell room with a tall, slim tower spire that is higher than the original. Most of the church remained in ruins, however, the interior of which was exposed to the weather as the roof was destroyed. Emergency roofing was not erected until the 1980s. In 1992 the foundation stone for the construction of the Johannes a Lasco library in the Great Church was laid. The construction costs of almost 8 million euros were largely borne by the Lower Saxony Foundation , the state of Lower Saxony and the city of Emden , in addition to the Evangelical Reformed Church . After completion of the construction work, the library was opened on November 22, 1995.

The masonry of the church that has been preserved in this building was created between 1455 and 1509 and belongs to the late Gothic period.

Ecclesiastical significance

Church tower of the Great Church, in the foreground the Swiss Church

The Great Church was particularly important during the Reformation . During this time, the city was characterized by religious liberality. The central place was the Great Church. Important events of religious history as well as East Frisian history took place here several times.

The Reformation found its way into Emden around 1520. In the lead was Georg Aportanus , who was called to Emden by Count Edzard I , where he was supposed to raise his sons Enno and Johann , and who had a vicarie at the Great Church in Emden . From 1524 at the latest, he began to appear publicly in the evangelical sense. Under the protection of the count, he opposed the old believing priesthood and a strong contrast arose, so that he was forbidden from preaching in the pulpit. Convinced of the correctness of his faith, he preached outside the city gates. The citizens of Emden then demanded his reinstatement in the church, which the followers of the old doctrine ultimately had to follow.

The baptism of 300 adults in an anteroom of the church by Melchior Hofmann in 1530 marked the beginning of the Anabaptist movement in north-west Germany and the Netherlands.

Johannes a Lasco worked here as superintendent from 1542 to 1549 . A Lasco's activity led to a confrontation with the still practicing monks and with the Anabaptists. In particular, he fought for the removal of images in churches.

In 1567 Albert Ritzaeus Hardenberg , an acquaintance and follower of the teachings of Lascos, became the first preacher in the church, where he worked until his death. He wrote several theological writings, but his work was more determined by his sermons. Hardenberg was buried in the church. His successor was Menso Alting , under whose aegis the Calvinism prevailed in Emden to (officially) only permitted religion. To ward off the Counter-Reformation, he sought a Protestant union in the spirit of militant Calvinism. This in turn involved him in the conflict between the East Frisian estates and the absolutist tendencies of the Lutheran Counts Edzard II and Enno III. from East Frisia. The Great Church thus became the starting point for the Emden Revolution . Alting has thus co-founded the special position of the city of Emden in the state structure of the county.

Building design

With almost 3,000 seats, the church was one of the largest in East Frisia. The Great Church was built at the western end of the old city center and shapes the cityscape of Emden with its 65 m high church tower. The main entrance used to be on the east side. Today you can only enter the church via the side entrance.

The new building of the Johannes a Lasco Library, built from 1992 to 1995 in the ruins of the church according to plans by the architect Jochen Bunse, is statically independent of the ruins. Only in the structure of the roof are both structures connected. The preserved three-aisled choir area of ​​the former Great Church was closed off by a new continuous transept in the west.

Furnishing

Big church

Library

The Johannes a Lasco Library.

The holdings of the library go back to the archive and the book collection of the Reformed community of Emden, which Gerhard tom Camp had set up as a preacher's library since 1559. It experienced growth in 1574 when Albert Rizaeus Hardenberg bequeathed his library to the Emden community in a will, in 1584 through the foundation of the Petrus Medmann collection and in 1626 when the city council of Emden bought another collection. In the same year a part-time librarian was hired for the first time. After 1685 another city collection was transferred to the library. A handwritten catalog is documented for the first time for the year 1709; there are printed catalogs from 1806. During the Second World War, the library was relocated and thus escaped destruction. In 1974 it was opened to the public again, initially on Brückstrasse. In 1993 it was again considerably expanded by donating a bibliophile collection. On December 14th of the same year it became an independent foundation and on December 22nd, 1995, after being rebuilt, it was transferred back to the Great Church. With a stock of around 150,000 titles (as of 2015), it is one of the most important theological specialist libraries in Germany.

Schepken Christi

The Schepken Christi .

The Great Church was a religious refuge for refugees, especially from the Netherlands, during the Reformation. In 1660 grateful descendants of the refugee families donated a relief with the “Schepken Christy” (“Schiffchen Christi”) and the inscription: “Godts kerck, vervolgt, verdreven” on the east portal of the Great Church, which was called “moederkerk” (“mother church”) , heft Godt hyr trost Gegeven "(" The Church of God, persecuted, driven out, God has given consolation here. "). The portal survived the bombing raids in 1943 unscathed. Today the sailing ship with the inscription is the seal of the Evangelical Reformed Church .

Enno II tomb

The magnificent tomb of Enno II (1505–1540) is located immediately to the right of today's entrance. Here a fully plastic figure of the deceased rests on a false sarcophagus . Countess Anna , Enno's widow, had the tomb erected in Renaissance style in 1540–48 by a sculptor from the school of Cornelius Florius . Originally the bones of Enno II were there. After Aurich became the residence of the count and later dynasty of the Cirksena in 1561, they moved their family crypt from the Great Church to the Lambertikirche in Aurich, from where they were later transferred to the Cirksena mausoleum in the cemetery.

The tomb was also slightly damaged in the destruction of the Great Church. It was also exposed to the elements for many years. In the course of building the library, the tomb was also restored. However, traces of damage from storm surges or bombs were deliberately left visible.

organ

The church temporarily housed the largest organ in East Frisia. The first organ building by Mester Hinrick is attested as early as 1480. In 1565 an instrument was transferred from the Blauhaus monastery to Emden, which was expanded by Andreas de Mare from 1577–82. A third new organ was built in 1774 by Johann Friedrich Wenthin , who had 40 registers . The fourth organ was built by Friedrich Klassmeier in 1927 and, with 51 stops, was larger than the organ in the Ludgerikirche in Norden . It was destroyed together with the church in 1943. From 1997 a positive organ by Bartelt Immer was in the library for a few years . This instrument with its four registers had a detachable and separately playable shelf 8 ′ on a second manual , but is now in Tokyo .

chandelier

The three brass chandeliers in the church were made by Gottlieb Franke in 1779 from the proceeds of a bell sale. When the belfry broke in 1779, the bells fell and broke. The sale of the bell scrap was used to finance the candlesticks. During the Second World War they were outsourced and after the destruction of the Great Church they hung in the New Church in Emden and in the Church in Larrelt. When the library was being built, the chandeliers were returned to the church.

Swiss Church

The Swiss Church .

After the Second World War, with the help of donations from Reformed parishes from Switzerland, an emergency church was built from 1948 according to plans by the architect Otto Bartning on part of the foundation walls of the Great Church. This made a complete rebuilding of the Great Church impossible.

The so-called Swiss church was built using element construction . Work on the foundations was completed in November 1948. The prefabricated parts arrived on May 24, 1949 in five railway wagons. The planned type A of the emergency church, which was only used as a single type at the Bethanienkirche in Frankfurt am Main , was slightly varied in Emden. For example, instead of the barrel-like roof over the barrel vault, the church was given an elongated gable roof to take account of the northern climate. The chancel was also built in a modified form. The old stones from the ruin were hewn and reused for the new building.

The church was consecrated on October 16, 1949.

organ

In the Swiss church there is an organ by Ahrend & Brunzema , which was built in 1962 with two manuals and in 1985 by Jürgen Ahrend added a separate pedal . Since then it has had 14 registers and is designed in a baroque style. This also corresponds to the well-tempered mood ( Werckmeister III ). Since 1985 the instrument has had the following disposition :

I Rückpositiv
Dumped 8th'
Praestant 4 ′
Pointed flute 2 ′
Sesquialtera II-III
Krummhorn 8th'
II major work
Praestant 8th'
Reed flute 8th'
octave 4 ′
flute 4 ′
mixture
Dulcian B / D 16 ′
pedal
Sub-bass 16 ′
octave 8th'
Trumpet 8th'

Remarks

  1. Replaces the Scharf since 1985.
  2. From F.

See also

literature

  • Ernst Siebert, Walter Deeters , Bernard Schröer: History of the city of Emden from 1750 to the present . Rautenberg Verlag, Leer 1980, DNB  810343290 (East Friesland in the protection of the dike; 7).
  • Hans-Bernd Rödiger, Menno Smid : Frisian churches in Emden, Leer, Borkum, Mormerland, Uplengen, Overledingen and Reiderland , volume 3. Verlag CL Mettcker & Söhne, Jever 1980, p. 22 ff.
  • Ralph Nickles: Organ inventory of the Krummhörn and the city of Emden . Hauschild Verlag , Bremen 1995, ISBN 3-929902-62-1 , p. 337-372 .
  • Christian Züchner (Hrsg.): About times and spaces: From the history of the evangelical-reformed community Emden. 350 years of the New Church 1648–1998. 50 years of the Swiss Church 1949–1999 . Gerhard, Emden 1997, ISBN 3-88656-020-1 .

Web links

Commons : Great Church  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b The Great Church of Emden. In: jalb.de
  2. Klaus Brandt, Hajo van Lengen , Heinrich Schmidt, Walter Deeters: History of the city of Emden from the beginnings to 1611 . Verlag Rautenberg, Leer 1994, DNB 943219795 , p. 61. (East Frisia in the protection of the dike, vol. 10)
  3. ^ A b Gottfried Kiesow: Architectural Guide East Friesland . Verlag Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-86795-021-3 , p. 42.
  4. Seaport city of Emden about the building of the Johannes a Lasco library
  5. a b c Walter Schulz: Johannes a Lasco Library Große Kirche Emden (PDF file; 2.93 MB), accessed on January 18, 2016.
  6. Elwin Lomberg: Causes, prehistory and effects of the Emden Synod of 1571 . In: Evangelical Reformed Church in Northwest Germany (Ed.): 1571 Emder Synod 1971. Contributions to history and the 400th anniversary . Neukirchener, Neukirchen 1973, pp. 14-15.
  7. a b Swiss Church. In: arch INFORM ; Retrieved January 19, 2010.
  8. Ralph Nickles: Organ inventory of the Krummhörn and the city of Emden . Hauschild Verlag, Bremen 1995, ISBN 3-929902-62-1 , p. 496.

Coordinates: 53 ° 21 '55.5 "  N , 7 ° 12' 8.5"  E