Great Aplerbeck Church

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The Great Church as seen from Märtmannstrasse.

The Great Church Aplerbeck is a built 1867-1869, under monument protection standing Protestant Church in Aplerbeck , Märtmannstraße 13. It is used by the Protestant George's parish Dortmund.

Architecture of the church

The three-aisled hall church in neo-Gothic style consists of five bays and a choir with 5 / 8 final . It is flanked by extensions, the tower is to the west. The square nave walls are structured by buttresses and tracery windows with bridges. The east section is conspicuously designed by the choir and the two south and north facing polygons with sacristies and galleries . The tower, which is square below and merges into an octagon above, is crowned with a pointed, copper-clad helmet . In the bright interior, steep ribbed vaults rest on very slender columns and half-columns with leaf capitals divided by two rows .

Building history

The Great Church from the south-west side

Beginnings

The reason for the construction of the church was the population of Aplerbeck , which had increased by leaps and bounds due to industrialization . The old church of the community, the Georgskirche on Ruinsstrasse, could no longer hold the worshipers. After lengthy disputes about the suitable location, the Great Church was built in just two and a half years on today's Märtmannstrasse in 1867–1869. Under the pastors Moritz Lohoff and Gustav Meinberg, the foundation stone was laid on June 21, 1867 at the eastern end of the choir of the church. It was finally inaugurated on December 15, 1869. On the foundation stone is the Latin inscription: ANNO DOMINI MDCCC LX VII , translated: In the year of the Lord 1867 . The church was built from sandstone from the neighboring Schüren quarry . At the time, the construction of the church cost the community over 60,000 Reichstaler . The architect of the church was Christian Heyden , who among other things had the identical Martin Luther Church built in Gütersloh . As a hall church, galleries should also be built into the Great Church . But the side galleries originally planned by Heyden were never implemented because there was ultimately no need for additional spaces.

Fittings and restorations of the church since 1869

Interior view of the Great Church with the old neo-Gothic seating before 1968
Tower of the Great Church in the early 1960s; The ornamental pinnacles made of zinc are clearly visible on the balustrade. The zinc towers were dismantled by the company Lecking.

On September 9, 1869, the Felten & Guillaume company installed a lightning rod . The plans in 1892 for the installation of the side galleries were not implemented. In 1893 the masonry on the tower was re-grouted and the dilapidated, crab-adorned Fialtürmchen on the buttresses of the square tower substructure were dismantled and simplified replacement turrets were put on by the builder Knebel. The Heinrich Scharpenberg company from Aplerbeck installed a new low-pressure steam heating system and gas lighting . The lightning rod was also renewed.

The new interior painting of the church and the vaulted ceiling with dark ornamentation in 1897 later gave the church the name "black church". In 1903 the installation of the side galleries was planned repeatedly , but this was again not carried out. In 1905, the rejoining of the tower masonry and repair of carried roof truss and the stained glass windows, renewal and simplification of Fialtürmchen of zinc on the balustrade and the complete elimination of Fialtürmchen on the buttresses of the square tower under construction by master plumber Schmidt.

In 1914 the two old bronze bells with the tones c- and e- for the armaments industry of the First World War were delivered, which were replaced on July 2, 1920 by the arrival of the three new cast steel bells of the Bochum Association in the tones a sharp, c sharp and e and on July 23, 1920 rang for the first time. In 1934–1935 the community had the church interior redesigned and the open side galleries walled up due to acoustic problems. The painter Hilde Viering (1898–1981), also popularly known as "Brush-Hilde", painted the walled up side galleries with depictions of the apostles and sayings on a white background. The old neo-Gothic altar structure , which was adorned with small fial turrets, was dismantled and a new large wooden cross with six forged candlesticks was placed on the old altar base. A general overhaul of the organ was carried out by the Walcker company . Repair work was carried out on the spire. In 1939 the Walcker company converted the organ to an electro-pneumatic action and rearranged some registers .

In 1953, the Bochum church painter Fritz Mannewitz redesigned the three choir windows (the Christmas, Passion and Easter windows) and painted over the pictures of the apostles on the walled up side galleries. In 1958 the roof, tower and windows of the church were completely overhauled, and a year later the zinc fial turrets on the balustrade were replaced by the Lecking company. An interior and exterior renovation in the years 1968-1969 included the renovation and redesign of the hall of honor, a new roof, tower and window repairs, removal of the old neo-Gothic benches and installation of the new, padded, sound-absorbing benches, measures to improve the acoustics and a new interior painting in light colors.

Repair work on the tower spire took place in 1974. The Steinmann company from Vlotho renovated the neo-Gothic organ for approx. 300,000 DM and repaired it. The complete restoration of the church tower, new grouting and new sandstone installation as well as a new spire roofing with copper sheet in a double rebate technique were carried out 2000-2001. In the years 2002–2003 the vaulted ceiling and the church windows on the southern outer wall were restored. In 2004–2005, the community arranged for the north and south walls of the central nave to be restored and grouted. In 2012, the side galleries, which were walled up between 1934 and 1935, were opened and the vaulted ceilings of the side aisles were painted in the original color, and the windows on the side aisles were renovated and repaired.

In 2014, the old oil-burning steam heating system was dismantled and a new warm air heating system installed for around 200,000 euros, the chancel was redesigned by the artist Lutzenberger & Lutzenberger from Bad Wörishofen , the old altar was dismantled and stored in the aisle, and a new lighting system was installed with light floor tiles and a new lectern made of smoked oak and copper plates and an altar with a sleek, narrow cross made of metal. The inauguration of the new chancel took place on November 9, 2014. A digitally controlled lighting system was installed in 2016. The outer acrylic glazing on the three choir windows was renewed in 2018.

A lightning rod device was also installed on the roof of the nave after a lightning rod had previously only been installed on the church tower. The reason for the lightning rod device was a lightning strike in the church tower a few years ago, during which the organ was slightly damaged. The installation was necessary so that lightning strikes did not continue to spread to the nave and damage parts of the church.

Naming

As was customary in Protestant churches at the time, it was not given a special name when it was inaugurated on December 15, 1869. The residents of Aplerbeck therefore simply called it "Evangelical Church". Later it was popularly called the "Black Church" after the vault painting had turned black over the years. After Aplerbeck was incorporated into Dortmund in 1929, it was sometimes unofficially referred to as "Märtmannkirche" to distinguish it from other churches in Dortmund, because the street was renamed from "Kirchstrasse" to "Märtmannstrasse" as part of the incorporation. In contrast to most other churches, however, it was not given a real name even after 1945. It was only given the individual designation "Great Church" in 1999 and finally prevailed.

Concert church

As early as 1870 there was a complaint that in church the spoken or sung word could not be clearly understood due to the excessively long reverberation time of up to 7 seconds. In return, for example, the volume and the sound of the trombones came into their own. That changed in 1967 when Albert Eisenberg, an international acoustician, was asked to fix these problems. On the basis of his analysis, new pews with sound- absorbing upholstery were installed, which were set up in the central nave as a block with the upholstery facing the altar and in the side aisles longitudinally with the upholstery facing the central nave. In addition, acoustic panels were attached to the walls and a loudspeaker system with a microphone system was installed. The reverberation could not be completely canceled out, but it could be halved. The church has been used for concerts since 2001 and has earned a good reputation far beyond the Dortmund city limits.

Monument protection

In 1967, the community turned to the state's monument authority with an application to place the church under monument protection , as the church was in need of renovation and the money for the necessary restoration was lacking. On November 27, 1967, the state curator Dr. Busten invited the officially appointed representatives of the city, the state, the regional association , the regional church and the monument authority, pastor and presbyter of the community and the organist Wilhelm Koch to a site visit of the Evangelical Church in Aplerbeck and checked it for monument status. On December 6, 1967, Dr. Bosen officially states that the church is "an example of a neo-Gothic hall church of rare unity" and that he agrees to be included in the list of historical monuments.

tower

The church tower as seen from Schmerkottenstrasse
octagonal tower structure

The high west tower is particularly striking and visible from afar. Halfway up it forms a square floor plan and is supported at the corners by massive buttresses . Then it changes its shape to an octagon . The four wall segments parallel to the substructure are pierced with four elongated and triple staggered sound hatches , the diagonally positioned wall segments are each divided by a stepped pilaster strip ending in a small triangular gable . This is followed by a circular balustrade structured with arcades . Finally there is an octagonal, covered with sheet copper spire . At the top of the tower a weathercock marks the highest point of Aplerbeck and the surrounding area. The total height of the tower is 60.90 meters.

On April 12, 1945 Anton Kalt and Dietrich Hans made sure that a white flag was hoisted on the tower of the Great Church as a sign of surrender. The sexton Milo climbed the tower and attached a flag made of a white sheet to the balustrade. Anton Kalt went to Sölde as a parliamentarian to explain to the commanding officer of the occupation troops that no resistance would be offered in Aplerbeck. This ended the war for Aplerbeck and the US armed forces moved into Aplerbeck without further fighting.

Bells

Shortly before the completion of the church, three bronze bells were ordered from the Rincker bell and art foundry in Westhofen . It was one of several so-called collective casting facilities that settled in Westhofen and produced bells for Rincker. In order to save costs, the two old bells were taken from the tower of the Georgskirche and delivered to Westhofen. There they were cast into the e- and g-bell for the new ringing of the Great Church, while the c-bell was re-cast. In 1933 the cost was 1/3 Reichstaler. Then a wooden belfry was installed in the tower. The three bells bore these inscriptions:

No. Chime Casting year Foundry, casting location inscription
1 c 1869 Rincker bell and art foundry, Westhofen "Soli Deo Gloria" (Glory to God alone)
2 e "Glory to God on high and peace on earth and a pleasure to men" (Christmas message from the angels)
3 G "Come, for everything is ready" (invitation to the Lord's Supper)

During the First World War , the c and e bells had to be delivered for armament purposes. The congregation then only had the small g-bell. In 1920 the community ordered three new cast steel bells that were cast by the Bochumer Verein . Due to the size and weight of the new bell, the old wooden bell cage was removed and replaced with a new steel bell cage. The bells have these inscriptions:

No. Chime Casting year Foundry, casting location inscription
1 ais 1920 Bochum Association, Bochum "Our faith is the victory that has conquered the world"
2 cis "I give you my peace"
3 e "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"
4th G 1869 Rincker bell and art foundry, Westhofen "Come, for everything is ready" (invitation to the Lord's Supper)

The three cast steel bells also bear this inscription: "Replacement for the bronze bells sacrificed to the fatherland in the World War 1914–1918". The small g-bell obtained was repurposed because the sound did not blend in with the ringing of the new cast steel bells. It is the clock bell that can be heard today at half an hour and at the top of the hour, also known as “our father's bell”. During the Second World War the g-bell was supposed to be delivered again because bronze was an important material for the manufacture of the armaments industry . But this could be prevented by clever tactics.

organ

The organ with a large, neo-Gothic prospect was built in 1869 by Edmund Schulze from Paulinzella in Thuringia. In 1939, the company EF Walcker & Cie. the action electrified and the disposition changed. Gustav Steinmann rebuilt the organ in 1984, with most of the existing pipe material from 1869 and 1939 being reused. A few new stops have been added and the entire keyboard action has now been performed mechanically. The wind chests from 1869 have been preserved. The prospect whistles are mute. In 2005, the Stockmann company replaced the Mixtur V installed by Walcker in the pedal with an 8 ′ octave bass. The registers date from 1869, unless otherwise stated in the following disposition .

I Hauptwerk C – g 3
Bourdon 16 ′
Principal 08th'
Hollow flute 08th'
Viola da gamba 08th'
octave 04 ′
recorder 04 ′ 1984
flute 02 ′ 1984
Cornett I-IV 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Intoxicating fifth II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ + 2 ′
Mixture V
Trumpet 08th'
II upper structure C – g 3
Covered 16 ′ 1984
Violin principal 08th'
Lovely covered 08th' 1984
Salicional 08th'
Fugara 04 ′ 1939
Harmonica flute 04 ′ 1939
Nasard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Flautino 02 ′ 1939
Cymbel III 1984
Krummhorn 08th' 1939
Tremulant
Pedal C – f 1
Principal 16 ′
Sub-bass 16 ′
Octave bass 08th' 2005
Violon 08th' 1984
Chorale bass 04 ′ 1939
trombone 16 ′
Trumpet 08th' 1984

Furnishing

  • The altarpiece was created in 1870 by Paul Händler from Berlin.
  • The altar and the pulpit, designed by Christian Heyden, like the organ , were made by Schulze & Söhne.
  • The font, designed by Christian Heyden, was made by the sculptor Michael Stephan.

literature

Web links

Commons : Great Church (Aplerbeck)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b "New shine for church windows" Article from June 7, 2018 on the homepage of the Evangelical Church District Dortmund  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on September 3, 2018.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.ev-kirche-dortmund.de  
  2. ↑ Liesenberg, Siegfried (2001), Aplerbecker Geschichtsverein: The index finger of God. On the history of the Great Aplerbeck Church in Märtmannstrasse.
  3. ^ Ruhrnachrichten Dortmund of April 13, 2012: Aplerbecker commemoration. The "Day of Peace" commemorates liberation , accessed on December 7, 2018.
  4. ^ Dortmund, Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia) - Evangelical Church Aplerbeck. In: Organ database. April 12, 2018, accessed December 6, 2018 (Dutch).

Coordinates: 51 ° 29 ′ 43.6 ″  N , 7 ° 33 ′ 30.4 ″  E