Grote of Jacobijnerkerk
The Grote of Jacobijnerkerk ( German Große or Jakobinerkirche ) is the oldest building in the Dutch city of Leeuwarden . The former monastery church is the center of the Protestant district of De Jacobijner and the grave church of the Frisian governors, the ancestors of the Dutch royal family.
Monastery church
In 1245 Dominicans, also called Jacobins , founded a monastery in Leeuwarden. The construction of a two-aisled church began around 1275 and was completed in 1310. The choir, the northern transverse arm and parts of the main nave have been preserved from this church. During the great city fire in 1392, the church roof was destroyed, but it was reconstructed within about two years. At the end of the 15th century, aisles and pointed gables made of yellow and red bricks were added. Between 1504 and 1515 a small chapel was built in the corner between the choir and the southern transverse arm, and by 1521 the church was also extended to the west.
After its completion, the building was only used as a monastery church for a short time. The Dominicans had murals made in 1575, but in the course of the Dutch uprising against the Spanish king, the Catholic order lost its property.
Reallocation
The Grote Kerk was used jointly by Dominicans and Protestants for two years from 1578, after which no Catholic services were allowed to be held in Friesland. The frescoes and pictures on the wooden barrel vault were painted over. The Grote Kerk became the main church of the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Gemeente (later Nederlands Hervormde Gemeente ) of Leeuwarden and the province of Friesland.
The pulpit was built in the second half of the 17th century, as was the separate entrance for the governor's family (Oranjepoortje) and their raised stalls in front of the choir. The organ builder Christian Müller installed a baroque organ with 38 registers here between 1724 and 1727 . Major restorations of the church took place from 1842 to 1843, 1971 to 1976, and between 2001 and 2003. The Protestant congregation De Jacobijner , located here today, was created in 2018 through the merger of the Leeuwarder district congregations Rondom de Grote Kerk, Adelaar-Regenboog and Fenix / Goede Herder.
Gravesite of the Frisian Nassauer
Wilhelm Ludwig , governor of Friesland, had a grave cellar set up under the church choir for his wife Anna of Orange-Nassau , who died just seven months after the wedding. The sculptor Johan Schoorman from Ghent was commissioned to design the tomb above the grave cellar. The base was made of black marble, with Anna depicted as Gisant in white alabaster. Wilhelm Ludwig was buried next to his wife in 1620. In his honor , a monument was created on the north wall of the choir based on a design by Pieter Hendrickszoon de Keyzer, Hendrick de Keyser's son .
In 1640, the Leeuwardens magistrate decided to expand the grave cellar, as there was no space left after the burial of four other relatives. The newer part was created half a meter higher. Six members of the Nassau family were also buried here.
Almost 60 years later, the next extension could not be used because the cellar was constantly full of water. The former sacristy, which the gravedigger used as a storage room, appeared to be suitable. After the renovation was completed at the beginning of 1697, one year after his death, Heinrich Casimir II was finally buried, who had been laid out in the governor's palace until then. He was followed in 1712 by the governor Johann Wilhelm Friso , who died young , in 1746 by Anna Maria, the only one-month-old daughter of Wilhelm IV, and finally Marie Luise of Hessen-Kassel in 1765. She was the last member of the Frisian branch of the Orange who held court in Leeuwarden .
Devastation and restoration
Thirty years later, the French Revolutionary Guard cleared the church, but it got out of hand. An angry crowd vented their anger on the tomb of the noble family and not only completely devastated the monuments, but also destroyed almost all of the coffins. It was not until 1842 that the burial chambers, which were meanwhile under water, were cleaned and painted. Two large princely coffins were made; In one of them were thirteen human skulls together with the other found bones, in the other the still completely preserved bones of Marie Luise, whose coffin had remained untouched, were placed. A wooden hatch closed the entrance to the grave cellar.
On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Queen Wilhelmina's reign , the choir was restored in 1948 and a new tomb was made for Anna of Orange. The tumba made of oak is modeled on the shape of the destroyed tomb and now closes the entrance to the grave cellar instead of the previous hatch. Wilhelm Ludwig's monument was reproduced as a wall painting based on an existing draft sketch. New coats of arms were installed in the semicircle of the choir. Large, colored stained glass windows also show scenes from the history of the Frisian governors.
Web links
Coordinates: 53 ° 12 '15 " N , 5 ° 47' 50.8" E