Main church

This article explains the main churches of the Evangelical Church in Germany. For more general terms for main churches, see Stadtkirche , Dorfkirche ; Regional church ; Basilica (building type) , cathedral , minster (church) , monastery church , Chiesa Madre (ital.) Or Katholikon (Greek-Orthodox monastery). For the church in Kubinka see Main Church of the Armed Forces of Russia .

According to Grimm's dictionary, the term main church originated as a Germanization of the (canon law) term ecclesia mater or metropolitanum templum , these are derived from the traditional name of the church of San Giovanni in Laterano as mater et caput - mother and head of all churches in Rome and on earth . The term has lost its canonical meaning and is only used today as a lexical term or a traditional part of the name of particular churches.

use

Lexical usage

Today the term is mainly used as an explanation of the word in connection with the first church of a district, mother church, bishop's church, oldest or most important church in a city .

Historical and canonical use

As an old canonical term of the Protestant churches , the term is to be understood as a distinction to the branch church or subsidiary church. In earlier centuries, the main churches in the Protestant cities (in contrast to chapels and monastery churches) were often the larger churches with parochial rights , at which the superintendent also held office, so that the term could also be equated with the place of work of a superintendent. Usually a city only had one main church; in larger and important cities like Hamburg or Nuremberg there were several. In its German form, the term has found its way into Protestant church law and general Prussian land law as a legal term.

"The parishioners in the branch are not allowed to contribute anything to the repair of the main church."

- Titius

"Actual daughter churches, however, are dependent on the main or mother church and cannot separate from it without the consent of the main congregation."

- General land law for the Prussian states v. 1794

"Main Church" as part of the name

The following churches are called main churches:

In Hamburg the five main Hamburg churches :

• Main church Sankt Michaelis (Hamburg) (also called Michel)
• Main Church of St. Jacobi (Hamburg)
• Main Church of Sankt Katharinen (Hamburg)
• Main Church Sankt Petri (Hamburg)
• Main Church St. Nikolai (Hamburg-Harvestehude) (as a replacement for the St. Nikolai Main Church which was destroyed in the old town , the ruins of which serve as a memorial)

Furthermore, the main church St. Trinitatis (Altona) as a historically determined church / parish name (formerly the main church of the independent city of Altona, not part of the Hamburg main churches).

In Leipzig :

• St. Nikolai
• St. Thomas

In Wuppertal :

• Hauptkirche Sonnborn
• Unterbarmer main church

Further:

• Main Church (Wiesbaden)
• Main church Beatae Mariae Virginis Wolfenbüttel

literature

• Main or mother church. In: Johann Heinrich Zedler : Large complete universal lexicon of all sciences and arts . Volume 12, Leipzig 1735, column 837 f.
• Hans-Peter Huebner:  Protestant main churches . In: Religion Past and Present (RGG). 4th edition. Volume 3, Mohr-Siebeck, Tübingen 2000, Sp. 1473-1474.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Main Church . In: Otto Lueger : Lexicon of the entire technology and its auxiliary sciences, Vol. 4 Stuttgart, Leipzig 1906, p. 789.
2. ↑ Titius, Gottlieb Gerhard: A sample of the German spiritual law: Like the same without päbstische and papenzende falsification, also other informal confusion, from the principles of Göttl. Rights for the use of protesting states, in the right order could perhaps be made for; In addition to the necessary register. - Other incidents - Leipzig: Lanckisch, 1709. p. 545
3. ↑ General Land Law for the Prussian States II 11 § 249