Holy Cross Church (Ronneby)

Holy Cross Church in Ronneby

pulpit

Vault

The Heliga Kors kyrka ( German : Holy Cross Church) in the southern Swedish town of Ronneby is a church building from the 12th century .

history

The church building was erected as a small Romanesque church in the second half of the 12th century. It was reconstructed and expanded many times up to the 15th century. The large tower was built at the end of the Middle Ages and still shows the remains of a staircase and a balcony on its southeast side. This was intended as an external pulpit , but was only used for defense purposes.

During the Northern Seven Years' War (Three Crowns War) from 1563 to 1570 the church was badly damaged. The heavy oak door is a memorial to the bloodbath of September 4, 1564. On this day Erik XIV's troops invaded the city, which belongs to Denmark. They murdered no fewer than 2,000 men, women and children, ransacked the city and then burned it down.

Many residents holed up in the church, hoping that a place of worship would not be attacked. This hope was in vain; the Swedish troops entered the church with axes, halberds, etc. and killed all who were in it. The deep notches in the old, heavy oak door attached to the north wall bear witness to the forced entry.

Furnishing

The pulpit and the altar date from the 17th century and are made of wood.

The four evangelists (Matthew with angel, Mark with lion, Luke with ox, John) and the apostle Paul can be seen on the pulpit.

The altar from 1652 shows the creed in its altar decorations, the white antependium reminds of the birth of Christ, the essay of the Last Supper, the area above the crucifixion and the topmost area the resurrection. Angels hover around Christ. The altar unjustifiable German champion was in close contact with a masters from the time to Swedish Pomerania belonging Stralsund . Between 1973 and 1983 the altar was reconstructed.

The bronze baptismal font dates from 1604 and was made by a master from Lübeck . The inscription reads "ANNO DOMINI 1604 HEFT KNVT IVTE MIT SINER FRVWEN DISSE DOEPE GEGVEN IN DE HRE GADES VN DER KARKEN TEO RENNEBI".

The triumphal cross from the 16th century initially hung from the vault; during the restoration in 1842, it was moved to its current location north. Here you can also find the oldest paintings in the vault, they date from the end of the 14th century and show the fight between St. Jürgen ( George (saint) ) and the dragon and Peter as Pope. Other vault paintings date from the 16th century.