Holy Spirit Church (Tallinn)

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The Holy Spirit Church with its baroque tower
Wind direction indicator and cross
Entrance to the Holy Spirit Church with Tallinn's oldest clock

The Holy Spirit Church ( Estonian Püha Vaimu kirik , Pühavaimu kirik ) is one of the landmarks of the Estonian capital Tallinn . It is located in the Old Town ( Vanalinn ) below the Cathedral Hill (Toompea) .

history

The Holy Spirit Church was built around 1300 as an extension of the original chapel of the poor and infirmary of the city. The core is a two-aisled nave with ten ribbed vaults. The Holy Spirit Church is the smallest of Tallinn's medieval churches. It was completed in 1380.

A minaret-like baroque tower from the end of the 17th century adjoins the west wall . It replaced a renaissance tower that had been struck by lightning. The eight-story tower housed two bells from the 17th century and Tallinn's oldest church bell. It dates from the year 1433. Its famous inscription in Middle Low German (below a Latin line) reads: “ik slarechte / der maghet als deme knechte / der vrouwen als dem heren / des en kan mi nemant ver keren” (“I strike anyway / for the maid as for the servant / for the lady as for the master / nobody can deny me that ”). Below is the name of the bell caster: Merten Seifert . The bell was badly damaged in a fire in the tower in 2002.

The Church of the Holy Spirit has played a central role in the history of Estonia. The City Council regularly held Holy Mass here before its meetings in the Tallinn City Hall . The first sermons in the Estonian language were given in the church from 1531 . Pastors of the church included Johann Koell , who translated the catechism into Estonian in 1535 , and the chronicler Balthasar Rüssow .

Works of art

Clock on the outside wall of the Holy Spirit Church on the right above the main entrance

Famous works of art in the Heilig-Geist-Kirche are a late Gothic crucifix , the Renaissance pulpit from 1597 and the Gothic cabinet altar by Bernt Notke with the year 1483 and the small city arms of Tallinn. It was commissioned by the Tallinn Council to Lübeck , with which Tallinn maintained close ties through the Hanseatic League . When open, the altar shows the miracle of Pentecost , the outpouring of the Holy Spirit . The allegorical wood carvings in the gallery are by the master Elert Thiele from the 17th century.

Tallinn's oldest clock can be seen on the northern outer wall of the Holy Spirit Church. It was made in 1684 by the renowned wood carver Christian Ackermann . The colorful painting shows rays of the sun and the four evangelists .

  • Interior with altar and galleries

  • Cabinet Altar (1483)

  • Renaissance pulpit (1597)

  • Galleries (17th century)

organ

organ

The history of the organs goes back to the year 1511. Today's instrument was built in 1929 by the organ builder August Terkmann (Tallinn), and restored and rebuilt between 1985 and 1990 by the organ builder Hardo Kriisa . The instrument has 66 registers on four manuals and a pedal . The choir organ behind the altar can be played from the fourth manual . The actions are pneumatic - with the exception of the actions of the fourth manual (choir organ), which are electric.

I. Manuals C – g 3
Flute Principal 16 ′
Dolce 8th'
Gemshorn 8th'
Viola di gamba 8th'
Flute harmonique 8th'
Quintatön 8th'
Hollow flute 8th'
Double flute 8th'
Principal 8th'
Octav 4 ′
Reed flute 4 ′
Viennese flute 4 ′
Octav 2 ′
Forest flute 2 ′
Mixture III
Mixture IV
Cornett III-V
Trumpet 8th'
bassoon 16 ′
II. Manuals C – g 3
Drone 16 ′
Quintatön 16 ′
Flute Principal 8th'
Reed flute 8th'
Concert flute 8th'
Salicional 8th'
Fugara 8th'
horn 8th'
Unda Maris 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Flute 4 ′
Octav 2 ′
Flageolet 2 ′
Quint 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Sesquialtera II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Scharff V
Clarinet 8th'
tremolo
Bells G-g 1
III. Manuals C – g 3
Lovely Gedackt 16 ′
Violin principal 8th'
Dumped 8th'
Flauto amabile 8th'
Distance flute 8th'
Viola d'amour 8th'
Aeoline 8th'
Vox celeste 8th'
Violin Principal 4 ′
Flauto d'amour 4 ′
Silvestrino 4 ′
Flauto piccolo 2 ′
Quint 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Third flute 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Harmonia aetheria III
oboe 8th'
Vox humana 8th'
tremolo
IV choir organ C – g 3
Dumped 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Pointed flute 4 ′
Super octave 2 ′
Scharff IV
tremolo

Pedal C – f 1
Principal bass 16 ′
Sub bass 16 ′
Echo bass 16 ′
double bass 16 ′
Quintbass 10 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Octav 8th'
Flauto 8th'
cello 8th'
Octav 4 ′
Mixture IV
trombone 16 ′
  • Couple
    • Normal coupling: II / I, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
    • Sub-octave coupling: II / I, III / I, III / II, II / P, III / P
    • Super octave coupling: II / I, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
  • Playing aids: Various fixed combinations (p, mf, f, ff, tutti, piano ped.) Register crescendo, shelf,

literature

  • Eugen von Nottbeck, Wilhelm Neumann: History and art monuments of the city of Reval. Volume two: The city's art monuments. Tallinn 1904. pp. 108-115

Web links

Commons : Church of the Holy Spirit (Tallinn)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
  • Website (multilingual, also German)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Thea Karin: Estonia. Cultural and scenic diversity in a historical borderland between east and west. Cologne 1994 (= DuMont art and landscape guide ) ISBN 3-7701-2614-9 , p. 72
  2. ↑ http://www.ohtuleht.ee/index.aspx?id=123391  ( 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.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.ohtuleht.ee  
  3. ↑ http://www.eelk.ee/tallinna.puhavaimu/ajalugu.php
  4. ↑ Information about the organ ( Memento from June 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive )

Coordinates: 59 ° 26 ′ 17 ″  N , 24 ° 44 ′ 45 ″  E