St. John the Baptist Church (Bexhövede)
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. John the Baptist is a listed church building in Bexhövede , a village of the Loxstedt community in the district of Cuxhaven ( Lower Saxony ). It stands in the middle of a listed churchyard, which is bordered by a also listed field stone wall. The field stone church is one of the Romanesque church buildings of the Elbe-Weser triangle in the basic type of a hall church with a retracted rectangular choir. The Ev.-luth. Bexhövede parish belongs to the Wesermünde parish of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hanover .
History and architecture
Foundation, endowment
The Romanesque field stone church is the oldest church building in the old Wesermünde district . The founders of the church are Albertus, Ludgerus and Geldmarus von Boxhövede . The foundation took place before 1183, Archbishop Siegfried von Bremen († 1184) granted the building permission. A chapel was built between 1183 and 1184, and Archbishop Siegfried was inaugurated it shortly before he died. Archbishop Hartwig of Bremen issued a confirmation letter in 1202.
The building
In its oldest part, the building is made of field stones. A cavity was created between the outer and inner wall, which was filled with mortar and smaller parts. Feldspar and clay as well as shell limestone served as binding agents. Extensive repairs to the ship and the tower were necessary from 1669, and a renovation backlog arose during the war years from 1618 to 1648. Another renovation of the church and tower was due in 1707. The tower was raised in timber framing in 1751. An inscription in the nave indicates that the interior was being renovated: “The church was restored inside in 1864 by the piety of Eugen von Bexhövede auf Oesel.” During this time, the von Buxhoeveden family donated the first organ, supposedly one Petersburg theater organ.
Ceiling paintings
The church painter Bücker from Hanover painted the church for the first time in 1923, while Jonny Meyer from Bexhövede painted the church in 1955.
- Ceiling painting in the Bexhöveder church
literature
- Various authors: Chronicle on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the St. John the Baptist Church . Ed. Ev. Luth. Parish Bexhövede, print church district office Wesermünde, 1982
Web links
Coordinates: 53 ° 29 '24.9 " N , 8 ° 41' 29.7" E