Johanniskirche (Gera)
The Johanniskirche is an Evangelical Lutheran church in Gera . It is the largest church in the city and has a 70 meter high steeple.
history
The original Johanniskirche on Johannisplatz
The first Gera Johanniskirche stood on today's Johannisplatz in the western old town ( 
) and is mentioned as a parish church as early as 1200 . The church burned down for the first time in 1450 during the Saxon Civil War, sacked by the Hussites . It was re-consecrated in 1488 by the Naumburg bishop. During the Thirty Years' War the church was destroyed again on April 14, 1639 in a major fire caused by the Swedes . Until the Salvatorkirche was built in the 18th century, it was the only parish church in the city. Their tomb was the burial place of the Lords of Reuss-Gera . On September 18, 1780, the church burned down again in the Gera town fire and was not rebuilt despite various planning and financing attempts. In 1824 the ruin was demolished due to financial shortages ( Napoleon Bonaparte's plans for the Battle of Jena cost the city of Gera two million Reichstaler ).
Recently there are plans to uncover the crypt again, to re-erect ten Reuss sarcophagi there and to make the place accessible to the public. The excavation work began in August 2017.
The new Johanniskirche
The neo-Gothic brick church was built after the old St. John the Baptist Church as the new St. John the Evangelist Church , after the financing of a new church building had succeeded in 1880/1881 (mainly from donations from the population). The location is in today's Clara-Zetkin-Strasse , corner of Zabelstrasse north of the old town. At that time, due to industrialization, Gera already had around 30,000 inhabitants, who had only one parish church, the Salvatorkirche. The consecration of the new Johanniskirche took place on September 18, 1885.
On March 22, 1894, a Kaiser Wilhelm equestrian statue was erected in front of the church with a parade in front of the Russian Hereditary Prince Heinrich XXVII. inaugurated. It was created by Gustav Eberlein and was removed during the Nazi era .
During the heaviest bombing raid on Gera during the Second World War on April 6, 1945, the roof, windows and glass rosettes of St. John's Church were destroyed. From 1972 to 1975 renovation work took place, on May 11, 1975 the renovated church was consecrated again.
In autumn 1989 the Johanniskirche was the center of the Thursday demonstrations of the Gera peace movement. For German unity on October 3, 1990, a linden tree was planted in front of the church and a memorial stone was erected. In 1995 valuable sarcophagi from the Reuss family, including those of Heinrich II. Posthumus and his second wife Magdalene von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt , were transferred to the sacristy of the Johanniskirche, but in 2007 they were moved to the old ceremonial hall of the East Cemetery in Gera.
organ
With the inauguration of the St. John's Church in 1885, a new organ was inaugurated, which was built by the organ builder Richard Kreutzbach (Borna) on the west gallery. The prospectus and a large part of the pipe material of the two-manual instrument are still available today. In 1928 the instrument was expanded to three manuals and rebuilt. In 1982 the organ was rebuilt again. Today it has 57 registers on three manuals and a pedal . The actions are electro-pneumatic.
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- Coupling : II / I (also as sub-octave coupling), III / I (also as sub-octave coupling), III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
- Playing aids : crescendo roller, shelf
Peal
The church's original bronze bell was melted down in 1917. In 1922 it was replaced by three cast steel bells with diameters of 1.65 m, 1.38 m and 1.25 m.
For the 125th anniversary of the parish fair on September 18, 2010, the Johanniskirche received three new bronze bells, which were consecrated in the context of a festive church service in the open air by Bishop Ilse Junkermann . The production of the bells was financed by donations of over 70,000 euros. They were cast in the bronze foundry of Maria Laach Abbey ; The bells were decorated by the Gera artist Erik Buchholz . The three bells bear inscriptions with quotations from the Gospel of John , which are combined in a cross shape with lines of hymns:
- I am the good shepherd - praise the lord, the mighty king of honors (morning bell)
- I am the light of the world - God is present , let's worship (midday bell)
- I am the resurrection and the life - Now all thank God with heart, mouth and hands (evening bell).
literature
- Siegfried Mues, Klaus Brodale: City guide Gera. Gondrom Verlag, Bindlach 1995, ISBN 3-8112-0821-7 .
- [Franz Theodor] Heyland: History of the rebuilding of St. John's Church in Gera 1780–1885. Gera 1885.
Web links
- Johanniskirche on the official website of the city of Gera
- Information about the church on the website of the church district
Sources and Notes
- ^ Johanniskirche Gera , accessed on November 5, 2019.
- ↑ gymnasium-rutheneum.de
- ↑ Eckart Krumbholz: Cups in the cupboard. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 1973.
- ↑ Reussen crypt in Gera is to be returned to its historical location. (welt.de, August 29, 2017)
- ↑ Gera city center St. Johannis Church. Archived from the original on February 6, 2013 ; accessed on October 13, 2015 .
- ↑ More information about the organ , accessed on March 14, 2015.
- ↑ Sylvia Eigenrauch: With the bells at eye level. In: Ostthüringer Zeitung (local edition Gera) of September 17, 2007.
- ↑ Angelika Munteanu: Bell consecration in St. Johannis . In: Ostthüringer Zeitung , (local edition Gera) from September 15, 2010.
- ^ Uwe Müller: Bells consecrated by St. Johannis . In: Ostthüringer Zeitung (local edition Gera) from September 20, 2010.
Coordinates: 50 ° 52 ′ 51.7 " N , 12 ° 4 ′ 52.4" E