Kirchlindach Church

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Church Kirchlindach from the northwest

The Kirchlindach Church is the Reformed village church of the Kirchlindach community near Bern . It was built around 1200 on the foundations of older buildings from the 8th to 10th centuries and later rebuilt several times. It was dedicated to Saint George . With its medieval wall paintings, it is one of the most important country churches in the canton of Bern.

construction

In its current state, the church is comparable to many rural churches in Bern. The polygonal choir is attached to the east side of the nave with a hipped roof . The entrance on the western front is covered by a vestibule with a pent-hipped roof. The tower is attached to the north facade at the choir arch, half inside and half outside. Its wooden shingle roof was restored after renovating the roof structure in 2013. Opposite the south wall is broken through by another gate. Today's building consists largely of the late Romanesque period. As the oldest feature, the vertical is with pilasters broken blind arch frieze seen on the northern outer wall of the nave. The church is slightly elevated, surrounded by a wall all around, on Lindachstrasse from Kirchlindach. To the east is the also listed rectory and to the west is the mighty beneficiary house in which the parish halls are housed.

Building history

During the archaeological excavations of 1978/79 foundations of a wooden church from the 8th and early 9th centuries were found in the area of ​​the nave. A first brick church with the interior dimensions of the ship is proven around 100 years later. The third building from the second half of the 12th century had a late Romanesque hall church with a retracted apse . The north wall of this building has been preserved to this day. The west wall of the tower built in the 13th century is integrated into the current tower. The renovation brought about significant changes in the second half of the 14th century. The polygonal choir, separated by a choir arch, and a sacristy were created. At the end of the 15th century, the tower was enlarged and rebuilt after a fire and provided with the pointed-arch double windows on four sides, below the presumable gable roof. In a later time, the Käsbissen roof would be replaced by the wooden bell gates and a pointed helmet . Inside there was also the arched passage and the eye-catching purification window. The Bernese Reformation of 1528 temporarily only caused the interior to be cleared out by moving the baptismal font into the choir room. The renovation of 1671/1672 brought a new roof for the choir, as well as the choir stalls and the pulpit. The new baptismal font comes from Abraham Dünz . In 1766 Niklaus Sprüngli had the task of converting the late Gothic complex into a baroque sermon hall. He removed the choir arch, had the southern and western walls of the nave rebuilt with arched windows and arched doors and built up with the north wall at the height of the choir. A trough-shaped plaster ceiling was installed and a gallery was set up on the west and north walls. With the pews set up lengthways in the nave, a bright room was created, entirely in line with the requirements of the Reformed preaching service.

In all subsequent renovations and alterations, the medieval wall paintings were whitewashed and no longer considered. They were only rediscovered and partially exposed during the interior renovation by architect Karl Indermühle in 1907/08 . Indermühle had the choir gallery demolished and moved the organ to the west gallery. The central window in the choir received a picture of Christ designed by Ernst Linck and executed by Hans Drenckhahn-Rietmann, which was removed and stored during the last complete renovation. A vestibule was built over the west portal.

During the restoration in 1978/1979, the foundations of the first church buildings and the subsequent alterations and extensions were researched and documented during the excavations in the church floor. At the same time, the covered paintings were uncovered and preserved as far as possible. The gallery was set back in favor of the richness of images and the choir arch, which was removed during the Sprüngli renovation in 1766, was reconstructed using found parts of the wall. The ceiling in the choir is now made of wood again and set higher, also to show the painting. The pulpit found its new place on the choir arch on the tower side and floor heating was installed under the new clay slab floor. The middle window in the choir is copied from the rediscovered north window and provided with simple panes in the Gothic style. The south windows in the nave have remained in the baroque form. Now the church presents itself as it looked like at the end of the 15th century.

Furnishing

Murals

As in the churches of Erlenbach , Kleinhöchstetten , Rüti bei Büren and Belp , the walls in Kirchlindach were also painted with biblical scenes. The frescoes had been painted over several times over the centuries and have been exposed since the renovations in 1907 and 1978. Today you can see pictures from the different epochs. The life of Jesus is depicted on the north wall: childhood with the adoration of the kings , the murder of children in Bethlehem , the flight into Egypt and the offering in the temple in the lower row. Above it, in the top row, the first images of the Passion: The Last Supper, Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane and arrest . The scenes of the Passion of Christ are depicted on the tower wall from top to bottom: flagellation, crowning of thorns and carrying the cross . Including the crucifixion, descent from the cross, entombment and Christ in limbo . In the bottom row the resurrection , the meeting of the risen Christ with Magdalena and, only in fragments, the ascension of Christ and Pentecost.

The pictures in the choir show the row of consecration crosses , probably painted for the inauguration of the choir annex at the end of the 14th century. A large-scale Last Judgment was created a short time later, a series of depicted sarcophagi, with those raised from death and the trumpet angels, runs as a ribbon across the center of the wall. Above are the apostles' figures that were created later and were partially painted over. Saint Eligius is depicted as a blacksmith above the sacristy door. The Holy Eligius was mistakenly believed their showy position as patron of the church, however, refuted by Hermann Specker and Hans Ulrich Bütikofer. The image of Saint George , the actual patron of the church, with the dragon and the king's daughter, was above, only the princess has survived. The martyrdom of St. Sebastian was painted on the walled up window. The pictures are separated by borders with palmettes and tendrils, as well as stars. The standing apostles of the upper layer of paint stand under tracery arcades.

Organs

The first organ after the Reformation by Christen Wyss was set up in 1804 on the gallery built by Samuel Hofer in the choir. It was replaced during the church renovation in 1890/1894 by an organ with ten registers from the Goll company in Lucerne. Today's instrument was built in 1969 with 17 registers by Orgelbau F. and K. Wälti, Gümligen. During the 1995 revision, an additional register (principal 8 ′) was installed.

Bells and tower clock

A bell from the pre-Reformation period and a bell cast by David Zender in Bern in 1629 were melted down in 1880 and three new ones with the tuning: as, c 2 , es², were supplied by the company H. Rüetschi AG, Aarau. The J. G. Baer von Sumiswald company built a new tower clock in 1935/1936. Its four dials on the parapet of the bell tower are visible from afar.

literature

See also

Web links

Commons : Church Kirchlindach  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Verena Stähli-Lüthi: The church of Kirchlindach with its wall paintings , p. 24 (1907/08) probably incorrectly mentioned with Paul Link as an artist
  2. ↑ Where is the old Christ window . In: saemann ref. Monthly magazine, 8/1993, Kirchlindach parish website
  3. ↑ Verena Stähli-Lüthi: The church of Kirchlindach with its wall paintings . P. 39

Coordinates: 46 ° 59 '58.7 "  N , 7 ° 24' 51.4"  E ; CH1903:  598 148  /  205398