Church of St. John the Baptist (Bülkau)
The Church of St. John the Baptist is the Evangelical Lutheran village church of Bülkau (Cuxhaven district).
history
In 1384, the then Gothic , single-nave church with a polygonal choir was first mentioned in a document. It was dedicated to John the Baptist . The baptismal font dates from 1250. It was originally a stone church .
In 1485 residents founded a vicarie St. Johannes Baptistae: "Marquardus Budningk rector parochialis ecclesiae in Bülkau donates the vicarie ad altare Johannis Bapistae with the jurates". There was also the St. Anne's Vicariate. Both were later connected with each other and existed as a second pastorate until 1875. The name of the first pastor's position was in the hands of the provost of Bremen, later with the Königsmarck family, then with the sovereign until 1871. The church had the right to call the pastor for the second position.
In 1581 the church roof was renewed because the roof and rafters of the church were very dilapidated and the churches threatened to get damp inside. In 1584 the church got its first benches, before there was no seating.
The western, free-standing, wooden bell tower was built around 1600. The bell dates from 1404 according to the inscription.
In 1701, the church was rebuilt using old parts, including the shape of the choir, on the old floor plan with bricks . It now received arched windows and heavy buttresses . Further renovations followed in 1839 and 1859.
Until the middle of the 17th century, preaching was in Low German .
The last major renovation took place in 1964. If the church was previously painted in shades of blue, white and gray, it has now become simply white. The old chairs with the names of the families and doors in black letters at the end, the north and south pores, as well as the two pricks (closed small rooms as sacristy and side room) of the high wooden pulpit altar have been removed. The drawn-in ceiling was removed during an earlier renovation, so that a barrel vault was created.
Furnishing
organ
The most valuable asset of the church was the organ, an Arp Schnitger organ from the years after 1676, it was among the first self-built by master organ music, of which only the prospectus is obtained (the central part of the carved wooden front) it still decorates the organ gallery today. The Bülkau had the organ dismantled, the organ pipes were sold and exchanged for new ones because they no longer corresponded to the taste of music and the times. The company P. Furtwängler & Hammer from Hanover installed a pneumatic system behind the prospectus . In 1968 the old instrument had to be replaced by a new one from Gebr. Hillebrand . Arp Schnitger's prospectus remained untouched.
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- Pairing :
Grave slab
On the north side there is a memorial slab of Mayor Linders, who drove to Sweden during the Thirty Years War to ask Queen Christine, as envoy of the state of Bülkau and the surrounding Marschenkirchspiele, for help against the marauding Swedish troops. Through his courageous journey, Bülkau and its surroundings were spared the fate of many villages and towns during this time. Until 1953, the heavily worn, dark marble slab lay in front of the altar.
Crucifixion group and the altar lights
The altar lights date from the 15th century, the crucifixion group from the 16th century and, according to tradition, should come from the former pilgrimage church of St. Joost near Stinstedt . It shows next to Jesus the mother Mary and his favorite disciple John (with the Gospel of John).
Baptismal font
Another gem of the church is the bronze baptismal font by an unknown artist, dated around 1250, it shows a triangular shield on the wall of the pool with a bird as heraldic animal, opposite a drawing of a tree. In this wall, a text in the early Gothic majusc inscription "Hego" can be seen in mirror-written form. It reads “Ore tvo Christe benedictus sit Locus iste ave Maria” (Through your mouth, Christ, may this place be blessed, hail Mary). The content holds 108.2 liters, which corresponds to 1/2 Oxhoft (108.7 liters) in Bremen.
chandelier
The two chandeliers hanging above the rows of seats date from 1680 and 1702. They were donated by wealthy Bülkau families. The older candlestick bears the inscription all around:
- “Got ornamentation in honor of the churches - Autustin Otte. Sprens and his wife Meitie Sprens dise Kron worshiped the Pilkavwer Church. Anno 1680. "
The second, more richly designed candlestick comes from the Lafrenz family and bears the inscription:
- “Michel Lafrenz bequeathed this crown to Johann's son in God's honor and this Kirch Ziehrat in his will. So his abandoned widow wanted to fulfill his last will. Bilkau June 5th 1702 "
Memorial plaque
A wooden epitaph hangs on the south wall of the church. The painting in oil, which has clearly lost its expressiveness after the last renovation, shows a scene from the Book of Ruth:
- "You shouldn't go to read, but stick to my prostitutes and where they cut, I'll go to"
The wealthy Bülkau Ratke Albers, who is mentioned in the Bülkau church registers, had this panel commissioned in 1683 for his late wife Ruth.
Niche for the sacrament implements
During the renovation in the 1960s, a walled-up niche was rediscovered. As in Catholic times, it is used during mass as a storage place for a paten (wafer plate) from 1607, a wafer box from 1704, a silver goblet, gilded and donated by Hinricus Hensche, died 1587. Another silver chalice bears the year 1727, and the communion jug donated by Mette Weserhausen around 1730 forms the end of the collection.
Steeple
The wooden bell tower on the west side of the church, over a square of seven meters, housed 3 bells, only the smallest and oldest bell remained. It dates from 1404. The bell founder Hermann Klinge created it - the inscription reads:
- "Katarina bin ick gheheten / de von der Buklow mi walked / hermen blade anno dmi mcccc IV"
- (My name is Katarina / those from Bülkau let me pour / Hermann Klinge in the year of the Lord 1404.)
The other two church bells, which were cast in 1776, had to be delivered during the war and did not come back. The inscriptions of the two have survived and are identical:
- “I ring for prayer, for sermon, for corpses / I announce fire and war / I give peace signs, give iusu that my tohn in peace u. Sound of joy / save the land for fire and attack. "
On the other side are the names: Der Schulze J. v. Hein, Landschöpf S. Peick, P. Ölerich, J. Glawatz, P. Havemann, and C. Albers. Levite supply et S. Reyelt.
A rusted weather vane on the tower wall carries u. a. the letters BH and ASL (Balthasar Hein and AS Linder is suspected).
In the entablature of the belfry there are some inscriptions, in the south beam it says:
- “Anno 1648 August 29th / Claus Heye Lafrenz Dreves. Juraten der Karcken. MJVH. "
The following inscriptions are deciphered in the west beam :
" Jacob von Rüsten / 17 Johanne Rey / Joraten der Kirgen. "
A stretcher from 1778 stands on the ground floor of the tower.
Church seal
The church seal from the 14th century, it showed John the Baptist with the Agnus in his right hand, has probably been lost.
Parish office
Compared to other parish offices, Bülkau was considered a rich parish. This is already clear from the equipment, because pastors and teachers previously received no salaries, they had to take care of themselves. The pastor's office included around 46 hectares of land to ensure the food of the pastor and another 6 hectares of church land to maintain the church. The old rear parsonage (stables) was converted into a community center, and no pastor wanted to live in the spacious pastorate, built before the war. In 1967/68, for example, a single-family house was built at the insistence of the parish, as it became more and more difficult to get applicants for the Bülkau pastorate.
swell
- various parish registers of the Bülkau parish
- Lenz / Lembcke: Dat Nygehus.
- Reports from the Niederelbe-Zeitung
- Willi Klenck: Home book of the former Neuhaus an der Oste district , Verlag A. Pockwitz Nachf. Karl Krause, 1957
- Flyer: Churches on the Lower Elbe
- Mader / Bastian: "Hadeln und Wursten" Hans Christian Verlag Hamburg 1978
- Organ disposition from http://www.orgel-owl.de
- Dehio manual : Bremen / Lower Saxony. German art publisher, 1977.
Web links
Coordinates: 53 ° 44 ′ 53.9 " N , 8 ° 58 ′ 42.6" E