Church furnishings
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To church facilities include the establishment of a church pieces and the movable and immovable objects that the liturgy serve and church rites. Some principles such as the altar , pulpit , baptismal font and cross can be found in most churches, often also an organ . Also vestments and consumer goods such as candles, lamp oil, incense, wafers or communion wine can be called a church facilities.
Due to the different denominational characteristics, the number and function of the pieces of furniture in the various churches differ considerably. While the Reformed churches are sparingly and the Roman Catholic churches are richly endowed, Evangelical Lutheran and Old Catholic churches occupy a middle position.
Altar and sanctuary
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Apart from the Reformed churches and the free churches, most churches differentiate the altar area, which serves as a liturgical space and was previously reserved for the clergy , from the lay area for the congregation. The choir , which has often been raised by a few steps, has been increasingly oriented towards the east since the 4th century and predominantly oriented towards the east from the 10th century and is occasionally separated from the lay area by choir barriers . The stone or wooden rood screen , a form of the choir screen, is often decorated with statues or depictions of the Twelve Apostles . Many rood screens were removed after the Council of Trent (1563), others during the Reformation . From the end of the 19th century, east facing was often abandoned when new churches were built. According to the Reformed understanding, the church building as such is not a holy place and all believers form the priesthood of all believers , so that there is no need to separate the altar area and the community room.
The altar is the most important piece of furniture in most churches, as the celebration of the Eucharist takes place here. It is often raised by one or more steps and is covered by a canteen plate, which must be made from a single piece and rests on the stipes . An antependium is often attached to the front . The reredos is the structure attached to the back and decorated with paintings or sculptures . The simple Romanesque table retable was replaced by the winged altar in the Gothic . A crowning canopy or ciborium can emphasize the importance of the altar. In Roman Catholic churches, a sepulcrum , a stone with a relic of a saint, is often set in the altar . If the altar is erected over the grave of a saint , this makes the sepulcrum superfluous.
From the 6th century onwards, with the veneration of saints and the cult of relics, an increase in private masses began, which often resulted in an increase in the number of altars, initially in abbey and monastery churches . Side altars were set up in the nave on the pillars, in the side apses , aisles, on the side walls, in the ambulatory or in the priest's choir. In the Middle Ages altars could be donated with a certain patronage ; the foundation also included maintenance for a priest .
Over time, the main altar moved closer to the apse (and thus further away from the community) and developed into the high altar , which was increasingly elaborately designed. In front of the rood screen there was a popular altar as a celebration altar, at which the masses for the lay people were celebrated; it was often consecrated to the cross of Christ and was called the cross altar . With the introduction of the Reformation, only the main altar was retained in the Lutheran churches. The Greek Orthodox Church has only known one main altar to this day. Following a theological reorientation by the liturgical movement from about 1920 and the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council took place in the Roman Catholic Church spread to a change in Zelebrationsrichtung the priest stands at the Eucharist in the rule now behind the altar of the church community faces . As a result, many of the altar rooms were architecturally redesigned. The main altar of a Catholic church today should be free-standing so that it can be easily walked around, and should be set up in such a way “that it truly forms the center”. In the case of new churches, only an altar is to be erected, "which in the assembly of the faithful denotes the one Christ and the one Eucharist of the Church".
Since the Lord's Supper is only a memorial meal in the Reformed and Free Churches, there is only a Lord's Supper table here . In the north German churches of the Calvinist tradition, the altar of writing with central biblical or liturgical texts such as the Ten Commandments , the institution report or the Apostolicum replaced the altar retable. Portable altars ( portatile ), which were used in processions, in military campaigns or for travel, in public places or cemeteries, are rarer.
Metal or wooden candlesticks and altar candles have been part of the altar since the earliest times.
Sacrament house and tabernacle
In accordance with the special importance of consecrated hosts in the Roman Catholic Church, there are separate containers for keeping them. While in the Romanesque period the hosts were kept in a barred and often elaborately decorated wall niche in the chancel, the free-standing, tower-like sacrament house was built at the end of the 14th century, which was usually set up on the gospel side (on the north side). Sacrament houses with lockable lattice doors are artfully made of soft stone and often several meters high, more rarely made of wood or metal. In post-Gothic times they were replaced by the tabernacle, which was placed in the center of the reredos of the main altar, especially in the Baroque era . The reliqua sacramenti can also be kept in a separate side chapel or in an ornate tabernacle on a stele.
Crucifix and cross
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Some medieval churches have a wooden, monumental triumphal cross in the triumphal arch between the cultic room and the lay room with the depiction of the sometimes life-size crucifixion group. Apostles, angels and donors could also appear as assistant figures; sometimes the crucified was shown alone.
With the decline of the triumphal crosses, the smaller altar crosses appeared, which had developed from the lecture cross . The cross attached to a pole is carried during the solemn entry to Holy Mass , at processions and other solemn occasions and is placed near the altar. In modern churches there are sometimes floating crosses hung over the altar.
In Catholic churches, a crucifix with the image of Christ on or near the altar is prescribed to celebrate Holy Mass . Further crosses are attached to the walls, in Protestant churches often in the center on the side of the altar, in Reformed churches generally without a body, if a cross is not completely dispensed with. On the inner walls of Roman Catholic and Old Catholic churches there are twelve Apostolic candlesticks with consecration crosses at the places where the church building was ritually anointed by the bishop during the consecration .
Liturgical device and vestments
The liturgical device ( Vasa sacra ) is used during the Eucharist and is therefore usually made of precious metal - mostly gold-plated silver, more rarely bare silver. The devices can be provided on the sideboard (gift table). The chalice is used at Holy Mass to hold the wine to be consecrated , and in the Protestant celebration of the Lord's Supper to serve wine or grape juice. The three-part cup usually consists of a round or polygonal foot, a polygonal knob (nodus) and a cup . The paten is a flat, round bowl or plate on which the host or bread lies.
The remaining consecrated hosts are kept in Roman Catholic and Old Catholic churches in an artistically designed ciborium , which is closed with a lid and is based on the shape of the chalice. The gold-plated pyxis is used for communion . With the goblet spoon , some water is added to the wine in the mass. In Protestant churches it is used to remove impurities from the chalice, in Orthodox churches to give communicants the mixed gifts of bread and wine. In Protestant and Old Catholic churches, the Lord's Supper implements can also be made of wood, glass or tin. The monstrance is a liturgical display vessel made of metal, which is usually shaped like a ray. In Gothic times, tower-shaped sacramental monstrances were the rule.
In most denominations, a baptismal pot and baptismal bowl are used to give baptism .
Usually, the is on the altar altar Bible designed (a lavishly designed large Bible for liturgical use).
Other devices in the Catholic Church include the altar bells , which are used, for example, for consecration (conversion) or sacramental blessing , as well as a sacristy bell that sounds at the beginning of the entry , as well as vessels for holy oils and for the rite of hand washing ( Lavabo ) a water jug, a lavabo tray and a lavabo towel to dry your hands. The spherical or vase-shaped censer is also used in the Anglican and Orthodox churches ; In it, incense grains are burned, which are carried in a "boat" . The Inzens that fumigating with incense, is at church services or processions a sign of reverence. Portable candlesticks ("flambeaus") are also used during processions and solemn masses . Vases are required for the flower arrangements .
Sacrificial candles are now available as an expression of prayer in many Christian denominations.
Also vestments are included in a church. These include the liturgical vestments of the liturgists and assistants , which are available in the various liturgical colors of many denominations , as well as altar cloths and chalice linen .
The liturgical utensils and paraments are kept in a side room of the church, the sacristy . It is generally located near the sanctuary.
The piscina was mostly set into the south wall of the choir and, like the contemporary windows, was designed with framework, panels and fringes. In medieval times it was used to clean ritual devices and to drain the remaining water, which was either directed outside onto consecrated ground or disposed of in a shaft ( sacrarium ) within the choir or sacristy.
Pulpit and Ambo
The pulpit is the elevated and acoustically favorable place of preaching in the front third of the nave. While in Italy there are numerous stone pulpits in Romanesque and Gothic styles, they are almost entirely absent in pre-Reformation Germany. In the course of the reform movements in the late Middle Ages and in full with the introduction of the Reformation, the preaching of the words and the interest in pulpits gained considerably in importance. Historical pulpits are made of stone or wood and consist of the pulpit cage, the pulpit staircase and the sound cover . Pulpits are often set up on a pillar and, in the case of smaller churches, on a long side, preferably the south wall. The floor plan of the polygonal pulpit and the sound cover is mostly octagonal. It is not infrequently decorated with carvings and can programmatically carry the evangelists or their symbols on the pulpit. The pulpit altars were created as a special form of Protestant churches . As an architectural unit, they symbolized the unity of the Eucharist and the proclamation of the word.
The ambo goes back to the medieval reading pulpit in the area of the rood screen, from where the Bible readings were held. After the ambo had long been supplanted by lecterns, this tradition was revived in the Roman Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council. In Lutheran and United churches, the Bible is not on the altar, but on the ambo.
In addition to the Bible, the sacramentary with the basic Mass texts is one of the liturgical books in the Roman Catholic Church . The agenda in the Protestant churches corresponds to him . The epistolary and the gospel include the New Testament Bible texts to be read, the sections of which are expediently put together in pericope books . The gradual contains the mass chants with notes, the psalter the 150 psalms.
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is constitutive for all Christian churches. However, the material, size, shape and location are not specified. As a rule, they are set up freely in the liturgical area; but there are also separate baptisteries within the church. From the 11th century, there was a transition from large monolithic baptismal fonts, in which the newborns were completely submerged, to a smaller chalice shape, which was very common in the Gothic period. Medieval bronze fences of the Low German cultural area began in the last decades of the 13th century. In the Renaissance, narrower baptismal stands emerged, in the Baroque baptismal bowls and occasionally baptismal angels that are hung halfway up and lowered for baptism.
Holy water font
Holy water basins can be found in the entrance area of Catholic churches. Apart from individual free-standing pools on stands, they are firmly attached to walls or pillars. There are also portable holy water kettles that can be used for processions. In Gothic times they were designed as copper or bronze buckets with handles. The aspergillus , which occurs occasionally from the 11th century and regularly from the 13th century, is used to sprinkle holy water. The scepter-like rod ends in a sieve-like flower bud.
Reliquaries
Reliquaries are used in the Catholic Church to store and present relics and therefore have a different function than the sepulcher in altars. There is a great variety in terms of shape, size and material. In addition to boxes, tins, capsules and other vessels, there are flat table reliquaries or those in the shape of a cross, animal or monstrance. Depending on the body part obtained, the container can also be designed as a hand, finger, foot, leg, rib or statue. Precious shrine reliquaries were created in the Middle Ages.
Church stalls and stalls
Stone sediles from the 4th century onwards are the first to be found. Cathedrals have an often stone cathedra as a bishopric , which is positioned in a prominent place in the choir. Single and three-seated seats, benches or session niches in the south side wall of the choir ( epistle side ) served the priests, religious or other people involved in the liturgy as seating during certain parts of the mass, while the congregation was standing at the service. From the 14th century the stalls were also made of wood. During Catholic worship, sediles are provided for priests , deacons and altar servers and possibly other liturgical services ; the priest's seat is usually somewhat emphasized. The bishop takes a seat on the cathedra of his episcopal church during the service.
In single or multiple rows of wooden choir stalls in monastery or collegiate churches, the monks or capitulars take their places during common choir prayers and at Holy Mass. Historical choir stalls can also be found in some parish or cathedral churches. The places here were reserved for members of the clergy or the cathedral chapter, among others. The choir stalls often had folding seats , armrests ( accoudoir ) and back walls ( dorsals ). In many places, the folding seats had " misericords " on the back - support boards that you could lean on when standing for longer periods. From around 1300 the stalls were decorated with carvings and inlays , particularly in southern Germany.
Lay stalls for the community were usually only installed after the Reformation. Most banks are present, which in Catholic churches across kneeling benches have. In some places, however, the worship congregation also sits on chairs. Orthodox churches still have no pews. There were special stands for the patron saints, such as the patronage box , which were often closed by panes of glass or openwork latticework. In addition, there were stalls for special people such as nobles, the pastor's family or the church council, called Priechen in northern Germany . A separate stand, which served as a sacristy , could be attached to the parish chair if there was no choir extension available as a separate adjoining room.
Confessionals can be found in Roman Catholic, less often in Lutheran, churches , which were widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries. In Lutheran churches they are often installed near the altar, in Roman Catholic churches either in the side opposite the altar (mostly in the west) or also close to the altar area. Reformed churches do not have confessionals. The mostly wooden confessionals have two or three interiors with one door each. While the priest is seated, the believer has a kneeling bench that is aligned with the barred opening in the partition. In modern Catholic churches, instead, there is often a separate confessional room with an optional viewing wall.
Transportable kneeling or praying benches are used for certain Catholic church services, for example for a Eucharistic adoration for the priest or deacon or for a church wedding for the bride and groom (“wedding bench”).
Sculptures and paintings
Pictures and figurative representations have always served to illustrate Christian content. In the Middle Ages, the wall and vault paintings, which mainly deal with the three themes of the Last Judgment , Passion of Christ and Saints , reflect medieval piety. Paintings and frescoes can be explained by Latin or Greek inscriptions. From the 5th century on, crowned Madonnas and from the 10th century on enthroned Madonnas can be detected in the German-speaking area. The depiction of the Annunciation and Visitation scene, Mary as Mother of Sorrows in the Baroque, the protective mantle Madonna and the Vespers ( Pietà ) were widely used . Scenes from the passion story predominate in the depictions of Christ. Reformed churches usually do without pictorial representations.
The parapet paintings in the lay room originally served as a poor Bible . In addition to wall and vault paintings, the gallery parapets are suitable for depicting biblical cycles, the apostles, evangelists, the Trinity or the saints. Representations of the four evangelists are popular on the pulpit. Statues with the figures of saints can be placed on the rood screen or in niches.
Typical of Roman Catholic churches is the Way of the Cross , a cycle of images usually consisting of 14 stations, which should be installed in every Catholic church from the 18th century. The Passion represents the Passion of Christ on the Via Dolorosa and connects individual events of the biblical Passion story with extrabiblical traditions.
Funerary monuments
Because of the sanctity of the place, the deceased often wanted to be buried in the church, as close as possible to the altar. Because of the limited space, burials within the church were often reserved for clerics, important secular rulers or patron saints. Stone slabs with inscriptions or representations commemorated the people concerned. They were embedded in the floor and subsequently often installed outside or inside on the walls to protect them from abrasion and weathering. Another possibility was to remember the deceased with epitaphs . The depiction of the whole family under Christ crucified in the form of a devotional painting was popular. The man and his sons were depicted according to age on the left (right of the crucified) and the woman with daughters on the other side in a position of worship. Death shields were put up in memory of knights and nobles, while name plaques list those who died in wars.
organ
In the Middle Ages the organ was used for liturgical purposes and not to accompany the congregation singing. It took over parts of the mass and the church times of day such as the introit and the hymns of praise and sounded alternately with the choir, the congregation or individual singers (" alternate practice "). Organs were therefore preferably installed close to the liturgical events, preferably as swallow's nest organs . From the middle of the 17th century, when the population was decimated considerably as a result of the Thirty Years' War and severe plague epidemics and congregational singing deteriorated, the organ supported congregational singing. The preferred place of installation was now the west gallery or the rood screen, in smaller churches also the choir arch. Larger churches sometimes have a smaller choir organ in addition to the main organ. Important historical organs or large new buildings can be used as concert organs.
Bells
Most churches have a peal of one or more bells. They usually hang in the church tower or in a roof turret, sometimes in a separate bell carrier.
Equipment for festive periods
In churches, items of equipment are usually kept that are temporarily needed during the church year . These include stands or hanging devices for the Advent wreath , a Christmas crib and stands for trees for Christmas . In the Karmetten in the Holy Week coming Tenebraeleuchter used, on which 13 or 15 candles are placed in a triangular shape. During the Corpus Christi procession , a fabric canopy called “heaven” is carried along, under which the priest walks with the monstrance. Some churches have ornate stands for the Easter candle , which increasingly remains in the chancel or at the baptismal font all year round.
literature
- Max Brandenburg: Divine service and church furnishings. Germania, Berlin 1903.
- Ralf van Bühren : Church building in Renaissance and Baroque. Liturgical reforms and their consequences for spatial planning, liturgical disposition and image decoration after the Council of Trent. In: Stefan Heid (Ed.): Operation on a living object. Rome's liturgical reforms from Trent to Vatican II. Be.bra-Wissenschaftsverlag, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-95410-032-3 , pp. 93–119.
- Gerhard Eimer (Ed.): Ecclesiae ornatae. Church furnishings from the Middle Ages and the early modern period between monument value and functionality. Cultural Foundation of the German Displaced Persons, Bonn 2009, ISBN 978-3-88557-226-8 .
- Helmut Fußbroich: Subject lexicon for liturgical church furnishings. Reclam, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-15-019072-2 .
- Rudolf Huber (Ed.): Church implements, crosses and reliquaries of the Christian churches (= Glossarium Artis , Volume 2). 3rd edition, KG Saur Verlag, Munich / London 1991, ISBN 3-598-11079-0 .
- Alfred Rauhaus : Little Church Studies. Reformed churches inside and out. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-525-63374-8 .
- Horst Reber: Church building and furnishings. In: Handbook of Church History in Mainz. Vol. 1. Christian antiquity and the Middle Ages. Part 2. Echter-Verlag, Würzburg 2000, ISBN 3-429-02258-4 , pp. 970-994.
- Adolf Reinle : The equipment of German churches in the Middle Ages. An introduction. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1988, ISBN 3-534-08803-4 .
- Frank Schmidt: Church building and furnishings in the Landgraviate of Hessen-Darmstadt from the Reformation to 1803. 2 vol. Diss. University of Heidelberg 1993.
- Sybe Wartena: The southern German choir stalls from the Renaissance to Classicism. Diss. LMU Munich 2005 ( online ; PDF, 6 MB).
- Susanne Wegmann (Ed.): Denominations in the church. Dimensions of the sacred space in the early modern period. Didymos, Korb 2007, ISBN 978-3-939020-03-5 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reinle: The equipment of German churches in the Middle Ages. 1988, p. 1.
- ^ Rauhaus: Brief ecclesiastical studies . 2007, p. 36.
- ^ Bühren: Church building in the Renaissance and Baroque. 2014, p. 94.
- ^ Rauhaus: Brief ecclesiastical studies . 2007, p. 12.
- ↑ Reinle: The equipment of German churches in the Middle Ages. 1988, p. 19.
- ↑ Uni Münster: Missa Mediaevalis: Sepulcrum , accessed on June 18, 2017.
- ↑ Examples of this can be found u. a. in Hildesheim Cathedral or in St. Peter's Basilica .
- ^ Justin EA Kroesen: Side altars in medieval churches. Location - space - liturgy. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-7954-2172-4 , p. 12 and passim.
- ^ Rauhaus: Brief ecclesiastical studies . 2007, p. 37.
- ^ Justin EA Kroesen: Side altars in medieval churches. Location - space - liturgy. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-7954-2172-4 , p. 9.
- ↑ General introduction to the Roman Missal No. 299.303 [1] ( 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. .
- ^ Dietrich Diederichs-Gottschalk : The Protestant written altars of the 16th and 17th centuries in northwest Germany. Schnell + Steiner GmbH publishing house, Regensburg 2005, ISBN 3-7954-1762-7 .
- ↑ Reinle: The equipment of German churches in the Middle Ages. 1988, p. 6.
- ↑ Reinle: The equipment of German churches in the Middle Ages. 1988, p. 112.
- ^ Bühren: Church building in the Renaissance and Baroque. 2014, p. 100.
- ↑ Reinle: The equipment of German churches in the Middle Ages. 1988, p. 27.
- ^ Bühren: Church building in the Renaissance and Baroque. 2014, p. 103.
- ↑ Manuela Beer: Triumphal Crosses of the Middle Ages. A contribution to type and genesis in the 12th and 13th centuries. With a catalog of the preserved monuments. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2005, ISBN 3-7954-1755-4 .
- ↑ General introduction to the Roman Missal No. 308 [2] ( 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. .
- ^ Rauhaus: Brief ecclesiastical studies . 2007, p. 118.
- ↑ Reinle: The equipment of German churches in the Middle Ages. 1988, p. 71.
- ^ Rudolf Huber: Church implements, crosses and reliquaries of the Christian churches. 1991, pp. 82-179.
- ↑ Reinle: The equipment of German churches in the Middle Ages. 1988, p. 81.
- ↑ Reinle: The equipment of German churches in the Middle Ages. 1988, p. 88.
- ↑ Reinle: The equipment of German churches in the Middle Ages. 1988, p. 40.
- ↑ Wegmann (ed.): Denominations in the church. 2007, pp. 221-223.
- ↑ Reinle: The equipment of German churches in the Middle Ages. 1988, p. 145.
- ^ Rauhaus: Brief ecclesiastical studies . 2007, p. 33.
- ↑ Albert Mundt: The ore baptisms of Northern Germany from the middle of the XIII. until the middle of the 14th century. Dissertation. University of Halle (Saale) 1908. Klinkhardt & Biermann, Leipzig 1908, ( digitized in the Google book search).
- ↑ Reinle: The equipment of German churches in the Middle Ages. 1988, p. 86.
- ↑ Joseph Braun : The reliquaries of the Christian cult and their development. Herder, Freiburg 1940.
- ↑ Reinle: The equipment of German churches in the Middle Ages. 1988, p. 61.
- ↑ Wartena: The South German Choir Stalls from the Renaissance to Classicism. 2005 ( online ; PDF, 6 MB), accessed on June 18, 2017.
- ↑ Reinle: The equipment of German churches in the Middle Ages. 1988, p. 66.
- ↑ Justin Kroesen, Regnerus Steensma: Churches in East Friesland and their medieval furnishings . Michael Imhof, Petersberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86568-159-1 , p. 25 .
- ↑ Reinle: The equipment of German churches in the Middle Ages. 1988, p. 196.
- ^ Rudolf Huber: Church implements, crosses and reliquaries of the Christian churches. 1991, p. 164.
- ^ Rauhaus: Brief ecclesiastical studies . 2007, p. 38.
- ↑ Reinle: The equipment of German churches in the Middle Ages. 1988, p. 112.
