Church hall of the Moravian Brethren (Neudietendorf)
The church hall of the Moravian Brethren is the largest church hall in the Thuringian town of Neudietendorf in the district of Gotha .
history
From 1743, another branch of the Bohemian Brothers based on the Moravian model was built near the “Alter Hof” manor in what was then Dietendorf . The church hall of the Moravian Brethren was built in 1780 as a half-timbered building in a unit with the rectory in the late Baroque style . It does not have a basement, is approximately 7.5 meters high and has a floor area of 26.5 by 15 meters. It has been preserved in its basic substance to this day.
organ
The hall had been equipped with an organ since 1781 . On June 30, 1901, it was replaced due to severe damage. The company Eberhard Friedrich Walcker from Ludwigsburg delivered the new romantic organ at a price of 9,708 marks. Only the late Baroque prospectus was taken from the old organ , which was subtly enlarged by adding side extensions. The visible pipes made of tin had in World War I to be delivered. They could not be replaced until 1926. In the same year the first electric motor was installed to generate the air for the pipes. In 1940 a better engine was installed.
The last renovation of the organ took place in 1973, when some registers were renewed or rebuilt for 11,670 marks . A higher mood brought the a ′ from 432.5 to 440 Hertz . The organ is of the pneumatic cone chest type with a forward play table, this one with increased wind pressure. The organ has three manuals (from C to g³) and a pedal (C to f ′), a total of 28 stops. It is still played at church services today.
The six free-hanging brass candlesticks date from the middle of the 20th century. A mechanism can be used to pull them down to light the candles.
Current situation
The construction of the church and the internal division correspond to the holistically ordered character of the Moravian Brethren. Everything that belongs to life was included in the common life and belonged equally to the circle of life. The church is part of the whole and not a particularly holy or closed sacred space in which the presence of God is inaccessible. Neither the pulpit nor the altar , neither the Lord's Supper nor pictures, neither an apse nor a special shrine with relics form the central point, unlike in churches with a Catholic or Lutheran character. Seen from the liturgical table , the congregation sits in a circle: on the right the sisters, on the left, on the side of the organ, the brothers. On the “workers' benches”, which are firmly built into the wooden lampering, the siblings with special tasks that serve the community have their place in a row with the liturgist or preacher who leads the meeting. For acoustic reasons, the liturgical acoustics are slightly raised.
The cemetery
Behind the church is the “Gottesacker”, the expression of the Brethren for the cemetery . You walk through a wrought iron gate from 1766, which still shows the craftsmanship of the blacksmith today. Here, too, the spiritual attitude of the community becomes clear: There are no family graves or “regular places”. Everyone is buried in turn. All grave slabs lie on the graves and have uniform dimensions (50 × 70 cm) and lettering with the name of the deceased, the date of birth and death, the place of birth and a Bible verse. The family graves and ceremonial graves often found in Catholic cemeteries, which are supposed to correspond to the reputation or the assets of the deceased, cannot be found here. The oldest surviving grave is from 1743. The lying gravestones are similar and simple. According to the custom of the Brethren, grave sites are neither excavated nor deedicated , so the cemetery is enlarged if necessary. In 1765, this led to a considerable extension with a hedge and a separate entrance gate. In 1827 there was an expansion with the creation of new paths and tree planting. The cemetery is still to this extent today. The church is a listed building . The graves of five German soldiers who died in the fighting around Neudietendorf in April 1945 can also be found on it. Mention should be made of a classicist tea house on the corner of the parish garden, which is also a listed building.
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Herrnhuter Gottesacker
- ^ Horst Benneckenstein: Home Thuringia . 3rd year 1996, booklet 2. (mentioned in a leaflet of the Evangelical Brethren)
literature
- Leaflet of the Protestant Brethren Neudietendorf, Pastor Christian Theile
Web links
- http://friedhof-ansichten.de/archives/1776
- Information on the church district website
Coordinates: 50 ° 54 ′ 44.9 " N , 10 ° 54 ′ 41.9" E