Marienwerder monastery church

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Northwest view of the church

The Marienwerder Monastery Church is the church of the Marienwerder Monastery in the Marienwerder district in the north-west of Hanover .

General

Foundation stone
Main portal (north side)

The former Augustinian monastery church "Sanctae Mariä" is the oldest church in Hanover. The church and monastery were founded in 1196 by Count Konrad I von Roden, and the church was consecrated in 1200. The foundation stone dates from the 16th or 17th century; it can be seen between the two windows on the western inner wall of the church, under the organ gallery; immediately above there is an inscription stone.

The following text can be seen:

     In 1196
, Count Curtd zu Roden,
who resides for Hanover,
donated the Marienwerder monastery
and had it set with Munich.
     Anno 1212 the
obelisk count died and was buried
with his wife in the church
.
     In 1216
Munich was taken out of it
and it was occupied with maiden.

The inscription stone probably dates from the end of the 15th century and says:

Anno dno MCXC VI
fundatu est moasteriu
Anno dni MCCCC LXXVI
chorus sic factus est

It comes from the nuns' gallery, which was demolished in 1858.

  • North side with today's main portal

  • East side with three apses

  • View from the northeast

  • View from the elevator in the monastery garden

  • Nave towards the altar

  • Nave towards the organ

Building history

The church was originally built as a three-aisled, Romanesque basilica, with a transept, choir bay, a main apse and two side apses, which close the two aisles to the east. The building was created during the transition from Romanesque to Gothic , so it has features of both styles: Romanesque the windows, Gothic the vaults. The crucifixion group made of oak dates back to 1230/40.

The north aisle was destroyed in a fire in 1335; the rest of the church was left unscathed. During the reconstruction by 1339 the church received two more altars.

In 1476 the large nuns choir was built, which was later torn down again, it reached from the west wall to the crossing.

Around 1600 the south aisle (remaining after the fire) was raised by a lower floor. In 1668, when the monastery burned again, the church roof was probably also destroyed. In 1688 a bronze bell was used.

The increasing deterioration of the church was noticed in 1857 during a thanksgiving service in the presence of the king, which is why a renovation was carried out from 1858 to 1861. Under the direction of Building Councilor Conrad Wilhelm Hase and Oberlandesbaumeister Georg Ludwig Comperl , repairs were carried out, missing parts of the building were supplemented based on the existing ones and far-reaching alterations were made: The gallery ("nuns choir") from 1476 was removed, the onion-shaped ridge top was replaced by the current, The octagonal one was replaced, the organ gallery was built, and another gallery above the south arm of the transept. The main portal was moved to its current location, the north side. Furthermore, the interior with candlesticks, benches, pulpit, lectern and high altar was renewed. A gallery resting on beams for the monastery maids in the southern arm of the cross was also removed in 1858 and replaced by a massive gallery for the canonesses.

  • North gallery

  • Pillars under the organ gallery

  • Choir area with south pore

  • Choir area with north gallery

At the end of the renovation work, the main apse and choir were painted in neo-Romanesque style by Oscar Wichtendahl in 1886 . In 1898 the high quality glass windows of the main apse were added.

  • apse

  • Northern choir wall

  • Ceiling painting in the choir

  • Crucifixion group

In 1961 the crucifixion group returned from the Lower Saxony State Museum. In 1972 the church was re-plastered and received a new organ.

On the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the church and monastery, the simple, oak outer doors were replaced by new, richly decorated, made of bronze. The designs for the picture fields come from three male artists from Marienwerder. Both the founding legend of the monastery (finding an image of Mary on a river island, the "Werder") and biblical (crucifixion, Pentecostal miracle) and diaconal motifs (nursing the sick and the elderly) were symbolized.

In 2008 a new wheel chandelier was hung in the crossing above the font and the previous one, neo-Romanesque, was moved to the gallery.

Church interior

The Low German crucifixion group made from oak around 1230 is of particular importance in terms of art history. In the meantime it was kept in the Lower Saxony State Museum, from which it returned to the church in 1961 - first on the altar erected in the 19th century, later on the triumphal beam between the main nave and choir bay: in the middle Christ on the cross, with a crown of thorns and feet placed one on top of the other . On the left Mary, standing on a kite, on the right the disciple Johannes, who holds a hand on his cheek plaintively.

The ladies' gallery, which is not open to the public, is located on the south side.

  • South pore

  • New and old wheel chandelier

  • pulpit

  • Lectern

  • Baptismal font

The baptismal font and pulpit basket were made according to designs by the chief architect Christian Adolf Vogell from 1859. The pulpit is surrounded by the figures of the four evangelists, which, according to the church chronicle, were made by the sculptor Hurzig from Hildesheim - this probably means Georg Ludwig Hurtzig . Below the figures are the associated symbols : lion, bull, eagle and human. The lectern is decorated with cherubs.

The three stained glass windows of the apse show the following motifs: The theme of the left is the Old Covenant, above the baptism of Jesus, then two prophets, Moses with the brazen serpent in the desert, below finally David and Solomon, the former easily recognizable by the harp. The middle window shows Christ (below as crucified, above as exalted), two prophets and below Adam and Eve. The theme of the right window is the Christian Church. The ascension of Jesus can be seen above; at the very top you can still see the feet, below the corresponding prints on the floor. Below are the upper bodies of Melanchthon and Luther, further down the resurrection with the “Noli me tangere” and finally at the bottom Peter and Paul.

  • Stained glass window

  • Left glass window

  • Middle glass window

  • Right glass window

The wheel chandelier from the 19th century is now in the ladies' gallery, in the nave it has been replaced by a very simple modern one.

In the church there are also various epitaphs, some of which were moved from the outside to the inside in 1977/78, including the epitaph of Clara Eleonora von Ilten .

literature

  • 750 years of Marienwerder monastery church , jubilee publication for the 750th anniversary, ed. from the parish of Marienwerder-Stöcken. H. Osterwald printing house, Hanover 1946 ( PDF )

Web links

Commons : Klosterkirche Marienwerder (Hannover)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 52 ° 24 ′ 22 "  N , 9 ° 37 ′ 41"  E