Kniestedter Church
The Kniestedter Church is a former Evangelical Lutheran church building in Salzgitter-Bad , which was mentioned as the church of the village of Kniestedt as early as the 15th century . The building has been used for cabaret events in the city of Salzgitter since 1985 .
history
Church building
When the "St. Nikolai Church", the actual name of the church, was built cannot be determined with certainty. Comparative studies of the architectural style of the church with those of Vöppstedt (built in the 12th century) and Ohrum (first mention of the church in 1022) suggest that it was built in the 11th or 12th century. The parish of Kniestedt is mentioned for the first time in a document from 1455, according to which Heinrich von Kniestedt sold a 100 acre forest to the church council.
The church is located on the southern edge of the former village of Kniestedt on the same site on which the von Kniestedt family had their "Unterhof" built from 1530 onwards. The rectangular nave has the dimensions 18.25 × 9.90 m, is built of stone walls and has a gable roof . On the north wall a round arched portal from 1609 can be seen, which shows a lion's head and is decorated with diamond blocks and shells. The portal is bricked up and bears a memorial plaque for those who fell in the First World War . The entrance to the church is on the west side of the tower and was laid out in the 18th century. The wooden entrance door with its wrought iron fittings also dates from this time. The tower has the external dimensions of 6.0 × 7.10 m and is covered by a transverse gable roof.
Towards the end of the 18th century the building had fallen into disrepair and was extensively renovated in 1814/15. In addition to the exterior work at the entrance and the windows, the interior floor was raised and paved, the dilapidated prieche for the nobility was removed and a new prieche was created for the youth. The stalls in the church were also repaired. Two years later the tower was repaired. In 1824 an organ was purchased, but it had to be renewed in 1848. In 1897/98 the organ had to be replaced again, the new organ was supplied by the Furtwängler & Hammer company in Hanover. Since the old ringing with the two bells from 1645 and 1799 was “completely inadequate”, the church council applied for two new bells in 1900, and in 1907 they could be inaugurated. The larger of the two bells had to be given up in 1917 and was melted down.
Parish
At that time the village of Kniestedt belonged to the Archdeaconate of Grid , so the mother church was St. George's Church of Grid . This changed with the rise of the nearby salt town Salzgitter from the beginning of the 15th century, as a result of which the seat of the archdeaconate was relocated from grid to Salzgitter. The Reformation was introduced in 1568 by Duke Julius (1568–1589) . Similar to lattice, Kniestedt also lost its own pastorate at the end of the 16th century and, together with lattice and Hohenrode, was looked after by a second pastorate of the new upper parish in Salzgitter. This second pastor alternately preached in Kniestedt and grid, but the Kniestedt citizens also went to the church in Salzgitter. Church activities such as baptisms, weddings and funerals continued to be held in the local church.
At that time there was no rectory in Kniestedt. The residents were obliged to help the residents of Salzgitter with construction and repair work for the rectory and its outbuildings. According to a decision by the Liebenburg Office on February 10, 1640, the residents of Salzgitter had to bear half of these costs, the remainder had to be borne by the municipalities of Grid (one third, of which Hohenrode had to take over a quarter) and Kniestedt (one sixth).
On April 1, 1938, the former village of Kniestedt was incorporated into Salzgitter (-Bad), at that time the place had about 580 inhabitants. With the construction of housing estates for the Reichswerke Hermann Göring and the mining industry, the number of community members rose sharply. In the early 1950s, the parish had almost 8,000 members. In 1954, the St. Nikolai community was given a new community center on Martin-Luther-Platz (in the center of the new housing estates). In May 1966 a new church was consecrated there, which was named after the square. The congregation, which today also includes the Gnadenkirche on Burgstrasse, later took on the name “Noah Parish”.
Grave slab of Arndt von Kniestedt
In the entrance area of the church there is an approximately 2 m high grave slab showing a man in armor. Shown is Arndt von Kniestedt , son of Friedrich von Kniestedt and his wife Armgard von Rettburg (or Rietburg). Arndt von Kniestedt was one of the ministerials of Duke Heinrich Julius (1564–1613) in the Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel . He was the duke's chamberlain, secret councilor, chief stableman and grand vogt of Wolfenbüttel. After the von Assel family , to which his grandmother belonged, died out, Duke Heinrich Julius enfeoffed him with the Assel estates in Burgdorf near Salzgitter and thus became the lord of the Burgdorf line of the von Kniestedt family. Arndt von Kniestedt died on October 11, 1611.
The text around the grave slab reads (follow up / right / down / left):
- "Anno 16" (the rest is illegible; it was probably written here in 1611) [...] "is the" / "Edler Gestrenger · u ·" (= and) "Ernvester" (= more honorable) "Arnt von Knistedt Fürst:" ( lich) "Brauns." (silent) "Grosfoget" (= Grand Vogt) " in " / (formerly legible? Wolfenbüttel ??) / "Gestaffen" (? beginning almost illegible; = died?) "and awaits the happy" (= happy) "resurrection" (= resurrection) "in Christu Jhesu"
The coats of arms in the four corners of the tombstone are the family coats of arms of Arndt von Kniestedt and his ancestors:
- Above left: Ancestral coat of arms of the von Kniestedt family: shield with surrounding clover leaves and pointed hat as a crest.
- Above right: Family coat of arms of the mother of Arndt von Kniestedt - Armgard von Rettberg (or Rietburg, possibly a side branch of the Westphalian von Rittberg family ): Depiction of an eagle with eagle wing as a helmet ornament.
- Bottom left: Family coat of arms of the grandmother of Arndt von Kniestedt - Anna von Assel: three-leaved branch.
- Bottom right: Great-grandmother's family coat of arms - this was probably Margaretha von Rumschottel: a striding bird of prey with a griffin claw growing out of a crest.
Today's use of the building
After the completion of the new Martin Luther Church in Salzgitter-Bad, the Kniestedter St. Nikolai Church was only rarely used, the last official act took place here on March 31, 1972. In the following year the city of Salzgitter acquired the Kniestedter estate and with it the church building. In the early 1980s it was decided to convert the church into an event center. The baroque altar was moved to the church in Salzgitter-Lesse , the interior was renovated, but the character of the church building was only slightly changed. Since then, the building has offered space for around 200 visitors. On January 11, 1985 the building of the Kniestedter Church was inaugurated as an event location, the first performance took place with the Viennese actor Ernst Stankowski . Kniestedter Church, usually called "Kniki" for short by the Salzgitterans, is known today beyond the borders of Salzgitter as a cultural center for small art events such as B. jazz concerts, readings or cabaret performances.
literature
- Wilhelm Schrader: Supplement and summary of typewritten work on the chronicle of the former village of Kniestedt (Goslar district) . Self-published, Salzgitter-Bad 1982.
- Wilhelm Schrader: Chronicle of the former village Kniestedt . Self-published, Salzgitter-Bad 1980.
- Church buildings in Salzgitter . In: Department for Public Relations of the City of Salzgitter (Ed.): Salzgitter Forum . tape 12 , 1986, pp. 61 (Martin Luther Church in Salzgitter-Bad) .
- O. Kiecker, C. Borchers (ed.): Art monuments of the province of Hanover . Issue 7: District of Goslar. Self-published by the provincial administration, Hanover 1937, p. 139-141 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Church buildings in Salzgitter , Salzgitter 1986, p. 45 (Lesse Church)
Web links
- Information from the city of Salzgitter on the Kniestedter Church
- History of the Kniestedter Church on the pages of badsalzgitter.de
Coordinates: 52 ° 3 '8.4 " N , 10 ° 22' 32.3" E