Kreuzkirche (Bretten)
The Kreuzkirche is an old Protestant church in Bretten in the district of Karlsruhe in Baden-Württemberg .
history
The Lutheran congregation built the church in 1687 on land that had been vacated by two buildings after the fire to the west of the stone house - today's office building. The church, which was not even two years old, was burned to the ground on August 13, 1689 , in the Palatinate War of Succession that broke out shortly afterwards, like many other buildings in the city. After its reconstruction, the church was rededicated in 1702. Back then it was even more simply furnished than it is today; the tower was added later, ceilings and galleries were not painted until the 1740s.
After Lutherans and Reformed Churches were united to form the Evangelical Church in 1821 , services in Bretten generally only took place in the collegiate church , which also served the city's Catholics as a simultaneous church until 1938 . The Kreuzkirche was not profaned , but was only rarely used for church services.
In 1957 the Kreuzkirche was extensively renovated, the paintings were also restored and newly donated bells were hung in the tower. Another major renovation followed in 1987, a new floor was laid in the church and a new heating system installed. The baroque organ was restored and reconstructed in 1994.
Furnishing
The cruciform church impresses above all with its rich historical painting. The ceiling painting from 1741 in the choir , a work by Johann Bartholomäus Brandmeyer from Bruchsal , in the style of illusion painting , gives the impression of a much greater construction height than the compact choir really has. The parapets of the three-sided gallery are painted with biblical scenes that Johann Jakob Geitlinger created in 1746. Other traditional paintings adorn the parapet of the pulpit .
The organ was built by Philipp Heinrich Hasenmeyer between 1747 and 1749. It is Hasenmeyer's only surviving instrument, of which, in addition to the magnificent case and wooden piping, the manual wind chest and part of the action have survived. It is remarkable how the organ takes up the perspective effect of the ceiling painting: the vertical housing parts are inclined inwards so that more height is simulated. In 1994 the organ was restored by the Alsatian workshop Remy Mahler , the missing parts were reconstructed in a stylish way. The slider chest instrument has 13 registers on a manual and pedal. The actions are mechanical.
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- Coupling pedal coupler
Inscription stones from the 17th to 20th centuries are set in the north wall of the nave, reminding of the turbulent building history of the church.
literature
- Georg Urban: The Kreuzkirche zu Bretten , Bretten 1959
- Martin Kares: The organs of the Protestant churches in Bretten 1998
Individual evidence
- ↑ To the disposition
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 2 '12 " N , 8 ° 42' 17.4" E