Liebfrauenkirche (Arnstadt)

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The Liebfrauenkirche from the south with the two west towers - the southern, Romanesque master tower (left) and the northern, Gothic journeyman's tower (right) - as well as the central tower above the transept between the Romanesque nave and the Gothic choir

The Liebfrauenkirche is a Protestant parish church in Arnstadt, Thuringia . The building, which was essentially built in the 12th and 13th centuries, is the most important church building in the transition phase from Romanesque to Gothic in Thuringia , along with the Naumburg Cathedral (now Saxony-Anhalt ) .

Building history

The Church of Our Lady from the north

The construction phase

Historians assume that the place where the Liebfrauenkirche stands today corresponds to the location of the deed of donation from Thuringian Duke Hedan II to the Anglo-Saxon Bishop Willibrord of Utrecht from the year 704 and that the first church in Arnstadt was also located here. In 726 the bishop bequeathed his share ("Portio") to the "Villa" Arnstadt in a will to the Echternach monastery . In the 12th century at the latest, the Hersfeld Imperial Monastery took over the local lordship and moved the Walpurgis Monastery to the Church of Our Lady around 1307. Remains of foundation walls of various previous buildings have been archaeologically proven.

Today's church building is inconsistent and contains medieval components from different construction phases. A building is assumed that was built in the last quarter of the 12th century. This includes the east central nave yoke , over which the rectangular east tower rises today. The unusual position of the tower above a central nave yoke is striking, which is why it was assumed that it could be a former choir tower, as occurs in the region.

Around 1200 there was a fundamental renovation as a gallery basilica. The "fake galleries" above the side aisles testify to this, which are the only ones of their kind in Central Germany, along with the much earlier ones in Gernrode and the less recent choir galleries of Magdeburg Cathedral . The Westriegel also belongs to this time.

In the second quarter of the 13th century, parts of the aisles, the upper aisles, the vaults of the central nave and the portals in the west and in the aisles were built. Due to its characteristic structural forms, this construction phase is counted among the group of buildings that were stylistically dependent on the Cistercian monastery of Maulbronn and that are often referred to in research as "Maulbronn school buildings". A designation that, as Ernst Badstübner writes, "is not entirely appropriate" for the buildings in Thuringia, "because on the one hand the dependence on the Black Forest monastery is not direct, on the other hand because there are far more elements than can be derived from the influence of the Cistercian Let architecture be explained and its character determined. " This construction phase also includes the two polygonal decorative towers on the west bar, which statically did not harmonize optimally with the older substructure and are unsuitable for accommodating mighty bells. Their stylistic resemblance to the church buildings in Mühlhausen was noticed early on , in particular those of St. Marien and St. Blasius . As a model for Thuringia, Arnstadt shows the stylistic development from the late Romanesque south tower to the Gothic north tower in the middle of the 13th century.

In the last quarter of the 13th century, the Romanesque choir was replaced by the high Gothic east building consisting of a transept and a relay hall. Already in the 19th century the floor plan analogy to the Regensburg Cathedral , whose foundation stone was laid in 1275, was noticeable without research yet having found a satisfactory explanation for it. Weber assumes that a basilical solution was also initially sought in Arnstadt. Probably under the influence of the hall buildings that followed the Elizabeth Church in Marburg , there was also a change of plan in Arnstadt and the current hall structure was implemented. There also seem to be stylistic references to French Rayonnant buildings , for example to the choir solution in the parish church of Chambly or to the tracery in the cathedral of Beauvais . Since a gallery was built in the southern part of the eastern building for the incorporated nunnery, which was removed again in the 19th century, it can be assumed that the expansion continued into the 20s of the 14th century. In 1333 the Church of Our Lady was named "Ecclesia parochialis" and thus the town's main parish church. In addition, the north choir took up the burial place and memoirs of the Counts of Schwarzburg . The three-aisled structure of the choir corresponded to the partial use of the space.

The Liebfrauenkirche as a monastery church

With the relocation of the Benedictine Monastery of St. Walpurgis, a monastery owned by the Imperial Abbey of Hersfeld, from Walpurgisberg, two kilometers south of Arnstadt, to the Church of Our Lady, the church acquired a significance that went beyond the function of a parish church. With the construction of a nun's gallery and the insertion of colored windows, of which two figures of the apostles and a passion cycle can still be seen in the side aisles, the construction of the church was initially completed in 1330.

Around 1475 construction work took place again in the monastery area. Mainly the burial chapel of the Schwarzburg counts was built. In addition, in 1489 the bell tower was given a tiled spire. With the Reformation the Walpurgis monastery was closed and the church lost its importance. It was rarely used, in 1660 the prince's status was broken off and in 1813 the church, which now served as a temporary storage facility, was closed completely. This accelerated the decline that had already begun.

Restoration work in the 19th century

In 1789 and 1821 securing work was carried out on the west towers and in the 1830s inside the church, among other things, pillars in the east building were renewed and the floor was laid again, old grave slabs disappeared and the rood screen was probably also torn off. After a call for donations for the preservation of the Liebfrauenkirche was already made in 1842, which led to the renovation of the roofs in 1843, and an association for the restoration of the Liebfrauenkirche had been founded in 1855, extensive restoration began in 1880. Under the direction of master builder Hubert Stier , the south wall of the transept was renewed, the choir windows with decorative gables were rebuilt, the east central nave yoke was vaulted and the bell tower was designed in neo-Gothic shapes. In the west towers, the two stone helmets and the free projectiles underneath were removed and renewed using usable old material. As part of this construction work, the nuns' gallery was demolished in 1883. In addition, the naves received a historicizing interior painting.

Historical reconstruction in the 20th century and until today

The north portal of the Church of Our Lady around 1900

In 1910, construction work began again with the aim of preserving and restoring the original substance as much as possible. Under the direction of the building councilor Georg Wickop and the architect Martin Schwarz , a large part of the still unstable west building was demolished following the example of the Worms cathedral restoration, and the foundations of the north tower were even renewed. The stone material was documented and, as far as possible, an exact restoration of the "old forms" was made using the old building material. However, the neo-Gothic west gable was demolished, including the statue of the Virgin Mary . The roof was given the shape of a hipped roof . In addition, the historicist interior painting was removed.

In 1942, the bronze bells from 1585 were removed and melted down for war purposes. They were replaced by three hard-cast iron bells in 1959 as part of extensive reconstruction work begun in 1954. In April 1945 the church was damaged by American artillery fire. As part of the reconstruction in 1958, the neo-Gothic tower from 1881 was rebuilt to its present form to relieve the foundations, and in 1960 the colored windows in the choir area were removed. After this reconstruction work was completed, the church was consecrated again on November 7, 1973, Willibrord's Day. In 1978 the church received a new Schuke - Organ with 27 registers, two manuals and about 1900 pipes, installed sound reasons in the transept, thus creating a clear view of the western front. It sounded publicly for the first time on June 13, 1979.

From 1991 to 1994 the roof was partially renovated and the north-west tower was repaired in 1996. Despite all the repair and reconstruction work that had been carried out, there was still an urgent need for renovation. The choir buttresses were in danger of collapsing, and there was considerable structural damage to the other pillars as well. Therefore, on November 4, 2000, the Board of Trustees for the Preservation of the Church of Our Lady was founded under the patronage of the Thuringian Minister of Education, Dagmar Schipanski . Thanks to the work of the Board of Trustees, the renovation of the choir buttresses and the securing of the other pillars were completed by May 2001. At the end of 2001, the renovation of the roof began with a new covering and the repair of the ceiling plaster. On the occasion of the 1300th anniversary of the city of Arnstadt, a four-part ringing made of bronze bells was installed again in 2004.

Works of art in the church

The winged altar from 1498

The Liebfrauenkirche contains numerous works of art:

  • Grave chapel of the Counts of Schwarzburg-Arnstadt in the northern side choir with:
    • Tumba of Count Günther XXV. von Schwarzburg-Blankenburg (* around 1331; † 1368) and his wife Elisabeth von Honstein-Sonderhausen (* around 1332; † 1380) (from the Parler school around 1380 )
    • Epitaph from 1590 for Günther XLI. ("Günther der Streitbare") von Schwarzburg-Arnstadt (1529–1583) and his wife Katharina von Nassau-Dillenburg (1543–1624)
    • Gravestones for Günther the Bremen († 1531), whose son Heinrich XXXII. († 1538) and Günther XL. ("Günther der Reiche") († 1552) and his wife Elisabeth, Countess von Eisenberg († 1593) on the north wall
  • Winged altar by Jacob Naumann (1498): Coronation of the Virgin with St. Laurentius and St. Boniface, originally in the upper church
  • Arnstadt's "Beautiful Madonna" carved from linden wood, around 1415–1420
  • Baptismal font and pulpit, supported by Moses, pointing to the 10 commandments
  • Painting St. Peter and Paul
  • Radial Madonna as a stone relief
  • The church houses one of the heaviest bells of the Thuringian regional church with a weight of 4,389 kg from the year 1585, cast in the Erfurt bell foundry by Melchior Möhrinck .

photos

  • Romanesque church interior

  • Gothic choir

  • Sepulchral chapel with tumba and epitaph

  • The Arnstadt Madonna

  • Pulpit carried by Moses

  • Radial Madonna as a stone relief

literature

  • Klaus T. Weber: Transformation - the Liebfrauenkirche in Arnstadt. In: Magister operis, Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2008, pp. 127–154, ISBN 978-3-7954-2065-9
  • Hans-Ulrich Orban: Church of Our Lady Arnstadt (= Little Art Guide 1997). 4th, revised edition. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-7954-5724-2 .

Web links

Commons : Liebfrauenkirche (Arnstadt)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl August Hugo Burkhardt: Document book of the city of Arnstadt, 704-1497 . Jena 1883, p. 2 .
  2. ^ Klaus T. Weber: Transformation - the Liebfrauenkirche in Arnstadt . S. 129 .
  3. ^ Ulrich Lappe: Archaeological investigations in the Liebfrauenkirche in Arnstadt . In: Mosaiksteine, Thuringian Church Studies . tape IV . Berlin 1981, p. 151-153 .
  4. ^ Klaus T. Weber: Transformation - the Liebfrauenkirche in Arnstadt . S. 134-137 .
  5. ↑ The central aisle by the east tower had no vaults until the restoration at the end of the 19th century.
  6. ^ Ernst Badstübner: Maulbronn school buildings in Thuringia. Thesis. University of Berlin. 1955. p. 2.
  7. ↑ Hubert Stier: The Liebfrauenkirche zu Arnstadt - studies on the structural development of the same. Arnstadt 1882, p. 15 .
  8. ^ Klaus T. Weber: Transformation - the Liebfrauenkirche in Arnstadt . S. 149-154 .
  9. ↑ Hans-Wolfgang Freiherr von Löhneysen: The Liebfrauenkirche in Arnstadt. Diss. Phil Jena 1941. pp. 13f. (unpublished)
  10. ↑ Hubert Stier: The restoration of the Church of Our Lady in Arnstadt . In: Deutsche Bauzeitung . No. 17 , 1883, p. 533-535, 545-547 .
  11. ↑ Martin Schwarz: The restoration of the Church of Our Lady in Arnstadt in Th. (1911-1913) . In: The Church, central body for the construction, furnishing and furnishing of churches, church buildings and plants . tape 10 . Hall 1913, S. 117-127 .
  12. ^ Georg Wickop: The restoration of the Liebfrauenkirche in Arnstadt. Twelfth day of monument preservation. Halberstadt 1912.
  13. ↑ Arnstadt - Churches and Monasteries (accessed June 29, 2017)

Coordinates: 50 ° 50 ′ 0 ″  N , 10 ° 56 ′ 30 ″  E