Liebfrauenkirche (Bautzen)
The Church of Our Lady (generally as Church of Our Lady referred; Sorbian Cyrkej našeje lubeje knjenje or Serbska cyrkej ) in Bautzen is a Catholic church, which largely of Sorbian is used parishioners and Dompfarrgemeinde St. Petri belongs. It is located outside the former inner city wall, east of the Reichenturm on the historic salt market.
history
The Liebfrauenkirche is very likely the second oldest church in the city after the Cathedral of St. Petri . Although it was first documented with certainty for April 1293 (there are also chronical information on the year 1240), many historical researchers today are of the opinion that the Church of Our Lady was founded in the 11th century. For Bautzen there are exact church building news (however written at a later time) for a merchant church from the years 1066/74/76, which are considered to be very credible. For a long time it was disputed whether it was the Liebfrauenkirche or the Nikolaikirche . The overwhelming number of arguments, including topographical investigations and an inscription probably from the 15th century that was only discovered on the sacristy wall of the Liebfrauenkirche in 1936 and which points to the founding of the church in the middle of the 11th century, speak for the Liebfrauenkirche, according to Rochus Schrammek, but there is still a few supporters of the Nikolaikirche, including Karlheinz Blaschke .
The church was located in front of the city walls on the Salzmarkt (today church square) and from 1318 to 1865 there was also an adjoining cemetery. During the unsuccessful siege of Bautzen by the Hussites in 1429, the church was destroyed, whether by the Hussites themselves or by the defenders of the city, so that the Hussites would not be able to take cover near the city wall is uncertain. In 1443 it was rededicated. In 1620, during a siege of the city and the city fires of 1634 and 1686, the Church of Our Lady was largely destroyed again, and it was also very often redesigned. After the Nikolaikirche was destroyed in 1634, it took over its duties as a parish church for some of the surrounding villages. During the Wars of Liberation between 1813 and 1815 it was the temporary church of the Lutheran cathedral parish, as the cathedral was used as a hospital . In the years 1864 (in that year a yoke to the west was added) to 1900 the church received its present form.
For centuries, the Church of Our Lady served primarily as a parish church for the Catholic Sorbs from the suburbs and the surrounding villages. However, there was no document in the cathedral monastery archives about the status of Liebfrauen as a parish. Bishop Christian Schreiber made up for the canonical establishment of the parish of Liebfrauen at the end of 1926; the right of patronage fell to the bishop. When Schreiber appointed a German pastor in 1927, a long-lasting dispute arose between the Sorbian Catholics and the bishop, which was also widely discussed in the Bautzen press.
In the Second World War , the Church of Our Lady was badly damaged during the Battle of Bautzen , but was restored in the same year. The parish of the Liebfrauenkirche was dissolved in 1984 and integrated into the cathedral parish.
Construction and equipment
The nave is about 25 m long and 8 m wide. The tower is located on the north side of the building at the level of the first yoke from the east. In the tower there is the sacristy on the ground floor and above it the Michael choir, which opens onto the church. In the east choir there are three stained glass windows designed by Gottfried Zawatzki in 1970 and showing the “ heavenly Jerusalem ”.
Due to its eventful history with the many destructions, the appearance of the church has changed particularly often. Its main significance is therefore the fact of its very long existence and its central role for the Catholic Sorbs for centuries than in the building itself. The Liebfrauenkirche therefore contains relatively little art-historically significant furnishings, but individual objects are noteworthy. The small crucifixion group from the beginning of the 17th century should be mentioned here in particular. In front of the entrance portal of the church there is an old stone cross that reminds of the sermons of Johannes Capistrano in Bautzen, who called for inner conversion in 1453. The interior of the church was partially redesigned in 1912, 1936, 1972 and most recently in 1998.
Others
The Liebfrauenkirche is a special attraction for tourists at Easter , as the Bautzen procession of Easter riders begins here, who ride around the church three times.
literature
- Cornelius Gurlitt : The Church of Our Lady. In: Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony. 33. Booklet: Bautzen (city) . CC Meinhold, Dresden 1909, pp. 58-62.
swell
- ^ Rochus Schrammek: Traffic and building history of the city of Bautzen. Domowina-Verlag, Bautzen 1984, pp. 51-55.
- ↑ Christine Seele, Siegfried Seifert : Bautzen and his churches. Benno, Leipzig 1996, ISBN 3-7462-1118-2 .
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 10 ′ 50.6 ″ N , 14 ° 25 ′ 44.2 ″ E