Luther Church (Altena)

Luther Church

The Evangelical Lutheran Luther Church is a listed church building in Altena , a town in the Märkisches Kreis ( North Rhine-Westphalia ).

History and architecture

Luther Church and surroundings

Luther Church for the Night of Open Churches 2016

The previous church was the St. Catherine Church, which was built around 1318 and whose tower was included in the construction of 1738. The parish church had the pastoral, baptismal and burial rights as well as the right to tithe . From 1535 the Reformation was introduced at the church . This was a process that spanned several decades. The conflict between Lutherans and Calvinists led from 1612 to 1624 to bitter controversy over the interpretation of the Lord's Supper, as well as over the city church and the associated income. The old Katharinenkirche finally became Lutheran in 1624. After several fire damage and permanent dampness, the church had become dilapidated in 1702. The city's population had now risen to 2,611 and the church had become too small. In 1719 a new building was decided. The money was raised through the auction of the church seats, a collection from all over Westphalia, donations and loans. King Friedrich Wilhelm I granted a grant of 1000 thalers. In 1738 the foundation stone for the expansion to 1000 places was laid.

The new church was designed as a gallery church. The old church tower remained standing, the nave was enlarged to the east, into the mountain and to the sides. The simple hall church of three bays with a straight east end was made of rubble stone and plastered. The builder was possibly Johann Michael Moser. A baroque helmet was put on the tower. The interior is almost square, where the pillars were probably the boundary walls of the old church. At the back there is access to the gallery and the room of the former Latin school in the roof. The groin vaults rest on columns and galleries. The vault paintings from 1938 were restored in 2007.

In the morning hours of May 15, 2015, there was a fire in the left nave of the church, the church was not accessible until further notice. After the renovation was completed, the church was reopened on March 12, 2017 with a festive mass, which was organized by the two community choirs and the Altena wind orchestra. The pulpit organ prospectus was damaged during the fire and then extensively restored. The renewed wooden construction from the 18th century was selected in September 2017 by the LWL Monument Preservation, Landscape and Building Culture in Westphalia as Monument of the Month in Westphalia-Lippe .

Furnishing

The baroque complex with altar , pulpit and organ forms the east end . This system makes the church a typical Protestant preaching church. The altar block probably dates from the 14th century, the cafeteria is marked 1833. The altar, organ and pulpit are arranged one above the other. The pulpit organ prospect dominates the space. The free-standing two-story installation was made of wood. The sacristy is located in the basement . The organ was renovated in 1974. The pulpit is richly worked with gold. In the middle of the pulpit, God the Father is depicted with a globe in his hand. A dove floats under the sound cover and on the sound cover the risen Christ with the victory flag occupies the highest place on the acanthus throne.

The color scheme of the church is mostly white, blue and gold. Angels and evangelists are depicted in the ceiling medallions. Saint Catherine is shown above the choir gallery as a determined, combative woman. There are prayer rooms under the stairs to the gallery .

The origin of the image of the Last Supper on the door to the pulpit is unknown. It is semicircular at the top and depicts Jesus surrounded by eleven disciples.

organ

Organ (around 1960)

Today's organ was built in 1974 by Alfred Führer from Wilhelmshaven behind the historic prospect .

The oldest parts of the seven-axis facade go back to Johann Henrich Kleine (1693–1773) and his son Johann Christian Kleine (1737–1805) (from Freckhausen in Oberbergisches Land), who built a new building in 1764. The latter and his brother Johann Gerhard Kleine built the baroque organ in the Evangelical Church in Eckenhagen dating from 1794. According to the building contract with the Evangelical Church in Altena of February 24, 1763, J. Henrich Kleine undertook to repair the existing ( unspecified) predecessor organ so that the service could be continued. In addition, the organ was rebuilt, expanding and taking over existing registers. From the collection of dispositions of Joh. Christian Kleine it emerges that the organ may have had pedal towers, as the principal 16 ′ was "in the face" ", ie in the prospectus . The specifications of the contract with the municipality also specify which registers from the old organ and which were to be built as a new structure. There was a new building of the Vox humana, the principal in the prospectus and the 16 ′ stops in the pedal, as well as the wind chests , the action and manuals , a complete bellows and the repair of the 3 still existing bellows. The complete positive with “foliage” as well as action, keyboard and wind chest of the pedal were rebuilt. In addition, the low C was probably missing on many registers before.

After several modifications to this organ, the renowned company Ladegast & Sohn renewed the work in 1895, of which only the changed manual brochure has survived to this day. The inauguration took place in 1895. The organ had 32 registers with 1850 pipes. Typical for the time, it was designed with a cone store and pneumatic control via brass tubes.

The disposition of the Ladegast organ is an expression of the contemporary taste with many fundamental voices. Whether the II. Or III. Manual was designed as a swell, is not clear from the information. Due to the considerable similarities of the disposition and the overall arrangement with three manuals with the still preserved organ in St. Johannis, Wernigerode , III / P 33 register from 1885, it can be assumed that the echo mechanism was swellable. The partly identical disposition is interesting. So you can probably draw conclusions today in Wernigerode how the Altenaer Ladegast organ might have sounded. The pitch range of C – f ³ and C – d ¹ may also have been similar.

Organ (2020)

The Alfred-Führer organ from 1974 has 28 registers, which are divided into two manuals (main work and swell work ) and pedal . The instrument has a mechanical play contracture , electrically coupling and organ stops and an electric Setzer combination with 3999 memory locations and sequencer (up / down), Pleno and deadbolt (trigger to deselect all registers), each as a hand as well as a foot switch. The organ was opened on October 13, 1974 in a festive service in the presence of the superintendent Dr. Weichenhan from Iserlohn consecrated. The Luther Kantorei and the then cantor Günter Treeck (* 1932 +2016) were involved. Eberhard Eßrich writes in the program for the consecration of the organ:

“Alfred Führer was particularly happy and grateful about the contract to build this organ in Altena. He was no longer allowed to experience the joy of completing his work. God, the Lord of life and death, has previously called the master over his work. So the organ stands in memory of its builder and important master of German organ building art for the greater honor of our Triune God and for the edification of his community. "

- Eberhard Eßrich : Via Vitae Alfred Führer

The disposition of Alfred leader follows the baroque tradition or organ movement :

I Hauptwerk C – g 3 01. Pommer 16 ′ 02. Principal 08th' 03. Reed flute 08th' 04th Octave 04 ′ 05. Flute 04 ′ 06th Principal fifth 0 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 07th Octave 02 ′ 08th. Forest flute 02 ′ 09. Mixture V 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 10. Trumpet 08th'

II Swell C – g 3 11. Wooden dacked 08th' 12. Quintad 08th' 13. Principal 04 ′ 14th recorder 04 ′ 15th Gemshorn 02 ′ 16. Octav 01' 17th Sesquialtera II 0 18th Scharff IV 02 ⁄ 3 ′ 19th Wooden dulcian 16 ′ 20th shelf 08th' Tremulant

Pedal C – f 1 21st Sub-bass 16 ′ 22nd Principal 08th' 23. Dumped 08th' 24. Chorale bass 04 ′ 25th Night horn 02 ′ 26th Mixture IV 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 27. Wooden trombone 0 16 ′ 28. bassoon 08th'

• Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P

Bells

The chiming of the Luther Church consists of three cast steel bells that swing at the church services, and two small clock chimes on the spire for the clock strike.

No.	Surname	Nominal	diameter	Weight	Casting year	Caster
1	big bell	a °	198 cm	5,940 kg	1920	Bochum Association for cast steel production
2	Death knell	cis'	157 cm	2,400 kg
3	Prayer bell	e '	138 cm	1,750 kg

literature

• Ursula Quednau (arrangement): Dehio-Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, North Rhine-Westphalia, Volume II: Westphalia. Deutscher Kunstverlag , Berlin / Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-422-03114-2 , p. 9f.

Web links

Commons : Lutherkirche Altena  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• history

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Fire in the Luther Church in Altena. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
2. ↑ Helena Dick: Monument of the month: pulpit organ prospectus of the Altena Luther Church. Restoration after fire damage. (No longer available online.) LWL monument preservation, landscape and building culture in Westphalia , archived from the original on October 8, 2017 ; accessed on October 8, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Ursula Quednau (arrangement): Dehio-Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, North Rhine-Westphalia, Volume II: Westphalia. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin / Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-422-03114-2 , p. 9 f.
4. ^ Orgel Fasen, Eifel: Report on the restoration of the organ in the years 2005 - 2008. Hubert Fasen Orgelbau, December 9, 2012, accessed on April 6, 2020 . 
5. ^ Franz G. Bullmann: The Rhenish organ builders Kleine - Roetzel - Nohl. Part II: Sources on the history of organ building . In: Walter Kolneder (ed.): Writings on music . tape 7 . Musikverlag Emil Katzbichler, Munich 1974, ISBN 3-87397-007-4 , p. 157 f .
6. ↑ Christian Kleine Dispositionssammlung 1770 and 1796: The Rhenish organ builders Kleine - Roetzel - Nohl. Part II . In: Walter Kolneder (ed.): Writings on music . tape 7 . Musikverlag Emil Katzbichler, Munich 1974, ISBN 3-87397-007-4 , p. 85 .
7. ^ Organ building news . In: Paul de Wit (Hrsg.): Zeitschrift für Instrumentenbau . tape 15 , no. 35 . Leipzig September 1895, p. 911 .
8. ↑ Disposition of the Ladegast organ Wernigerode. Retrieved November 20, 2017 . 
9. ↑ organ index. Retrieved November 20, 2017 . 
10. ↑ Hannalore Reuter: Historical organs in Westphalia-Lippe . Ardey-Verlag, Münster 2006, ISBN 978-3-87023-245-0 , pp. 16 .
11. ↑ Eberhard Eßrich: Via Vitae Alfred leader . In: Ev. Congregation Altena (ed.): Program for the festival service and consecration of the organ, October 13, 1974 .
12. ↑ Information Johannes Köstlin, Cantor of the Luther Church and own notes, June 2016
13. ↑ The history of the Luther bells. December 27, 2015, accessed July 19, 2020 . 

Coordinates: 51 ° 17 ′ 46.4 "  N , 7 ° 40 ′ 26.7"  E