Maria on the water
Maria am Wasser is an Evangelical Lutheran church in the Dresden district of Hosterwitz . With its exterior, reminiscent of the Baroque sacred building in southern Germany , it is completely atypical for the Dresden region. At 1,500 square meters, the churchyard is one of the city's smallest cemeteries . The Maria am Wasser church and the churchyard are under monument protection and, as part of the Dresden Elbe Valley cultural landscape , were part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site from 2004 to 2009 .
history
Previous and new building
In Hosterwitz, originally a church village around 10 kilometers from Dresden, there is said to have been a wooden church shortly after Christianization around 1200. Around 1406 a pastor from Hosterwitz was first mentioned in a document. At that time, the church was set up as a sacred building only for the pre-Reformation mass services.
According to tradition, today's church building goes back to Dionysius von Carlowitz , who had it built in 1495 as a late Gothic hall structure at his own expense . The church was baptized around 1500 with the name "Maria am Wasser". At that time the building was a simple rectangle and lower and shorter than today's church. The church had no galleries and only a few windows. It was mainly used as a fishermen's and boatmen's church and was a place of pilgrimage until the Reformation .
Baroque renovation in 1704
At the end of the 17th century, “Maria am Wasser” no longer met the requirements of the time. Under Pastor Christoph Rüdinger, who worked in Hosterwitz from 1680 to 1724, the baroque renovation of the church was decided. From 1698 the community and the church fathers collected money for the renovation, which was estimated at 1700 thalers . On August 26, 1702, the band of robbers led by Lips Tullian broke into the church in which the collected money was stored and, in addition to the proceeds, stole valuable church equipment. In addition, the men demolished parts of the church. The gang was not caught until 1714 and executed the following year.
Due to the robbery, the renovation planned for 1704 came to a standstill, as around 1000 thalers were still missing after the church debt had been collected. They had to be borrowed in 1704 and were then paid for by 1732. In 1704, the renovation of the church began, which gave it almost its present shape. The altar place was added, the church tower was given the onion shape influenced by southern baroque buildings and the added sacristy may also have come from this period. The church tower flag bears the year 1741, as extensive roof and tower renovations took place in that year. In 1774 the interior of the church was significantly redesigned, so the altar was moved to the newly built choir and the pulpit , which had previously been on the south side of the church, was attached to the altar. Parts of the altar were lost. The church roof was re-covered in 1790; In 1822 and around 1900 further restoration work was carried out on and in the church, the altar was painted in color and new colored glass windows were installed. The Hosterwitzer church received a wooden baptism from 1786 in 1930.
Maria am Wasser from 1945 until today
When Dresden was bombed in February 1945, “Maria am Wasser” remained undamaged, but was hit by an incendiary bomb three months later and slightly damaged. From 1972 to 1973 the interior of the church was restored and the original color scheme was restored in light white.
In August 2002 the church “Maria am Wasser” was submerged around 2 meters for several days during the flooding of the Elbe . On August 31, 2003, the church, which was restored with donations and by numerous helpers, was consecrated again. Since 2006 the church “Maria am Wasser” has been part of the Cross of Nails community . The cross of nails is to the left of the altar on the north wall of the church.
Today the sacred building is a popular wedding church. Church services and concerts take place regularly. The church "Maria am Wasser" serves together with the Pillnitz vineyard church of the Evangelical Lutheran parish Dresden-Hosterwitz-Pillnitz. A sacred building with a similar name is the Catholic chapel "Maria am weg" - the former private chapel of the Wettins - which is located not far from the Schifferkirche in the Pillnitz district.
Pastor of the parish
- Since the Reformation
- 1539 - Schumann, Jakob
- 1559 - Keck von Schwarzbach, Peter
- 1594 - Zitzner, Urban
- 1627 - Grundmann, Jakob the Elder J.
- 1637 - Rüdinger, Gottfried
- 1669 - Kühn, Johann Heinrich
- 1677 - Rüdinger, Johann Christoph
- 1724 - Manzel, Johann Christoph
- 1735 - Löser, Johann Christoph
- 1748 - Limmer, Johann Christian
- 1773 - Löfler, Georg Friedrich
- 1804 - Müller, Friedrich Christian
- 1820 - Legler, Christian Ludwig Friedrich
- 1829 - Löfler, Friedrich Wilhelm
- 1859 - Schubarth, Ernst Friedrich Bernhard
- 1860 - Weber, Eduard
- 1882 - Guest, Heinrich Wilhelm
- 1904 - Kretschmar, * Karl Otto
- 1929 - Molwitz, Gustav Traugott * Rudolf
- 1951 - Reinisch, Heinz
Building description
Exterior
The exterior of the church is kept simple in a yellow tone and white contrasts. The main entrance to the church is on the north side through an arched door , framed with a frieze with a keystone. The frieze shows oak branches, the keystone has the inscription "JESUS" and a colored crown above it. An older access through a round arched door was on the southern side of the Elbe and is walled up.
The corners of the church are bordered with simple pilaster strips that run into a strong main cornice . On the west side of the church, above a gable, is the eight-sided bell tower in rough baroque shapes with a hollow and adjoining onion . Three of the four bells of the Hosterwitzer church were cast by Rincker in 1993. A weather vane closes the tower . The church is 27 meters high up to the weather vane.
Interior
The interior of the church is closed off by a flat ceiling with a high throat and a strong cornice. The room is occupied by two-story galleries on the north and south sides, which date from the first half of the 18th century. They are built on rough, simple pillars. The parapets are divided into rectangular fields.
In the west there was originally also a two-storey gallery. The Grabner organ stood in the second gallery and the so-called "glazed chairs", the prayer rooms of the plantation property owner Herr, were installed in the first. A double flight of stairs led from the outside to the first gallery on the west wall . In 1863 the church received a larger organ, for which the prayer rooms were broken off. The new single-storey organ gallery dates from 1863 and today occupies the west side. The outside staircase was demolished in 1896 and a small vestibule was added to the west of the church. In the east opposite are the altar and baptismal font. The church has seats for 382 believers.
Altar and pulpit
The altar was made of sandstone by Conrad Buchau († 1657) in 1644 . In 1774 it was moved to the chancel and connected to the wooden pulpit that had been on the south side of the church until then. The middle part of the altar, which probably represented the crucifixion, was destroyed. Until the renovation in 1930, larger parts of the Buchau altar were preserved, such as the relief of Jonas being spat out by the whale . Today it is on the north wall of the church in the altar area. From the Buchau altar there is a high relief in the predella that shows the Lord's Supper . Around 1900, Cornelius Gurlitt also counted the crowning Christ figure with the flag of faith on an older altar. Other figures, such as the seated evangelists Mark and Matthew , were located near the gable above the pulpit. This is two meters wide and seven meters high. The pulpit is divided into uniform fields. Statues of Simon Peter and John were on consoles next to the pillars framing the pulpit .
The portico - pulpit altar was renovated in 1930 and partially renewed. The figures from the altar were removed except for the crowning Christ. The keystone of the earlier pulpit door with the year 1774 is now in the sacristy.
Baptismal font
The old baptismal font of the church probably dates from around 1500. The basin has a diameter of 53 centimeters and a height of 30 centimeters and is designed in a Gothic shape with latticework . The stem that supports the basin is around 50 centimeters high. The baptismal font has not been used since 1860, but is now back in the church after its restoration.
In 1930 the church received an Empire-style font that a sculptor named Dost had created for the church in Lichtenstein in 1796 . There the font was still in use at the end of the 19th century and was later discovered in another church by the State Office for Monument Preservation, restored and moved to Hosterwitz. The baptismal font, which is still in use today, stands on gold-plated lion claws and shows putti heads at the baptismal font .
window
The church has side arched windows with deep soffits , which refer to the complex before the renovation. In 1774 they were provided with a strong frame with a keystone, which is now painted white.
The three windows on the altar square show deep reveals inside, but do not differ externally in their shape from the other windows. The two large stained glass windows are dated to 1896. A small window picture in one of the choir windows dates from 1555 and depicts the crucifixion.
organ
The first Hosterwitzer organ mentioned was a small portable instrument around 1635. In 1680, under Pastor Gottfried Rüdinger, a new organ was commissioned from organ maker Christian Grabner, which he made until 1682. In the years that followed, repairs were necessary on the instrument, which had been damaged especially after the church was renovated in 1704. The organ, which had 8 stops for the manual and 3 for the pedal, was played until 1863.
In 1862 the community commissioned Urban Kreutzbach to build a new organ , which in 1863 replaced the old Grabner organ. The Kreutzbach organ "shows 82 pipes in 8 fields, a total of 970 pipes for 18 registers". In 1917, the tin pipes had to be handed in to be melted down as a " metal donation from the German people " and were replaced by zinc pipes in 1926.
The organ currently (as of August 2020) has 2 manuals, pedal and 17 registers (10-4-3). The disposition of the organ can be found in the ORKASA organ database.
The flood of the Elbe in August 2002 severely damaged the organ. In 2004 it was restored by the organ building and restoration workshop Rainer Wolter and the prospectus was reconstructed. It was inaugurated again in the service on Easter Monday 2004.
Peal
The ringing consists of four bronze bells , the bell cage and the bell yokes are made of oak. Below is a data overview of the bell:
| No. | Casting date | Caster | diameter | Dimensions | material | Chime |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1993 | Rincker bell foundry | bronze | 372 mm | 866 kg | a ′ |
| 2 | 1892 | Bierling bell foundry | bronze | 725 mm | 250 kg | c ″ |
| 3 | 1993 | Rincker bell foundry | bronze | 681 mm | 187 kg | d ″ |
| 4th | 1993 | Rincker bell foundry | bronze | 588 mm | 134 kg | f ″ |
Church decorations and grave monuments
In the altar area on the north side there is a painting by the Hosterwitz pastor Gottfried Rüdinger, which was created in tempera and overpainted with oil after Rüdinger's death in 1680. It is surrounded by an elaborate wooden frame, “painted green and gold, laurel thread over which vines are laid”. Under the painting there is a sandstone drapery with an upper festoon , which contains the life data of Rüdinger.
To the west of the painting, next to the sacristy door , there is a tombstone of a Bohemian exile who died in Hosterwitz in 1660. A memorial plaque for Lieutenant Colonel Georg Wilhelm Trosche is walled in to the west. The simple bronze plate contains the life data of Trosches, who was buried in the old Frauenkirche in 1694 and after its demolition was reburied in the crypt of the Hosterwitz church.
On the south side under the galleries there is a stone with the inscription "AS 1638". It concerns the gravestone of the Pillnitz castle preacher Abraham Steinbach, who died in 1638 and was buried in the church "Maria am Wasser".
In the area of the altar on the south side is the grave monument of the first wife of Pastor Rüdinger, Rosina Rüdinger, who died in 1641 at the age of 28. The 80 centimeter wide and 173 centimeter high sandstone slab shows Jesus on the cross and a kneeling woman at the foot with her hands on the cross.
The pictorial representation of the risen Jesus, which Heinrich von Dörnberg had created, and a Gethsemane scene by Johann Traugott Noack have not survived.
Churchyard
A cemetery at the church probably already existed since the first Hosterwitz church existed. Since the time around 1500, the “old church at the church” has been used as a burial place by the villagers. Access to the churchyard is from the north side of Kirchgasse via two round gates.
From 1734 onwards only members of the electoral court and pastors of the parish were allowed to be buried in the churchyard due to a lack of grave sites. A second cemetery, laid out west of the church in 1734, was abandoned in 1867 due to frequent floods and secularized in 1896. Since 1870, burials in Hosterwitz have mainly taken place in the third cemetery near the Keppschloss .
Many of the sandstone graves in the churchyard are no longer preserved or are illegible due to the ivy overgrowth. One of the artistically most important graves is the sandstone tomb for the silver page Christoph Ferdinand von Brandenstein, who drowned in the Elbe in 1788 . The “rough and effective work” shows a crying boy on a mighty column with an inscription plaque, who leans with his right arm on a vessel from which water flows. The left hand holds the life torch in the water.
Well-known personalities who have found their final resting place in the Maria am Wasser churchyard are:
- Kurt Bärig (1889–1968), German architect
- Wanda Bibrowicz (1878–1954), Polish artist
- Irma Lang-Scheer (1901–1986), oil, watercolor, fresco painter and glass painter
- Rolf Göpfert (1903–1994), German architect
- Julius Hammer (1810–1862), German writer and poet
- Ludwig von Hofmann (1861–1945), German painter
- Heinrich Klemm (1894–1982), German painter
- Ernst Alfred Mühler (1898–1968), professor for spatial art at the TU Dresden
- Amadeus Webersinke (1920–2005), German pianist
- Max Wislicenus (1861–1957), German artist
A curiosity, the so-called "Schnuff-Stein", can be found on the south-western outer wall of the churchyard. During a stay in Hamburg, the composer Carl Maria von Weber and his wife bought a Capuchin monkey from Sailors , which he called Schnuff Weber and which he had by his side in Hamburg and later in Dresden. Especially in Dresden he caused a stir with his pet. The sculptor Joachim Zehme dedicated an epitaph to the tame monkey, a reproduction of which is now hidden on the wall of the Hosterwitz church. Separate signposts direct those interested to the stone.
Varia
- On August 9, 2020, MDR Kultur , a radio program of the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk , broadcast the Sunday church service as a direct broadcast and made the church known nationwide.
literature
- Cornelius Gurlitt: Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony. Volume 26. Meinhold, Dresden 1904, pp. 25-29.
- Jürgen Helfricht : Dresden and its churches . Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2005, pp. 68–69.
- Sieghard Pietzsch: Chronicle of Hosterwitz 1406-2006. Elbhang-Kurier-Verlag, Dresden 2006, pp. 52–71.
- Rainer Thümmel : Bells in Saxony . Sound between heaven and earth. Ed .: Evangelical Regional Church Office of Saxony . 2nd, updated and supplemented edition. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2015, ISBN 978-3-374-02871-9 , p. 290 (With a foreword by Jochen Bohl and photographs by Klaus-Peter Meißner).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Jürgen Helfricht: Dresden and its churches. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2005, p. 68.
- ↑ Cornelius Gurlitt: Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony . Volume 26. Meinhold, Dresden 1904, p. 25.
- ↑ Maria on the water. In: Dresdner-Stadtteile.de. Retrieved June 6, 2013 .
- ^ Sieghard Pietzsch: Chronicle of Hosterwitz 1406-2006. Elbhang-Kurier-Verlag, Dresden 2006, pp. 53–54.
- ↑ https://pfarrerbuch.de/sachsen/stelle/1008 , accessed on August 9, 2020
- ^ A b Sieghard Pietzsch: Chronicle of Hosterwitz 1406-2006 . Elbhang-Kurier-Verlag, Dresden 2006, p. 60.
- ↑ https://www.evlks.de/fiegen/kirchenmusik/orgeln/ , to use the sellyApp installation is required. Retrieved August 9, 2020
- ^ Organ in Dresden church dedicated to Maria am Wasser . new music newspaper April 13, 2004, accessed March 8, 2011.
- ^ A b Rainer Thümmel : Bells in Saxony . Sound between heaven and earth. Ed .: Evangelical Regional Church Office of Saxony . 2nd, updated and supplemented edition. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2015, ISBN 978-3-374-02871-9 , pp. 290 (With a foreword by Jochen Bohl and photographs by Klaus-Peter Meißner).
- ↑ Cornelius Gurlitt: Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony. Volume 26. Meinhold, Dresden 1904, p. 27.
- ↑ Cornelius Gurlitt: Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony . Volume 26. Meinhold, Dresden 1904, p. 28.
- ↑ https://www.mdr.de/religion/gottesdienste-mdrkultur-august-zwanzig-100.html#sprung0 , accessed on August 9, 2020
Coordinates: 51 ° 0 '53.3 " N , 13 ° 51' 24.5" E