Marienkirche (Mechterstädt)
The Marienkirche in the Thuringian town of Mechterstädt in the district of Gotha is the most important cultural and historical sight of the place. The church and the Evangelical Lutheran parish with Laucha and Teutleben belong to the Mechterstädt parish of the same name in the Waltershausen-Ohrdruf parish of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany .
history
The church was built from 1716 to 1717 by the Gothic master builder Johann Erhard Straßburger (1675–1754). She is the successor to a pre-Reformation church that had become dilapidated and no longer met the demands of the large parish.
It was built as a hall building from plastered quarry stone and received a half-hip roof .
Extensive renovation work began in 1985. The monetary union in 1990 resulted in the church that promised state subsidies and other funds were canceled without replacement. The restoration work was stopped and resumed in July 1991, thanks to generous donations from an association, the state of Thuringia, the municipality and Mechterstadt citizens.
The restoration of the interior painting cost almost DM 360,000. In 1992, restoration work began on the exterior of the church. The statue of the Virgin Mary on the south side of the church, badly damaged by vandalism and the effects of the weather, was cleaned and preserved and placed inside the church, while a cast of the statue was placed on the old site. On October 31 and November 1, 1992 the church was consecrated with a festival service and a village festival.
Tower and bells
The tower is Gothic in origin , is flanked by side extensions and is included in the church. In 1785 the bell storey was added in Gothic style with a pointed helmet and four corner turrets.
On April 14, 1870, lightning struck the tower, which then burned ablaze. Nevertheless, the fire could be extinguished. The tower button, which fell during the fire, was replaced on June 12, 1870. In 1904 the previously missing turret was placed on the north-west corner and the tower was extensively repaired.
Bells
In 1915 a bell from the pre-Reformation period (1513) was melted down for war purposes. In 1917 it was replaced by a bronze one. In 1950 the two old large bells, one from 1669, that had been confiscated during World War II , came back. In 1967 an electric bell chime was installed.
Interior
The church interior is uniform in a baroque style. A double gallery covers three sides of the nave. Scenes and sayings from the Old and New Testaments adorn the parapets. The mirrors of the hollow vault show paintings with a view of the birth and resurrection of Jesus, the ascension and the miracle of Pentecost . Ornate cartouches with six heads of prophets are depicted in the side arches . The church is adorned with a pulpit altar bearing the signature of the painter Pistor Dörffling . This Gotha court painter characterizes the entire interior of the church from 1744.
organ
The organ is opposite the pulpit altar. The first organ with 13 registers was installed in the church in 1726 by the Friedrichroda organ builder Christian Rothe . According to old church accounts, it was bought in Seebergen in 1692 . Up until the 1760s, the local carpenter and glazier Michael Bach frequently repaired the bellows , register slides , pedals , positive , etc. He had even applied to build a new organ in Mechterstädt as early as 1751, but encountered fierce opposition from the Gotha court organ builder Carl Christian Hoffmann , who denied him the necessary skills. In 1770 Hoffmann himself replaced the organ with a new one with 25 registers due to various defects and its poor condition . In 1955 the organ received a new electric fan.
In 1995, decades after the last thorough repair, the organ was restored by Orgelbau Waltershausen . The work was extremely complex:
- the most necessary parts were dismantled
- Climatically sensitive parts were repaired on site, others brought to the workshop
- the three large bellows were removed, dismantled and reupholstered with sheepskin. A single bellows has an area of approx. 4 m² and weighs more than 200 kg.
- the complicated mechanism, which consists of 1200 individual parts, has been refurbished
- the patties were repaired
- 1629 organ pipes , between 180 mm and 1.80 m tall, were cleaned, glued, sealed, soldered, e.g. Partly extended, missing ones replaced by new ones.
- The pitch of the organ had to be brought back, so that the keyboards got the old position and the note C was available again.
Seven organ builders worked a total of 5000 hours. On October 2nd and 3rd, 1995, the organ was inaugurated again in a festive concert.
The instrument has the following disposition:
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- Coupling : Pedal wind coupler, manual slide coupler
- Secondary register: glockenspiel
- Playing aids : 3 shut-off valves
Other sights in the church
The church is further adorned by a sandstone statue of Mary from the 14th century, tombstones in the chancel from the 17th and 18th centuries, a crucifix from the 16th century and three bells from the 16th, 17th and 20th centuries. The painting and the rich gilding were cleaned in 1991/1992, strengthened and supplemented by points retouching to remove defects. It was then re-inaugurated on October 31, 1992. After restoration work, the organ was officially opened on October 2nd and 3rd, 1995.
Others
On November 1, 2010, the priest received a grant of several thousand euros from lottery funds for the renewal / renovation of the bells.
Pictures of the church
Interior of the church
View towards the altar and pulpit
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b leaflet from the Evangelical Lutheran Parish Office in Mechterstädt
- ↑ Collection of various news ... of the Duchy of Gotha , Part II, S 6a, Gotha 1758
- ↑ Information on the history and disposition of the organ in St. Mary's Church ( Memento of the original from November 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) 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.
- Information boards in the church
Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 32.2 ″ N , 10 ° 31 ′ 20.1 ″ E