Marienkirche (Wittstock)
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The Evangelical parish church of St. Marien and St. Martin in Wittstock / Dosse is a three-aisled hall church of the brick Gothic . It achieved its greatest importance in the period from 1271 to 1548 when the bishops of Havelberg preferred the city of Wittstock with the old bishop's castle as their residence and bishopric. The church was originally only consecrated to Saint Martin and was not subject to the patronage of Mary until 1453 with the spread of the cult of Mary.
The community is part of the parish of Wittstock-Ruppin in Sprengel Potsdam in the Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Oberlausitz .
Building history
The origins of the Marienkirche go back according to the assumption of the building researchers in its western part with the monumental tower building on the planned city expansion of Wittstock around 1240. From the end of the 13th century, it was expanded to form a three-aisled hall church, initially with four bays. The nave was initially closed off to the east by a polygonal choir . The bishops of Havelberg initiated the massive three-aisle expansion to the east from 1471. This fell victim to the original choir, which had to give way in favor of the current structure and was therefore demolished. At this time, the choir was just ending on St.-Maria-Straße. The Marienkapelle was added to the north side of the nave in 1484. The south chapel with its double stepped gable was built in 1498. The tower originally had a pointed helmet, as is still shown today on Wittstock's cityscape by Matthäus Merian the Elder. J. from 1652. After its destruction in 1698, this helmet was replaced in 1704 by a baroque helmet with its characteristic lanterns placed one above the other . The lower lantern of the 68 m high tower is now accessible as a viewing platform .
The church had to be extensively renovated several times, for example after a city fire in the years 1512 to 1519 (design and execution by Christoph von Lüneburg), whereby the pointed tower was also built and in the years 1843 to 1846. In 2009 the church roof over the east Part of the nave and the choir renewed.
Furnishing
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Important is the late Gothic altar of the church, probably in the renovation of the interior of the church in 1846 of two late Gothic altarpieces was assembled. The lower one came from the Heilig-Geist-Kirche to the Marienkirche around 1550 and is a late work (around 1530) by the Lübeck sculptor Claus Berg , who also worked in Odense. Its altar in the Sankt Knuds Kirke in Odense coincides in important details with those of the smaller Wittstocker altar, this applies especially to the central Coronation of Mary . Similarities are also evident with Berg's apostles in Güstrow Cathedral . In the history of art, the attached upper retable is regarded as a work by an unknown artist from around 1520 influenced by the Rhineland. It comes from the former private Marienkapelle of the Havelberg bishops in the neighboring Old Castle and was transferred to the Marienkirche after the Thirty Years War due to the increasing deterioration of the castle.
The carved pulpit dates from 1608. The carver is not known. The sacrament house next to the altar is a late Gothic work from the time shortly before the Reformation, which, however, only found its way into Wittstock around 1550 after the death of the last bishop Busso II of Havelberg († 1548). The beautiful sandstone Madonna is dated to the end of the 14th century and stands out due to its particularly high crown. The wooden lid from the baptism of 1634 is a fine example of the Mannerist cartilage style .
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organ
The organ prospectus goes back to the organ built in 1843/1847 by Friedrich Hermann Lütkemüller from nearby Papenbruch . When central heating was installed and operated in St. Mary's Church in 1927, this instrument was destroyed. Today's organ was installed in Lütkemüller's neo-Gothic prospectus in 1935 by the Alexander Schuke company in Potsdam . It has 45 registers and 3575 pipes with three manuals and one pedal .
Bells
After the tower fire from 1698 to 1942, St. Marien had up to seven bells, which had to be surrendered in 1942 because of the important war material bronze. The first six were delivered in 1700 by the gunsmith Otto Elers in Berlin. In 1948 three of them (including the Apostle Bell ) were found in Berlin. With the nine o'clock bell, another bell was later found in the bell cemetery in Hamburg and came back to Wittstock in 1952. On Good Friday in 2000, the apostle's bell rang when it rung and has been in need of repair ever since.
literature
- Georg Dehio : Handbook of Art Monuments - Brandenburg Berlin 2000, pp. 1120–1124. ISBN 3-422-03054-9
- Kurt Zellmer: St. Marien zu Wittstock. Karwe near Neuruppin 2007. ISBN 978-3-935231-94-7
Web links
- St. Marien on the homepage of the church district Wittstock-Ruppin
- No. 09170003 of the Brandenburg Monument Register
Individual evidence
- ↑ St. Marien Church Wittstock on the website of the city of Wittstock / Dosse
Coordinates: 53 ° 9 ′ 43 ″ N , 12 ° 29 ′ 8 ″ E