Mausoleum of the Cirksena family

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Cirksena mausoleum in the cemetery in Aurich
Badge at the entrance

The mausoleum of the Cirksena family in Aurich is the final resting place of the East Frisian count family . It was opened in 1886 in the municipal cemetery of the city of Aurich. The counts had previously been buried in various places.

Situation before construction

The first funerals of members of the Cirksena family took place in the Marienthal Abbey near Norden. The monastery was cremated in 1531 in the Geldrian feud between Balthasar von Esens and Enno Cirksena . The bones were then moved to the Great Church in Emden. Problems came from the radicalization of the citizenry in the dispute between Reformed and Lutherans . When the eldest daughter of the ruling Count Margaretha (1560–1588) was to be buried on September 10, 1588, the Lutheran court preacher Heßhusius was to give the funeral sermon. When he tried to enter the pulpit of the (Reformed) church, there was almost a popular uprising. So the corpse was buried in silence, the entourage quickly returned to Aurich, where the funeral sermon could then be given. After this incident, Edzard II designated the church in Aurich as a "rule burial" in 1588 . It was also he who was buried in the crypt there on May 13, 1599 as the first member of the count's family.

However, this does not mean that there were no more funerals of members of the family in Emden. The last to be buried there was the reformed brother of the count, Johann (1538–1591). The coffins survived the following wars until French troops occupied the Seven Years' War - the now Prussian East Frisia - and plundered the graves in search of booty.

In the period after 1591 the Cirksena was buried in Aurich. Nine coffins are known there up to 1630. The last burial took place there on March 20, 1630. When Ulrich II died in 1648 , another crypt was built in the church. First the old crypt was cleared and on February 21, 1649 Ulrich II was buried. At the same time the burial was changed. So far, the family members of the Cirksena were buried in a flat box-shaped coffin within an oak coffin. Ulrich, however, was buried in an engraved and painted tin coffin with a wooden inner coffin. This was retained until the line died out in 1744. In 1707, however, the crypt was raised under Prince Christian and covered with a new vault.

The next report on the crypt is from November 15, 1784. The author Johann Konrad Freese (* 1758; † after 1805) reports 46 coffins. This report is an important source because the moisture in the crypt has severely damaged the coffins and their contents in the years that followed.

The first plans to move the counts go back further. When Conrad Bernhard Meyer planned the Aurich cemetery in 1803, the rear part was intended for the counts. The plans were probably not implemented at the time because of the Napoleonic Wars . In 1823 the church was closed due to dilapidation and rebuilt until 1832. The princely crypt was also rebuilt.

The historian Onno Klopp from Leer , as secretary to King George V, drew his attention to the poor condition of the tombs. An appropriate final resting place was then planned. The design by the master builder Ernst Heinrich Blohm was already finished in 1865 and the funds were approved when the German War broke out in 1866 . The second attempt failed in 1870 due to the Franco-Prussian War . Construction of the mausoleum did not begin until 1875.

The Cirksena mausoleum

After the financing was clarified, the construction of the mausoleum began in 1875. It got the shape of a decagon and a vault. On the northern side there is a stair tower that gives access to the roof. The building is about 17  m high. Inside the vault there is a dome that was erected freehand, i.e. without scaffolding. The building has an outside diameter of approx. 17 meters. The keystone was set on December 7, 1876.

Inside the decagon there are 10 niches 2.75 meters deep and 2.75 meters wide. The niche wreath is double-decked, so that two coffins could be placed there. There is a window above each of the niches. There is no niche for the entrance so there are 18 parking spaces.

The interior has a diameter of 9.50 meters. In the middle there is a decagonal pedestal on which two more magnificent coffins can be found.

When the princes were to be relocated in 1876, it was discovered that the coffins that were still in existence were in such poor condition that they absolutely had to be replaced. Only 11 out of 46 coffins were still usable. Therefore, nine new coffins first had to be procured for the remains of the dead. So it took until 1880 for the bones to move, in the night of September 15 to 16 and in the night of September 17 to 18, the still usable coffins were moved and the remaining bones were placed in the new ones. The mausoleum was subsequently also used as a chapel for the cemetery. This only changed in 1966 with its own cemetery chapel.

The next major change brought the Second World War . After the destruction of the Emden church and the crypt, the remains that were still found were brought to the mausoleum. In the 1970s it became clear that a thorough renovation was due, groundwater had attacked the masonry and the moisture had affected the coffins. From 1984 the building was renovated, first the floor (today natural stone), 1985 the roof, 1988 to 1991 the wrought iron chandelier and the lattice door. In 1981, three coffins were initially restored. Another restoration of the coffins took place between 1989 and 1992 in the Kracht restoration workshop . The objects and items of clothing found in the process were brought to the Aurich Historical Museum .

List of coffins

Collective coffin of 14 adults, u. a. Katharina Wasa , Princess of Sweden

The list starts at the bottom left of the entrance (1–9), then the top row (10–18).

  1. Eberhardine Charlotte
  2. Ulrich II.
  3. Juliane of Hessen-Darmstadt
  4. Enno Ludwig
  5. Leopold Ignatius and the coffin of Sophia Antonietta Juliana
  6. Georg Christian
  7. Edzard Ferdinand
  8. Justina Sophia
  9. Juliane Charlotte
  10. Edzard II.
  11. Enno III.
  12. Anna of Holstein-Gottorp
  13. Collective coffin for 14 children
  14. Amalie Juliane von Kleinau
  15. Collective coffin for 14 adults
  16. Christine Louise
  17. Georg Albrecht
  18. Carl Edzard

In the middle on the pedestal are the coffins of Christine Charlotte and Eberhardine Sophie as well as the remains from the hereditary burial in Emden that were recovered in 1944.

literature

  • Dr. Hermann Freese: The mausoleum at Aurich - The last resting place of the Cirksena . Dunkmann, Aurich 1995, ISBN 3-928160-08-7 , pp. 77 .

Web links

Commons : Cirksena mausoleum in Aurich  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wiard von Klopp, Onno Klopp: Life and work

Coordinates: 53 ° 28 ′ 19.62 "  N , 7 ° 28 ′ 29.48"  E