Meissen Cathedral

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Albrechtsburg and Cathedral
Meissen Cathedral before the neo-Gothic expansion (measurement image taken in 1898 by Albrecht Meydenbauer)
Cathedral towers
Interior to the east
Main portal of the cathedral in the princely chapel
Inner courtyard of the cloister with a view of the ambulatory
Donor figures
Rood screen with altar
High altar retable
Cranach altar triptych in St. George's Chapel
Cloister wing with cell vault
Owl organ

The cathedral in Meissen is dedicated to Saints John and Donatus of Arezzo and therefore bears the name of St. Johannis and St. Donatus . Donatus von Arezzo was patron of the old diocese of Meißen and is one of the patrons of today's diocese of Dresden-Meißen . The cathedral and the Albrechtsburg are part of the Burgberg ensemble, which rises above the old town of Meißner . The church is one of the most stylish German-Gothic domes. In addition, it has one of the richest and most valuable furnishings of Saxon churches.

function

The church is built in the tradition of the founding of the diocese of Meißen by King Otto I in 968 and thus represents the Christian nucleus of today's Saxony , the former March of Meißen . As the cathedral of this diocese, it was the bishop's church of the Roman Catholic bishops until 1581 from Meissen .

Many Margraves of Meissen were active as patrons of the Meissen Cathedral. Around 1400 it was Margrave Wilhelm I who helped enforce the exemption of the Meißen Church (and the diocese) from the Archdiocese of Magdeburg . Only Bishop John IV was able to settle the exemption dispute several decades later.

In 1581 the cathedral became a Lutheran church. Today the cathedral is the sermon church for the regional bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran regional church of Saxony . The catholic diocese of Dresden-Meißen has had its cathedral in Dresden since 1980 .

The cathedral is administered by the Meissen bishopric, represented by the cathedral chapter, to which eight ordinary canons belong.

Building history

Previous building as a basilica

The previous building at this location was built as a small chapel in 968 on the occasion of the establishment of the Meißen diocese by Emperor Otto I, and between 1006 and 1073 it was converted into a four-tower Romanesque basilica , which was elevated to the status of an episcopal cathedral church.

Construction of the cathedral as a hall church

Around 1260, the construction of the new cathedral began as a Gothic church from the east . First the single nave choir and the transept were built. From 1268 the choir and the cloister could already be used. Around 1270, the large choir window was designed with striking tracery and valuable medieval stained glass from the same period. This was followed by the completion of the All Saints Chapel on the east side of the cloister around 1280 (today used as a lapidarium and as a room of silence ), the octagonal Johanneskapelle in the corner between the south transept and nave in 1291 and the chapter house in 1297. The eastern yoke of the nave on the south side shows that initially a basilica was intended. After a change of plan, the nave was built as a seven-bay hall church, which was largely completed around 1410. Despite the long construction period and the change in plan, a remarkably uniform, highly Gothic-looking building was created, which, despite its moderate size, has a monumental effect. Goethe paid tribute to the cathedral in April 1813 with the words: "The cathedral ... has nothing attractive on the outside for several reasons, but on the inside it is the slimmest, most beautiful of all buildings of that time that I know."

Towers

For centuries there was only a single spire on the cathedral - the so-called "Höckrige Turm" in the southeast corner between the transept and the choir, which was extensively renovated in 1909 and after 1990. The lower floors of the west towers, which are livened up with tracery, were built in the early 14th century, but not completed. Around 1413, the then wooden tower ends were destroyed by a storm. Between 1470 and 1477 Arnold von Westfalen put a richly shaped third storey on the cathedral towers. The flights of stairs can be seen between the strong pillars, which characterize the exterior of the towers together with the tracery and the free-standing tracery veils. This storey received spiers, which, however, were destroyed by lightning strikes in 1547 together with the western yokes of the nave. These yokes were restored in 1595, but the west towers remained unfinished and were closed in the 18th century by a transverse roof on the west building, the so-called "sheepfold".

The two 81-meter-high spiers of the west facade, which are now visible from afar, were built together with the fourth floor of the towers between 1903 and 1909 in the neo-Gothic style according to designs by the architect Carl Schäfer under the guidance of the local architect Joseph Schäffler as cathedral builder. However, this project was preceded by a bitter dispute with renowned art historians such as Cornelius Gurlitt and Georg Dehio , who rejected the neo-Gothic expansion of the cathedral. The neo-Gothic towers are now recognized as a lively, sensitive interpretation and completion of the medieval inventory.

Princely Chapel

Margrave Friedrich der Streitbare (ruled 1381–1428, from 1423 as Elector of Saxony) had the prince chapel built on the western front of the cathedral as a new burial chapel for the Wettins (previously since 1190 in the Altzella monastery ). The prince's chapel shows an emphatically ornate reticulated vault with tracery motifs, presumably by Moyses von Altenburg from the years 1443 to 1446. The bronze tomb tumba of Frederick the Warrior, who found his final resting place here, is surrounded by artistically valuable bronze tombs, probably from the Nuremberg iron foundry workshop Vischer . 164 other grave monuments can be found in the cathedral. The portal, originally created around 1370 as the main portal of the cathedral, has become the inner portal through the addition of the prince's chapel. It shows rich figurative ornamentation in the garment and tympanum , which depicts the birth of Christ, the Adoration of the Magi, the Coronation of Mary and the Last Judgment . The medieval polychromy is well preserved here due to the early renovation with the prince's chapel .

Tomb of Bishop Benno

The veneration of saints by Meißner Bishop Benno and the construction of the Gothic cathedral formed a spiritual unit. The tenth Bishop of Meissen, originally buried in a remote location of the previous Romanesque building around 1106, was reburied under Bishop Withego around 1270 in the middle of the planned nave of the new cathedral. At that time, parts of the old Romanesque cathedral still stood on the site of the current nave. It was not until 120 years later that the Bennograb, the destination of a pilgrimage tradition that lasted until the Reformation, actually lay in the middle of the new cathedral. A gate in the fourth yoke in the south wall of the nave, which is now walled up, probably served as access to the Bennograb for the numerous pilgrims who provided their gifts to finance the Gothic cathedral. In the second half of the 14th century, the simple tomb tumba was provided with a high grave. On the occasion by Duke George of Saxony -powered canonization Benno's first Saxon saint in 1524, the grave was further embellished. After the death of George, Duke Heinrich of Saxony introduced the Lutheran creed. In 1539 he and the Ernestine Elector Johann Friedrich forced access to the cathedral and had Benno's tomb completely destroyed. Since 2017, a simple plate in the central nave shows the former location of the grave.

Cloister and other additions

inner space

The cloister was renewed in 1470/71 and has an artistic cell vault in three wings . The cloister merges into the ambulatory, which extends over two floors around the high choir. To the east of the cloister is the All Saints Chapel, a three-bay cross-rib vaulted building with a gable roof and massive gables with tracery windows to the east. Keystones, consoles and individual stained glass from the time the choir was built have been preserved in this room.

The sacristy to the north-east of the choir with artistic cell vaults over an irregular floor plan was built in 1504. Duke George the Bearded and his wife Barbara are buried in the late Gothic St. George's Chapel, which was added around 1530 in the south-west corner between the cathedral towers and the Prince's Chapel. Wolf Caspar von Klengel drew a stucco ceiling in this chapel in 1677.

Restoration work

After German reunification in 1990, extensive restoration work began, which lasted until 2002. They included the restoration of the choir inside and outside, a renewal of the cathedral treasury on the second floor of the south-east tower, restoration work on the exterior of this tower, static securing work on the south transept, a restoration of the interior and exterior of the nave, the re-roofing of the nave roof and extensive security measures - and restoration work on the west towers. The outbuildings, in particular the Prince's Chapel and the All Saints' Chapel, were also structurally secured and numerous listed research and maintenance work was carried out on the interior of the cathedral.

Furnishing

Donor and patronage figures

For valuable interior of the cathedral include the 1260 created larger than life Stifter and patronage figures (stone sculptures) from the Naumburg Dombauwerkstatt - at the choir's north face for example, the portraits of Emperor Otto I (reigned 936-973) and his wife Adelaide of Burgundy , the together founded the diocese of Meissen . The portraits of the Evangelist John and St. Donatus of Arezzo on the interior walls of the choir, as well as of John the Baptist, of Mary with the Child and of the deacon Stephen in the St. John's Chapel are also important. Particularly noteworthy here, as with the main portal, is the largely preserved medieval polychromy of the donor figures.

Rood screen and inventory

The rood screen was built around 1260 and in 1357 it was provided with the parapet and tracery, which show expressive medieval architectural sculptures. Around 1504, the three-part latticed sacrament house with a virtuoso tower architecture and keel arch crown was installed on the north side of the choir polygon. The late Gothic, colorful high altar was probably created by a Dutch-influenced painter around 1490, the choir stalls in 1529 and the sandstone pulpit in 1591. The painting on the lay altar in front of the rood screen comes from the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder. Ä. It was created in 1526 or more likely around 1540 and shows the crucifixion in the middle part and the finding of the cross in the wings. The triptych in St. George's Chapel is said to be Lucas Cranach the Elder. Ä. executed by hand in 1534. Most of the once 30 altars in the cathedral fell victim to the Reformation . The crucifix and the candelabra (altar candlesticks) were created by the famous porcelain decor designer Johann Joachim KÄNDER in 1760 from Meissen porcelain . Two wooden stands from the 12th or early 13th century, each with four legs carved to resemble nature, come from the previous Romanesque building and are now used as a font and lectern.

Bells

The St. John's bell was cast by Otto Schilling in Apolda in 1929 on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of Meissen and designed according to a design by Emil Paul Börner , the head of the porcelain factory at the time. The bell weighs 7,820 kg with a diameter of 220 centimeters and is one of the richest in figures in the world. It depicts scenes from Revelation , Christ as judge of the world and the Last Judgment . The four-handled crown was occupied with the four evangelist figures. In 1941 the bell came to Hamburg to be melted down for armaments production. This did not happen, however, after the war it could be hung up again in the Meissen Cathedral. In 1977 a bow of the crown broke, the bell fell and got stuck in the bell cage. The cause was damage to the suspension caused by acid rain and cracks in the crown that were caused by a bomb attack in the Hamburg free port. After the fall, the bell was only hung up temporarily without a crown. In 2010 the bell was repaired on site using a novel thermal process. To do this, it only had to be suspended about 20 meters and not, as is usually the case with welding, heated as a whole to over 500 degrees, so that the cost was only about 150,000 euros. The first official bell after the repair was on December 24, 2010.

The big St. John's bell in the north tower

The strike tone of the Johannes bell is g 0 . The smallest bell of the peal (f 1 ) dates from 1929 . In 1959 Franz-Peter Schilling added three bells in the tones b 0 , c 1 and es 1 . The four smaller bells are in the south tower, the large St. John's bell is in the north tower. All bells hang on heavily cranked steel yokes, which significantly impair the sound.

The valuable bell of the tower clock, which was cast by Wolfgang Hilliger in Freiberg in 1556 , was in the cloister until 1998 and was then used again as the hour bell of the tower clock on the third floor of the southwest tower.

Organs

Owl organ

The owl organ is the main organ of the cathedral. It was built in 1972 by the company Hermann Eule ( Bautzen ) and was last refurbished in 2008.

Pedal C – f 1
1. Principal 16 ′
2. Sub bass 16 ′
3. Octave bass 8th'
4th Cash 8th'
5. Gemshorn 4 ′
6th Dolkan 2 ′
7th Basszink III 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′
8th. Mixture V 4 ′
9. trombone 16 ′
10. Field trumpet 4 ′
I Hauptwerk C – g 3
14th Pipe pommer 16 ′
15th Principal 8th'
16. Flute 8th'
17th octave 4 ′
18th Reed flute 4 ′
19th Chamois fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
20th octave 2 ′
21st Cornett III 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
22nd Mixture V-VII 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
23. bassoon 16 ′
24. Trumpet 8th'
II Swell C – g 3
27. Music-playing 8th'
28. Willow flute 8th'
29 Quintad 8th'
30th Principal 4 ′
31. Sextad 4 ′
32. octave 2 ′
33. Sifflet 1'
34. Pipe-milled 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
35. Sesquialtera II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
36. Sharp cymbal v 1'
37. Rohrkrummhorn 16 ′
38. Schalmey 8th'
Tremulant
III Breastwork (swellable) C – g 3
40. Tube bare 8th'
41. Pomeranian night horn 4 ′
42. Dulcian 2 ′
43. Third flute 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
44. Oktavlein 1'
45. Zimbel III 1 ⁄ 3 ′
46. Gemshorn shelf 8th'
Tremulant

Chest organ

Since May 2, 2015, the cathedral has had a transportable chest organ with four sounding voices, which was specially designed for this room by the organ building music workshop Andreas J. Schiegnitz in Albsheim.

1. Copel 8th'
2. Principal 8th'
3. flute 4 ′
4th Octav 2 ′
range
C-f
particularities
Keyboard can be moved to a '= 415/440/465 Hz

Dimensions

  • Length of the main nave: 97.30 m
  • Height of main nave: 17.80 m
  • Tower height (approx.): 81 m

Cathedral as a kestrel breeding ground

Up to five pairs of kestrels breed in the sandstone decorations on the outer facade . 1983 z. B. 23 young falcons documented.

Canons

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Caspar Ehlers, The integration of Saxony in the Franconian Empire (751-1024) . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2005, zugl .: Würzburg, Univ., Habil.-Schr., 2005, ISBN 3-525-35887-3 , p. 95 (= publications of the Max Planck Institute for History; Vol. 231).
  2. ^ Carl Schäfer: Memorandum on the restoration of the Meissen Cathedral . In: Centralblatt der Bauverwaltung. News of the Reich and State Authorities, vol. 22 (1902), no. 91, pp. 553–557.
  3. ^ Heinrich Magirius: History of the preservation of monuments. Saxony. 1st edition. Verlag für Bauwesen, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-345-00292-2 , p. 299 .
  4. ^ Heinrich Magirius: The canopy grave of Bishop Benno in the Meißner Dom . In: Claudia Kund, André Thieme (Ed.): A treasure not of gold. Benno von Meissen. Saxony's first saint . Catalog for the special exhibition. Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2017, ISBN 978-3-7319-0451-9 , p. 143 .
  5. ↑ Matthias Donath: A healing treasure. Adoration of saints and cult of relics at Meissen Cathedral . In: Claudia Kund, André Thieme (Ed.): A treasure not of gold. Benno von Meissen. Saxony's first saint . Catalog for the special exhibition. Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2017, ISBN 978-3-7319-0451-9 , p. 102 .
  6. ↑ a b The restoration of the Meissen Cathedral 1990–2002. Edited by Günther Donath. Fraunhofer IRB Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-8167-6214-X .
  7. ↑ a b c Margarete Schilling: Art, ore and sound. The works of the Ulrich / Schilling bell foundry family from the 17th century to the present day . Henschel, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-362-00617-5 , p. 224.
  8. ↑ Margarete Schilling: Bells - shape, sound and ornament . VEB, Dresden 1988, ISBN 3-364-00041-7 , p. 327.
  9. ↑ To the cathedral organ
  10. ↑ Project page Freundeskreis Dom-Musik Meißen eV , accessed on October 31, 2018
  11. ↑ Bernd Hartung: Observations on the breeding course of kestrel Falco tinnunculus . Ornithological Communications 67, 2005: 269-272.

Web links

Commons : Meißner Dom  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 51 ° 9 '58.3 "  N , 13 ° 28' 17.4"  E