St. Michaelis (Lueneburg)

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Aerial view of the St. Michaelis Church
St. Michaelis
St. Michaelis (view from the northeast)
St. Michaelis around 1895 (foreground)
Memorial plaque for Johann Sebastian Bach

St. Michaelis is one of the main churches in Lüneburg . The monastery church of the former Benedictine monastery of St. Michael dates from the 14th century and is also called "Bach Church St. Michaelis" because of Johann Sebastian Bach's graduation from the Michaelis School there .

history

The oldest document, which testifies to the church and the monastery of St. Michaelis in Lüneburg, is also the oldest evidence of the existence of the city: Otto I (the great) confesses to the Michaelis monastery in 956 the customs revenue from the sales of the salt works to. The salt deposits formed the wealth of the city even then. The Michaeliskloster stood in the Billunger castle on the Lüneburg Kalkberg , the only larger elevation in the area. It was the Billunger's home monastery and the church was used for princely funerals. In the late 10th century the convent adopted the Benedictine rule. The “white gold” also ensured the city lords increased self-confidence in the conflict with the sovereign. The competition increased until 1371: The townspeople stormed the castle and destroyed it. The St. Michaelis monastery on the Kalkberg was dissolved and rebuilt in the immediate vicinity, but now within the city walls. The monastery was not closed on the occasion of the Reformation and continued to exist as the only male monastery in the Principality of Lüneburg. At first, from 1528 onwards, Protestant preachers worked at the monastery in addition to the Benedictines, whom the last Catholic abbot Boldewin von Marenholtz had to employ . From 1532 the monastery was finally completely Protestant. The Protestant convent was dissolved in 1655, but the monastery and the schools belonging to it, the knight academy and the civic Michaelis School were not closed until October 1, 1850. Until then, the title of Abbot of St. Michael or Lord of the House of St. Michael remained , which the landscape directors of the Lüneburg landscape carried since 1673 . When it was abolished in 1850, the monastery assets with the church fell to the Hanover Monastery Fund, today's Hanover Monastery Chamber . While most of the monastery buildings were ceded to secular institutions, the church has remained in the possession of the monastery chamber to this day. She uses her property to support the church.

Building history

The foundation stone for today's church was laid in 1376. In 1379 the lower church was finished. The main church with the originally planned abbot's chapel was completed in 1412. The tower was built until 1434. A problem with the construction was obviously the statics right from the start: The church stands on the edge of a salt dome, and as a result the mighty round pillars are up to 70 cm out of alignment.

building

Central nave and folding altar
pulpit
The lower church

The church is a brick hall church. It has six bays and a 5/10 choir closure with a half yoke and is 52.58 meters long. The church is 26.29 meters wide, the greatest interior height is 20.45 meters. The hillside situation in the east required strong substructures, which are designed in the form of a lower church. In the west, the 79.00 meter high church tower connects to the building.

The choir chapels, arranged on both sides of the choir, used to have a floor lowered towards the nave and were only accessible from the high choir. Both chapels have two bays and a vaulted choir that is closed on five sides. In the northern chapel the floor is still lowered. Here is also the original floor covering, which consists of alternating glazed and unglazed tiles. The floor of the southern side chapel was subsequently brought to the level of the nave. The raised choir area extended to the third bay of the nave until the renovation in the 19th century. The abbot's chapel built on the north side was originally open to the nave. It has two floors, with the floor of the lower level being lowered compared to that of the nave. The lower chapel with two side chapels is located under the choir

Furnishing

The furnishings were once important. The most important piece was the high altar : around the golden table, an antependium from the 11th century, after the rebuilding of the church by the master of the golden table, a reliquary and an important folding altar were built, which became famous as the golden table . The reredos from the beginning of the 15th century may come from the same workshop as two Lübeck high altars from the same period, which are referred to with the emergency name Master of the (former) high altar of the Marienkirche in Lübeck .

There is not much left of the old splendor. The golden plaque was stolen and melted down by a band of robbers around Nikol List in 1698 , the relics and the folding altar were sold in 1796 during a comprehensive renovation of the interior of the church and are now the showpieces of two museums in Hanover. The pulpit by Daniel Schwencke from 1602 and the organ prospectus by Matthias Dropa from 1708 remain, but above all the great spatial effect.

Works of art in the church

In the tower hall, on the north side opposite the entrance, hangs a crucifix. The body was created in the late 15th century, the cross is dated to the 17th century.

The epitaph for Abbot Herbord von Holle († 1555), the first Protestant abbot by his trade, is attributed to Jürgens Spinnrad. It is located on the south wall of the western nave.

The four oil paintings of the four evangelists hanging in the choir polygons were hung in 1793. They are considered the works of Martin de la Belle (* 1744- † 1800), who was a drawing teacher at the Knight's Academy at the time.

Lost, preserved works of art

The painted outer wings of the former high altar are present. These are located in the Lower Saxony State Museum.

From the former Benedict cycle, which probably comprised over 40 panels, the last two known panels are kept in the Lower Saxony State Gallery. The cycle was made around 1495.

The monument to the prince's crypt, as it is called today, was made as a monument in the form of a niche sarcophagus to cover the prince's crypt in the western part of the nave. It was created in 1432 and shows coats of arms on both front sides and seven figures on each side. The coats of arms represent the line of tribe of Guelph princes and wives in a shortened form. The figures are groups of three people each grouped around the Archangel Michael and Maria. Originally, the two brass grave slabs rescued from the Kalkbergkirche were inserted on the top. These were removed in 1830 and have now been replaced by reconstructions. The work of art is given to the Lüneburg sculptor Hans Snitger the Elder. Attributed to J. Usually it is in the Museum for the Principality of Lüneburg. Because of its renovation, it was temporarily back in the church.

Organs

Historical prospectus of the Dropa organ

The St. Michaelis organ goes back to an instrument that was built in 1708 by Matthias Dropa , a student of Arp Schnitger . Over the years the instrument has been changed, revised and rebuilt several times. During a renovation in 1871, a large part of the original pipe inventory was lost. In 1931 the organ work was rebuilt by the P. Furtwängler & Hammer workshop in collaboration with Christhard Mahrenholz behind the historical case using the historical pipe material that was still available. The sound was revised in 1956 by Emanuel Kemper and in 1974 by the Hillebrand Organ Builders workshop . Therefore, only the prospectus and a few registers of the original instrument are preserved today. The instrument was renovated in 1999 by Christian Scheffler and returned to its sound condition from 1931.

I Hauptwerk C – g 3
01. Principal 16 ′ D.
02. Quintadena 16 ′ D.
03. Principal 08th' S.
04th Viol 08th' H
05. Hollow flute 08th' F.
06th Dumped 08th' F.
07th octave 04 ′ S.
08th. recorder 04 ′ F.
09. Fifth 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ H
10. Octave 02 ′ S.
11. Pointed flute 02 ′ F.
12. Cornet II-IV S.
13. Mixture V S.
14th Trumpet 16 ′ S.
15th Trumpet 08th' F.
II Rückpositiv C – g 3
16. Principal 08th' D.
17th Dumped 08th' D.
18th octave 04 ′ X
19th Rohrflöit 04 ′ D.
20th Sesquialtera II 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ K
21st Flat flute 02 ′ F.
22nd Sif flute 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′0 F.
23. Scharff IV S.
24. Dulcian 16 ′ H , S
25th Krummhorn 08th' S.
Tremulant
III Swell C – g 3
26th Dumped 16 ′ S.
27. Principal 08th' X
28. Salizional 08th' H
29 Drone 08th' S.
30th Vox celestis 08th' S.
31. octave 04 ′ X
32. Reed flute 04 ′ F.
33. Nasard 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ F.
34. Flat flute 02 ′ F.
35. Terzian II F.
36. Mixture IV S.
37. Trumpet 08th' S.
38. oboe 08th' S.
Tremulant
Pedal C – f 1
39. Principal 16 ′ X
40. Sub-bass 16 ′ X
41. Gedackt (= No. 26) 16 ′
42. Quintadena (= No. 2) 16 ′
43. Octave 08th' X
44. Dumped 08th' X
45. Fifth 10 2 ⁄ 3  ′ S.
46. Octave 04 ′ X
47. Night horn 02 ′ F.
48. Rauschpfeife III F.
49. trombone 16 ′ F.
50. Trumpet 08th' F.
51. Trumpet (= No. 37) 04 ′
  • Remarks:
D = register from 1708 (Matthias Dropa)
F = register from 1931 (P. Furtwängler & Hammer)
H = Register from 1974 (Gebrüder Hillebrand Orgelbau)
K = register from 1956 (Emanuel Kemper)
S = register from 1999 (Christian Scheffler)
X = register from 1871 (unknown builder)

In the lower church there is an organ by Emil Hammer Orgelbau , which was built in 1942 with a mechanical action (II / P / 11). The prospectus and around a quarter of the pipes were taken from the previous organ by Furtwängler & Hammer (1899). The choir organ was designed by Martin ter Haseborg in 2000 (I / 5). It is a reconstruction of a positive that was lost in St. Michaelis from around 1800, the disposition of which is based on a cost proposal by Johann Balthasar Held (1701). The youngest organ by Michael Braun (2012) is a mobile chest organ (I / 4).

Bells

In 1491/92 the Dutch master Gerhard van Wou was commissioned to add two existing bells c 1 (1427) and d 1 (around 1325); he cast four bells in the chimes b 0 , es 1 , f 1 and g 1 . All but the g 1 and es 1 bells have been lost. The latter forms the basis of today's bells and represents an extraordinarily heavy-ribbed bell with a beautiful sound, which is counted among the master's best. The Burg bell is a beehive-shaped bell with a due to their shape dissonant sound image and not clear this drawing percussive sound . In the course of the 20th century, the bell torso was extended to a partially chromatic scale bell. Thanks to Hermann Wrede, a gardener, 6 new bells were added. Later, in 1975, the Hermann Billung bell was added. The bells can be used as carillon with a stick piano. All the bells hang in a large historic wooden belfry. There are also two bells for the clock to strike .

No.
  		Surname
  		Casting year
  		Caster
  		Diameter
(mm) 		Mass
(kg) 		Percussive
( HT - 1 / 16 )
1 Big St. Michaelis bell 1492 Gerhard van Wou 1,384 ≈ 1,800 it 1 +6
2 Small St. Michaelis bell 1926 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock 1,180 ≈1,000 f 1 +9
3 Columbus bell 1492 Gerhard van Wou 1,080 ≈750 g 1 +10
4th Creation Bell 1930 Bachert bell foundry 1,000 ≈600 as 1 +11
5 Savior Bell 1928 Bachert bell foundry 860 ≈350 b 1 +12
6th Luther bell 1932 Bachert bell foundry 760 ≈250 c 2 +10
7th Evangelist bell 1934 Bachert bell foundry 730 ≈200 des 2 +10
8th Hermann Wrede memorial bell 1939 Bachert bell foundry 690 ≈190 d 2 +10
9 Hermann Billung Bell 1975 Heidelberg bell foundry 640 177 it 2 +10
10 Castle bell End of the 12th century unknown 760 437 at f 2
I Hour bell 1976 Heidelberg bell foundry 980 661 as 1 -6
II Quarter-hour bell around 1200 unknown ≈150 at f sharp 2

See also

Tourist importance

Like the churches of St. Johannis and St. Nicolai , St. Michaelis is also of great tourist interest. All three churches are important buildings of the brick Gothic and form stations on the European route of the brick Gothic . As reliably open churches , they are open to visitors during the day, except during church services.

literature

Recent monographs and papers
  • Eckhard Michael: Ev.-luth. Parish Church of St. Michaelis Lüneburg (Schnell Art Guide 2238). Regensburg 1995.
  • Kulturstiftung der Länder (Ed.): The Golden Plate from the Michaeliskloster in Lüneburg. Hanover 2007, pp. 34–57.
  • Gustav Fock and Hans-Cord Sarnighausen: On music and glass painting in St. Michaelis Lüneburg. Husum 2004.
  • Hansjörg Rümelin (Ed.): The Benedictine monastery St. Michaelis in Lüneburg. Construction - art - history . Lukas Verlag, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-86732-322-2 .
Older writings (before 1900)
  • Adolph Martini: Contributions to the knowledge of the library of the St. Michaelis monastery in Lüneburg . Herold and Electoral Staff, Lüneburg 1827 ( full text ).
  • Nekrologium Monasterii S. Michaelis . From the original, in the archive of the S. Michaelis Monastery in Lüneburg, edited in full by Anton Christian Wedekind . Vieweg, Braunschweig 1833 ( full text ).
  • Ludwig Albrecht Gebhardi : Brief history of the St. Michaelis monastery in Lüneburg . Capaun-Karlowa, Celle 1857 ( full text ).
  • Wilhelm von Hodenberg: Archives of the St. Michaelis monastery in Lüneburg (= Lüneburg document book , part 7). Capaun-Karlowa, Celle 1861–1867 ( full text ).
  • Arnold Freiherr von Weyhe-Eimke: The Aebte of the St. Michaelis Monastery in Lüneburg: With special reference to the history of the monastery and the knight academy . Schulze, Celle 1862 ( full text ).

Web links

Commons : St. Michaelis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In detail on the eventful history of the Dropa organ from 1708 , accessed on January 13, 2019.
  2. ↑ Organs in St. Michaels on the parish homepage, accessed on January 13, 2019.
  3. ↑ Claus Peter: The bells of the master Gherardus de Wou. In: Dr. Konrad Bund (Ed.): Frankfurter Glockenbuch , Kramer, Frankfurt a. M. 1986, p. 383.
  4. ↑ Claus Peter: The bells of the master Gherardus de Wou. In: Dr. Konrad Bund (Ed.): Frankfurter Glockenbuch , Kramer, Frankfurt a. M. 1986, pp. 376-377.
  5. ↑ Claus Peter: The bells of the master Gherardus de Wou. In: Dr. Konrad Bund (Ed.): Frankfurter Glockenbuch , Kramer, Frankfurt a. M. 1986, p. 397.

Coordinates: 53 ° 14 ′ 57.8 "  N , 10 ° 24 ′ 4.3"  E