Nikolaikirche (Eilenburg)
The Church of St. Andrew and St. Nikolai , but usually only called St. Nicholas Church, the Protestant city parish church of Eilenburg . The church, which was probably founded in the 12th century, was destroyed by fire in 1435 and rebuilt from 1444 as a three-aisled hall church in brick . After severe destruction on April 21, 1945, it was provisionally restored by 1961. The church has its historical significance primarily as Martin Rinckart's place of work .
history
Church foundation
Little is known about the age and shape of the original church building. The information that is rumored to this day in the Eilenburg Chronica by Jeremias Simon, which appeared in 1696 , according to which construction started shortly after the first documentary mention of Eilenburg in 961, i.e. around 970/980, by a Count Dione von Merseburg and this 1006/07 is said to have been completed under Count Friedrich I von Wettin , has no probability whatsoever. The patronage and the location in the urban fabric rather speak for a foundation in the 12th century.
Late Gothic new building
In 1435 the church was destroyed by a fire in the city. In 1444, the new building of a three-aisled hall church began at the same place, which was built in brick. At the end of the Middle Ages, the church developed into a well-known place of pilgrimage. In 1496 the foundation stone for the church tower was laid. A small bell from 1500 is still there today. In 1531 the tower was extended by two storeys.
Another city fire in 1535 severely damaged the church, destroyed the tower and some bells as well as the late Gothic furnishings . The restoration and redesign of the church was completed ten years later.
In 1600/01, the church received four more new tower bells from the Erfurt bell foundry Melchior Mörinck . The cost of this was 350 guilders. However, the tower threatened to collapse as a result of the load from the bells. The citizen bell (1250 kg) jumped in 1667, was cast around and hung up again in 1668. Several floods of the Mulde, so in the years 1434, 1573, 1663 and 1771, put the church under water up to man's height.
Baroque conversions
In 1672/73 the unstable tower was removed down to the bell floor, and from this level it was rebuilt and higher. In October 1673 it was given a baroque bonnet . It now contained a tower keeper's apartment. In 1683/84 the interior of the church was re-equipped with a pulpit and altar.
Destruction in World War II and reconstruction
In April 1945, the church was severely damaged in the heavy bombardment of the city, including the baroque tower dome. Only the square substructure and the octagonal top, both solidly bricked, remained of the tower. The church was rebuilt in the 1940s and 1950s - but only poorly. At Christmas 1947 bells could be rung again. The tower, exposed to the weather since the artillery bombardment, had a primitive, octagonal, low tent roof from 1952 onwards. The vault of the nave, which collapsed during the bombardment, could only be replaced by a flat ceiling that still exists today (2019). With the completion of the choir in 1961, the preliminary reconstruction was largely complete. In 1968/69 the roof was re-tiled. Numerous bullet marks in the outer walls and on the tower remained for a long time. It was not until 1997 that the temporary roof - which had meanwhile been worn out due to the weather - was replaced by a “crown” modeled on the baroque tower dome from 1673. This, 45 tons heavy and 16 meters high, was assembled on Nikolaiplatz at the foot of the church and lifted onto the octagonal tower section with a truck crane. In 2002 the church was hit again by a flood, the solemn inauguration of the choir and the ship took place after two years of damage repair in 2004. In 2008 the four-part ringing was completed again after more than sixty years with three bells newly cast in Lauchhammer . The fifth and smallest bell from 1500, which does not match the sound, has been hanging in a separate bell cage in the tower hall since 2011. In addition, the roof of the nave was re-covered in 2008 and the rectory belonging to the Nikolaikirche was completely renovated. In addition to the municipal administration and the choir, it houses the district church office, the youth arche and the district hospice service. The vault of the nave is to be rebuilt by 2021.
Building description
Layout
The Nikolaikirche is a three-aisled hall church with a two-bay, three-sided closed choir . The nave is 31 meters wide and 56 meters long including the choir. The aisles are just closing in the east. In the angle between the north aisle and the choir stands the two-bay, cross-rib vaulted sacristy .
Exterior view
The outer walls of the church are structured and supported by buttresses. Its north wall was heavily modified in the baroque era . Access from the north is through a portal vestibule. To the west is a mighty, square, four-story tower with an octagonal, three-story tower. After heightened floors in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, destruction in the Second World War, an emergency roof was put on and the dome was rebuilt in the 1990s, its height is now 62.55 meters.
inner space
The four-bay nave is formed by eight corner pillars with pointed arches between them . With the currently existing flat ceiling, it is only 12 m high.
Furnishing
The main altar dates from 1506 and shows a crescent moon Madonna next to numerous saints, in the two side wings in two rows, with some figures and the burst being lost.
In 1502 the church received its first organ, which fell victim to the fire of 1535. Simon Zenker built a new plant in 1568, which was rebuilt in 1715. In 1844, with the help of the Eilenburg organ builder Conrad Geißler, a new work by the organ builder Ludwig Weineck was created . Geißler, whose workshop was near the church, extensively rebuilt this organ in 1883. It now contained 42 registers.
In 1913 an electrical fire alarm system was installed in the tower, which resulted in the abolition of the tower guard.
In 1920 a new bell came in the tower. During excavation work in 1928, the grave of Martin Rinckart and his wife was discovered in the chancel.
The original equipment was largely destroyed in 1945. It included an altar dated 1684, which is attributed to Johann Jakob Löbelt from Leipzig, and a baptismal font, which is marked with the name of its creator Georg Schröter from Torgau and dated 1570.
In the choir room is a small organ from Wilhelm Sauer from 1965. It has a manual with six registers, a pedal with a covered 16 'register and a coupling for attaching the manual registers to the pedal. In the main nave, which before the war was an organ that took up the entire width of the western gallery, there is no organ that was appropriate to the space. This deficiency should be remedied by 2021. The Nikolaigemeinde also has a positive from the Thuringian organ builder Heinze with five registers and an attached pedal from 1972, which they want to sell.
Footnotes and individual references
- ↑ Eilenburg Chronica / Or description of the very old castle / palace and city of Eilenburg / After the situation or camp / behavior / old inhabitants / clock jump and inheritance ... religion, food and comfort / rulers and officials ... Same thing in war as peace -Times / there and in the surrounding area ... before things worth thinking about come and happen. From many old and new reinforced Autoribus, as well as other credible writings and archives ... compiled ... / By M. Jeremias Simon / Käyserl. kr. Poets and Pastors at Limehna. Leipzig, Lanckisch, 1696. Online edition: Halle (Saale), University and State Library Saxony-Anhalt, 2008. Digitized
- ↑ Eilenburg Chronicle
- ↑ a b S. Buchhold: History of the City of Eilenburg, 2012/13
- ↑ Eilenburger Kirchenförderverein is reminiscent of the crowning of the dome 20 years ago. Retrieved January 21, 2019 .
- ^ Eilenburg - St. Nikolai. Retrieved January 1, 2019 .
- ↑ History of St. Nikolai , Internet presence of the Martin-Rinckart-Gemeinde Eilenburg, accessed on May 4, 2020.
- ↑ kirchenmusik-eilenburg - Sauer organ. Accessed December 31, 2018 .
- ↑ church music eilenburg - Heinze organ. Retrieved November 17, 2019 .
literature
- Lothar Herklotz : Archaeological excavations Eilenburg, town church St. Nikolai . ( PDF file; 1.4 MB )
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 27 '33 " N , 12 ° 38' 0.6" E