Nikolaikirche (Alzey)

Nikolaikirche in the cityscape of Alzey

The Nikolaikirche was completed in 1499 with the completion of the church tower. It is a late medieval church on the Alzeyer Obermarkt. Today it belongs to the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau .

history

Tower of the Nikolaikirche

1350 was the first documentary mention of a St. Nicholas chapel. It belonged to the Alzeyer "Saalhof" (today's Obermarkt). The new building of the nave as a three-aisled hall church with three bays and round pillars lasted from 1420 to 1430. Two years later, the Nikolaikirche was elevated to a parish church in place of St. George's Church. In 1450 the new building of the late Gothic choir with vault was completed . At times, up to 20 clergymen read mass at the nine altars of the church. 1499 the tower was by building two new floors and a tower Helmes completed on the existing tower porch of the old church. The coats of arms of the builders of the burgrave Erkinger von Rothenstein and the mayor Anthis von Heppenheim can be seen on the tower .

The expansion of the church resulted from the plan of the Count Palatine in Alzey in the early 15th century to build a monastery . In 1479, Pope Sixtus IV approved the foundation. The property of the abolished Cistercian monastery Himmelsgarten was transferred to the monastery . The monastery consisted of a dean, eight canons and nine vicars. It was made by Count Palatine Friedrich III. Abolished in 1563 during the Reformation .

In 1689, the Nikolaikirche suffered severe damage after the city fire in the war of conquest of Louis XIV : the roof structure and vaults collapsed, the western outer walls damaged. In 1715 and later the church was partially restored by adding a new gable wall to the roof and the eastern parts of the church. The tower was given a baroque onion dome. The western part of the nave remained in ruins, was profaned and served at times as a field hospital and bakery in the 18th century. In 1702, the burgrave of the Electorate of the Palatinate or Oberamtmann Hermann Adrian von Wachtendonk (1666–1702), whose grave slab has been preserved, was buried here. He was the father of Minister Hermann Arnold von Wachtendonk (1694-1768).

From 1844 to 1848, renovation and restoration work took place on the Nikolaikirche under the Hessian construction director Georg Moller . The nave was divided into five bays, wooden vaults were built in and a small vestibule was built on the north side. In 1905 a new pointed spire was put on. From 1934 to 1937, extensive restoration work took place under the direction of city architect Morneweg. The nave pillar was renewed, a net vault was installed in the choir and a flat wooden ceiling was installed in the nave. The worst damage to the church that occurred during World War II was repaired in 1949. A thorough renovation of the church under the direction of Prof. Romero then took place from 1963 to 1965. At the same time, a new entrance was built through the tower room. In 1997 the Rudolf von Beckerath organ was inaugurated.

organ

The organ was built in 1976 by the organ builder von Beckerath. The instrument originally stood in the Knechtsteden / Dormagen monastery and was set up in 1997 in the Nikolaikirche. It has 41 stops on three manuals and a pedal . The game actions are mechanical, the stop actions are electric.

I breastwork C – g 3 1. Wooden dacked 8th' 2. Quintadena 8th' 3. recorder 4 ′ 4th Principal 2 ′ 5. Quintlet 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 6th None 8 ⁄ 9 ′ 7th Sesquialtera II 8th. Sharp IV 1' 9. shelf 16 ′ 10. Krummhorn 8th' Tremulant

II Hauptwerk C – g 3 11. Dumped 16 ′ 12. Principal 8th' 13. Pointed flute 8th' 14th octave 4 ′ 15th Coupling flute 4 ′ 16. octave 2 ′ 17th Cornett V 8th' 18th Mixture V 1 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 19th Cymbel III 1 ⁄ 2 ′ 20th Trumpet 8th' Zimbelstern

III Swell C – g 3 21st Reed flute 8th' 22nd Gamba 8th' 23. Voix celeste 8th' 24. Principal 4 ′ 25th Flute traversière 4 ′ 26th Nasard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 27. Swiss pipe 2 ′ 28. third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ 29 Oktavlein 1' 30th Mixture V 2 ′ 31. English horn 16 ′ 32. Hautbois 8th' 33. Clairon 4 ′ Tremulant

Pedals C – g 1 34. Principal 16 ′ 35. octave 8th' 36. Playing flute 8th' 37. Tenor octave 4 ′ 38. Wide flute 2 ′ 39. Back set IV 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 40. trombone 16 ′ 41. Trumpet 8th'

• Coupling : I / II, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P

literature

• Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany : Cultural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate Volume 20.2: District of Alzey-Worms . City of Alzey . Published on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Science, Further Education and Culture by the General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate Directorate State Monument Preservation. Edited by Michael Huyer and Dieter Krienke. Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft : Worms 2014. ISBN 978-3-88462-326-8 ; Pp. 64-70

Individual evidence

1. ^ Schmid, Reinhard: Alzey - St. Nikolaus Monastery . In: Monasteries and monasteries in Rhineland-Palatinate , URL: Archived copy ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed August 22, 2013) 
2. ↑ Website Stiftskirche Alzey, with photo of the gravestone Wachtendonk
3. ^ Organ in Alzey , accessed on February 12, 2020.

Coordinates: 49 ° 44 ′ 40.1 "  N , 8 ° 6 ′ 43.7"  E