Protestant Peace Church (Mechtersheim)
 Chancel of the Protestant Church in Mechtersheim |
|
| Basic data | |
| place | Römerberg (Pfalz) , Germany |
| Building history | |
| architect | Heinrich Jester |
| construction time | 1877-1879 |
| Building description | |
| inauguration | November 24, 1879 |
| Architectural style | historicism |
| Furnishing style | Church window, pulpit, organ |
| Construction type | Hall construction |
| 49 ° 15 '55.5 " N , 8 ° 23' 53.2" E | |
The Protestant Peace Church in Mechtersheim ( Rhineland-Palatinate ) was built between 1877 and 1879 according to plans by the architect Heinrich Jester from Speyer ; the builder was Michael Muth. Jester created, following the contemporary taste of historicism , a church in a mixed style between neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque. After the destruction in 1944, a baroque building was rebuilt from 1949 to 1952.
history
prehistory
Already in the time of the French administration 1804–1814 the construction of a simultaneous church in Mechtersheim for Reformed , Lutherans and Catholics was considered, but this was not realized due to the chaos of war and the lack of funds.
From 1846 there were efforts for a Protestant church of its own, but the financial means were still lacking to realize it. It was not until 1864 that the heirs of Georg Gund were able to acquire a corresponding piece of land for 1734 guilders.
Historic building
The war with France in 1870/71 delayed the planning again. In 1876 the church's plan was submitted to the ministry for approval. Construction could begin in the autumn of the following year. Under the direction of the Speyer architect Heinrich Jester, a church was built in a mixed style between neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque .
The bells for the new church came from the Andreas Hamm foundry in Frankenthal and rang in the triad as' - c '' --es' '. The organ was built by the Stumm brothers in Rhaunen / Sulzbach.
The building was inaugurated on November 24, 1879. On the arch above the chancel of the church was the first sentence from the prayer of Moses in Psalm 90: "Lord, God, you are our refuge for and for." The total cost of the building was 67,700 marks.
The two world wars also took their material toll in addition to human sacrifices. On July 13, 1917, organ builder Eckhardt in Dürkheim approved the organ front pipes on behalf of the state. In both wars, the two deep bells of the Protestant church were melted down for the metal needs of armaments.
War destruction
On the night of April 24th to 25th 1944 there was a massive attack by English bombers on Mechtersheim. In the western part of the village, numerous 60 cm long and 8 cm thick phosphorus rod bombs fell from the sky. Within a very short time, there were 58 burns in the village. In the Protestant church, probably hit by flying sparks, the entire interior and the bell tower were on fire; the tower dome, which finally collapsed, fell into the nave.
A single bell had been spared from smelting in both World War I and World War II. The smallest of the three bronze bells from 1879 was salvaged by Karl Schehlmann and other helpers from the stump of the church tower, which was now in danger of collapsing. From a makeshift wooden scaffolding in the burnt-out nave, it served its purpose again soon after the war.
After the bell was replaced by a full, five-part bell in the tower in 1959, it was supposed to be sold for metal value, but was then stored in the church's storeroom for 35 years. In October 1995 Karl Schehlmann reinstalled the bell under the tower in the entrance area of the church. It is rung by hand at special memorial services.
Reconstruction with remodeling
Under the senior building officer of the regional church, Mr. R. Ostermaier from Weingarten (later Stammheim / Calw), the church was completely redesigned during the reconstruction from 1949 to 1952. Only the outer buttresses made of bare bricks and their ornaments still give an idea of part of the old building on whose foundation walls the new house was built.
On Christmas Day 1950, the first service was celebrated in the new church. The pastors' annual reports praise the “willingness of the community to make sacrifices”. Windows, benches, altar, pulpit and baptismal table and thus almost all of the furnishings were donations. Thus the costs could be limited to 135,000 DM.
The church has been a listed building since 1992, the two yew trees to the right and left of the entrance area have been designated as natural monuments since 1996.
For the 130th anniversary of the house of God, the church was named Friedenskirche on the 1st of Advent 2009 .
Interior
Church window
When entering the church you will find two small windows with the stylized letters A and O under the gallery. Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. They refer to the last book of the Bible, the revelation of the seer John (I am Alpha and Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Revelation 1,8)
That both letters should refer to Christ are shown by the Lamb and the Lion, which cover the signs. These symbols connect the message of the New Testament with the Messiah promises of the Old Testament.
The Reformation windows in the Mechtersheim church show Martin Luther with the Luther rose on the left side of the window and Johannes Calvin with the coat of arms opposite.
The windows of the apostles show Peter and Paul.
We know the key function of Peter shown from the popularly interpreted task of Peter to watch over the gates of heaven and to open cloud sluices, but also from the claim of the bishops of Rome, based on Peter, to preside over the entire Church in the function of the Pope. In his key role, however, Peter is also seen as a link between the Jewish tradition and the need to give Gentile Christians their own access to faith in Christ.
The focus of Paul's preaching is the grace of God, which cannot be earned through good deeds, but is given through Jesus' death on the cross, through which sin is atoned for. His attribute is the sword, which points to the power of the word of God, to which he refers again and again in his preaching. At the same time it testifies to his extreme commitment to the faith.
The image of Christ, the Savior of the World, on the right-hand side of the sanctuary of the church, looks at the actors in the sanctuary during scripture readings and prayer, at the families at baptism, at the kneeling confirmands and at the believers gathered for the Lord's Supper. With every blessing at the end of a service, he also raised the rights to a blessing over the congregation. The head is crowned by a halo, the feet stand on a stylized globe. The representation relocates to the scene before the ascension of Jesus.
The rear windows on the gallery are dedicated to the authors of the Gospels, the four so-called Evangelists. Traditionally they are represented in the four symbols man, lion, bull (or ox) and eagle. This typology can also be found in the traditional names of restaurants. Tradition relates these symbols from the Old Testament prophecy of Ezekiel as well as from the seer John in the New Testament in Revelation.
The connection of this symbolism with the Gospels is based on different interpretations: Man belongs to the Gospel of Matthew, because this begins in the first chapter with the family tree of Jesus and points to the humanity of the Son of God. The lion belongs to the Gospel of Mark, because it begins with the “lion-like roar” of John the Baptist, who preached in the desert, the life-world of the lion.
The bull (as a sacrificial animal) is part of the Gospel of Luke, because it begins with the sacrifice of Zacharias and is the strongest indication of the sacrificial death of Jesus. The eagle belongs to the Gospel of John because it flies into a higher spiritual dimension than the other Gospels.
King David with a harp and an angel with a trumpet as further gallery windows refer to church music activities in the church.
The church windows were made in the workshop of the Catholic art glass maker Georg Brotzler (1892–1970) in Speyer. Further works of this glazing can be found in around 30 other churches in the Palatinate, but apart from in Mechtersheim only in Catholic churches, for example in the Nikolauskirche in Gimmeldingen and the Church of St. Maximilian in Maxdorf, but also in the Catholic neighboring church in Mechtersheim.
pulpit
The pulpit has five wooden reliefs with images from the life of Jesus. They were created in 1953 by the art teacher Rudolf Theuring (1911–2009), Germersheim / Virneburg. It lies on a sandstone plinth made of material from the destroyed church.
organ
Until 1967 the community had to make do with a used harmonium from the Speyer city mission. The then installed mechanical loop organ from the Oberlinger brothers, Windesheim, has an asymmetrical design in its prospectus. It has two manuals and twelve stops.
Vasa sacra
Baptismal vessels
The baptismal vessels consist of a water jug and a drip tray, which is engraved on the founders, the local widow of Georg Gund and the queen mother Marie of Bavaria in 1865.
Sacrament vessels
The two wine jugs were probably purchased in 1879, according to the pastor's note ("silver-plated, stylish communion jugs").
The Chalices of the Last Supper are also largely identical. One goblet bears the words “Bremen 1864” on the base, the other “Mechtersheim 1870”. For the latter there is a corresponding invoice for 97 guilders, dated March 1, 1870, from Julius Leibbrand, gold and silver worker from Speyer, the origin of the former has unfortunately not yet been proven.
The back of the silver communion plate bears the stamp of the manufacturer James Dixon & Son from Sheffield, England. This was the leading metal goods producer in the 19th century. The formulation of the company name in this form was used from 1822 to 1835. How this vessel got to Mechtersheim is not known.
The small communion spoon is engraved with “Prot.K. Mechtersheim 1870 "
Bells
The five cast steel bells, manufactured by the Bochum association for cast steel production, were put on the tower in October 1959. The bells have been cast in different "ribs" (sound types), which results in a musically attractive, very pure and unmistakable overall sound. The tones g '- c' '- d' '- e' 'result in the so-called "Westminster motif", e' forms the lower octave. The charm of the Mechtersheim chimes is the mixture of the different timbres, at the same time it is coordinated with the bells of the Catholic parish.
literature
- Biundo, Georg: The evangelical clergy of the Palatinate since the Reformation (Palatinate Pastor Book), Verlag Degener, Neustadt an der Aisch, 1968
- Bonkhoff, Bernhard: Palatinate bell book . Institute for Palatinate History and Folklore, Kaiserslautern, 2008
- Municipality of Römerberg (ed.): At home in Römerberg . Römerberg, 1983
- Prot. Mechtersheim parish: 100 years of the Mechtersheim Protestant Church . Römerberg, 1979
- Prot. Parish Mechtersheim: Receiving the blessing - passing on the blessing. 130 years of the Protestant Church in Mechtersheim . Römerberg, 2009
- Schäfer, Imo: Instructions for Life - Poems and Reflections . Evang. Presseverlag Pfalz, Speyer, 2004
- Sommer, Anke Elisabeth: Stained glass of the Protestant Church of the Palatinate . Schnell und Steiner publishing house, Regensburg, 2007
- Speyerer Volksbank (ed.): Berghausen-Heiligenstein-Mechtersheim - back then . Speyer, 1986
- Association for home and customs in Römerberg (Ed.): Make one out of three . Römerberg. History and stories of our home church. Römerberg, 2001
- Association for Home and Customs Care in Römerberg (ed.): Selected contributions to the history of the Römerberg districts Berghausen, Heiligenstein and Mechtersheim from four centuries . Römerberg, 2009
- Central archive of the Evang. Church of the Palatinate: parish descriptions, annual and visitation reports, submitted archive materials and photos of the parish Mechtersheim .
