Reformation Church (Hilden)
The Reformation Church in Hilden is located on the market in Hilden in the Mettmann district . Together with the Quirinus Minster in Neuss and the Abbey Church of St. Ludgerus in Essen-Werden, the Protestant parish church is one of the important late gallery basilicas in the Romanesque style on the Lower Rhine . The originally Catholic church was first consecrated to St. Jacobus the Elder, was then transferred to the Evangelicals after the Peace of Westphalia and until 1958 was called the "Evangelical Church". Since 1958, at the beginning of the construction of further Protestant churches in Hilden, it has been called the "Reformation Church".
Building history
During the restoration of the church from 1965 to 1968, archaeological investigations under the direction of Günther Binding revealed three previous buildings. The churches were not village churches, but chapels of the Cologne Archbishop's High Court, which maintained a Fronhof in Hilden . The original building of the "First Hilden Church" was a simple hall church. Its construction began in 922, and in 924 it was inaugurated as the court chapel of the archbishop's table estate in Hilden. The Hilden farm comprised the church and 31 houses, 25 of which were inhabited by around 100 people.
In the 11th century a larger building followed as the "Second Hilden Church", which in the 12th century was provided with a new nave and a tower to become the "Third Hilden Church". The current tower stands on the substructure of the former tower.
Archbishop Engelbert I of Cologne (as Engelbert II also Count von Berg) had the pillar basilica built during his tenure from 1216 to 1225. The "Fourth Hilden Church" was given its present form in 1255. The village of Hilden had around 400 inhabitants that year.
It is the oldest, three-aisled, late Romanesque cross-arched gallery basilica in the Rhineland. The nave is oriented to the east. The nave is spanned with two almost square vaults on strong three-quarter services. The nave is consistently about 14 meters long, wide and high. So it could be inserted into a cube. The side aisles included in these dimensions are half the width of the central nave.
The galleries open into wide double arches with a clover leaf finish. Aisles and galleries, all of which have small east apses, are vaulted with burr cross vaults on simple pilasters. Characteristic of the mezzanine floor are the flat-arched recesses in the outer walls, as they are also found in late Romanesque buildings in the Rhineland, for example St. Kunibert in Cologne , St. Viktor (Oberbreisig) , St. Kastor in Koblenz .
The upper cladding windows drawn together in pairs, the rich shapes of the quatrefoil windows in the choir and galleries determine the style of the late Romanesque gallery churches.
Trachyte and tuff stone cut from the Drachenfels near Königswinter were used as building material for the architectural surrounds and structural components . The stones from the previous buildings were reused. The old stones can still be seen on the stairs at the altar.
In the Middle Ages, the two galleries served as sleeping places for 17 pilgrims on the Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela . One day's march north of Hilden is Homberg , now part of Ratingen, and one day's march south-west of Hilden is Cologne.
On the eastern outer wall there is a stone that has an inscription that looks like 1-36. It is still not clear whether the second digit is a medieval 2 or 5.
In the years 1859, 1881–1883, 1901–1902 (planning by Paul Clemen and Moritz Korn ), 1939–1940 and 1965–1968 extensive renovation work was carried out.
The following essential work was carried out
- The outside wall of the church was originally plastered and whitewashed. But when the textile industry, the steel industry and mechanical engineering were booming in Hilden from the middle of the 19th century, the coal-fired boilers blew a lot of soot out of the chimneys. The soot also stained the plaster of the church. During renovation work in 1901, the plaster was removed. Since then, the outside wall of the church can be seen as stone.
- Weathered tufa stones replaced by new ones.
- The rotten roofs were torn down and replaced.
- Inside, old layers of paint were scraped off the walls, the exposed natural stone was polished and a new painting was applied by A. Bardenheuer from Cologne.
- The tower portal was redesigned and
- the old heating system was replaced by new filling ovens and the smoke exhaust pipes were moved up to the tower crown instead of over the church windows and then pulled up.
The total cost was 32,000 marks for external and 28,500 marks for internal work. The 41st to 43rd Provincial Diets approved a grant of 15,000 marks for the costs incurred.
During the renovation work between 1965 and 1968, the floor was lowered and a false ceiling was installed, the western portal was given a vestibule and became the main entrance area.
After the renovation work, the white, sober appearance of the interior now looks Calvinist and simple. On June 15, 2004, extensive renovation work began on the outer wall of the Reformation Church.
From April to October 2017, the inside of the Reformation Church was renovated, renovated and rebuilt. The altar, lectern and baptismal font were replaced. The renovation of the tower, which began at the same time, is still ongoing, as it was discovered during the work that an iron ring inserted around the masonry when the tower was rebuilt between 1695 and 1698 is now rusting and thereby endangering the structure of the tower.
Effects of the Reformation
In 1345 the church was consecrated to the Apostle James the Elder (Maior) and was under the patronage of St. James.
Since 1508 there was a vicarie in the parish of Hilden. The first vicar was "Konrad zum Dyche called Heidelberg". The vicariate was the origin of the school system.
During the Reformation , a large part of the Hilden population first switched to the Lutheran Reformed and then to the Calvinist Reformed. The first Reformed pastor Johann Heinrich Osterport (also Osterpfort or Osterportz, † around 1874) officiated as early as 1558. In the seal, the number 1558 indicates the first Protestant preacher in Hilden.
During the 17th and early 18th century, which was in the choir vault of the church Erbbegräbnisstätte the on house Horst resident members of the noble family Schenk von Nideggen , Erbschenken of the Duchy of Berg .
During the Thirty Years' War , the reformed pastor Johann Kohlhagen preached in the church on January 1, 1624. The Reformed theologian Wilhelm Hüls (* 1598 Hilden, † 1659 Wesel), was Kohlhagen's vicar at the time. After the Thirty Years' War, the building was assigned to the Reformed in 1650 according to the normal year 1624 according to the provisions of the Peace of Westphalia . The Catholics took all movable church treasures (ornamenta) with them. This also included the statue of St. Jacobus, which can still be seen in Hilden's St. Jacobus Church, Mittelstrasse 10.
From then on there is only the name "Evangelical Church Hilden" . With the inauguration of the Evangelical Church of the Redeemer in the south of Hilden, the "Evangelical Church" in the city center on Markt was renamed "Reformation Church" in 1958 .
After it was re-established, the Catholic parish built a new building on the eastern edge of Hildens, today An der Gabelung , St. Jacobus Church (Hilden), which continued the patronage.
Furnishing
pulpit
The Protestant church received a carved pulpit in 1705. In 1967 it gave way to a simple pulpit.
altar
The original stone altar plate was removed during the renovation work from 1965. Today it serves as the cornerstone of the Friedenskirche in the north of Hilden. It is located in the Friedenskirche in the common room and is clearly visible. Today the church has a stone U-shaped altar.
cross
A silver-plated bronze cross hovers over the age. It's empty without a crucifix . It comes from the gold and silversmith Hermann Jünger .
Column capitals
The ornamental depictions of a dragon (viewed from the altar to the right) and an eagle (viewed from the altar to the left) flank the choir arch in a dive.
Fleece on the organ gallery
Two panels by the artist Katharina Gun Oehlert shine gold on the front edge of the organ gallery. You can see them from the altar when the light falls favorably on them.
organ
The first organ in the Evangelical Church was consecrated on June 30, 1754. In December 1751, the contract between the Reformed community and the organ builder Johann Wilhelm Schöler (Bad Ems) for the construction of an organ was signed. An organ gallery was built in for the organ. In the past, access was via the northern gallery.
The magnificent, baroque organ front made of carved limewood, which is partly covered with gold leaf, has been preserved from this instrument . It shows King David, represented with a harp, flanked by two angel figures making music. The prospectus thus refers to verses of Psalm 150 in the Old Testament ("Praise him [the Lord] with psalteries and harps! Praise him with strings and pipes ... All that breathes, praise the Lord.")
The organ by Schöler was a comparatively small instrument with 12 registers on one manual. The pedal was attached. The instrument did not have its own pedal register. In the course of time the organ was rebuilt and expanded several times. In 1897, the organ builder Ernst Seifert (Cologne) added a second manual and an independent pedal unit to the instrument, and equipped it with an electric fan that replaced the bellows step that had been necessary up until then. In 1940 the organ was rebuilt by the Eberhard Friedrich Walcker company from Ludwigsburg. The instrument last had 28 stops on two manuals and a pedal.
In the course of the restoration of the church, the organ case and the prospectus were completely overhauled in connection with the Office for Monument Preservation in Bonn by the restorer Hans Schüttler from Beuel-Niederholtorf in the years 1965–1970. The ornamentation was re-gilded and given a new coat of light gray color. The woodwork is set off from olive to lime green. In addition, as part of the church restoration, the organ loft was lowered after a new vault had been drawn in about 2.5 m lower than the original one above the loft. Since then, access to the gallery has been via a separate spiral staircase in the tower. As the acoustics in the church deteriorated as a result of this renovation, carpet mats were placed in the side aisles and on the galleries to reduce the reverberation. In 1970 the organ work, which was prone to failure, was replaced by a new work in the old guise. Today's organ was built by the organ builder Karl Schuke (Berlin-Zehlendorf) and inaugurated on June 28, 1970. The slider chest instrument has 24 registers (approx. 1600 pipes ) on two manuals and pedal. The registers are controlled via loop pull magnets. The housing was extended to the rear; In the historical part there is the main plant, in the newly added housing part the pedal and the swell .
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- Normal coupling: II / I, I / P, II / P
- Mechanical action:
- Magnet-controlled loop trains:
- Playing aids : Electronic typesetting system with 8,000 memories and sequencer circuit
To accompany the choirs, the church has a chest organ, which was built by Kreienbrink in 1990 in Georgsmarienhütte near Osnabrück.
In 2016 the organ was extensively renovated and presented to the congregation on Easter Monday in a large organ concert.
Portals
The church was originally entered through the south and north side portals.
South portal with bronze door
The two-leaf bronze door installed in the south portal in 1973 was created by the artist Ulrich Henn (1925–2014). It is a foundation of an anonymous manufacturer from Hilden. The door to the lively Mittelstrasse is deliberately designed to invite people to reflect. It is decorated with ten high reliefs arranged in pairs. On the right wing of the door, Ulrich Henn contrasts the mercy of Jesus with the mercilessness of the people on the left.
On the right-hand side of the wing, “Mercy Jesus” (John Gospel), the reliefs show from bottom to top: Conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well (John 4); Healing of the lonely paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5); Raising of Lazarus and deliverance from the bonds of death (John 11); Washing of the feet of Christ (John 13); and the conversion of water to wine, marriage at Cana (John 2).
On the left-hand side of the wing, “The mercilessness of the people” (Matthew Gospel), the reliefs show from bottom to top: Child murder in Bethlehem by Herod (Matthew 2); Disciples sleep in the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26); Kiss of Judas, the capture (Matthew 26); The mockery (Matthew 27); Crucifixion and Watering of Christ (Matthew 27)
Tower portal
A portal was broken into the tower in 1826 in order to be able to store fire extinguishers.
Since the renovation between 1965 and 1968, the tower portal has been the main entrance to the church.
tower
Spire
The spire of the "Third Hilden Church" originally had the shape of a truncated pyramid and therefore looked more massive than today's helmet. A lightning strike set the church tower on fire in 1591. The fire was quickly extinguished.
The dilapidated tower collapsed on May 28, 1695 without any external influences. It was possible to lay the foundation stone for the new tower on February 29, 1696. It was placed in front of the elevated central nave in 1696–1698 as a three-storey west tower with an eight-sided slate pyramid. The quarry stone masonry consists of Neanderthal coal sandstone. The fact that parts of the medieval tower walls were recycled can be seen in the remains of the capitals of the tower wall, which are visible from the outside.
In 1705 a terrible storm blew down the spire. After lightning struck the tower in 1856, it was fitted with a lightning rod in 1860.
Rooster
In the body of the rooster on the church tower you can read: "Renovatum AO 1766 - I don't crow, but I show the wind, in Hilden on the church tower you can't find me".
A rooster on the church tower symbolically reminds of the guardianship of the church, not to deny its Lord Jesus Christ. In 2005 it was restored, a missing leg was replaced and it was re-gilded.
Church spire cross
At Christmas time, the wrought-iron cross of the church tower has been provided with a cross of LED lights on both sides for several years and during this time it shines brightly over the entire city center.
Church clock
Master Hinrich from Zons made the first church tower clock for the church in 1521, and its 8.1 kg hammer struck the bell. The first clockwork was so imprecise over time that around 1862 the sexton had to go to the post office several times a week, then every day to ask for the time and then set the church clock. The second movement by JF Weule , Bockenem , dates from 1888. In Hilden, the time was set forward by 32 1/2 minutes from local astronomical time in 1893 . Since then, the church clock has been showing Central European Time . Since 1998 the clock has been controlled to the second by a radio clock. The second mechanical clockwork from 1888 with its weights is still in the tower and is lubricated.
The hour bells of the bell foundry of the ironworks Franz Weeren in Berlin-Neubritz date from 1887. The small hand of the clock is 48 cm long and the large hand 70 cm long. The digits are 25 cm high and the dial has a diameter of 133 cm.
Bells
In the 14th century the church received a storm bell.
The earlier three bronze bell rings (large storm bell, medium midday bell and small sinful bell) were cast in 1821 on the former cemetery site next to the church. The largest bell had to be cast over in 1891 because it had cracked. She weighed 1,795 kg.
During the First World War, shortly after July 22, 1917, the large and middle bells were confiscated and smashed in the tower before they were then melted down for armament purposes. In 1919, after the end of the World War, new steel bells were ordered from the " Bochumer Verein für Gußstahlfabrikation" company . The bells weigh a total of 4,600 kg. The largest bell has a diameter of 1.73 m and weighs 2,250 kg. To make room for it, the last old bell, the small bronze bell (poor sinners bell) was sold. The inflation-related high purchase price of 60,000 marks for the bells was collected through donations and paid in cash.
Because of the heavy weight of the new two-meter-high steel bells, the church tower was given an iron belfry. He already weighs 3,500 kg. The new bells were consecrated on November 28, 1920. The current three steel bells (from 1920) from Bochum bear the inscription “Faith, Love, Hope”. They are tuned in h °, d ', f'. In the Second World War the bells were not drawn in because they were made of steel. They suffered no war damage. Bell motif is a diminished triad or tritone.
Support association
The association of friends and supporters of the Reformation Church Hilden eV , founded in 2000, aims to promote the preservation, design and furnishing of the church. He also wants to help highlight the cultural significance of the building in the community and in the region. For this purpose, not only are membership fees charged and donations collected, but corresponding events are also carried out.
Open Church
The Reformation Church is open on market days Wednesday and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wolfgang Wennig, The Reformation Church (formerly Jacobus Maior) in Hilden, Rhenish Association for Monument Preservation and Landscape Protection, Rheinische Kunststätten, issue 9/75
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Ernst Huckenbeck: The Reformation Church in Hilden. Museum and Heimatverein Hilden eV, Hilden 2007, ISBN 978-3-9804615-9-7
- ↑ a b c Statistisches Jahrbuch 2012, Geschichtliche Daten, from p. 1 ff ( 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.
- ↑ a b c Hilden (Düsseldorf district). Restoration of the Protestant parish church. In: Reports on the activities of the Provincial Commission for the Preservation of Monuments in the Rhine Province, Part VIII, Report on Work carried out , 1903, p. [16/17] 8/9 Digitalisat ULB Düsseldorf
- ↑ Spelling of numbers in the mid-15th to mid-16th centuries
- ↑ Renovation 2017
- ↑ Wolfgang Wennig, Von Reformation und Gegenreformation aus Hilden yesterday and today, Hilden City Archives 1977, p. 39ff.
- ↑ Burkhard Diez, Stefan Ehrenpreis: Three denominations in one region , Bonn 1999, p. 536
- ↑ a b History of the Reformation Church in Hilden ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2017 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.
- ↑ Time track search: Liege Otto Wilhelm Schenk zu Nideggen
- ^ Anton Schneider, Contributions to the history of Hilden and Haan, Hilden City Archives, 1900 pp. 126–152
- ↑ Friends and sponsors of the Reformation Church eV: The Reformation Church in Hilden - formerly St. Jacobus - an (almost) forgotten gem in the Rhineland
- ↑ a b Dönekes and local history, history and stories from Hilden; Ulrike Unger, Michael Ebert; Rheinische Post, Museums- & Heimatverein Hilden eV; 1998 p. 56; ISBN 3-9804615-2-1
- ^ A b Heinrich Strangmeier : The first church organ in Hilden, Niederbergische contributions, sources and research on the local history of Niederberg; 1954 (for the 200th anniversary of the organ).
- ↑ a b Cantor Friedhelm Haverkamp: The Schuke organ and the bells
- ↑ Schöler and Schuke organs ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2017 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.
- ↑ Disposition of the Schuke organ
- ↑ Chest organ in the Reformation Church (Hilden)
- ↑ Bronze door by Ulrich Henn ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2017 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.
- ↑ a b Ole Hergarten: Reformation Church in Hilden , leaflet
- ↑ a b Hahn on the steeple of the Reformation Church ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2017 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.
- ^ Anton Schneider, Contributions to the history of Hilden and Haan, Hilden City Archives, 1900 p. 225
- ↑ Ole Hergarten: Dimensions of the dial and the hands; measured during the renovation in June 2017
- ↑ Articles of Association of the Friends' Association of December 4, 2000
literature
- Theodor Joseph Lacomblet (ed.): An inscription to Haan near Hilden , In: Archives for the history of the Lower Rhine, Vol. II, Düsseldorf 1857, p. [114]. Digitized edition ULB Düsseldorf
- Zeitschrift für Bauwesen XXX, 1880, p. 533, plate 69. Digitized ZLB Berlin
- Paul Clemen , Provinzialverband der Rheinprovinz (Hrsg.): Die Kunstdenkmäler der Stadt und der Kreis Düsseldorf (= The Kunstdenkmäler der Rheinprovinz. Third volume, No. I), Düsseldorf 1894, p. 113.
- Georg Dehio , Ernst Gall : Handbook of German art monuments. North Rhine-Westphalia, I. Rhineland. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1967, p. 238.
- Günther Binding : Report on the excavations in Lower Rhine churches 1964-1966 . In: Bonner Jahrbücher . Vol. 167/1967
- Günther Binding: The excavations in the Reformation Church in 1965 . In: The Reformation Church in Hilden. From the building history of the Reformation Church and its restoration . Evangelical Church Community Hilden, 1968, p. 19.
- Trude Cornelius: The Reformation Church in Hilden. From the building history of the Reformation Church and its restoration . Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Hilden, 1968, pp. 6-9.
Web links
- List of architectural monuments in Hilden
- Evangelisches Hilden: Reformation Church
- Search: Hilden Reformation Church
- Time Traces Search: The meaning of old place and field names in Haan, Hilden, Wuppertal and the surrounding area
Coordinates: 51 ° 10 ′ 5.7 ″ N , 6 ° 55 ′ 57.3 ″ E