Reformed Church (Jemgum)

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Reformed Church in Jemgum from the northeast

The Reformed Church in Jemgum in the Rheiderland , in southwestern East Friesland , presumably stands on the site of the chapel of the Johanniterkloster from high medieval times, but has been built from scratch several times over the centuries.

History and architecture

Jemgum church tower (1846) in the shape of a lighthouse
South wing from 1661

In the Middle Ages the village of Jemgum had three churches: a large monastery church of St. John of the Order of St. John from the middle of the 13th century, the location of which is unclear, the Sixtus Church and a monastery chapel that was converted into the current church.

The former main church of St. Sixtus stood on today's cemetery on the western edge of the village and had St. Sixtus as the patron saint . It probably came from the 13th century and was heavily fortified. There is evidence that the oldest Jemgum bell was cast in 1368. After the Battle of Jemgum (1533), this church was destroyed in 1534 on the orders of Count Enno II to prevent enemies from having a chance of refuge.

The early history of today's church in east Jemgum is not fully understood. It probably goes back to a small monastery chapel ("parva ecclesia") from the 14th century, which belonged to the Knights of St. John in the pre-Reformation period, but was handed over to the parish as a parish church in 1401. In the Middle Ages it belonged to the Propstei Hatzum in the diocese of Münster and was apparently dedicated to St. Vitus consecrated. During the Reformation , the parish switched to the Reformed Confession. A tower was built in 1555. In the following years the church is said to have been rebuilt with stones from the Coming Moo . The addition of the south wing (1661) and north wing (1769) gave the church its characteristic cruciform shape.

The first tower had to be demolished in 1816 because it was dilapidated and was replaced by the current west tower in 1846 by Marten Bruns Schmidt ( Ditzum ). In terms of its external shape, it resembles a lighthouse and is comparable to the towers of the Ditzum Church and the Great Church in Leer . With its open lantern , the copper roof and the sailing ship as a weather vane , the church tower is Jemgum's landmark. In 1847 the church was completely rebuilt. On August 2, the walls were removed and on August 11, the reconstruction of the church began, which was consecrated on October 7, 1847. On January 31, 1930, the church burned down to the foundations, in the same year it was rebuilt in the Art Deco style according to plans by the Aurich architect Ludwig Deichgräber . On December 14, 1930, the church was put back into use. The previous construction with a barrel vault was abandoned and a horizontal wooden beam ceiling was chosen. Only the tower with its three steel bells remained.

Renovated pulpit with reconstructed sound cover

When the church burned down again on the night of May 11th to 12th, 2004, the hipped roof and the ceiling collapsed , completely destroying the organ and the organ loft. Only the sound cover of the pulpit from the workshop of the carpenter Heinrich Wendt was destroyed to such an extent that it could not be used again. The pulpit itself was expanded and renovated after the fire and rebuilt into the church with a faithful replica of the sound cover. The mobile inventory such as the communion table , hymn boards, benches and interior doors as well as the lamps and the memorial plaque with the names of those killed in the war of 1870/71 were relocated due to an imminent renovation and were therefore not affected by the fire. The staircase that led to the organ floor in the interior of the church was also burned and was not reinstalled. As before 1930, the organ floor can be reached through the tower. The tower was saved thanks to the volunteer fire brigade . The restoration of the building was carried out from August 2004 to December 2005 largely in the 1930 style. In 2009 the ailing frame structure of the lantern , which consisted of pitch pine wood , was removed and replaced by galvanized steel supports with sheet copper cladding.

Furnishing

East wing

The interior, which is dominated by the colors blue, red, brown and gold, is designed in the style of Expressionism and is based on the state of 1930. A flat beamed ceiling completes the interior.

The wooden round pulpit was made by Johannes Baartz sen. who worked as a traveling journeyman for the carpenter Heinrich Wendt, and survived the fire of May 2004, as did the communion table, the north-south and east galleries and the pews. Baartz reconstructed the round sound cover. The sacred device includes a bread plate (1743) by Master Claes Jacoby ( Emden ) and a jug (1834).

organ

English organ

The first organ was built by Brond de Grave Winter from 1864 to 1866 , but burned down in 1930 and was replaced in 1972 by an instrument by Klaus Becker , which was also destroyed in a fire in 2004. The present organ was built by Joseph William Walker in 1844. It was restored and reconstructed in 2007 by the Dutch organ workshop FR Feenstra. The organ landscape of Ostfriesland is enriched by an English instrument through the Jemgum organ . It has 19 stops on two manuals and pedal and has the following disposition :

I Great GG – f 3
Open diapason 8th'
Stop diapason bass 8th'
Stop Diapason Treble 8th'
Dulciana 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Flood 4 ′
Twelfth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Fifteenth 2 ′
Sesquialtra II-III
Trumpet 8th'
Tremulant
II Swell GG – f 3
Double Diapason (from c) 16 ′
Open diapason 8th'
Stop diapason 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Sesquialtra II-III
Trumpet 8th'
oboe 8th'
Pedal C – e 1
Pedal open 16 ′
Trombones 16 ′
Open diapason 8th'
Remarks
  1. ↑ a b c From remnants of another organ.
  2. ↑ Still vacant.

See also

literature

  • Hans-Bernd Rödiger, Menno Smid : Frisian churches in Emden, Leer, Borkum, Mormerland, Uplengen, Overledingen and Reiderland , volume 3. Verlag CL Mettcker & Söhne, Jever 1980, p. 82 f.
  • Robert Noah: God's houses in East Frisia . Soltau-Kurier, Norden 1989, ISBN 3-922365-80-9 .
  • Insa Segebade: Reformed churches on the Ems . Evangelical Reformed Church, Leer 1999, ISBN 3-00-004645-3 .
  • Monika van Lengen: Rheiderland churches. Journey of discovery to places of worship from eight centuries in the west of East Frisia . H. Risius, Weener 2000.
  • Hermann Haiduck: The architecture of the medieval churches in the East Frisian coastal area . 2nd Edition. Ostfriesische Landschaftliche Verlags- und Vertriebs-GmbH, Aurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-940601-05-6 , p. 220, 224 .
  • Gottfried Kiesow : Architecture Guide East Friesland . Verlag Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz , Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-86795-021-3 .
  • Anna Sophie Inden (text) | Martin Stromann (photos): God's houses in the Rheiderland . In: Ostfriesland Magazin 2/2015, SKN Druck und Verlag, Norden 2015, p. 48 ff.

Web links

Commons : Reformed Church  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Gerhard Kronsweide (local chronicle of the East Frisian landscape): Jemgum , accessed on November 6, 2018 (PDF; 78 kB).
  2. ↑ a b c Segebade: Reformed churches on the Ems. 1999, p. 8.
  3. ^ Gerhard Kronsweide: Three churches in Jemgum: St. Sixtus, St. Johannes and St. Vitus . In: Heimat- und Kulturverein Jemgum eV (Ed.): Dit un dat . No. 48, 2009, p. 3.
  4. ↑ Gottfried Kiesow : Architectural Guide Ostfriesland . Verlag Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz , Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-86795-021-3 , p. 149 .
  5. ^ Gerhard Kronsweide: The Jemgumer Church . In: Heimat- und Kulturverein Jemgum eV (Ed.): Dit un dat . No. 25, 1996, p. 14.
  6. ^ Orgelbau Feenstra (Dutch), accessed on November 6, 2018.

Coordinates: 53 ° 15 ′ 52.4 "  N , 7 ° 23 ′ 15.2"  E