Reformed Church (Aurich)
The reformed church in Aurich is the only classicist central building in East Frisia.
history
In the 17th century, only a few Reformed people lived in the East Frisian residence. Since 1685 they turned to the Fürstenhof in the unparalleled Aurich with the request to be allowed to hold Reformed church services. However, this was only approved after Reformed people from France ( Huguenots ) had been admitted to the royal court around 1700 . The services were initially held in private homes. In 1748, Friedrich II of Prussia made the former garrison church on the upper floor of the castle guard available to the community. In 1770 the congregation was allowed to appoint its own pastor for the first time. The community then continued to grow through influx from the Reformed areas of East Friesland and religious refugees from the Palatinate, who founded the Palatinate Villages near Aurich around 1800 . In 1811 the castle guard with the former garrison church on the upper floor burned down.
After a donation of 15,000 francs from Napoleon , the community built its own church between 1812 and 1814 according to plans by the Aurich architect Conrad Bernhard Meyer . It is the only classicist central building in the Weser-Ems area, designed as a round building with a dome supported by eight Corinthian columns . The construction brought the community to the brink of ruin, as it cost almost fifteen times as much as Napoleon's donation to complete. Collections of the Lutheran and Jewish communities in Aurich were ultimately able to avert the threatened bankruptcy of the Reformed community and complete the construction of the church. In 1859 the community built a parsonage which, together with the church, forms a culturally significant building ensemble.
A comprehensive renovation took place from 2001 to 2003, during which the church and organ were largely restored to their original condition.
Today around 1400 people belong to the community.
Furnishing
The communion utensils come from the possession of the princes of East Friesland from the house of Cirksena . The silver vessels are gold-plated and were made in Augsburg around 1730 in the Régence style. They are exhibited in the Historical Museum .
The organ set up by Gerd Sieben Janssen from Aurich between 1836 and 1538 originally had eleven stops. About 35 pipes and the prospectus have been preserved in the original. In 2003 the Winold van der Putten company reconstructed and expanded it to 18 registers and two manuals .
See also
literature
- Robert Noah: The Reformed Church in Aurich ( Ostfriesische Kunstführer , issue 6). Aurich 1983.
- Hans-Bernd Rödiger, Heinz Ramm: Frisian churches in Auricherland, Norderland, Brokmerland and in Krummhörn , Volume 2. Verlag CL Mettcker & Sons, Jever (2nd edition) 1983, p. 28 f.
- Ev.-ref. Parish Aurich (Ed.): 175 years Ev.-ref. Church Aurich - Contributions to the history and life of the Ev.-ref. Parish Aurich . Self-published, Aurich 1989 (editor: Wolfgang Henninger).
- Ev.-ref. Parish Aurich (Hrsg.): Organ town Aurich . Self-published, Aurich 2003 (editor: Wolfgang Henninger).
Web links
- aurich.reformiert.de
- Genealogy forum: Aurich
Individual evidence
- ^ Reformiert.de: Evangelisch-Reformierte Gemeinde Aurich , viewed on August 4, 2011.
- ↑ Ev.-ref. Parish Aurich (Hrsg.): Organ town Aurich . Self-published, Aurich 2003, p. 46–48 (Editor: Wolfgang Henninger).
Coordinates: 53 ° 28 ′ 13.6 ″ N , 7 ° 28 ′ 50.5 ″ E
