Reformed Church (Borkum)
The Reformed Church on the island of Borkum is a historic church in East Frisia . The church was built from 1896 to 1897 in a historicist style and merges elements of Art Nouveau and Neo-Gothic . It is the only Evangelical Reformed island church in East Frisia.
history
The church had at least three previous buildings. Gatelt Adden can be traced back to 1536 as the first Protestant pastor of the island community. The first Protestant church was built around 1550. In 1576, the city of Emden had the so-called old lighthouse built next to this church as a daily sea mark for the ships that wanted to enter the Ems. At the same time it served the community as a bell tower.
In the 18th century, the island experienced a period of prosperity due to whaling, which was also expressed in a new church built in 1730. In 1804 this church was so dilapidated due to neglect and weather conditions that it had to be replaced.
After the new roadstead and the Borkumer Kleinbahn went into operation in 1888, and Borkum could thus be reached comfortably for the first time, the bathing business on the island expanded very quickly and on a large scale. This led to an increase in the population, which made the church with its 400 seats too small. In the bathing season it was also hopelessly overcrowded with guests. Wealthy visitors pushed for a new building and organized collections, concerts and lectures in order to raise the necessary financial resources.
Since there was not a sufficiently large building site at the old lighthouse, the new church was built in 1896/1897 a little to the south-west, at that time on an open meadow. Construction began in May 1896, and the foundation stone was laid in June 1896. Since the ground was not particularly stable, piers 10 meters deep had to be driven into the ground on which the foundation rests. The building was then built from brick based on a design by the Berlin architect Otto March . Christian Voss took over the local construction management. After around 14 months of construction, the church was consecrated on July 18, 1897. Overall, the construction costs amounted to 124,411.49 marks . The original slate covering of the roofs was replaced in 1982 by copper sheet, which is supposed to withstand the weather conditions on the island better.
For a comprehensive building renovation, which is to begin in 2019, costs of € 540,000 are required. For this purpose, the community received € 170,000 from the special monument protection program.
The parish today comprises around 1,800 parishioners and also looks after numerous holidaymakers on Borkum.
architecture
According to the architect, the historicist architecture is based on Dutch brick architecture. Stylistically it is an eclectic combination of elements from Gothic , Renaissance and Art Nouveau. Some elements of the beginning Art Nouveau can also be seen in the ornaments of the interior.
The roughly east-facing church has the same floor plan as the mountain church in Osnabrück . The 40 m high church tower is integrated into the building. It is flanked in the north and south by round stair towers, which are finished with a motif band with lozenges and loops and a round arch frieze and covered by a round helmet. The tower's gable roof has a stepped gable in a curved blind niche. In the niche there are three arched sound openings for the bells, the middle of which is elevated. The imposing west side has five sound openings under the eaves. The four-sided, slender pointed helmet grows out of the gable roof, crowned by a tower knob and a ship sailing close to the wind as a weather vane .
The nave is given a cross shape by a transept with two short side arms and the same ridge height. In contrast, the short eastern part opposite the ship is slightly drawn in and lower. The north and south sides of the church are illuminated through windows in two zones. The nave has three arched windows in the upper area. Below an ornamental field with a diamond under two loops, three narrow double windows with arched arches are embedded in a niche. In the gable ends of the side arms there are three arched windows at the top, of which the middle one is elevated, in a curved niche. The narrow arched windows under the ornament band: a triple window and two twin windows. The west side is designed similar to the gable sides of the transept, but has three twin windows below. On the other hand, the east side has four arched windows and no ornamental ribbon. In return, it is dominated by a large curved tracery panel with nuns' heads and fish bladders.
There is space for around 900 people in the church and on the gallery. The separate community hall was previously connected to the nave with wooden flaps. These could be removed if necessary, so that an additional 100 believers could celebrate the service.
Furnishing
The wooden church furnishings are wood-look and simple. The wooden ceiling is modeled on a ship's floor. A steering wheel serves as a ceiling lamp. By aligning with the central pulpit and the three-sided gallery, the interior becomes a sermon church. The staggered gallery rests on square posts that run through the gallery in the western part and support the ceiling. The niche in the eastern part above the gallery serves as the installation site for the organ.
The votive ship armed with cannons and erected next to the pulpit dates back to the time of the previous church, perhaps even around 1800 . The polygonal pulpit has profiled pulpit fields and a polygonal sound cover. An inscription with a Bible verse from Ps 93,5 LUT is attached to the side of the pulpit. Roelof Gerrits Meyer donated the two silver goblets brought from Amsterdam in 1754 . The fence from Walkinnladen , which surrounds today's rectory in Wilhelm-Bakker-Strasse, also came from him.
The Reformed tradition is reflected in the fact that instead of the altar in front of the pulpit there is a communion table and the church has no pictures and no crucifix . A Dutch Bible is on the table.
organ
A harmonium was purchased for the previous church in 1863 to accompany the song, which was replaced in 1886 by a used house organ (II / P / 10). In the course of the new church building, the instrument was sold to the Berumerfehner Church , where it was in service until 1959. Johann Diepenbrock built his last organ for the new church in 1900, Otto March designed the prospectus . It had mechanical cone chests and 15 stops , which were divided into two manuals and a pedal . In 1961, Emanuel Kemper restored the work and built a 4 ′ octave into the pedal.
In 1973, the Berlin workshop of Karl Schuke installed the present organ behind a seven-axis prospect on the eastern gallery above the pulpit. The instrument has 18 voices on two manuals and pedal and is used regularly for concerts. In 2005 Bartelt Immer carried out an overhaul and re-intonation of the organ.
The arrangement of the organ is as follows:
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- Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
Bells
The original bronze bell weighed 700 kg and was melted down during the First World War . Immediately after the end of the war, on the initiative of Pastor Immer, a collection began for a bell fund, for which the small bronze bell (450 kg) was sold as storage metal. In 1922, the three hard-cast iron bells were purchased from Ulrich & Weule for the 25th anniversary of the church and can still be heard from the church tower today. The strikes d 1 , f sharp 1 and a 1 result in a major triad.
See also
literature
- Woldemar Beeneken: Our car. A chronicle of the Evangelical Reformed parish of Borkum. Edited by the Evangelical Reformed Church Community. Risius, Veener 1997.
- Gottfried Kiesow : Architecture Guide East Friesland . Verlag Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz , Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-86795-021-3 , p. 373 .
- Otto March: New Reformed Church on Borkum. In: Centralblatt der Bauverwaltung , Volume 18 1898, No. 51 (from December 17, 1898), urn : nbn: de: kobv: 109-opus-31909 , p. 620 f. (with four pictures)
- 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. 43.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Evangelical Reformed Congregation Borkum on reformiert.de , accessed on September 9, 2019.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Borkum parishes: Evangelical Reformed Church: Our buildings . Retrieved September 9, 2019 . , accessed on September 9, 2019.
- ↑ a b c March: New Reformed Church on Borkum. 1898, p. 621.
- ^ Ostfriesen-Zeitung of May 10, 2019 , accessed on September 10, 2019.
- ↑ Kiesow: Architecture Guide Ostfriesland. 2010, p. 373.
- ^ March: New Reformed Church on Borkum. 1898, p. 620.
- ^ Walter Hans Kaufmann: The organs of East Frisia . East Frisian Landscape, Aurich 1968, p. 78-79 .
- ↑ Organ database orgbase.nl, accessed on September 9, 2019.
Coordinates: 53 ° 35 ′ 12.8 " N , 6 ° 40 ′ 8.1" E