Reformed Church Densbueren

Reformed Church of Densbueren

The Reformed Church of Densbüren is the Reformed village church in the Aargau community of Densbüren in Switzerland .

history

Originally there was a chapel in Densbüren, the population belonged to the parish of Herznach and went to church there. When the Bernese acquired the rule of Urgiz in 1502 and Densbüren came to Bern , the church conditions initially remained unchanged, even if Herznach belonged to Upper Austria . This situation changed fundamentally when the Reformation was introduced in Bern in 1528 . Densbüren was separated from the parish of Herznach in 1534 and assigned to the parish of Elfingen . Since the way to the church was long, the chapel was replaced by a church between 1552 and 1558. In 1643, Densbüren became an independent parish, and in 1663 the church was given new furnishings.

building

Interior of the church

The church stands a little higher on the slope of the Rüdlenberg. It is built in a simple late Gothic style, its facade is only structured by pointed arched windows without tracery and two profiled pointed arched entrances. A gable roof with a pointed roof turret spans over it , in which there are two bells from 1663 and 1936. A tracery rosette with four fish bubble medallions is embedded above the adhesive roof at the west entrance. Above it is a clock with an unadorned dial .

Inside, a pointed arch divides the nave from the equally wide choir . This has the shape of a flat polygon and is slightly raised. On the north side a staircase leads to the attic. The pulpit, which is also polygonal, is attached to the right-hand partition wall of the choir. The stained glass windows of the church show on the one hand the coats of arms of the local citizens, on the other hand they represent high holidays.

organ

View of the organ

An organ was built on the gallery in 1956 , which replaced a previously used harmonium. The company Orgelbau Maag AG, Zurich, built a multiplex organ on the right-hand gallery side, with which many variations of the registration are possible with relatively few registers and many transmissions and extracts from them. The organ was inaugurated on November 22, 1956. The Maag company built wind chests with the technically not fully developed solenoid valves for controlling the organ pipes. After several repairs and renewal attempts, the organ was finally rebuilt and received conventional mechanical action and dragging windchests. In 2019 the organ was overhauled by Orgelbau Kuhn AG, Männedorf. The wind turbine on the church screed was rebuilt and the air is sucked in through a hole in the church ceiling in the church interior. The organ has two manuals and a pedal and a total of 18 stops. During the renovation, the crescendo stop and the 8 'trumpet in the first manual were removed. The disposition is:

1. Manual
Principal	8th'
Reed flute	8th'
octave	4 ′
recorder	4 ′
Fifth	2 ² ⁄ ₃  ′
Mixture III-IV	2 ′
third	1 ³ ⁄ ₅  ′

2. Manual
Dumped	8th'
Suavual	8th'
Principal	4 ′
Night horn	4 ′
Flageolet	2 ′
Larigot	1 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′
Sharp III-IV	1'

pedal
Sub bass	16 ′
Dacked bass	8th'
Octave bass	8th'
Thack flute	8th'

Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
Playing aids : Shelf for mixture (1st man.) And Sharp (2nd man.)

Bells

Old bells in front of the church.

Two old bells, from 1663 and 1825, stand outside the church on the west side. Three bells strike in the church tower, all from the Rüetschi bell foundry in Aarau, from 1936, and two from 1976.

First bell (1663)

The first bell was cast in 1663 in Peter Füssli's bell foundry in Zurich.

Inscription in front

Her Albrecht Von Graffen
Riedt Diser Zeit Ober
Vogt zu SchenkenBerg

(Coat of arms of the Von Graffenriedt family )

Inscription above:

"SOLI DEO HONOR ET GLORIA DOMINUS TECUM"

Inscription on the back:

VS HITZ VND FOR I AM
FLOODED PETER FÜSSLI
VO ZURICH HAS ME GOSSE

Second bell (1825)

The second bell was cast in the Rüetschi bell foundry in Aarau in 1825.

Inscription above: "HERR FRANZ GOTTLIB IMHOFF DER ZEIT PRIOR IN DENSCHBÜREN"
Inscription below: "CAST BY JAKOB VND SEBASTIAN RUETSCHI IN ARAU 1825"

Third bell (1936)

Front inscription:

FONDUE PAR
RÜETSCHI S.-A. AARAU
1936

Fourth (big) bell (1976)

Front inscription:

I AM
THE LIGHT
OF THE WORLD

Inscription on the back:

REFORMED
CHURCH
DENSBÜREN

Inscription below: BELLENGIESSEREI H.RÜETSCHI AG AARAU 1976

Fifth (small) bell (1976)

Front inscription:

YOU ARE
THE LIGHT
OF THE WORLD

Inscription on the back:

REFORMED
CHURCH
DENSBÜREN

Inscription below: BELLENGIESSEREI H.RÜETSCHI AG AARAU 1976

window

Choir window

The three choir windows were created in 1964/65 by W. Sommer in the A. Rojser studio:

Window left
driveway
Window Middle
Good Friday
Window right
Pentecost

Founder's coat of arms

Two windows show Swiss panes with the coat of arms of the rulership of Bern and the founder, Albrecht von Graffenried , Obervogt vff Schenkenberg .

Family coat of arms

The coats of arms of ten families are shown: Amsler, Fasler, Frey, Windisch, Muster, Nussbaum, Pfister, Senn, Wehrli and Hochstrasser.

Bach and Mozart weeks

A window reminds of the "Bach and Mozart Weeks" in 1988 on the Herzberg .

rosette

There is a rose window above the entrance .

Varia

Stone in memory of pastors who died in the service of the community.

A stone on the church wall commemorates the pastors who died in the service of the community:

M. Otto Schmid von Zurzach, 1840–1872, (pastor 1864–1872),
Johann Matthias Lüthi von Thundorf, 1828–1886, (pastor 1872–1886).

literature

Michael Stettler: The art monuments of the canton of Aargau . Ed .: Society for Swiss Art History . Volume I: The districts of Aarau, Kulm, Zofingen. Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel 1948, p. 140-142 .
Ref. Kirchgemeinde Densbüren (Hrsg.): 350 years church Densbüren . 2013.
Peter Fasler: Organ Directory Switzerland . 2013.