St. Nikolai Church (Lübbenau)
| Saint Nikolai Church | |
|---|---|
 View of the church from the market square |
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| Construction year: | 1660 (tower), 1738–1741 |
| Inauguration: | under the patronage of St. Nikolai |
| Builder : | Christian Friedrich Renner |
| Architect : | Johann Gottfried Findeisen |
| Style elements : | Baroque |
| Client: | Evangelical Nikolai parish Lübbenau |
| Tower height: |
60 m |
| Location: | 51 ° 52 '4.2 " N , 13 ° 58' 8.7" E |
| Location: |
Lübbenau Brandenburg , Germany |
| Purpose: | Protestant church service |
| Local community: | Evangelical parish Nikolai Lübbenau |
| Parish: | Church square 4 |
| Website: | www.kirche-luebbenau.de |
The Sankt-Nikolai-Kirche is the Protestant church in the old town of Lübbenau / Spreewald . It is an important architectural monument of the Dresden Baroque in Niederlausitz and belongs to the evangelical church district Niederlausitz .
History of the church building
Previous construction
At the site of the Nikolaikirche there was already an earlier church whose construction time has not been recorded. In 1640 the tower of this church burned down after being struck by lightning. From 1657 to 1660 the tower was renewed. In 1663 the church received an organ . In 1736 the church building was closed due to dilapidation and later demolished. The cause of the dilapidation may have been the swampy subsoil, which is also causing problems for the new church. The residential areas around the church building were criss-crossed by partly navigable rivers and ditches until the 19th century. The churchgoers came from the surrounding towns to the church with boats and dressed in traditional costumes.
In the 18th century a new church was built
From 1738 to 1741 a new church building was built on the foundations of the previous building according to plans by Johann Gottfried Findeisen from Dresden in the Baroque style . Findeisen had integrated the old church tower into his building plans. The foundation of the entire building rests on alder trunks . The first patron saint of the church was Moritz Carl Graf zu Lynar ; the first sermon took place on February 12, 1741. On September 25, 1754, three bells were installed in the tower. A bell cast in Prague in 1625 already belonged to the old church. So that the sound of the bells can spread unchecked in all directions, the fortress builder Christian Friedrich Renner from Dresden , who was commissioned with the construction, decided to raise the tower. In 1778 the old spire was removed and the tower was raised to around 60 m. The construction master and carpenter Neubert from Lübbenau was responsible for the execution of this work . The facade of the church was initially designed with pilasters and pilasters . In the 19th century the facade got its current appearance.
On August 28, 1895, the church received three new bells in the tones E, G sharp and H, which, however , had to be delivered to the armaments industry on July 26, 1917 during the First World War . Three new cast steel bells that are still in place today were wound into the tower on December 17, 1919.
Refurbishments and renovations since 1990
In 1992 the church roof was re-covered. In 1998 there was a new whitening of the interior of the church. As early as the 1970s and 1980s, but especially since 1996, cracks in the masonry appeared more frequently. The north side and the tower were hardest hit. The open-cast lignite mining west of Lübbenau had caused the groundwater to sink considerably. After several hundred years, the alder stakes, which were now outside the groundwater and served as the foundation, began to rot, so that the structure sank. The church building was given a concrete foundation in 2000 to prevent it from sinking further. Any cracks that occurred were pressed. By 2007 the outer facade, the church tower, the roof structure and the leaded glass windows of the altar were also renovated. However, the church tower is still 14 cm from the perpendicular and inclined towards the town hall.
History of the parish
Church affiliation
The parish of Lübbenau belonged to the parish of Calau and had three pastors. The pastor oversaw all church and school affairs in Lübbenau. He was also responsible for official acts in Sankt Nikolai and looked after the Lübbenau residents as well as the residents of the castle district and some villages in the vicinity. The second pastor was the deacon, who attended the daughter churches in the villages in the area and only preached every four to six weeks in Sankt Nikolai. The third pastor's office had to perform the role of the rector . At Sankt Nikolai, preaching was also held in Wendish, i.e. Lower Sorbian .
The last regular Wendish service took place in 1867 by the pastor Christian Friedrich Stempel . After Stempel died in 1867, preaching was only in German .
A church choir was founded in 1884 and is still active as a cantata choir. In 1909 the pastor's position for the rector ceased. In 1928, the church's supervision of schools in Lübbenau ended. In 1929 the designation chief pastor was dropped, there were now city and country pastors. However, the pastor still had to attend to the villages previously cared for by the pastor.
St. Nikolai in the time of fascism
From 1932 there was a power struggle in the parish council between the German Christians , who were close to National Socialism , and a Christian-apolitical tendency which, according to their confession, was assigned to the later Confessing Church . Pastor Hans von Lübenow also belonged to the Confessing Church, which opposed National Socialism. In the parish council election in 1932, the German Christians who campaigned for a revision of the Old Testament to remove Jewish ideas were defeated. Before a service of the German Christians scheduled for May 14, 1939 in Sankt Nikolai, the parish council tried to prevent this service from being held. After this failed, the pastors Heimbach and von Lübenow read a pulpit notice three times that warned against the German Christians. In one case, the sexton Lowka saved a Jewish family through the deliberately false issue of a pedigree certificate.
For every Lübbenau victim of the Second World War, the community had decided to hang up a wreath with a white bow. At the end of the war, only the loops were attached for reasons of space. In 1942, Sankt Nikolai had to deliver the hour bell for armament purposes. Instead, a rail car buffer was hung.
The Lübbenau Church in the GDR era
With the construction of the Lübbenauer Neustadt in the course of the power plant construction, the development of its own community began there in 1958. In 1963 the third parish office was re-established for this purpose, and the Lübbenau-Neustadt church has been an independent parish since 1965 . In 1966 the city of Lübbenau contributed to the cost of a new exterior plastering of the church, city councilors took part in the thanksgiving service. During the GDR era , the pastors' telephones were tapped by the State Security . In 1968 there were protests in Lübbenau against the crackdown on the Prague Spring , with which the pastors expressed their solidarity.
In 1984 the church received a new organ, which replaced the one originally built in 1741 and rebuilt in 1880 and 1914. In the same year, on May 25th, shortly before the inauguration of the new organ, a fire broke out in the church tower after a lightning strike. The top of the church tower fell down while burning, but without causing any major damage to the church building. The spire could still be replaced in 1984.
In 2008 the parish had approximately 1250 parishioners (as of December 31, 2008).
architecture
Nave
The nave is closed with a flat ceiling. The windows in the shape of a slender arch are characteristic of the appearance of the church building. The wing glass door with stained-glass windows with the image of the Good Shepherd and a Bible verse is also striking . The two galleries are characteristic of Protestant church buildings in Saxony, with the organ in the middle. The coats of arms of the count's family and the officers are attached to the boxes.
Steeple
The three-storey tower with a square floor plan is crowned by a hood with a lantern and a double cross. The sound openings of the unequal-sided octagonal bell chamber are designed as round arches. Central portals are on the north and south sides. The main entrance to the baroque hall church is on the west side at the foot of the tower.
Furnishing
Inside the church, the rococo furnishings created by the artists of the Saxon court in Dresden have largely been preserved.
Altar, pulpit, galleries
The altar is on the east side and takes up almost the entire height of the nave. It is designed as an aedicule with inclined pillars closed with composite capitals and was made in 1741 by a Mr. Schreiber in Dresden. There is a volute gable on the pillars , which frames the divine eye in a halo. In the eye there is a Hebrew inscription with the name of God. Above the pillars there are smoke vessels that represent the prayers of Christians. The altarpiece created by Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich , which was also created in 1741, shows an Easter motif. The victory over death is symbolized by a green palm branch.
The pulpit , also made in Dresden in 1741, was created by Krubel and is located on the right in front of the altar at the southern box. The sound cover is crowned by a gilded Christ figure. The golden robe identifies him as God's Son. On the parapet of the pulpit, the command panels are shown and decorated with flowers and leaves. The tree-like tendrils are intended to remind of the Garden of Eden and thus of unity with God. Putti heads form the pulpit console.
From 1864 consisting comes bronze -made baptismal . The sculpture is a cast of a Danish original that was created by Bertel Thorvaldsen for the Frauenkirche in Copenhagen . The cast was donated by the Countess zu Lynar (née von der Marwitz ) on the occasion of the convalescence of her child and it was probably made in the workshop of the Prussian sculptor Christian Daniel Rauch . Alexander Linnemann from Frankfurt created glass windows for the church.
On the north and south side walls there are two-storey galleries , which in the chancel enabled the typical 18th century separation according to stalls. There is also a single-storey gallery on the west side. This has a swinging parapet painted by the Dresden painter Gotthelf Kirchner .
organ
On the western gallery there is a dreitürmiger in the years 1741-1743 by J. J. Köpler from Sorau made organ . The current organ comes from the workshop of the Dresden organ builder Jehmlich and was installed in 1984. The mechanical slider drawer instrument has 35 registers on two manuals and a pedal , with mechanical performance and electrical register action . On the organ, on a blue background, is the angel's hymn of praise: Gloria in excelsis deo ( Glory to God on high ).
Company Orgelbau Reinhard Hüfken from Halberstadt renovated the instrument in 2010 and intoned it again. Since then, a Zimbelstern has adorned the prospectus . It was consecrated again with a concert on Reformation Day .
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- Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
- Playing aids : 32-fold setting system , individual storage, pleno, Zimbelstern
Also noteworthy are the clock bells cast in Prague in 1602 in the lantern of the church tower.
Gravestones and memorial plaques
There are various tombs inside the church . Close to the entrance on the south side is the tomb of Hieronimus de Weding, who died in 1765 and was court judge of the Lübbenau class . His foster daughter Elisabeth Dorothea Kunau had the memorial set up. Chronos carries the sculpture, Justitia sits on the sarcophagus , surrounded by mourning putti and a skull eaten by snakes. The grave inscription reads: Hieronimus de Wedig "entered into the joy of the Lord, whom he already served and honored here over all dominions and powers".
On the opposite side is the tomb of Juliana von Wolfersdorf, who died as a child in 1627, daughter of the noble and strict Ulrich von Wolffersdorf . This originally stood in the village church of Groß Lübbenau , which, however, along with other parts of the village of Groß Lübbenau, was demolished in 1988 for the purpose of mining lignite .
To the right of the altar under the gallery, the visitor will notice the wall epitaph created in 1765 by the Dresden court sculptor Johann Gottfried Knöffler on behalf of Moritz Carl zu Lynar, who died in 1768 . Next to the sarcophagus resting over lions' heads are three female allegories . They stand for justice, faith and bravery. The house of Lynar boasted of these three virtues. The three are supposed to triumph over death and mourning, which is represented by the old woman lying under the sarcophagus. The family coat of arms , held by death, is shown broken, indicating that the Count's marriage was childless. The name of the deceased is held above by putti and angels. The eye of God is also shown here. Another sarcophagus made of sandstone contains the bones of the count's wife, Christiane Friedericke Henriette, née von Fleming (1709–1730), who died in 1730.
Next to the grave of Moritz Carl zu Lynar, a memorial plaque refers to the count's brother Rochus Friedrich zu Lynar , who died in 1781 . After Moritz Carl's death, he took over the civil status in Lübbenau. Another tomb stands for the deacon Christian Albrecht Ermel (1673–1737) and is located on the east side under the southern gallery. The Old and New Testaments are represented symbolically. His widow had the sentence added: “He taught purely, lived honestly, cared faithfully, prayed earnestly, died blessed, left the local church his library, all the blessings, with the scholarly world fame, the community a laudable example and a deeply bowed one, but thankful widow. "
Behind the altar is a tombstone for von der Schulenburg , which dates back to the end of the 16th century and is designed as a shell niche in which there is a figure of the deceased, dressed in armor. In the sacristy there is a wall tomb for C. S. Jänischen, who died in 1750, and his wife Johanna Sophie, who died in 1742. A curved vitreous table is framed by three allegories of virtue .
There is also a memorial plaque in the church for the parishioners who fell in World War I. Other memorial plaques honor the family members of the Lynars between 1781 and 1928. On the north-eastern wall, a wooden cross commemorates Wilhelm Friedrich Rochus Graf zu Lynar . He was executed on September 29, 1944 as a resistance fighter against the National Socialists as a result of the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on July 20, 1944 . The Johanniterkreuz comes from the Seese village cemetery , which had to give way to an open-cast brown coal mine. Wilhelm Graf zu Lynar had lived in Seese. The cross bears the Bible verse "I fought a good fight, I finished the run, I kept faith."
literature
- Hans-Joachim Beeskow : Guide through the Protestant churches of the parish of Lübben . Lübben 1998, ISBN 3-929600-14-5
- Jens Eschrich in Dehio, Handbook of German Art Monuments , Brandenburg , Deutscher Kunstverlag , Munich and Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-422-03054-9 , page 627 f.
- Wolfgang Seeliger and Joachim Liedtke: The Church in Lübbenau . In: History of the City of Lübbenau / Spreewald - 20th Century . 2004, page 238 ff.
- Evangelical town church St. Nikolai Lübbenau / Spreewald . Brochure of the parish council of St. Nikolai, around 2008, without indication of the author
Web links
- Entry in the monument database of the State of Brandenburg
- Homepage of the evangelical parishes of Lübbenau
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans-Joachim Beeskow : Guide through the Protestant churches of the parish of Lübben . Lübben 1998, ISBN 3-929600-14-5 , page 138; other information: Seeliger: The church buildings . In: History of the City of Lübbenau . Page 240: 1777 and 74.25 m
- ↑ St. Nikolai , brochure, page 11.
- ↑ Christel Lehmann-Enders and Ute Henschel: The Spreewalddorf Lehde . 1996, page 17
- ↑ Hans-Joachim Beeskow: Guide through the Protestant churches of the parish of Lübben . Lübben 1998, ISBN 3-929600-14-5 , p. 138; other information: Seeliger: The church buildings . In: History of the City of Lübbenau . Page 240: not until 1985
- ↑ Eschrich in Dehio, page 628; Beeskow, page 138, states that the prospectus was created in 1741 by court sculptor Dreyssigmark from Sorgau.
- ↑ Lübbenau - Nikolaikirche. Organ. In: Internet presence of the organ concert series in Großräschen / Niederlausitz. Großräschener Organ Concerts e. V., archived from the original on December 27, 2013 ; Retrieved January 1, 1900 .
- ↑ Flyer: Evangelical Nikolaikirche Lübbenau / Spreewald. 2nd revised edition 5/2011.
- ↑ Eschrich in Dehio, page 628; Beeskow, page 138, interprets the grave and the figure as that of Elisabeth Dorothea Kunau, who died childless. The grave is representative of the women who used to lose their children here more often to malaria or who remained childless.
- ↑ Eschrich in Dehio, page 628; Beeskow, page 138, interprets the grave as the tomb of Ulrich von Wolffersdorf.