Simon-Petrus-Church (Bremen)
The Simon-Petrus-Kirche is located in the Bremen district habenhausen in the Obervieland district . It is the newest sacred building of the Bremen Evangelical Church based on plans by Will Baltzer from Wuppertal and, together with the St. Johannes Church in the neighboring district of Arsten, forms the Evangelical Church Community of Arsten-habenhausen.
Building history
The construction of the Simon-Petrus-Kirche became necessary because the St. John's Church and the associated community center in Arsten no longer had sufficient capacity due to the new construction and the associated increase in population .
The church was consecrated on December 17, 1995, the third Advent. Further building elements were added later (e.g. bells, organ, artistically designed windows and doors).
architecture
The external appearance is dominated by the modern architecture with bricks; Metal and glass elements complement the architecture. The nave in east-west direction and has a cuboid, glass roof attachment. It has an almost rectangular floor plan, except for two irregularities: the sacristy on the northeast corner and the round apse at the east end. Together with the parish hall to which the church is attached, it encloses the paved churchyard. The 18 meter high bell tower is connected to the parish hall by a wall and a walkway. It consists of exposed steel struts, which are only covered with wood in the upper third. The carillon is located here.
inner space
The interior walls are white and the roof beams are natural colored. A lot of light falls through the partly glass roof. The nave seats about 240 people, but can be extended for special occasions.
The sculptor Thomas Duttenhoefer designed the altar cross, the pulpit, a small pieta and the base of the altar. The altar plate dates from the Middle Ages. There is also a baptismal font and five differently designed windows.
pulpit
The pulpit made Thomas Duttenhoefer made with patina -coated iron. A fragment of a fishing net is emblazoned on its front, which curves slightly towards the community. The net is intended to remember the namesake of the church, the apostle and fisherman Simon Petrus , who was called by Jesus of Nazareth to be a “ fisherman of men” ( Luke 5.10 EU ).
Altar cross
The altar cross was also created by Thomas Duttenhoefer. It is made of iron and covered with patina. The cross, handed over in 1997, leans in the apse behind the altar and is approx. 3 meters high and 1.5 meters wide.
Duttenhoefer attached importance to the symbolism of what is depicted. For example, the left arm of Jesus of Nazarets is stretched out on the crossbar and the open hand points to heaven. The ear, in turn, is turned to the community and its prayers. The artist left the face of the crucified one covered.
Altar plate
The altar plate (dimensions approx. 1.90 m × 1.10 m × 0.20 m) is made of sandstone and has five consecration crosses on its top . It has been estimated that the plate dates from around 1250.
It was located in the Arster St. Johannes Church. It was assumed that at the time of the second Reformation , during the change of the Bremen churches from Lutheran doctrine to Reformed doctrine , it was canceled in the period from 1581 to 1595.
In 1581 the Reformed theology professor Christoph Pezel from Hessen-Nassau was sent to Bremen to reorganize the church there. It was imposed on him, as he himself wrote:
- "The redesign of the services in the Reformed sense [...] The high altars and pictures were removed from the churches."
Two years later Pezel published a treatise in which he described the removal of the
- "Holy and completely shapeless images and idols"
justified. Looking back on his work, Pezel wrote in the Consensus Bremensis in 1595 :
- "Now [...] many Evangelical Churches [...] have deliberately abolished the altar and instead of using a comfortable table, turned or covered with a cloth, which is left in one place for and for, and then the Lord's Supper is served in due time. Let us let [...] be a piece of christian freedom, which after the removal of the idol, the masonry of the altar is used as a stone table in the churches [...]. "
At the time, this insight came too late for many church interiors, including the altar plate from Arsten. Historians date its termination to the year 1586. For this year the archivist Hermann Post noted in his chronicle:
- "This year the papal altars, which are still different from time to time in those parish churches, have been completely removed" .
The slab was then probably laid as a floor fragment in the nave. During a comprehensive restoration of St. John's Church in 1899, the plate was probably processed. This is indicated by slight traces of damage on its back and edge processing, which suggests that the panel should be readjusted. In 1966 it was removed from the ground during a further renovation and used as a tabletop for a stone table in the garden of the community center in Arsten. Since 1995 it has been used as an altar plate again in the Simon Petrus Church.
organ
The organ was created in 1942 in the work of the company Metzler organ building in the Swiss Dietikon and was a production for the Catholic church in the north of Zurich situated Rafz . When this parish offered the organ for sale, the organ was purchased. After a general restoration and construction of a new case made of cherry wood, it has been in use since 1998.
The organ's dispositions are as follows:
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Peter window
In 2000, the community contacted the artist Hella Santarossa . She became famous for the design of the windows in the Heiliggeistkirche in Heidelberg . The new windows were inaugurated in 2002.
Based on the name Petrus , which means rock , Santarossa designed a material collage of white, green and blue glass, shells, metal, stones, driftwood and other objects.
Their goal was to join the three windows, separated by two wall supports, into one unit. She succeeded in doing this with a circle of volcanic stones from the Taunus, which stretches across all three parts. The stones are both inside the two discs and on top of them, so that some of them are raised. There are also small glass balls, crab claws and two fishing flies in the window. In addition, pieces of film with parts of Bible quotes were worked into the windows.
The mussels and sea snails were collected in the churchyard of the Dutch village of Zurich near the closure dike and brought to Bremen. The crab claws were more difficult to come by. The Derix Glasstudios Taunusstein - Wehen glazier commissioned with the production of the windows therefore wrote to Santarossa on April 15, 2002:
- “It was [...] possible to get a certain amount of mussels from private circles. However, the search for crab claws (also due to the geographical location of Hesse) remains almost impossible. Perhaps you could limit yourself a little in such details? "
Company employees turned on their relatives living on the east coast of the United States and some time later they received a package of fresh, but untreated, crab claws. It was not possible to completely remove the meat from the scissors without breaking them. That is why they were coated with a special paint that made them odor-proof.
Baptismal window
In February 2003, two more windows designed by the artist were installed in the south-western corner of the nave, the baptismal font. There is one on either side of the corner, one on the west and one on the south wall.
She saw in the color scheme - pure blue and pure red - heaven and hell. Other interpretations speak of the water of baptism or open heaven and the love of God and the fire of the Holy Spirit.
Bells
The 18 bells of the Simon-Petrus-Kirche, which together weigh 1432 kilograms, were cast from bronze by the Dutch company Petit & Fritsen in Aarle-Rixtel near Helmond .
The c 2 is the largest and heaviest bell. It weighs around 250 kilograms. This is followed by the d 2 and the f 2 . The smallest bell, g 3 , weighs just 28 kilograms. In 2011, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the carillon, the community decided to have six more bells cast, so that the carillon now has 24 bells. The habenhauser Schaffergesellschaft took over the financing of the approximately € 20,000 purchase.
Carillon
In the Glockenspiel, the largest on the left of the Weser and one of only five in total in Bremen (the other four are in the St. Marien Church in Bremerhaven, in the St. Magni Church in the Bremen district of St. Magnus, in the chapel of the Bremen-Mitte Clinic and in the St. Martini Church in Bremen's old town), all bells are integrated.
As with most glockenspiels, the bells do not vibrate, but are fixed in place and are struck by a hammer that is triggered by an electromagnetic pulse. It is controlled by a Musical Instrument Digital Interface computer. Concerts can be given using a keyboard.
Every day at 12:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. the carillon plays a melody or a song. These times are traditionally prayer times in the Church. The songs come from either the Evangelical Hymnbook or the Reformed Psalter .
Peal
Three bells are an exception. The so-called chime bells can vibrate freely. They are the three largest.
The c 2 is the holiday and festival bell. It bears two inscriptions. Conserva Domine Hospitium Tuae Ecclesiae means something like keep, Lord, the inn of your church . This writing was already on the bridge gate to Bremen city center in the 17th century and on one of the large bells of Bremen Cathedral until the First World War . The second inscription reads I will exalt you, my God, King, and praise your name forever and ever and is taken from the 145th Psalm.
The d 2 is the mourning or consolation bell. If a parishioner has died, it strikes from 11:30 a.m. to 11:35 a.m. This bell also has an inscription from Psalm 145, which reads The Lord holds all who fall and raises all who are struck down .
The third ringing bell is the f 2 , the prayer bell, which is adorned with the saying I will praise you daily and praise your name forever and ever , which also comes from the 145th Psalm.
The ringing order is as follows:
- Funeral service: d 2 (mourning or consolation bell) and f 2 (prayer bell)
- Death in the community: d 2 (mourning or consolation bell) from 11:30 a.m. to 11:35 a.m.
- Wedding: c 2 and d 2 (mourning or consolation bell)
- Baptism service: c 2 (holiday and festival bell) and d 2 (mourning or consolation bell)
- On the Lord's Prayer in Sunday service: seven strikes of the f 2 (prayer bell)
- Ringing in Sunday: Saturday evening c 2 (holiday and festival bell) and d 2 (mourning or consolation bell) from 6:00 p.m. to 6:10 p.m.
- Preparation for the Sunday service: c 2 (holiday and festival bell) and d 2 (mourning or consolation bell) shortly after 9:00 a.m.
- Ringing in the Sunday service: c 2 (holiday and festival bell) , d 2 (mourning or consolation bell) and f 2 (prayer bell) shortly before 10:00 a.m.
- Holidays : c 2 (holiday and festival bell) , d 2 (mourning or consolation bell) and f 2 (prayer bell)
The chiming of the hour, given from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. every full and half hour, consists of the three ringing bells and the fourth largest bell. Before every full hour, the beginning of the 93rd Psalm with the melody The Lord is King, it is played in high elevation .
local community
The community to which the church belongs is called Evangelical Church Community Arsten-habenhausen , which in addition to the Simon-Petrus-Kirche and community center in the neighboring district of Arsten maintains the St. John's Church with community center.
The community, which has around 7,200 members, also includes a kindergarten in habenhausen and in Arsten as well as a cemetery in Arsten.
Web links
Coordinates: 53 ° 2 ′ 50 ″ N , 8 ° 51 ′ 35 ″ E