St. Andreas Church (Lebenstedt)
The St. Andreas Church is an Evangelical Lutheran church in Lebenstedt , a district of Salzgitter . It is the oldest church in this district, it stands on the old Thingplatz in the "Old Village", the oldest part of Lebenstedt. The church is the seat of the provostship of Salzgitter-Lebenstedt.
history
Until 1925, the patronage of the church was held by the von Gadenstedt family, who had their headquarters in Gadenstedt (today part of Ilsede near Peine ) and who had inherited the von Lebenstedt family around 1350. The first mention of a pastor from Lebenstedt comes from the year 1281, in this the pastor Engelbert is mentioned as a witness in a sales contract. A rectory is reported for the first time in 1392, which the then pastor Adolf von Wartberge was assigned to an apartment. The western half of the churchyard is given as the location of the rectory, and today's rectory is located at the same location.
Since the Christianization of the country at the beginning of the 9th century, the Lebenstedter Church has belonged to the Archidiakonat Lengede in the Diocese of Hildesheim . The Reformation was first introduced in the country in 1542 . When, five years later, after Charles V's victory over the Schmalkald troops, Duke Heinrich the Younger was able to return to his Brunswick duchy , he ordered a return to the Catholic faith. It was only his son Duke Julius who finally introduced the Reformation in 1568.
Predecessor church
The age of the previous church was estimated to be around 500 years in 1857, when it was demolished. The origin was probably an old chapel to which the church and bell tower were later added. Pastor Stalmann (1854-1892 pastor in Lebenstedt), during whose time in office the new St. Andrew's Church was built, described the old church as a small building that was about 13 m long, 6 m wide and 6 m high. The entrance to the stone-walled church was on the north wall, the tower in the west was covered with a gable roof. Inside, pries were attached to the north and west walls . The north wall had a few small, irregular windows, larger windows were later broken out on the south wall and in the east gable. The walls and ceilings were painted white, the chairs and pries made of dark wood.
As early as 1799, the church council complained in a letter to the then Duke Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand that the church was too small for the 500-member congregation, which only offered space for 106 men and 72 women. In addition, the church had fallen into disrepair, the church floor rotten and the roof weathered. The Priechen are also no longer stable. In response to repeated requests, some minor repairs were carried out in 1813. But it was not until Pastor Stalmann took office in 1854 that an architect was commissioned to design a new church building. In April 1857 the old church was torn down so that a new building could be built in its place.
Andrew's Church since 1857
The foundation stone for today's church building was laid on May 4, 1857. The construction was completed on August 1, 1858 with the setting of the button and weather vane on the church tower, the interior work was completed in December 1858. Since the organ was not delivered on time, the church could not be inaugurated until August 28, 1859 by the then superintendent Wolff from Barum .
On the north and south sides of the nave as well as in the staircase there are four colorful glass windows that were donated by two parishioners in 1909 for the 50th anniversary of the church. The chandelier, the crucifix , the baptismal font and the altar Bible are also donations of the community.
During the First World War , the large bronze bell from 1464 had to be surrendered and was melted down. As a replacement, two steel bells were purchased in 1922, which are still in use today. During the Second World War , the windows and roof of the church were damaged by bombs that fell in the parish garden; this damage was repaired in 1948. In the following year, more space was created for church visitors by converting the sacristy into a chancel and moving the pulpit to the gable wall.
The church was extensively renovated in 1968. The floor of the chancel was covered with slabs , while the nave was paved with wood. In the interior of the church, a new altar and a new pulpit were installed, both made of sandstone from the nearby Elm . The galleries on the north and south sides were removed and the benches replaced. The Weule clock in the church tower from 1888 was converted to an electric drive. Five years later the church received a new organ.
For the interior, some items were taken from the previous church: The brass candlesticks of the altar are from 1670, the pewter candlesticks are a gift from 1745. The "Old Holy Communion Goblet" from 1654 bears the inscription "Johannes Bergmann, P. - Catharina Hedewig Sengbahr" , the "New Lord's Supper" was given to the church in 1801, and the names of the donors are engraved on the base of this vessel: "Johann Conrad Oppermann and his wife Johanne Elisabeth Herweg" . The crucifix on the altar and the chandelier were given to the church in 1909 for the 50th anniversary.
Since the Reformation, the parish had belonged to the Superintendentur Barum, the later church district of Barum. When provosts were formed from the church districts in 1933, Lebenstedt was assigned to the Bleckenstedt provost. Since 1951 this has been run under the name Propstei Salzgitter-Lebenstedt .
In 1955 a new rectory was completed, in 1958 a new parish hall.
literature
- Willy Buchholz: The St. Andreas Church in Salzgitter-Lebenstedt . Ed .: Regional Church Office of the Braunschweig Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church. Wolfenbüttel 1959, DNB 450667677 .
- Helmut Romoth, pastor at the Martin Luther Church in Salzgitter-Lebenstedt: The old Lebenstedt - a church local history . Salzgitter 1966.
- Church buildings in Salzgitter . In: Department for Public Relations of the City of Salzgitter (Ed.): Salzgitter Forum . tape 12 , 1986, DNB 880735341 , p. 33 .
- Ursula Wolff, Jörg Leuschner and Sigrid Lux: From the village to the city center. The development of Lebenstedts in the 20th century . Ed .: Archive of the City of Salzgitter (= contributions to the city's history . Volume 23 ). Salzgitter 2008, DNB 997721154 , p. 334-336 .
- Jörg Leuschner, Reinhard Försterling, Sigrid Lux: North town in old views - Bruchmachtersen, Engelnstedt, Salder and Lebenstedt . Ed .: Archive of the City of Salzgitter (= contributions to the city's history . Volume 11 ). Salzgitter 1994, DNB 947872485 , p. 275-543 .
Coordinates: 52 ° 9 ′ 7 ″ N , 10 ° 19 ′ 28 ″ E