St. George Church (Kętrzyn)
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The St. George's Church is a parish church in Ketrzyn (Rastenburg) . The Teutonic Order built it between 1359 and 1370 as a fortified church in Masuria . From 1524 to 1945 it was a Protestant church, Als Bazylika kolegiacka św. Jerzego ("Stiftsbasilika St. Georg") it has served the Roman Catholic Church in Poland since 1945 . Pope John Paul II gave it the title of Basilica in 1999 .
investment
The Georgskirche was integrated into the fortification on the southwest corner of the old town. Its south wall was the extension of the city wall, which explains the unusual wall thickness of 1.50 m. The 48 m high tower was also the south-west tower of the defense ring, had 2 m thick walls at the base and was accessible from the nave via a staircase. A battlement walked under the roof of the nave and the tower. In the 14th century, a (lower) defense tower was added to the southeast corner. It was increased when the church was expanded in the 15th century. More richly decorated than the higher one in the west, it served as a bell tower . Its largest and oldest bell was from 1509. It had to be remelted in 1799 because of a crack . The clock was moved here from the old town hall, which was demolished in 1783. Its bell was cast at the beginning of the 16th century. The west tower carried a lantern with a towering top. In 1638 lightning struck during the service. He threw his head down and caused a roof fire in the nave. After that, the tip was not put back on. The west gable with its pinnacles , which protrude flat from the upper part of the gable wall and only slightly protrude from the roof, became the "Rastenburg type" model for many other churches in the area. The rectory behind the Josephiturm was built in 1910.
Behind the choir is the inconspicuous St. John's Church . Like the Georgskirche since the Reformation in the Duchy of Prussia , it was the church of the Masurians .
Conversions
At the beginning, the entrance to the church was on the northwest side. There he hindered the defense; therefore the entrance hall, which is still in use today, was built on the north side and was designed in the same style. The consecration cross from the consecration in 1517, which was only rediscovered in 1994, is exhibited in this hall . Originally conceived as a simple hall church without a choir, around 1470–1480 the interior was divided into three naves by means of square pillars connected to each other by arcades. The church received its current form after a fire between 1500 and 1515. At that time the choir was added, the entrance was created in the north with a vestibule and the wooden ceiling was replaced with crystal vaults, starting in the choir, whereby the slight elevation of the central nave by 2 m to a basilica-like Spatial impression led. This construction work was documented on a board that was set into the east wall outside. This could be saved from the rubble of the church after the war and now it is said to have been anchored to the last half pillar on the left. Looking from the nave in the direction of the altar, one notices that the chancel clearly turns to the left. This is very rare in Europe. Some historians are of the opinion that the choir, which was only built after 1500, could not be easily inserted, which was due to the bell tower that was built here earlier. Others claim that the choir was built that way on purpose. The church was built on the model of a Latin cross. To honor the sufferings of Christ, the choir was curved in the way that Christ hung his head on his right shoulder on the cross. In the middle of the southern wall is the St. Jakob baptistery, which was added from around 1485 and rebuilt in the vault and on the gable in 1599, today the Chapel of Our Lady. It can be traced back to the St. Jacob's Brotherhood, which emerged from the Schützenbruderschaft in 1420.
Furnishing
The remarkable pulpit was built in 1594. It once carried pictures of Jesus Christ , Paulus von Tarsus and Martin Luther . In 1994 pictures of Luther and Philipp Melanchthon were probably attached here. There are also representations of the evangelists. The former high altar is now to the right of the choir room. It was created in 1862 and shows the painting "Christ on the Cross" (1870/71) by Ludwig Rosenfelder , the first director of the Königsberg Art Academy . It was restored after the war with financial support from former Rastenburgers. The organ is a work by Johann Josua Mosengel from 1721. In the organ gallery on the left there were the antlers of a sixteen-pounder with a carved head. Many of the once numerous grave slabs of pastors and citizens from the 16th to 18th centuries are no longer available, not even the one with the oldest view of the city of Rastenburg by the citizen Friedrich Spiller, who, just elected mayor, fell victim to the plague in 1625 . The epidemic was rampant throughout the city at that time and is said to have killed 2500 of 3200 inhabitants, as a plaque that was once next to the baptism showed. In the western part of the right nave three grave slabs are walled in; the most interesting is from 1597 and depicts Colonel Schenk, the commander of the city guard. What else could be saved in the form of epitaphs is partly in the Rastenburger, partly in the Museum of Warmia and Masuria . The silver baptismal font was donated by the Hippel family in 1738 . It has been preserved and is in the church.
Protestant parish locations (until 1945)
In addition to the town of Rastenburg, the parish of Rastenburg included almost 50 villages, localities and residential areas:
| Surname | Polish name |
Surname | Polish name |
Surname | Polish name |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| * Alt Rosenthal | Stara Różanka | * Jeesau | Jeżewo | Neumühl | Nowy Młyn | ||
| Birkenthal | Kattkeim | Katkajmy | Philippsdorf | Filipówka | |||
| Birkenwerder | Brzeźnica | Klein Bürgersdorf | Poganówko | * Prangenau | Pręgowo | ||
| * Bark | Borki | Small Galbohnen | Prombock | Porębek | |||
| Dragon stone | Smokowo | Klein Neuendorf | Nowa Wieś Mała | * Rastenburg | Kętrzyn | ||
| Erlenhof | Olchowo | Klein Neuhof | Biedaszki Małe | Reimsdorf | Słakowo | ||
| Friedrichswalde | Börek | Small shade | Szaty Małe | Sheep farm | Owczarki | ||
| Georgenberg | Jurki | Putty varnish | Kotkowo | * Sharp | Siemki | ||
| Georgenfelde | Wymiary | Krausenberg | * Schrengen | Linkowo | |||
| Glubenstein | Głobie | * Krausendorf | Kruszewiec | Sea lacquer | Żyłki | ||
| Groß Bürgersdorf | Poganowo | Luisental | Thurwangen | Turwągi | |||
| Large Galbohnen | Gałwuny | Moritzhof | Marszewo | * Weischnuren | Wajsznory | ||
| Groß Köskeim | Kaskajmy | * Muhlack | Muławki | * Weitzdorf | Grabno | ||
| Great Neuhof | Biedaszki | Muhlackshof | Muławski Dwór | Wilhelmsdorf | Wilamowo | ||
| Grünthal | Bocian | Neuendorf | Nowa Wieś Kętrzyńska | Wind germ | Windykajmy | ||
| Hinzenhof | Zalesie Kętrzyńskie | New Galbohnen | Nowe Gałwuny | Wolka 1938–1945 Spittel |
Wólka |
Protestant pastor (until 1945)
In the 20th century, the owner of the first parish office (until 1809 with a deacon position) was also superintendent of the church district. The second pastorate belonged to the “Polish” pastor at St. John's Church . From 1912 there was a third pastor's post for the churches in Rastenburg, and from 1888 auxiliary preachers were also employed .
- Christoph Meddingen, 1526–1528
- Michael Meurer, 1529-1531
- Michael von Drahe, 1531-1538
- Appollinaris Pflüger, 1531-1538
- Johann Pauli, 1539–1549
- Georg Blumenstein, 1545
- Bonaventure vom Stein, 1550–1551
- Albert Meldius, 1552–1566
- Bonaventure Achtzenicht, 1561
- Christoph Sperber, 1564–1565
- Lucas Knieper, 1564-1567
- Johann Lidicius Liedtcke, 1566–1570
- Johann Wiesener, until 1567
- Matthäus Marquardt, 1567
- Bartholomäus Leimbrock, 1568-1570
- Matthias Brew, 1571-1575
- Johann Leuckenroth, 1571–1579
- Lazarus Hohensee, 1576–1581
- Bartholomäus Eßworm, 1579–1586
- Caspar Stürmer, 1581–1597
- Joachim Bliefert, 1586–1593
- Valentin Belendorf the Elder Ä., 1594-1607
- Simon Siedler, 1597–1616
- Gerhard Roberti, 1608–1616
- Johann Roberti, 1616-1625
- Adam Praetorius, 1616-1642
- Valentin Belendorf the Elder J., 1625-1628
- Andreas Gille, 1628-1638
- Andreas Zeidler, 1638–1646
- Christian Sinnknecht, 1641–1644
- Wilhelm Witzendorf, 1644–1646
- Christian Walter, 1646–1663
- Philipp Cramer, 1647-1653
- Christian Heiligendörfer, 1653–1656
- Jacob Pentecowius, 1656-1657
- Christoph Bolius, 1658–1696
- Reinhold von Derschau, 1664–1671
- Martin Babtius, 1671–1674
- Georg Heiligendörfer, 1674–1689
- Solomon Jester, 1689-1697
- Christoph Heilbrunner, 1691–1699
- Matthäus Bolius, 1696–1699
- Johann Baasel, 1699–1703
- Johann Johansen, 1699-1712
- Friedrich Seuberlich, 1703–1729
- Adam Sebastian Gasser, 1712-1720
- Georg Heiligendörfer, 1721–1722
- Johann Heinrich Saft, 1722
- Johann Georg Bernhardi, 1722–1752
- Franz Albrecht Schulz, 1724–1729
- Andreas Schumann, 1729–1781
- Elias Heinrich Lindeau, 1752–1781
- Johann Christoph Wiolf, 1771–1772
- Johann Emanuel Volmer, 1774–1782
- Ernst Friedrich Hamilton, 1782–1783
- Wilhelm Pisanski, 1782–1808
- Reinhold Johann, 1783–1792
- Ludwig Leopold Hagemann, 1793–1822
- Carl Friedrich Wendland, 1822-1824
- Christian Michael Nietzki, 1824-1825
- Fear god Adolf Kah, 1825–1840
- Friedrich Wilh. Theod. Dreist, 1841-1855
- Carl August Thal, 1856-1878
- Christian Klapp, 1879–1891
- Johann Theodor Pisch, 1888–1889
- Rudolf Richard O. Taegen, 1888–1889
- Gustav Friedrich Büchler, 1889–1902
- Albert Ferd. O. Rudzewski, 1892-1893
- Heinrich Otto K. Borowski, 1893–1910
- Carl Otto P. Zeigmeister, 1899
- Otto Gerß, 1901–1902
- Willy LFM Schwensfeier, from 1902
- Bruno Gehlhaar, 1905–1908
- Otto Nikutowski, 1908–1910
- Richard Forty, 1910–1912
- Gottfried Julius Doliva, 1911–1913
- Ernst Eckermann, 1912–1913
- Bruno Marquardt, 1912-1916
- Gustav Plath, 1914–1929
- Friedrich von Baußnern, 1923–1929
- Oskar Gaidies, from 1923
- Karl Sedlag, 1929–1945
- Wilhelm Gemmel, 1930–1945
- Johannes Klein, 1939–1945
Language monument
Arno Holz writes about the Georgskirche in the Childhood Paradise section of his Phantasus :
landfernhin looking, landfernhin peeping, landfernhin
visible
Burgbelfriedtürme
the massive, the powerful, the
bulky
of
sturmtrotzig, venerable, bulwark bold
last refuge strong
proud,
Feldstein established, bricks dull brown reddish
berghügelkrönenden,
strut arrows membered, sternkreuzgewölbigen,
buntfensterigen
St.
George Church.
literature
- Our parishes. A series about the parishes of the district of Rastenburg, East Prussia, in the Heimatkreisblatt Rund um die Rastenburg . Developed under the editing of Monika Guddas in the years 1983–1995. 1995, pp. 103-108, 169-172, 215-221. Stored in the Evangelical Central Archive in Berlin .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ gcatholic.org
- ^ Rudolf Grenz: The district of Rastenburg . Marburg 1976, p. 424.
- ↑ Diethelm B. Wulf: Heimatbrief Rastenburg , December 2007, p. 438.
- ↑ Walther Hubatsch : History of the Protestant Church in East Prussia , Volume 3 documents. Göttingen 1968, p. 474.
- ↑ A * indicates a school location
- ↑ The list of pastors of the Johanneskirche before and after 1945 see there
- ↑ Friedwald Moeller: Old Prussian Protestant Pastor Book from the Reformation to the Expulsion in 1945. Hamburg 1968, pp. 117–119.
- ↑ Rastenburg pastors' children
- ^ Official Journal of the Prussian Government in Königsberg, Volume 31
- ↑ see Karolewo (Kętrzyn) #Anstalt für epileptics
- ↑ One son was Ulrich Sedlag .
- ^ Arno Holz: Works, Volume I, Phantasus I. Edited by Wilhelm Emrich and Anita Holz, Hermann Luchterhand Verlag, Neuwied / Berlin-Spandau 1961, p. 185.
Coordinates: 54 ° 4 ′ 28.5 ″ N , 21 ° 22 ′ 23.7 ″ E