St. John's Church (Wiefelstede)

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St. Johannes Church in Wiefelstede

The Evangelical Lutheran St. Johannes Church in Wiefelstede in the Ammerland district goes back to the oldest church building in the Ammerland . The construction of the church began around 1200 and changed steadily until the 15th century. The church contains remarkable pieces of equipment from medieval and baroque times.

history

In 1057, Archbishop Adalbert von Bremen consecrated a first church, presumably where it is today. It is considered the center of a first major church game in what was then Ammergau . Maybe there was an older wooden church like in other places. Adalbert placed the church under the protection of John the Baptist and St. Radegundis , whose mention is unique in this area.

Building history

First early medieval church

The oldest part of the hall church , built around 1200, is the indented (ie less wide compared to the nave) choir square with groin vault and semicircular, low apse . It has the small arched windows typical of the early period with wide-opening reveals .

Extension buildings

In the late 13th century the ship was enlarged to three bays to the west; the exterior construction clearly shows a corresponding change from barely worked boulders to rectangular, more carefully set blocks. The vaulting of the entire ship also falls into this construction phase, as does the west tower with its walls that are almost three meters thick in the lower quarter. The brick raised choir square with five blind niches on the outside of the east wall and the heightening of the west tower with its monopitch roof were carried out in the 15th century. Iron anchors in the north and south walls of the choir and nave support the masonry.

Elevation and floor plan of the church (1907)

Bell tower

Church office with the bell tower behind it

The bell tower , like other Ammerland through towers , also standing separately from the church, was built of bricks towards the end of the 15th century at the earliest . In the upper part, like the wall above the apse , it is divided by blind niches. The two bells that Johann Frese from Osnabrück cast in 1503 and 1507 hang here.

Furnishing

Wall painting

During the renovation around 1980, paintings from different periods were found. A blue painting of the vault ribs , probably from the first third of the 19th century, was restored and accompanied by a red arch pattern. In the north wall of the arch in front of the choir there are Gothic wall paintings from the end of the 14th century. They were renewed in 1957 by Hermann Oetken - with changes. Jesus hangs with bowed head, overstretched arms and blood-splattered wounds on a cross whose beams are equally long. Below are Mary and John, outside Peter with a key and Paul with a sword and book. The wall niche below, which is closed by a lattice made of wrought-iron ribbons adorned with flowers, was probably used to store altar items. The name of Pastor Ernst Wilhelm Baars can be found above the choir arch, wreathed and crowned with an honorary crown (Rev 2,10). He worked here from 1820 to 1837 "much praised" as a director of the agricultural society.

altar

Passion altar, around 1520

The center shrine of the large, almost four meter wide winged retable contains a multi-figure calvary , flanked by four passion scenes and eight more on the wings. They tell the passion of Christ from the Mount of Olives scene to the resurrection . The colored version is no longer original, as are the paintings on the outside of the wings. The carver Dürer's Kleine Kupferstichpassion from 1508–1512 served as a template , which makes it likely that it was created around 1520, because with the onset of the Reformation , no new picture altars of this type were purchased.

A crucifix with clover-leaf shapes at the ends of the beams rises above the altar by 120 centimeters . It should have served as a presentation cross in processions and date from the early 14th century.

Last Supper image

The picture of the Last Supper , which hangs on the south side of the choir and was temporarily located in the predella of the Gothic reredos , dates from the 17th century, probably from the context of a restoration in 1669 . The model was an engraving by Jan Sadeler (1550–1600).

pulpit

pulpit

The pulpit was by Master Gert Borkemann aloud Church invoice 1644 Oldenburg made. The figures of the four evangelists with their attributes human - lion - bull - eagle stand in flat arched niches . The inside of the cover has three-dimensional flower shapes, arabesques and a star in the middle. The structure is made up of angel heads as well as on the outside of the pulpit floor. On the sidebar it reads: “LORD, OPEN MY LIPS, THAT MY MOUTH PROLOCATES YOUR GLORY” ( Ps 51:17). Above the staircase crowned by an angel's head stands the preacher's eulogy: "O LORD LAS WOL SUCCESS" (Ps 118.25).

Stalls

On the north wall of the choir is the chair of the rulership . The coat of arms with two swans as coat of arms holder, as well as the monogram Christian VI. (1730–1746) indicate its time of origin. But also local gentlemen, office managers or in 1870 a landowner held this chair. Opposite is a corresponding chair with the year 1732 in the latticework, which was reserved for the church lawyers. The monograms point to the Jurats Frerichs and Mienen.

baptism

Baptismal font

The baluster-shaped base of the baptismal font is carved from oak. The inscription points to 1637. The church bill has been preserved and notes: “The block for this cost a Reichstaler . Master Johann Ludewig in Oldenburg worked it for six Reichstaler and two bundles of flax for the woman. ”In addition to the baroque decor, four winged angel heads are carved. There are around 90 baptisms a year in Wiefelstede .

organ

Baroque organ from Christian Vater

The organ from the workshop of Christian Vater , a student of Arp Schnitger , was completed in 1731 and still contains nine original stops . Its construction from 1729 onwards was made possible by a gift from Major Wolf von Böselager zu Lehe in 1727. For this he received a proper burial in the church. His coat of arms has its place on the south wall. At that time the organ had 18 registers and an independent pedal . In 1862 a major renovation was carried out by the organ builder Johann Claussen Schmid from Oldenburg. He removed half of the registers and fundamentally changed the disposition . In 1935 the organ builder Alfred Führer from Wilhelmshaven carried out the first restoration . In 1982 the valuable organ was restored by the same company and largely approximated to the original structure. A fundamental restoration was carried out between 2011 and 2014 by the Dutch organ builder Henk van Eeken, who consistently reconstructed all parts that were later replaced. Since then the disposition has been as in 1731:

I main work CDE – c 3
Principal 8th' V
Pipe floit 8th' V
Octav 4 ′ V
Quinta 3 ′ E.
Octav 2 ′ V
Mixture IV E.
Trumpet 8th' E.
Vox humana 8th' E.
II breastwork CDE – c 3
Darling Dumped 8th' V
Floit 4 ′ V
Forest floit 2 ′ V / E
Sesquialt II E.
Dulcian 8th' E.
CDE – d pedal 1
Principal 8th' V
octave 4 ′ V
Trumpet 16 ′ V / E
Trumpet 8th' E.
Trumpet 4 ′ E.
V = Christian father (1731)
E = Henk van Eeken (2011-2014)

More pieces of equipment

The sacrificial box made from an oak trunk with wrought iron straps and a U-lock - which was later broken open - stands behind the altar today.

On the 900th anniversary of the consecration of the church in 1957, the parish church council donated a statue that stands on a console in the northeast corner of the ship . John the Baptist points to Christ the Lamb of God . (Jn 1:29)

The trapezoidal grave slab on the northwest wall in front of the choir is made of reddish sandstone from the Upper Weser . Probably made at the beginning of the 12th century, it was originally located in front of the altar and is the oldest workpiece in the church.

Gravestones and memorials in the churchyard

The seven grave steles made of Oberkirchen sandstone from the 17th and 18th centuries, some of which are placed to the left of the church door, are particularly eye-catching. Near the church door there is a broken tombstone , the inscription of which is the only one of the more than 440 steles from this period in the Oldenburger Land that is entirely in Low German . The family of the deceased GERDT HENNINGES from Mansholt , marked by a small cross, is shown kneeling under the crucified Christ. He had an accident on June 20, 1634 "Bi INFALING OUR NEVER UPGRADED SIELES BI THE WAPEL DERMATE DAMAGED THE SENSE SPIRIT UPGEF". Special graves and memorials can be found in front of the cemetery for soldiers from the wars of 1870–1871, 1914–1918, 1939–1945 and on the north-western part of the cemetery there is a grave for eleven Russian and Polish graves, as well as 13 graves for German war dead to the northeast.

administration

The St. Johannes Church maintains a church office in Kirchstrasse 4 for direct local contact. The Ammerland regional office in Westerstede, Kirchenstrasse 20, is responsible for other tasks of the parish.

See also

literature

  • The architectural and art monuments of the Duchy of Oldenburg, IV. Booklet, Oldenburg 1907, p. 80 ff.
  • Wolfgang Runge: Churches in the Oldenburger Land . Volume 2, Holzberg, Oldenburg 1985, pp. 99-122. ISBN 3-87358-167-1 .
  • Georg Dehio : Handbook of German Art Monuments , Bremen Lower Saxony , Munich 1992, p. 1357.
  • Wilhelm Gilly: Medieval churches and chapels in the Oldenburger Land. Building history and inventory. Isensee Verlag , Oldenburg 1992, ISBN 3-89442-126-6 , p. 176 ff.
  • Ernst Andreas Friedrich : The Johanneskirche in Wiefelstede . In: If stones could talk. Volume 3. Landbuch-Verlag, Hanover 1995, ISBN 3-7842-0515-1 , pp. 88-90.
  • The Wiefelstede Church Leader (revised by Pastor Jan Janssen (1996) and Pastor Fritz Pinne (2002). Photos: Tjark Pinne and Fritz Pinne.)
  • Fritz Schild: Organ atlas of the historical and modern organs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg . Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven 2008, ISBN 3-7959-0894-9 , pp. 254-255.
  • Hermann Haiduck: The architecture of the medieval churches in the East Frisian coastal area . 2nd Edition. Ostfriesische Landschaftliche Verlags- und Vertriebs-GmbH, Aurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-940601-05-6 , p. 37 .

Web links

Commons : St. Johannes Church (Wiefelstede)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. The villages of Hatten and umzu also belonged to the church until around 1200. See Georg Bredehorn: Eversten: From 1200 to the 20th century , Isensee Verlag, Oldenburg 2001, ISBN 3-89598-750-6 , pages 282, 283
  2. Dehio, p. 1357: 15th century. ; Gerhard Wietek : Oldenburger Land , Munich 1956, p. 39: beginning of the 17th century.
  3. See the restoration report by Fritz Schild: Organ atlas of the historical and modern organs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg . Florian Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven 2008, ISBN 3-7959-0894-9 , p. 853-875 .
  4. ^ Regional offices of the Church of Oldenburg

Coordinates: 53 ° 15 ′ 24.5 "  N , 8 ° 6 ′ 52.4"  E