St. Nikolai Church (Bautzen)
The St. Nikolai Church , in Upper Sorbian Mikławska cyrkej , in Bautzen is essentially a ruin of a sacred building in front of the city's historic Nikolaitor . It was built at the beginning of the 15th century. A small chapel is integrated into the church ruins.
prehistory
According to old sources, the property of the Nikolaikirche was a gift from Hermann von Unaw to the St. Petri Church in 1407. He had previously been forcibly evicted from Bautzen by the craftsmen on May 5, 1405 as councilor together with the rest of the council members. On June 8, 1407 Hermann von Unaw appeared in the company of the cathedral capitular Heinrich Freiberg and the canon Johann Reichenbach before the council newly elected by the craftsmen and gave away his garden or vineyard facing the Seidau in front of the gates of the Ortenburg . A cemetery for the church was to be built on this property.
Building history
According to tradition, a chapel was first built, financed by donations, and dedicated to St. Nicholas and St. Barbara . Before the construction of the chapel could be finished, it burned down in 1441. Due to the generosity of the town's citizens, the chapel was largely rebuilt by 1444 on a much larger scale. In 1476, Master Maaz received the order from the city council for the vaulting of the choir and the production of two windows, whereby the interior extension of the Nikolaikirche was completed. A church tower was only built for the chapel in 1614.
The Nikolaikirche has a passage on the east, west and north sides so that the processions between the church and the outer wall of the city fortifications could get through. In the vicinity of the church, two small houses were built on the rocky western promontory of the churchyard, which served as accommodation for the priests and altarists . In 1552 these were used by the city council with the permission of the cathedral monastery to house plague sufferers.
There was a baptismal font in the middle of the church. At last ten altars are said to have been in the church. There was a cross above the high altar , the traces of which can still be seen today. Next to the cross were the two thieves who were crucified together with Jesus Christ. The high altar was last renewed in 1601.
In the course of the siege of the city in 1620 by the Elector Johann Georg I , the Nikolaikirche was considerably destroyed and devastated. To defend the city, the commandant, Governor Dick, of the Jägerndorf troops in the city had the roof of the church removed at the beginning of the siege on September 9, 1620, in order to then erect a battery on the vault of the church . In this context, the stalls, the altars, the pictures and the galleries were smashed and partly burned. Even the church tower was completely destroyed.
Only after the city fire on May 2, 1634 did the cathedral monastery plan to rebuild the Nikolaikirche. For this purpose, the city council subsequently had the necessary timber delivered. Before the reconstruction of the church could begin, this timber was used by the Swedes to build palisades during their siege of the city in 1639 . After this siege, the intention was to rebuild the church again, but for cost reasons the cathedral monastery decided to rebuild the Church of Our Lady, which had burned down in 1634, instead of the Nikolaikirche .
As a result, the Nikolaikirche has remained in ruins to this day. In 1848, the cathedral monastery commissioned the master mason Brothers Marche to build the chapel in the churchyard, which still exists today. Construction was completed in 1852. A Catholic bell was hung in the bell tower of the chapel, which until then was hanging in the bell tower of St. Peter's Church below the Protestant bells.
Church history
After the reconstruction of the St. Nicholas Church which held there on May 2, 1444 pastor of the Church of Our Lady , Simon Jode the first time Vespers from. The following Sunday he held a high mass and procession . Afterwards the pastor gave a celebration with wine and beer, in which all priests of the cathedral church, Jerschko von Colditz and court servants , the councilors Heinrich Langhempel as well as Gregor Scheufler and the mayor Thomas Sommerfeld took part.
At the efforts of pastor Simon Jode, his relative, Paulinus Richard , set up a foundation for the Petrikirche in Luckau . Certain regular church ceremonies, in particular passion services and processions, which should take place in the Nikolaikirche, should be held from the interest from the foundation . For this purpose, among other things, six altars were erected in the Nikolaikirche and a corresponding number of chaplains were employed as altarists by the Petrikirche. Together with two other priests, these altarists formed a spiritual brotherhood that lived in the two houses on the western rocky promontory of the churchyard. From 1460 on, processions took place regularly in the Nikolaikirche, and from 1476 in the city as well.
With the introduction of the Passion Service and the procession, the church received a large number of visitors, especially from Sorbs . After the Reformation , in the course of which both the Petrikirche and the Nikolaikirche were plundered by the council and the evangelical citizens in the Advent period in 1525, significant changes were made to the service. In particular, attempts were made to prevent the Sorbs from converting to Protestantism by one of the priests newly appointed in 1527 preaching in the Sorbian language. In addition, the Nikolaikirche was raised to the parish church of the Sorbs at this time and it was given parochial rights . When the service was changed, the service of the altarists also ended.
Another change occurred when, on September 1, 1619, the council had the archdeacon Sommer preach in the Sorbian language for the first time in the Michaeliskirche for the evangelical Sorbs who were also parish in the Nikolaikirche.
In addition, the dean had Wide Rinus of Ottersbach the Catholic worship the Petri community from the first day of Pentecost in 1620 to relocate to the Nikolai Church after, there was an uprising on August 27, 1619 in St. Peter's Church and on 18 May 1620, the Choir of St. Peter's Church at the Council was ceded. A few days later the dean died on June 27, 1620 at the age of 49 and was buried in the Nikolaikirche. His grave was opened and looted a few weeks later during the siege of the city by mercenaries.
Since 1852, funeral services have been held in the newly built and consecrated chapel in the churchyard of the Nikolaikirche.
Churchyard
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The churchyard was donated by Hermann von Unaw in 1407 to establish a cemetery. In 1455 the cemetery was consecrated by Bishop Kaspar von Schönberg .
After the Nikolaikirche was elevated to a parish church in the 16th century, mainly Catholic Sorbs from the area were buried in the cemetery. Since the destruction of the Nikolaikirche in 1620, the cathedral chapter has also been buried there.
During the siege of the city by the Swedes in 1639 , ramparts and entrenchments were built in front of the Nikolaitor and the churchyard and the churchyard was completely destroyed. The ruins of the entrenchments were still visible until the end of the 18th century.
The ruins of the church have also been used as a cemetery since 1745 ; Those buried there include numerous Sorbian personalities, including Michał Hórnik , Georg Wuschanski , Filip Rězak and Jan Bulank .
Sources and Notes
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Richard Reymann : History of the city of Bautzen. Müller brothers, 1902, page 307 ff
- ↑ An older source ( Johann Georg Theodor Grasse, "Der Sagenschatz des Kingdom of Saxony", 1855, No. 612 "The stone on the market in Budessin.", Pp.455f .; with further references ) gives the date May 29, 1405
- ↑ With the exception of the butchers (see Richard Reymann : Geschichte der Stadt Bautzen. Gebrüder Müller, 1902, page 307 ff); the cloth makers, however, are said to have been the "worst" (cf. Johann Georg Theodor Grasse, "Der Sagenschatz des Kingdoms Sachsen", 1855, No. 612 "The stone on the market in Budessin.", pp.455f .; with further references ) . .
- ^ A b Richard Reymann: History of the City of Bautzen. Müller brothers, 1902, page 309
- ↑ a b c d e f Richard Reymann: History of the city of Bautzen. Müller brothers, 1902, page 369
- ↑ According to tradition on the Saturday before Jubilate . According to the Julian calendar, this Sunday was May 3, 1444.
- ↑ This spiritual brotherhood lived in a community according to a certain order, but did not have to take any formal monastic vows.
- ↑ It is remarkable that in the same year the city council commissioned Master Maaz to complete the interior of the Nikolaikirche.
- ↑ It is said that, in addition to other decorations, such as pictures and flags, the large Easter candle was "stolen", which was 15 cubits high "and a man's fat".
- ↑ a b c Richard Reymann: history of the city of Bautzen. Müller brothers, 1902, p. 310.
- ↑ According to tradition, the dean Widerinus von Ottersbach died as a result of the psychological pressure caused by the strong changes in the church, especially as a result of the Reformation.
- ^ A b c Richard Reymann: History of the city of Bautzen. Müller brothers, 1902, page 368.
- ^ Richard Reymann: History of the city of Bautzen. Müller brothers, 1902, page 368f.
literature
- Kai Wenzel: The Church of St. Nikolai . In: Silke Kosbab and Kai Wenzel (eds.): Bautzen's missing churches . Bautzen 2008, ISBN 978-3-936758-48-1 , p. 148-189 .
- Cornelius Gurlitt : The Nikolaikirche. In: Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony. 33. Booklet: Bautzen (city) . CC Meinhold, Dresden 1909, pp. 63-67.
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 11 ′ 2.9 " N , 14 ° 25 ′ 20.7" E