St. Nikolai Church (Stralsund)

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St. Nikolai Church, view from the Marienkirche

The St. Nikolai Church (or Sankt Nikolai or Nikolaikirche ) in Stralsund is the oldest of the three large parish churches in the Hanseatic city of Stralsund. It was first mentioned in a document in 1276.

The church on the Alter Markt received its patronage after Nikolaus von Myra , the patron saint of seafarers and traders. The church is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic City Center .

Exterior

Towers and choir of St. Nikolai Church as seen from the harbor

Church building

The church is a little lower than the Marienkirche on Neuer Markt . Its total length is 87 meters, the height of the central nave 29 meters. The two aisles are only half as high. The width of the central nave , which is supported by buttresses , is about 13 meters in length to the width of the side aisles.

All roofs are covered with copper plates, the nave with a gabled roof completed. There is a small roof ridge in the middle .

In 2003 the northern access from the old market was restored. More impressive, however, is the western main entrance, which you enter from the Stralsund town hall through the Buttergang .

Towers and portals

The two towers have a square floor plan: 16.09 meters each at the bottom and 14.60 meters each at the top. The southern tower measures 102.60 meters to the weathercock (58.07 meters of which are brick). The masonry of the towers is 2.14 meters thick at the top. Inside the towers, a pedal wheel for lifting materials has been preserved.

Bells

The bell of the Nikolaikirche should consist of three bronze bells that hang in the south tower and form a bell with the disposition cis' - d '- e' . One of the bells in the church tower comes from the Baroque period, cast by the piece, red and bell caster Johann Gottfried Wosaeck from what was then the Swedish-Pomeranian Stralsund. However, in an internet video only two bells are mentioned and only two can be heard.

At the end of the 20th century, a bell was replaced by a new cast, because it is placed on the ground in front of a church wall. The year 1595 shows its date of casting and it has a Latin inscription.

Furnishing

Overview

St. Nikolai and Stralsund Town Hall on the Old Market
Ribbed vault painted in color again

Nine arcade pillars each separate the central nave and the two side aisles. With the two corner pillars at the end of the choir, there are twenty pillars in the church interior. The western pillars belong to the actual nave, the eastern pillars carry the high choir. The pillars in the nave are octagonal, the pillars of the choir diamond-shaped.

Drawings and paintings on the walls and pillars of the church are well preserved or extensively restored.

Many pictures, altars and other works of art in the church were destroyed on April 10, 1525 when the church in Stralsund was broken. In the days that followed, many goods that had been taken away by looters were recovered. This, however, of the city council, including Mayor were on working towards Franz Wessel , of the yard St. Catherine buried, "will thus not driven more idolatry and abuse it," as formulated Wessel. Many Gothic components were later replaced by baroque ones, the color design gave way to white until 1702. The renovation of the church with the restoration of the color schemes lasted from 1891 to 1909.

Choirs

High choir

The high choir of St. Nikolai consists of a sanctuary , the place of the high altar , and an antechamber. The choir has three naves and is vaulted with a ribbed vault. The high altar, choir screens and the astronomical clock are housed in the high choir .

Even after the Reformation, the separation of the high choir and central nave by the choir barriers was retained in the now Protestant church. In the high choir, however, the baroque confessionals and community stalls facing west were set up. The choir screens were renewed in 1708; In the middle of the 19th century and again after the end of the Second World War, efforts were made to remove the choir screens that were perceived as annoying. The confessionals were removed after the Buchholz organ was installed in 1840/41. In the 1980s, the parish seats were replaced by vacant seats that were again aligned with the high altar.

Small organ choir

The small organ choir is located above the high altar . It is made in the late Gothic style. In addition to images of saints, four coats of arms are depicted on it: the Barther Greif, the Stralsund arrow , the Tribsees tower and a coat of arms with a golden sheaf on a red field attributed to Archdeacon Gerwin Ronnegarwe , who died in 1505 . The small organ choir originally had an organ that no longer exists today.

Wind choir

The wind choir from 1505 in the central nave, also late Gothic, resembles the small organ choir . Images of Jesus and the twelve apostles are attached to its sides. An inscription says that the choir was created by "irhan schulte van valckenberch" .

Golden coat of arms frieze

The upper central nave bears a golden frieze with 50 coats of arms from the town councilors; this frieze dates from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Some of the city's mayors, such as Bartholomäus Sastrow , but also simple councilors such as Arnd Schwarte, Christian Ehrenfried Charisius, Matthias and Heinrich Hagemeister and others, carried the coat of arms .

Hagemeister published a detailed description of all coat of arms owners in the 1909 commemorative publication Die Nikolaikirche. A memorial sheet for its inauguration .

Altars and stalls

High altar

The wooden high altar of the Nikolaikirche is about 12 meters tall. It contains over 100 carved figures. Two movable side shrines frame the fixed central shrine that stands on the predella . A very rich design completes the altar at the top.

At the place of today's main altar there was initially a lay altar, which, however, was sold to the Ummanz village church of St. Marien for 50 thalers .

The first work on the high altar was made by an unknown artist from the beginning of the 14th century. He carved the three figures of the upper tabernacles : St. Nicholas stands between St. Catherine (left) and an unknown warrior (right). The figures were probably initially intended for a different purpose and were only later placed on the altar. In addition to this artist, three others were probably involved in the altar; the technical execution of the carvings suggests different artists for the predella, Jesus on the cross and the shrine figures.

During a restoration in 1856 by the Holbern company from Berlin, the second pair of painted outer wings was removed and stored behind the altar, the inner wings were made immobile and a green curtain was attached to protect the main shrine. A frieze was drawn between the top and the main work and the frame was gilded, the old altar table was also plastered and provided with a marble slab instead of the old lime ceiling.

The central shrine, carved out of four wooden panels, shows the crucifixion of Jesus. Next to Jesus are the thieves on the cross. A rider to the left of Jesus pokes at him with his spear and puts a hand over his eye. An angel leads the soul of good to heaven, a devil leads the soul of evil to hell. The Madonna in the foreground is to the left of John and to the right of a woman from the people, above Maria Magdalena . Under the cross stands the wife of Pontius Pilate , who intercedes with the captain, who is at the top left. Pontius Pilate himself is shown on horseback behind her. The three wise men from the Orient stand very close to him . From the gate on the left a procession of warriors moves to Golgotha , in the right corner the high council is deliberating. A castle represents Jerusalem .

The two side shrines contain six depictions: Jesus on the Mount of Olives, the crowning of thorns and carrying the cross on the left as well as the kiss of Judas, the interrogation of Pilate and the flagellation on the right.

The birth and circumcision of Jesus are depicted on the base.

The baroque essay on the altar comes from the Stralsund artist Thomas Phalert. He was a pupil of Andreas Schlueter and was supposed to "make an altarpiece, but let Schlueter invent and illuminate an altarpiece" . The sculptural work was completed in 1708, the painting in 1733, and the gilding in 1735. Jesus is shown on the Mount of Olives and in the upper field the institution of the Lord's Supper. To fix the clouds, rays, etc., the attachment required a crossbeam, which is located between the two pillars. The mesh wall was added to cover it up. Phalert made the work for 2,250 thalers.

Further altars and stalls

Bergen driver altar
Mayor's Altar
Boy altar

In addition to the high altar, the Nikolaikirche once housed 56 other altars. These served primarily the offices (trades), but also individual families, and were distributed throughout the church, often on pillars. A Stralsund chronicle mentions altars of the dressmakers, bone masons, pelters, riflemen, coal knives, tanners, carters, bakers, grocery makers, carpenters, cooper, blacksmiths, bricklayers, painters, glaziers and 25 family altars. Many were lost when the church broke down in 1525.

As a Catholic procession church, the Nikolaikirche had no benches for the general public. Only rich families and the offices had their own benches, the stalls. The stalls that are preserved today are from the Renaissance period . Benches have also been created for the general public.

Only a few altars and old stalls have been preserved. The Riga driver stalls (also known as Russia or Novgorod driver stalls), the altar of the mountain drivers and the Ahussian stalls are evidence of the trade relations of the Stralsund merchants during the Hanseatic League and, given the very incomplete historical records, offer a good representation of trade. The altars of the Riemer and Beutler, mayors, barbers as well as the tailors and the family altar of the Junge family have been preserved and can be viewed.

Only the pictures on the outside of the barbers' altar are legible; the carving is, as in many other reredos, badly damaged and the figures in the eight sections are missing.

The Bergenfahrer altar on the third southern pillar of the arcade probably did not belong to the Bergenfahrers , i.e. the merchants who traded in Bergen, Norway and also owned land there on the Deutsche Brücke . The center shrine of the altar shows the passion of Jesus. The masonry of the altar table was plastered, the limestone slab polished. The colors applied to the chalk base were replaced by an oil painting. The reverse shows scenes from the life of Mary, the chosen patron saint of mountain drivers. Based on this depiction, the altar was attributed to the mountain drivers in inventories in the 19th century. The actual official sign of the mountain drivers, a crowned stockfish , is not on the altar.

The mayor's altar was built around 1500, on which, in addition to the Stralsund coat of arms added in the 18th century, there are also the coats of arms of the mayors Zabel Oseborn and Henning Mörder , who were in office from 1500 to 1516 . A depiction of Jesus' removal from the cross adorns the center, on the sides St. George and Katharina (left) as well as St. Martin and a second martyr (right) are shown. The design reveals the Dutch influence.

The goldsmith's stalls are in the south aisle. On the front there is the figure of the patron saint Eligius .

The boy altar by the master of the Stralsund boy altar is only partially preserved. The altar shows a Madonna with the baby Jesus . Inside the altar wings stood four saints on each side, with Mary in the middle, guarded by four angels. The altar was once made of gold and white: the saint, dressed in a white cloak with a golden crown, stood against a golden background. The coat lining was blue and red. The shrine's canopies were brightly colored.

The inscriptions “Maria” and “ihesus” are carved on the balustrade and the three coats of arms of the Junge family are attached. The Junge family came to Stralsund from Lübeck at the beginning of the 15th century. The altar may also come from a Lübeck workshop, as Max Paul suspects in his work Sundische und Lübische Kunst (Greifswald 1914) due to the connection with a Lübeck Madonna. Paul dates the creation of the work shortly after 1456. The visible connection with the Madonna in Thorn is also interesting.

The stalls of the shopkeeper in the central nave show a club-swinging man and the words:

"Dat ken Kramer is, de stayed there buten,
Or ick sleep up de schnuten. "

The council stalls of the councilors in the south aisle were initially only allowed to be used by the four mayors. However, it was expanded by a decision of the council from 1592 and the stalls of the councilors, which until then were located in front of the organ choir on the southern tower, were moved there. According to the carved year, the richly decorated council stalls were not finished until 1652. It bears the coat of arms of Stralsund as well as the coats of arms of the then mayors Krauthof, Elver, Matzer and von Braun.

The altar of the Riemer and Beutler , two offices that were closely linked, from 1451 shows paintings on the back of the wings for the Sermon on the Mount, for the Transfiguration, for the healing of the leper and for the healing of the blood-ridden woman and offers titles in Old Flat German. The inner sides of the wings show eight figures of saints with a banner in their hand, who point with their free hand to the cruci fixus in the central shrine. The fresco that was once above the altar and is no longer preserved showed St. Christopher .

The Riga driver's chairs have been preserved as a rudiment 0.78 meters high and four meters long.

The tailors' altar was donated in 1406. It once stood north of the high altar. Possibly it belonged to the barbers at first , as a plate in which knives and scissors were stamped and which previously lay in front of the altar suggests. The altar was decorated with scissors that are no longer preserved today. Inside, the shrine is empty and the back wall is missing. Pictures are only preserved on the outside of the wings.

To baptize

The baroque baptismal font from 1732 comes from a donation from councilor Nikolaus Pansow. When he died in 1710, his heirs initially refused to finance the secretly commissioned work, but were ultimately forced to pay 3,000 thalers by court order. The christening stood in front of the Buchholz organ in the central nave until 1838 and has since taken place in a square north of the western side aisle yoke . St. John stands on a superstructure supported by four large figures representing faith, patience, hope and love, with the four evangelists between them . A wrought iron, partly gilded grille surrounds the lower part. The octagonal baptismal table is completely decorated with angel heads and tendrils. The coat of arms of the founder and a portrait of him and his wife can also be seen.

Diagonally to the right in front of the high altar is a stone baptismal font from 1260 . It was originally located in the tower hall in the north and was only moved to the central location in the 19th century. On its wall, the eight-pointed sun wheel and the tree of life flanked by two lions are shown alternately.

Crucifixes

The Nikolaikirche holds four crucifixes . In the choir there is a former triumphal cross created by a Stralsund sculptor between 1350 and 1400 . It is 4.90 meters high, made of oak and shows a color version from 1664 that was exposed in 1934. The cross and the nimbus are original. From 1951 to 2006 it stood above the high altar. Since the restoration, which was completed in 2007, the crucifix has been located in the southern arch opposite the Schuke organ. A holy corpse on the north wall of the choir comes from the same master . According to the inscription, the sculpture was renewed in 1671 after lightning struck the church twice in 1670. A signature at the feet of the Christ figure says:

“As God in this house with his thunder rods
Struck twice within a year, Jesus suffered pain and bleeding
Great disaster robbed here. No sinner go by
Who does not sigh, dear to him, and will be more pious in the future. "

Also to be mentioned are two crucifixes from the 15th century in the superintendent's chapel and on the second northern arcade pillar.

Anna herself the third

Figure of Anna herself third

The figure of Anna Selbdritt , made from artificial stone and oak, 1.07 meters wide and 2.24 meters high including the base, is the second oldest sculptural work of art in Stralsund. 1307 it is mentioned for the first time in a document (in the city book). The figure stood in the Annenkapelle until 1938. This is the northwestern vestibule through which you enter the church from the Old Market .

Originally relics were set in the chest and kept in gold boxes with a crystal lid. These were probably lost when the church broke in 1525.

Anna is enthroned on her high back seat. The sides of the throne are supported by kneeling angels . Maria is sitting in Anna's left arm. The child sits on her right knee. Anna and the child are shown frontally, Maria in three-quarter view. The robes of Anna and Mary consist of a dress, an overdress ( surcot ) and a cloak over it. While the peculiarity of this work of art can be seen in the artistically designed faces of Anna and Maria, the child's head has not been preserved.

This figure is unique in northern Germany. Wilhelm Pinder wrote in the handbook of science in his treatise Die deutsche Plastik (p. 242): “It belongs to the time of the Regensburg Annunciation and must be compared with Magdeburg works of the late 13th century.” The stucco used and the motif of the garment hems point to a Saxon workshop according to Juliane von Ficks. A more recent dendrochronological examination of the wood revealed a dating of the work of art to the period 1291 ± 10 (d).

Astronomical clock

Astronomical clock of Nikolaus Lilienfeld

Behind the high altar is an astronomical clock that Nikolaus Lilienfeld completed in 1394. It is the oldest almost completely preserved astronomical clock in the Baltic Sea region and at the same time the oldest mechanical clock in the world that still contains its original gear train. The parish and the preservation authorities have decided not to restart the clockwork, which has been inoperative since the 15th or 16th century: the maintenance costs and the risk of losing original parts would be unacceptably high.

The dial, surrounded by an ornate golden frame, shows the numbers of the 12 hours in Gothic minuscule twice: on the left side from bottom to top and on the right side from top to bottom. Thus the clock shows all 24 hours of the day. In addition, the zodiac is shown on a metal belt. This is attached to a pointer and shows the current zodiac sign as you continue walking.

The artist has depicted the four worlds in the four corners of the dial .

The base of the clock contains a figure representing the morning, opening a door. Another figure, representing the evening, closes a door. On the side of the clock case there are some carved windows, others are only painted on; on the south side the watchmaker depicted himself looking out of the window. The scientific community assumes that this is the oldest portrait of a watchmaker in the world.

pulpit

The ornate pulpit , built around a pillar, was built in 1611.

Chapels

Charisius Chapel

The porches of the preserved chapels date from the 17th century.

Some of the chapels are richly decorated. The ownership of them changed similarly to those of the burial places in the floor of the church. One of the most richly decorated chapels is that of the Hagemeister family. The last deceased was buried in the Charisius Chapel in 1896. The largest chapel also belonged to members of the Hagemeister family; it was last used for burial in 1880. Experts suspect that the Romanesque holy water basin first stood here. In the second Siegfrieden Chapel there is, among other things, the church's oldest gravestone from 1338.

The sixth side chapel in the south aisle is decorated with a medieval wall painting with scenes from the martyrdom of St. George . The high quality work from the 14th century is in poor condition and should be restored.

Since 1931 the chapel in the southern tower hall has been the memorial chapel by Hans Schwegerle with the unveiling of the war memorial for the fallen of the community .

Grave slabs

In the first half of the 14th century, as in other churches, the first burial took place in the church in Stralsund's Nikolaikirche. Instead of being buried in the church yard , the deceased should be buried for peace of mind in the church. The oldest surviving corpse stone in the Nikolaikirche bears the year 1338 and was dedicated to councilor Gerwin Storkow. The existing field for his wife was left blank; the stone only shows the praying figure of the councilor.

The choir was the most popular burial place because of the secure vaults. It and special chapels were reserved for rich families and the clergy. In the side aisle, the coffins were only placed in the earth pits and covered with panels. For those buried in the church, epitaphs were also attached to the walls between the 16th and 18th centuries .

The brass grave slab of Mayor Albert Hövener, who died in 1357, is particularly valuable , but the grave slabs of Nikolaus Sasse († 1601), General Jacob Mack Duwall († 1634) or Borchard Plötze are particularly striking. Hövener's plate broke into two pieces during the recovery. It shows the deceased, life-size, bareheaded and praying. Two angels hold his pillow. The entire plate is very artistically decorated. She probably comes from Flanders .

Many grave slabs were later destroyed and used as paving. For some, after a family died out, the inscriptions were chiseled out and replaced with current ones, metal inscriptions were torn from their plates and are mostly lost. Many preserved stones were sanded almost smooth by the thousands upon thousands of visitors to the church. A grave slab shows the wish

"This grave is not to be opened until the last day!"

The house brand of the Nikolaikirche, the bishop's staff, was chiseled on slabs, the grave site of which was abandoned.

Organs

The Nikolaikirche in Stralsund currently (as of 2016) has three organs that are playable and in use.

Buchholz organ

Buchholz organ 2007

The large, older organ dates from 1841 and is one of the rare preserved organs of the early romantic period in Northern Europe. It was built by Carl August Buchholz . With three manuals, a pedal and 56 stops , it is one of the largest Buchholz organs that have been preserved. The organ had to be shut down in 1985. After the fall of the Wall it was extensively restored and has been playable again since October 2006. The prospectus got its original porphyry color back.

Schuke organ

Schuke organ next to the high altar, 2012

The larger instrument, the Buchholz organ, was very difficult to play after many modifications and because maintenance work was discontinued due to restoration work on the church in the 1970s. The organist Günter Wehmer, who had worked at the Nikolaikirche since 1956, advocated a new instrument. But only in 1986 it was so far: the Potsdamer company Schuke installed in the south aisle, on a side gallery, an organ with slider chests , which consists of two manuals and pedal over 22 registers. This organ, which is located at the height of the high altar, has been used to accompany church services since its inauguration on October 12, 1986. It will continue to be used after the restoration of the larger Buchholz organ. Disposition of the Schuke organ:

I Rückpositiv C–
1. Wooden dacked 8th'
2. Principal 4 ′
3. Reed flute 4 ′
4th Nasard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
5. Gemshorn 2 ′
6th third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
7th Sifflute 1'
8th. Scharff III-V
9. Krummhorn 8th'
Tremulant
II main work C–
10. Quintadena 16 ′
11. Principal 8th'
12. Coupling flute 8th'
13. octave 4 ′
14th Pointed flute 4 ′
15th octave 2 ′
16. Mixture VI
17th Trumpet 8th'
Pedal C–
18th Sub bass 16 ′
19th Octave bass 8th'
20th Choral bass 4 ′
21st Rauschpfeife IV
22nd trombone 16 ′

Sauer organ

A Sauer organ is only used for accompanying purposes . The positive has three registers (Gedackt 8 ′, Rohrflöte 4 ′, Octave 2 ′). The manual range extends from F to d '' '. The instrument's bellows can be driven with an electric motor and pedals.

Earlier organs

Unknown organ builder

A deed of foundation dated 1386 for an altar “under the large organ” shows that there must have been a large organ in Stralsund's Nikolaikirche even then. Their previous location cannot be located because of the large number of altars (56 are occupied). Also in 1504 it can be seen from a document that such an instrument was located here. The organ was not only used to organize the service; Due to the use of the church as a council church, it can be assumed that it was also played for secular purposes.

Nikolaus Maass

Nikolaus Maaß , who came from the Netherlands and was granted citizenship in Stralsund in 1592, built an organ with 22 registers in 1599. It was set up on a gallery created by wooden beams between the two towers in the west of the nave. From a letter written by Maaß, who was appointed court organ maker to the Danish King Christian IV in 1603 or 1604, on December 26, 1612, the latter stated that he had earned “5,000  fl. ” For this instrument. Christoph Raupach , who worked as an organist in Stralsund for almost 55 years from 1703, led over the large Maaß organ and the changes to its book; for the first time the congregation was accompanied by the organ while singing. He organized "Musical Allusiones".

A message dated December 21, 1730 states that the organ now had 43 stops. The organ was further rebuilt in terms of sound: initially in the high baroque style; the suggestion made by organist Johann Christoph Escherich (1736–1794) in 1776 to adapt the instrument in the style of Paul Schmidt (1716–1798) to the ideal sound of the “time of sensitivity” was discarded for reasons of cost. After further structural changes, the organ was in such bad condition at the beginning of the 19th century that the experts Witt and Weith considered repairs to be pointless and recommended a new construction for the temporary arrangement. The result of the subsequent efforts was the Buchholz organ .

Small instrument

A smaller, second organ of the Nikolaikirche, about which little is known, was destroyed during the siege and bombardment of the city in the Northern War in 1715. It was used to accompany the chorale in the services on Wednesday.

history

construction

The predecessor of today's Nikolaikirche is a chapel - presumably made of wood - at the same location. The Nikolaikirche itself was first mentioned in a document in 1270.

Nikolaikirche on a plan from 1647, still with the two pointed towers

The Nikolaikirche was initially built as a hall church with a tower. The planning and construction of the church in the oldest part of Stralsund's old town went hand in hand with the planning of the Stralsund town hall on the Alter Markt. The city council was the asset manager for the new church building. Here it becomes clear that both buildings are connected to one another. This connection was deliberate and expressed itself in the fact that St. Nikolai was the council church from the beginning.

There are no records or investigations into the foundations of the church; Based on conclusions from the development, it can be assumed that a semicircular foundation was built in the east.

Based on the model of the Marienkirche in Lübeck , the not yet completed Stralsund Nikolaikirche was converted into a basilica around 1270 . The new choir , for which the just completed choir of the hall church was removed, consisted of an inner choir and a gallery around it; around the end of the choir, which consists of five sides of an imaginary octagon, five chapels were added. From then on, parts of the walls of the aisles served as abutments.

From the beginning, the church was built with brick . Over time, at least 65 different types of shaped stone were used. The builders obtained the brick from workshops in the region. The workers put the masonry of the long choir on the foundation walls, first the north and then the south side. They were aligned with the walls of the previous building; the walls of the long choir are probably for this reason of unequal length and not parallel. The builders then built up the walls of the wreath chapels from north to south. The outer buttresses of the chapels were not originally planned as an open bracing system and therefore turned out to be smaller than they have now been handed down; they corresponded to the pillars on the edges of the chapel.

Starting at the stair tower spindle, approx. Three meters of masonry were now built up on the wall base zone. Around 1308 the surrounding wall of the choir was closed, namely at the north-eastern cross chapel. This was shown by dendrochronological studies. Here you can see one of the changes in the shoring of the different types of shaped stone; henceforth the bevel stone was used.

With the start of construction on the new choir pillars, the eastern part of the previous church, which had been in use until then, was finally demolished. Starting in the west, the pillars were erected in pairs towards the east, with the irregularly designed surrounding walls sometimes having to be taken into account and the pillars placed on a location other than the ideal. In addition to the floral motifs, the five pillars of the choir that were last built also received decorative figurative elements.

The high nave was created with stones in normal format, bevel stones were used for the design. The original plans included a parapet on the upper storey, as the existing consoles show, but this component was never implemented. When expanding the upper aisle, the builders gave up the original buttress solution and built an open buttress. The four affected pillars between the chapels were therefore strengthened after the upper aisle was completed in order to serve as a support surface for the buttress arches of the upper aisle. The pier heads in the interior were also reinforced to accommodate the buttresses. As a result, the original vault beginnings were sheathed. This measure was followed by the construction of the vaulted ceiling of the ambulatory. From an invoice from 1314 for the roof turret of the choir, it can be concluded that this section was completed.

The vaulting of the central nave could only be done after the western cladding walls had been leveled: the two western wall pillars in the south and the one in the north were rebuilt. The following vault was from east to west.

Construction of the tower west of the old Nikolaikirche began as early as 1300. Around 1314, when the tower had reached the height of the choir enclosure at 13 meters, the council decided to have two towers built.

Construction of the nave began at Easter 1318, as can be read on a limestone slab that is now north of the large west portal. However, the nave had to be widened around 1330. In order to create space in the interior, the buttresses of the side aisles were connected to the outside and were thereby pulled inwards. In the space gained between the pillars, chapels were set up, which were immediately vaulted and used, making the Nikolaikirche one of the first churches in Germany to use such chapels.

Then the ground floor of the northern tower and the attached Annenkapelle (in which the figure of Anna the third stood until 1938 ) were built. The construction workers then erected the substructure of the south tower as well as the outer wall of the western nave and the pillars on the nave, for which the remains of the previous church were demolished. The north tower was bricked up to a height of 30 meters, the south tower only up to the height of the old west building. The tower construction was followed by further work on the nave (which was completed towards the end of the 1360s) and only then again on the south tower, which was now bricked up at the same time as the southern upper aisle.

West portal

The west portal was added to the old west building around the same time and is designed in the baroque style. On its left side a limestone plaque announces the beginning of the construction work on the nave at Easter 1318, on its right side a plate of the beginning of the construction of the first free-standing tower storey in 1329. Part of the tower complex collapsed in 1366, but was restored the following year.

After the northern outer wall of the central nave was completed, the southern outer wall followed; From a deed of foundation "for an altar under the great organ" from 1368 it can be seen that the central nave was already in place at that time.

First the south tower was completed, probably in the early 15th century, then the north tower; both Gothic towers were the same height. A fire in 1662 from the Jacobikirche also destroyed the wooden tower structures of St. Nikolai. In 1667 the southern tower was then given a baroque dome; the northern tower received only an emergency roof.

In the course of the pogrom night of November 9, 1938, the Hebrew name of God had to be removed from the plaque placed in the oak west portal. - The original condition was only restored in November 2007 and the restored west portal of St. Nikolai was inaugurated in memory of the National Socialist outrage. The chairman of the Förderverein St. Nikolai zu Stralsund eV , founded in the 1990s , Pastor em. Paul-Ferdi Lange took care of this. The around € 15,000 required for this comes exclusively from private donations.

The US air raids on Stralsund in 1944 also damaged the Nikolai Church. From 1947 onwards, the damage to the copper roofs, the buttress covers and the window glazing were repaired.

Church history

Nikolaikirche (2011)

overview

The church was considered the main church in Stralsund, which is due to its location in the original old town, right next to the Stralsund town hall . Not only services were held here, but council meetings were held, embassies were received and business was done. Council clerks and council archives had their rooms here. The council announced laws and ordinances in the Nikolaikirche (the Bursprake ).

Effects of the Reformation

Christian Ketelhot , one of the city's reformers , preached in the Nikolaikirche for the first time on June 1, 1523. As a result, the conflict between adherents of the old, Catholic teaching and the new, Reformation teaching broke out openly. Preachers were openly insulted and vilified in their sermons. The Dominican reading master, Wilhelm Lowe, was dragged from the pulpit and beaten up in the fall of 1524.

On April 10, 1525, the city council had ordered the poor, which it supported, to be examined in the Nikolaikirche. After completing this test, the councilors went to the neighboring town hall; A short time later, the iconoclasm, known as Stralsund Church Breaking, broke out in the church . Altars and shrines were destroyed and stolen; this movement spread from the Nikolaikirche to the Johanniskloster , the Jakobikirche and the Marienkirche . Ketelhot and his followers could not stop this storm. The next day the council decided to punish those responsible. Stolen church property was collected. The followers of the Catholic faith saw themselves at an advantage in view of what had happened. In this situation, the old man Ludwig Fischer shouted in front of the assembled crowd on the old market: “Whoever wants to stay with the gospel, alive or dead, come here to this page!” - and the majority of the people present quickly gathered to his place Page. The Reformation had "triumphed". The council was reshuffled the very next day; henceforth the Lutheran teaching should apply. With Johannes Knipstro and Johannes Aepinus the Reformation got outstanding advocates in Stralsund. Knipstro became pastor at St. Nikolai, Ketelhot got the main parishes together with Kureke.

Aepinus' church and school regulations, which were announced on November 5, 1525, were soon announced as the first document of this kind for all of northern Germany.

Other uses

In his diaries from 1558 to 1567, the mayor Nikolaus Gentzkow also described the business and jurisdictions carried out in the Nikolaikirche.

local community

Affiliation

The Nikolaigemeinde has been part of the Stralsund Propstei in the Pomeranian Evangelical Church District of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany since 2012 . Before that she belonged to the Stralsund parish of the Pomeranian Evangelical Church .

Clergy

literature

  • Ernst Uhsemann : The Stralsund St. Nikolaikirche . 2nd increased edition. Publishing house of the Royal Government Printing House, Stralsund 1924.
  • Fritz Adler : Stralsund (series Deutsche Lande German art ). 2nd Edition. German art publisher, Berlin 1928.
  • Theodor Waehlin: The astronomical clock in the Nikolaikirche zu Stralsund and its astronomical system in: Das Weltall , Berlin 1928/29.
  • Herbert Ewe : The old Stralsund. Cultural history of a Baltic city . 2nd Edition. Verlag Hermann Böhlaus successor, Weimar 1995, ISBN 3-7400-0881-4 .
  • Paul-Ferdi Lange (Ed.): When rooms sing. St. Nikolai in Stralsund . Edition herre, Stralsund 2001, ISBN 3-932014-11-1 .
  • Juliane von Fircks , Volkmar Herre : Anna Selbdritt. A colossal stucco sculpture of the High Gothic in St. Nikolai zu Stralsund , Edition herre, Stralsund, ISBN 3-932014-08-1 .
  • Michael Huyer: The Stralsund Nikolaikirche. The medieval building history and art-historical position , Thomas Helms Verlag , Schwerin 2005, ISBN 3-935749-58-9
  • Burkhard Kunkel: Work and Process. The visual artistic equipment of the Stralsund churches - a work history . Gebrüder Mann Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-7861-2588-4 .
  • Sabine-Maria Weitzel: The furnishings of St. Nikolai in Stralsund. Function, importance and use of a Hanseatic parish church . Verlag Ludwig, Kiel 2011, ISBN 978-3-937719-83-2 .

Web links

Commons : Nikolaikirche (Stralsund)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Library catalog of the Bell Museum Apolda> Mention of literature on the bells of St. Nikolai in Stralsund in the catalogs / yearbooks. (PDF) Bell Museum, accessed on October 29, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Evening bells of the St. Nikolaikirche in Stralsund on youtube.com, duration 6:08 min
  3. ↑ Burkhard Kunkel: "... datt no longer wanted to be affected by affgoederie edder mißbrukes darmit". About the handling of the visual artistic equipment of the Stralsund convent churches at the time of the denominational change . In: Marcin ajewski (ed.): Stargardia, Rocznik Muzeum Archeologiczno-Historycznego w Stargardzie poświęcony przeszłości i culture Pomorza . tape VIII . Stargard 2014, p. 99-118 .
  4. ↑ Burkhard Kunkel: "... a house of worship according to your wishes." On dealing with church art between preservation of monuments and church practice - St. Nikolai zu Stralsund . In: Pomerania. Journal of Culture and History . 49th year, issue 2. Munich 2011, p. 14-17 .
  5. ^ Ernst Heinrich Zober : Stralsund Chronicles III
  6. ^ S. Burkhard Kunkel: Stralsund - Riga - Novgorod. Unique relief panels in St. Nikolai zu Stralsund raise questions , in: Welt-Kultur-Erbe , 1/19, Stralsund 2019, pp. 23-25.
  7. ↑ See Burkhard Kunkel: From speaking pictures. The tables of the barber and the Riemer retable in Stralsund as examples of typological image systems , in: Welt-Kultur-Erbe , 1/08, Stralsund 2008, pp. 72–74.
  8. ^ Burkhard Kunkel: Bildarchitektur. North German convertible retables as constructive developments of typological image systems in the late Middle Ages . In: Tobias Kunz, Dirk Schumann (Ed.): Work and reception. Architecture and its furnishings, commemorative publication for Ernst Badstübner on his 80th birthday . Studies on Brick Architecture, Vol. 10 Berlin 2011, pp. 149-164 .
  9. ↑ Burkhard Kunkel: The Stralsund Young Madonna as an image of the beautiful Madonna of Thorn? - Considerations on the origin of an image of Mary from a Stralsund perspective . In: Matthias Müller, Ernst Gierlich (ed.): Terra sanctae Mariae, art historical work of the cultural foundation of the German expellees . tape 7 . Bonn 2009, p. 257-278 .
  10. ↑ a b c d e Georg Piltz: Art guide through the GDR. 4th edition, Urania-Verlag, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin. 1973; P. 55f.
  11. ^ Annekathrin Hippe, Detlef Witt: Scenes from the Georgsmartyrium in the St. Nikolaikirche in Stralsund. In: Pomerania. Journal of Culture and History. Issue 2/2012, ISSN  0032-4167 , pp. 22-25.
  12. ↑ Reports on the restoration of the Hebrew name of God on the west portal. Förderverein St. Nikolai zu Stralsund, accessed on October 28, 2019 .
  13. ^ Arno Krause: Stralsund . In: Fate of German Monuments in the Second World War . Edited by Götz Eckardt, Henschel-Verlag, Berlin 1978. Volume 1, p. 76.

Coordinates: 54 ° 18 '55.1 "  N , 13 ° 5' 28.2"  E