St. Salvatoris Church (Zellerfeld)

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The St. Salvatoris Church is an Evangelical Lutheran church in the Zellerfeld district of the mountain town of Clausthal-Zellerfeld .

St. Salvatoris Church
View from the southwest and
from the southeast to the St. Salvatoris Church

Predecessor churches

The first church in Zellerfeld was built in 1538 on the site of the former Cella monastery. Christoph Beer was hired as pastor, and his duties also included looking after the community in Wildemann and, from 1539, the church in Grund . From the beginning it was a Protestant church. An attempt by Duke Heinrich to reinstate a Catholic pastor in 1541 had failed due to the resistance of the miners, who threatened to emigrate in this case. Already 25 years later the church was dilapidated and also became too small for the rapidly growing population of the place, so that in 1563 a new church was built on today's Zellweg near the old school. This was consecrated to Christ in his capacity as Savior of the world (Latin: Salvator ). Since this church was soon too small, Duke Julius (1568–1589) had another church built near the cemetery, which was called Gottesackerkirche or Juliuskirche. Construction began in 1579 and was completed in 1587.

Both churches burned down in the great fire in Zellerfeld on October 18, 1672. A total of 465 of 563 houses fell victim to this fire, only a few smaller houses on the outskirts were spared. The city was rebuilt according to a chessboard-like plan by the Markscheider Reinerding, whereby wide streets between the blocks of houses should make it difficult for fires to spread. The Gottesackerkirche was the first church to be rebuilt in 1683. This was still used after the completion of the St. Salvatoris Church and was only demolished at the end of the 18th century because it was dilapidated.

architecture

The wall surfaces of the church are made of greywacke quarry stone, the buttresses, gables, portals and cornices of Deister sandstone. Oberkirchen sandstone was used for later renovations, as there were no more quarries in Deister. Above the base, the outside of the church is 50.4 m long and 23.3 m wide. The roof ridge has a height of 26 m, the top of the ridge is about 32 m high. The church has a cruciform floor plan due to the two protrusions protruding about 6 m on the south-east and north-west side. The copper-clad hipped roof is provided with dormers and carries a roof turret with a Welscher hood (curved hood with an open lantern ), in which the two clock bells are housed. The church has no bell tower, the bell bells hang in the gable of the extension facing the market square. In the gable on the opposite side is the Calvör room, which until 1963 housed the library of the first pastor and later general superintendent Caspar Calvör .

The main entrance of the church is on Bornhardstrasse on the north-eastern front wall of the nave, opposite is the Zellerfelder Berg-Apotheke (Fratzenapotheke) built in 1674. The interior of the church was originally a large hall, which was spanned by a 47 m long and 19 m wide cantilevered wooden barrel vault. On both narrow sides there were galleries protruding far into the interior. In the middle of the church, in front of the south-east cross wing, stood the altar and pulpit. The first organ stood on the south-western gallery, the organ by Arp Schnitger , completed in 1702, was later moved to the north-eastern gallery opposite. The interior was converted into a three-aisled, neo-Gothic hall church in 1863/64.

history

Construction of the church from 1675 to 1683

The design for the new construction of the St. Salvatoris Church came from the builder Erich Hans Ernst from Wolfenbüttel. It was a renaissance style transept hall church . In adaptation to the alignment of the streets and blocks of houses in Zellerfeld, which was determined after the fire, the church could not be aligned in the classic east-west direction; the main axis instead runs from northeast to southwest. In order to finance the construction, the sovereigns had given the Zellerfeld permission to pluck the old ore heaps in their free time - that is, to search for ore - and to sell them. This is also indicated by a memorial plaque in the northwestern vestibule. In this way over 20,000 thalers were raised. The total construction costs amounted to 38,000 thalers, the copper roof alone cost 13,280 thalers.

The foundation stone for the church was laid on August 2, 1675, and the consecration took place on Jubilate Sunday, April 29, 1683. It was made by the court preacher D. Brandanus Daetrius . According to contemporary reports, the then 77-year-old Daetrius walked from Wolfenbüttel to the inauguration in Zellerfeld on a three-day hike.

Caspar Calvör was the first pastor to be called to Zellerfeld as a deacon in 1677, i.e. already during the construction of the Salvatoriskirche. In 1683, Calvör was appointed superintendent for the parishes in Zellerfeld, Wildemann, Grund and Lautenthal. Around this time he began to build up his library, which at his death comprised almost 3,000 volumes from all areas of knowledge that were essential at the time. In 1710 Calvör was appointed general superintendent of the Duchy of Grubenhagen and took over the parish in Clausthal. Calvör died on May 11, 1725 in Clausthal. The “Calvörsche Library” has been kept as a deposit by the church in the University Library of Clausthal University of Technology since 1963 .

Renovations and conversions

Interior panorama

The copper roof of the church was renewed several times, first in 1791, then in 1830, 1864 and 1928. In all cases it was considered to replace the copper roof with a tiled roof. However, since the costs of such a new building would have exceeded those of the respective repairs, it was decided not to do so and decided to keep the copper roof.

Since the bell chamber had been damaged by the vibrations of the bells, it had to be renewed in 1827. It was rebuilt from half-timbering, which was not bricked up, but clad on the outside with wooden planks that were covered with slate. Six years later, eight of the windows had to be replaced and between 1859 and 1861 the masonry and roof of the church were repaired.

When the church was built, the interior and the fixtures were only made as simple wooden structures for cost reasons. With Conrad Wilhelm Hase's first draft in 1861 and later expanded for a renovation, the church was massively expanded. In the years 1863/64 the previous hall church with its wooden barrel vault was converted into a three-aisled and seven-bay hall church with ribbed vaults on bundle pillars, the original wooden vaulting above was partially preserved. The extensive renovation was only possible thanks to a generous donation from King George V , so the inauguration took place on November 27, 1864 in the presence of the King and Crown Prince Ernst August .

After the end of the Second World War, the church was in poor condition and so in 1953 extensive renovation work was carried out on the interior and the roof, the organ received new prospect pipes and the southwest gallery was converted into a winter church.

In the years 2010 to 2015 the facade and the interior of the church were renewed. After the complete renovation, the church has been open to visitors again since Pentecost 2015.

Furnishing

Altar and pulpit

When the church was built, it was only given a simple altar made of spruce wood for cost reasons. The pulpit and altar were moved from the center of the church to the south-western end wall of the nave during the renovation of the church in 1864; the wooden altar was replaced by an altar designed by Hase. Of this, the twelve figures of the apostles, made of cast iron and now painted white, have survived. During the renovation in 1953, Hase's neo-Gothic altarpiece was replaced by a simple wooden cross, which was moved to the aisle to the left of the altar when the Tübke altar was erected.

At the suggestion of the then bishop Eduard Lohse  , the painter Werner Tübke was commissioned to create a winged altar for the church. Tübke was best known for the Peasant War Panorama in Bad Frankenhausen , completed in 1987 . His winged altar, completed in 1997, shows the crucifixion scene on the central panel, including the entombment of Christ. The left side panel shows Mary with the child , the right panel shows the resurrection of Christ with the angel of death. During the Passion and Advent season, the double doors of the altar are closed so that the viewer can then see the Paradise Garden (without Adam and Eve, who had to leave the Garden of Eden) and a scene from the Lord's Supper. With his old work, Tübke himself wanted to "create a picture of reconciliation and salvation for posterity". The winged altar was consecrated on April 13, 1997.

The neo-Gothic style pulpit to the left of the altar was also designed by Hase. It is a simple octagonal pulpit that stands on a wooden support. During the renovation work in 1953, the pulpit was painted gray, during this work the sound cover was removed from the pulpit.

  • Church inventory

  • Winged altar by Werner Tübke

  • Neo-Gothic pulpit

  • Baptism from 1683

  • Baptismal font

  • Large chandelier from 1705

  • Grave tablet of Caspar Calvör

Baptismal font and font

For the inauguration of the church in 1683, Calvör's father-in-law, the tithe Christoph Wiechmann, and his wife Ursula donated a life-size baptismal angel to the church . He is carved from linden wood and holds the baptismal bowl in his right hand and a banner with the words “Let the little children come to me” in his left hand (Matthew 19:14). Over the back of the angel is a canopy with the dove of the Holy Spirit, below it is a representation of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. Since the renovation in 1953, the baptismal angel has been hanging in the corner yoke to the right of the altar and after a renovation in 2000 it can be used again for baptisms.

In addition to this baptismal angel, there is a hexagonal, neo-Gothic baptismal font in the winter church, which was probably designed by Hase. Another modern baptismal font is in the main nave of the church.

organ

Organ of the St. Salvatoris Church

The first organ was a small positive that had previously been in the Gottesackerkirche. For the inauguration of the church it was placed on the southwest gallery. The young Georg Philipp Telemann , whom his mother had sent to Calvör in Zellerfeld from 1694 to 1697 for training , also played on this organ . Telemann learned to play the organ here and created many compositions that were performed at the church.

In 1699, Calvör engaged the organ builder Arp Schnitger to build a new organ for the church. This organ was inaugurated on August 13, 1702, it had 53 registers, which were divided into three manuals ( main work , back work and back positive ) and the pedal work . The listed prospectus and the Rückpositiv of this organ are still preserved today. On the Rückpositiv one sees King David with the harp, Mirjam with timpani and Asaf with triangle as representatives of the musical praise of God.

During the renovation in 1864, the organ was moved to the north-eastern gallery. Between 1912 and 1914, the church received a new organ from Furtwängler & Hammer with a pneumatic action and 45 stops, which was the largest organ in the Upper Harz at its time. During this renovation, the main prospectus and the Rückpositiv of Schnitger's organ were preserved. When failures, especially of the pneumatic components, became more frequent, the decision was made to rebuild the organ. This was made from 1969 to 1971 by the Berlin organ building company Karl Schuke . The organ was planned on the basis of Schnitger's design, but the size was reduced to two manuals and 29 stops for cost reasons . The playing and stop action of the slider chest instrument are mechanical.

In the winter church built in 1953 on the south-western gallery, there is a small positive organ by Karl Schuke from Berlin as the second organ . This has a manual and the four registers Gedackt 8 ', Principal 4', Waldflöte 2 'and Scharff III.

Disposition of the Schuke organ:

I Hauptwerk C – g 3
Principal 16 ′
octave 8th'
Pointed flute 8th'
octave 4 ′
Night horn 4 ′
Nasard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
octave 2 ′
Mixture V-VI
Zymbel III
Trumpet 8th'
II Rückpositiv C – g 3
Principal 8th'
Dumped 8th'
octave 4 ′
recorder 4 ′
Forest flute 2 ′
Fifth 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Sesquialtera II
Scharff IV-V
Dulcian 16 ′
Krummhorn 8th'
Pedal C – f 1
Principal 16 ′
octave 8th'
Dumped 8th'
octave 4 ′
Night horn 2 ′
Mixture V
trombone 16 ′
Trumpet 8th'
Trumpet 4 ′
  • Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
  • Tremulant for the Rückpositiv
Remarks
  1. ↑ This register is vacant. A night horn 4 'was installed as a replacement, which can be played as a floating register for the recorder 4'.
  2. ↑ This register is vacant.

Bells

Chime bells

Former miner's bell from 1917, including the baroque table from the Calvör estate

Originally two bells were hung in the bell house of the church. The oldest of these bells was cast in 1673 and is still preserved today. It has a diameter of 134 cm and is 128 cm high. It bears two extensive inscriptions on the bell mantle. One lists the names of the then ruling dukes and names the top officials who were involved in building the church. The second inscription tells of the conflagration in 1672 and the casting of the bell by the bell founder Heise Meier . This bell remained in the church during the First World War. It was drafted in the Second World War, but escaped the smelting furnace. It was found again after the war in the " bell cemetery " and has been hanging in the church again since 1950.

The second, also cast in 1673, the so-called "Vesper bell", was cast over in 1894 because of a crack. In 1894 the church bell was extended to include a third bell. This and the Vesper bell had to be handed in in 1917 and were melted down. In 1928 the church received a new bronze bell as a replacement. This was withdrawn and melted down in 1944. As a replacement, two steel bells cast by the Bochumer Verein were purchased in 1953 , and these were replaced by two bronze bells in 2009.

Clock bells

The two small clock bells of the church hang in the roof turret. These are smaller bronze bells, both of which are firmly mounted and have no clapper, but are struck by an electric hammer mechanism. In the middle hangs the "miners bell", the predecessor of which used to call miners to work. It is the fourth bell that bears this name. The first miner's bell was cast in 1675, it had to be recast in 1752 and again in 1894 because of a crack. This bell was withdrawn in 1917 and immediately replaced by a steel bell. After it had become unusable in 1983 due to a crack, it was replaced by a new bronze bell in 1984, which now hangs in the middle of the roof ridge. The steel bell from 1917 was hung as the “last miner's bell” (mining was discontinued in 1930) in the nave under the organ gallery, and beneath it is a baroque table from the Calvör estate.

The second clock bell hanging on the edge of the ridge was cast in 1681. It has survived without damage since then, was not picked up in the two world wars and is therefore the second oldest bell in the church. The bell has a diameter of 74 cm and is 45 cm high. Their inscriptions read “PRINCELY BRAUNSCHWEIG LÜNEBURGISCHES BERGAMBT”, “BERGSTADT CELLERFELDE” and “HEISO MEYER ME FUDIT ANNO 1681”. In addition to the inscription, it bears the coat of arms of the Duchy of Braunschweig-Lüneburg and the coat of arms of the city of Zellerfeld.

Others

South entrance of the church, above the door the relief of the hen with her chicks

The relief of a hen with chicks is shown above the two entrances on the narrow sides. This representation is intended to clarify the words of Jesus against the Pharisees: "How often have I wanted to gather your children as the hen gathers her chicks under her wings" (Matthew 23:37). Later on, the legend arose about this, according to which a poor citizen received a tinny mother hen from Venetian gold prospectors as a farewell gift, which contained gold coins in the form of chicks inside. The man donated these coins to the building of the church.

The church clock was first mentioned in 1708. A vertical wave ran from the clock room with the actual clock mechanism, which stood in the attic above the barrel vault, to the roof turret. Here the hands of the two dials were moved via a bevel gear. The clockwork delivered in 1831 was repaired in 1998 by a "clock team", but today the clock is controlled by an electronic drive.

In the central yoke of the vault hangs a large chandelier, which, according to the inscription, was donated by Calvör in 1705. The candlestick has a diameter of 90 cm and holds a total of 22 candles (8, 7 and 7 candles) in three rows. Above the candles the candlestick bears a representation of Justitia with sword and scales. The second candlestick hangs to the left of the altar, this has a diameter of 1.1 m and carries 10 or 8 candles in its two rows, above the double-headed imperial eagle.

On the walls there are pictures of the portraits of Caspar Calvör, his wife, his parents and grandparents and his in-laws. Calvör and his wife were buried in the church, their grave slabs are now to the left of the altar in front of the large wooden cross.

Outdoor area

A white stele next to the northern entrance to the church commemorates the death march and April 5, 1945. On that day, 450 concentration camp prisoners from the Bad Gandersheim concentration camp , who were on their way to the Dachau concentration camp , reached Zellerfeld and were taken to St. .-Salvatoris-Church locked up. The following morning 21 of them were shot by the SS .

literature

  • Christian Falland and Fritz Reinboth: The St. Salvatoriskirche in Zellerfeld . Ed .: Parish of St. Salvatoris Clausthal-Zellerfeld. Fingerhut, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 2008, ISBN 978-3-935833-08-0 .
  • Lothar Meyer: 450 years Clausthal-Zellerfeld . From the career and history of the mining town Clausthal-Zellerfeld. Ed .: Friedrich Seidel. Ed. Piepersche Buchdruckerei und Verlagsanstalt, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 1982, DNB  830936823 , The St. Salvatoris Church in Zellerfeld.
  • Herbert Dennert : Small chronicle of the Upper Harz mining towns and their ore mining / revised. u. exp. by Herbert Dennert . 4th, exp. Edition of the chronicle of the mining town Clausthal-Zellerfeld / by H. Morich. Ed. Piepersche Buchdruckerei und Verlagsanstalt, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 1974, DNB  770139108 , p. 78-80 .

Web links

Commons : St. Salvatoris (Zellerfeld)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Dennert: Chronik der Oberharzer Bergstädte , pp. 78–80
  2. ↑ Dennert: Chronicle of the Upper Harz Mining Cities , p. 22
  3. ↑ Lothar Meyer: 450 years Clausthal-Zellerfeld , p. 41
  4. ↑ Falland and Reinboth: Die St. Salvatoriskirche , pp. 4–10
  5. ↑ a b c Lothar Meyer: 450 years Clausthal-Zellerfeld , pp. 80–83
  6. ↑ Calvörsche Library. University library of the TU Clausthal, accessed on May 12, 2014 .
  7. ↑ a b History of the Salvatoriskirche. St. Salvatoris Parish, accessed May 12, 2014 .
  8. ↑ Falland and Reinboth: Die St. Salvatoriskirche , pp. 6–8
  9. ↑ Newsletter of the Arp Schnitger Society
  10. ↑ Falland and Reinboth: Die St. Salvatoriskirche , pp. 13-14
  11. ↑ Arp Schnitger organ - Zellerfeld. Organ Atlas Ostwestfalen-Lippe, accessed on February 6, 2014 .
  12. ↑ Falland and Reinboth: Die St. Salvatoriskirche , p. 11
  13. ↑ Falland and Reinboth: Die St. Salvatoriskirche , pp. 25–29, 31
  14. ↑ Falland and Reinboth: The St. Salvatoriskirche , pp. 29–31

Coordinates: 51 ° 48 ′ 58.7 "  N , 10 ° 20 ′ 11.1"  E