St. Bonifatius (Sömmerda)

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The town church of St. Boniface
Interior panorama
Carved altar
First change of the altar
Choir stalls

The Protestant Church of St. Bonifatius is in the town of Sömmerda in the Sömmerda district in Thuringia . It belongs to the parish of St. Bonifatius Sömmerda in the Eisleben-Sömmerda parish of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany .

History and architecture

The first documentary mention comes from the year 1436. The basement of the church tower indicates a previous Romanesque building. Today's large single-nave church with a slightly drawn-in, polygonal closing choir and a mighty choir flank tower built on the north side of the choir was probably built in two main construction phases at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. On the tower, an inscription indicates that construction began in 1462. The year 1482 on the high altar cafeteria is probably also the year the choir was completed. A relief plate with a sundial and the year 1502 is attached to a choir buttress .

The ship, with its longitudinal axis oriented strongly to the north, was probably built in a second construction phase. The exterior of the late Gothic building is almost unchanged, only the window tracery was removed in 1773. The one or two-flight staircases on the longitudinal walls of the ship and the small arched portal in the west were created when the interior was redesigned in the years 1562–1564 and 1794. On the roofed south staircase there is the building inscription from 1562 with the indication of the presumable master builder M. Mertemaller and a finely worked relief depicting God the Father.

Further construction measures that took place after the delivery in the 1560s cannot be clearly traced. In 1913, some grave slabs from the 15th to 18th centuries were erected on the stairs. In 1962 the interior was renovated, shortening the gallery and removing all stands. In 1992 an exterior renovation of the tower was completed. The most profound change in the interior was the installation of a high double arcade on a strong column instead of the Gothic triumphal arch, which probably happened when a first multi-storey gallery was installed, which was probably similar to the present one from 1695.

Restoration work on the north facade took place in 2014. The interior was remodeled in 2015. The tower staircase was renovated in 2016 and the sacristy expanded in 2019. In the steeple of lived until 1928 Stadtpfeifer with his family and journeymen and apprentices.

On the gallery parapet on the first floor there is a large, detailed painting with Old Testament scenes from around 1710. In 1962 the order of the picture panels was changed and some of them were attached to the stalls. The flat ceilings in the nave and choir were probably drawn in in the 17th century. These were subsequently raised above the organ and painted with angels making music. Next to the organ, a third gallery, to which two kettledrums are attached, was built for the town pipers. A head console can be found on the north wall of the choir, which, like the buttresses on the choir, indicates an at least planned vaulting of the choir.

Furnishing

Numerous historical pieces of equipment have been preserved. On the Altarmensa from 1482 there is a large, doubly convertible retable with the year 1491 from an Erfurt workshop, which was restored between 1979 and 1984. In the shrine it shows the coronation of Mary and four reliefs with scenes from the life of Mary. Four busts of prophets looking up are placed under the central picture. Two rows of saints are attached to each other on the wings. All figures are highlighted by finely crafted tracery canopies. The first change shows 16 scenes from the Passion, the Resurrection and the Ascension of Christ and the Last Judgment. In the second change, the saints Maria, Bonifatius , Adolar and Eoban are shown, who were also venerated in Erfurt, especially at the cathedral . Six Gothic reliquary busts of holy virgins are placed in the baroque predella . The explosive was removed in 1723 and the explosive figures were given to the Angermuseum in Erfurt in 1906 .

In front of the choir is the center shrine of a small altarpiece with a relief of the Lamentation of Christ, which was also made in Erfurt around 1490/1500; the wings are kept in the Angermuseum Erfurt. Both altarpieces probably come from the original equipment of the late Gothic church. In the choir there is also a polygonal pulpit with Christ Salvator and images of the evangelists from around 1710 as well as a six-sided baptismal font with a flat dome from 1620, which is attributed to Hans Friedemann the Younger. Furthermore, there are parts of a late Gothic choir stalls with dorsal painting from the 17th / 18th centuries. Century as well as a board with stencil painting and fragmented inscription, probably from the 15th century. receive. Two bells from 1467 and 1620 have been preserved, the latter was cast by Melchior Moeringk from Erfurt.

organ

organ

Around 1563 Matthias Eckstein ( Annaberg ) was assigned the building of the first organ. From 1703 to 1709 Johann Georg Krippendorff from Kölleda built a new organ with two manuals and pedal as well as 25 registers, of which the case, windchest and pipe material are essentially preserved today. Conrad Wilhelm Schäfer from Kindelbrück rebuilt them in 1722 and 1727; In 1769 an expansion was carried out and until 1801 it was looked after by Johann Gottfried Thiele from Schloßvippach .

In 1869 Carl Daniel from Walschleben provided plans for an organ in St. Bonifatius (Sömmerda). Due to his early death, it was no longer carried out. Louis Witzmann rebuilt the organ in 1871 according to his plans. This was followed in 1935 by an extension by Gerhard Kirchner ( Weimar ) and a comprehensive restoration 2007-2008 and 2014 with the renewal of the prospect pipes requisitioned in the First World War and replaced in 1923 from zinc by Waltershausen Organ Builders .

Today the organ has 31 stops on two manuals and pedal .

literature

  • Georg Dehio: Handbook of the German art monuments. Thuringia. 1st edition. Deutscher Kunstverlag Munich / Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-422-03050-6 , pp. 1148–1149.

Web links

Commons : Bonifatiuskirche Sömmerda  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The church at www.kirchenkreis-eisleben-soemmerda.de. Retrieved March 25, 2020 .
  2. Uwe Pape (Ed.): Lexikon Norddeutscher Orgelbauer, Volume 1: Thuringia and bypass, Pape Verlag, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-921140-86-4
  3. Information about the organ on orgbase.nl. Retrieved March 25, 2020 .

Coordinates: 51 ° 9 ′ 42.2 "  N , 11 ° 6 ′ 59.4"  E