St. Clemens (Cologne-Mülheim)
Sankt Clemens is a former skipper's church in what is now Cologne 's Mülheim district on the right bank of the Rhine . The church standing directly on the banks of the Rhine was built as a Romanesque hall church of the 12th / 13th centuries. Century. For centuries it was a branch church of the parish church of St. Mauritius in Buchheim , was elevated to a parish church after its destruction in 1796 and remained the only Catholic church in Mülheim. When the Liebfrauenkirche was rebuilt in 1864, it lost its parish rights and became an ancillary church again. With seven other churches, it now belongs to the Catholic parish of St. Clemens and Mauritius, which includes the districts of Mülheim, Buchheim and Buchforst.
Investigations and references
A treatise by the archaeologist and art historian Bellot in 1994 attempted to reconstruct the architectural history of the Clement Church from its beginnings . In addition, he stated that a thorough and comprehensive examination of the structure still had to be carried out.
The existing source material on this church is closely linked to the history of the development of Mülheim and shows changes in the place and the church in the form of historical drawings, engravings and early photographs, which, however, do not record the time before the middle of the 16th century. In addition, the information from the archives available for this time and from the traditional literature with their data on the construction sequence provide clues that, however, in individual cases do not reveal much about concrete measures in the church building.
history
Construction and destruction over centuries
According to the most recent findings, there was already a church at the site of today's church in 1255 at the time of Count Adolf ; it became the center of the early town of Mülheim.
The people of Mülheim were often involved as neighbors in the frequent feuds that were handed down between the city of Cologne and the archbishop's allies. Attempts by the Mülheim rulers to protect the growing settlement and the church with fortifications were therefore made early on. The first earth walls and ditches were built as protection and refuge from such dangers, but their construction met with opposition from the city of Cologne. So further work was suspended until the reign of Adolf V , who began building two permanent castles in Monheim and Mülheim in 1275 , but after his defeat he had to grind these structures in a new feud at Cologne's request in 1286.
The fortifications in Mülheim in 1414 corresponded to the structures in 1288. Walls and other structures were and were, however, repeatedly broken off or damaged by Cologne forces. As the whole of Mülheim was burned down at the end of the 14th century due to fighting between the county of Mark and the Duchy of Berg , the Clement Chapel was also restored. This was followed by building measures in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the respective changes of which resulted in a building with a rather irregular floor plan .
Historical data and findings
Older assumptions by Vinzenz Jakob von Zuccalmaglio put the origin of the Clement Church in the Romanesque architectural history. During a restoration of the church in 1939, it was discovered that the upper aisle of the central nave had a hitherto concealed arched frieze and a pilaster strip , so that after closer examination of these structural details, it was possible to deduce a single - nave three- bay church, which existed at the latest at the beginning of the 13th century was. Further evaluations of the investigations were carried out in the ruins of the church in 1949, which Albert Verbeek documented. They confirmed the chapel's early date of origin.
The church was first mentioned in a document from 1489, in which it was expressly designated as a branch chapel in Mülheim for the year 1382 on the occasion of the foundation of a vicariate , which as such was subordinate to the old parish of St. Mauritius in Buchheim .
Former canonical status
The Buchheim “mother church” and with it its St. Clemens zu Mülheim branch were legally in episcopal hands until 1796. The status of both churches has been based since ancient times on the existing ownership and fiefdoms as well as the right of collation that was in the possession of the respective cathedral custodian . Although the growing town of Muelheim neighboring and much smaller Buchheim nearly expired in all areas the rank subordinate to the Mülheim parish of the local parish of St. Mauritius. For the time being, St. Clemens only had the rank of a consecrated chapel, which had neither been granted the right to baptize nor to have burial rights. Burials took place in the churchyard surrounding the Buchheim church , and only when the large number of believers forced them to be relaxed were the first masses allowed to be celebrated in St. Clemens. The parish rights, however, remained with the Buchheim parish until the Mauritius church was destroyed in 1796.
The chapel was rebuilt in the 15th century
The change from a first chapel to a small church probably took place in 1414. From this year, a document reports on an alleged new building, which, however, was refuted by the investigation findings from 1939/40. The corresponding document states that the Duke von Berg rebuilt the church in Mülheim with the consent of the City of Cologne. Since the aforementioned investigation revealed existing Romanesque remains that are still preserved today, Duke Adolf can at best have restored, rebuilt or expanded the church, but not rebuilt it.
Connected to the period of this church enlargement was a ducal foundation, which included the establishment of a hospital and the availability of a vicar's apartment , so that an additional clergyman could now also look after the community at the small church.
16th century church
A representation of the fortified place Mülheim shows the church in 1589 after further expansion or renovation phases, in a bird's eye view . Bellot interprets the church building appearing on this drawing as a church with a polygonally broken choir and concludes with a 3/8 or 3/6 end of the same. Furthermore, a single-nave , late Gothic hall church was shown, which is provided with a gable roof and a pointed roof turret and possibly had already received a western vestibule. This building had nothing in common with the exterior of the previous Romanesque building. However, no material traces have survived from this late medieval time of the church.
St. Clement in the 17th century
In the autumn of 1614, the 17th century not only saw the destruction of the fortifications by the Spanish commander Spinola deployed for “Cöln” , but also the subsequent abandonment of private buildings by the citizens of Cologne, although the Clement Church was possibly also affected during all of this destruction. This is evident from Bendel's statement, according to which an order of the Cologne Council had been made between 1615 and 1619, according to which the building materials of the buildings of the citizens of Mülheim could not be brought to Cologne. However, the barefooters were allowed to use building materials from the abandoned church and to move stones, wood, lime, iron and furnishings across the Rhine for their branches in Cologne, which were being established at that time.
- Representations of the church between the 16th and 20th centuries
The newly fortified Mülheim around 1589 with the Clement Church
Ice flood of 1784 after a steel engraving by the Dutch artist Steven Goblé, (1749–1799)
Flood in the Rheinviertel
St. Clemens around 1900
The three-aisled church is built
For a probable reconstruction or at least for the purpose of a comprehensive restoration in 1629, the sources report that the sovereign Wolfgang Wilhelm donated six timber to support the construction work of the Clement Church. This renewed change in the building history is also on record, but does not explain what was done in detail. A later inscription panel of the Altenberg abbot Lohe, a native of Mülheim, which was located on the north side of a tower building, states that he had something built or erected. The transmitted, incomplete text reads:
"" ... AND ..CLEMENS ... LORD (?) HA. THE VEST MR. JOHANN JACOB LOHE ABT ZU ALTENBE (RG)
MR. ZU RHIL ALLHIER BURTIG… COURT ANNO 1692. PRAY FOR HIM "."
According to Bellot, the structural changes to the Clement Church mentioned in sources are difficult to assign to the measures actually carried out for the rest of the Baroque period .
The primary importance that the Clement Church had meanwhile assumed in relation to its mother church was the result of a steadily growing population of Mülheim, in contrast to Buchheim. This priority was also shown in the choice of location for celebrating church festivals , such as the Corpus Christi festival .
Corpus Christi procession
Bendel puts the beginnings of the Mülheim Corpus Christi festival in the first half of the 14th century, but explains that more specific information is only given in a saying about Mülheim and Buchheim from the 16th century. So it says in such a way of the procession
"... out of the way that leads to the Dunwalt, since the Holy Sacrament of Mulheim is usually carried there ..."
The scant information on the early processional path is supplemented by later information from documents from the Altenberg Abbey and the Mülheim City Archives, so that Bendel was able to describe the following path of the “ Mülheim God costume ”.
The procession began at about 6.30 am with the first blessing at the Clemenskirche; the procession then moved down the Rhine towards Stammheim to a cross there . The second blessing took place here, and the procession continued via Schönrath in what is now the Höhenhaus district , until it came near the Dünnwald monastery . There they turned around and went over Schänzchensweg, where another blessing was given at the cross there. Now the procession went to Buchheim and stopped at the sacristy of the parish church to strengthen those involved and then moved to the Rhine, where the scarfs for the subsequent “Rhine journey” were laid out on the so-called powder turret.
During this relatively short journey - one moored below Mülheim am “Pütz” - the clergyman gave another blessing. You returned to the city through the northern city gate, the “stone gate”, located near the landing site, and walked along the Freiheitsstrasse to the old hospital . In front of this a so-called “controversial sermon” was held, after which one returned to the Clemenskirche and the celebrations ended.
Church building and surroundings in the 18th century
Stylistic changes and renewed damage
The church underwent its last enlargement in 1720 and, according to Vogts, the western vestibule was added to this building stock in 1754. The tower in front of the choir today was, according to an appraisal by Cologne city master carpenter B (o) urscheidt, painstakingly and costly restored in 1755 (according to Bendel 425 Reichstaler) and was given a baroque dome for the first time . The ice flood of February 27 and 28, 1784 destroyed a considerable part of Mülheim and St. Clemens also suffered damage, which, however, remained repairable due to its elevated location and the massive embankment walls. When the Buchheim parish church was destroyed in the following decade, it was decided not to rebuild it; the parish rights were then transferred to St. Clemens by the church authorities.
Building on Kirchgasse
In the 18th century, the corner houses on Freiheitsstraße with their numbering 29/31 and 33 were located on today's Kirchstraße, formerly known as Gasse. Number 33 on the north side was the house of the merchant Josias Klein, built in 1755/56 and was named “Zum golden pelican ”. The building, which later belonged to the Holz family for a long time, still shows a pelican with outspread wings in the crown of the door arch . The master mason Sprenger and the master carpenter Bongartz, both of whom were possibly under the direction of the Düsseldorf builder Nosthoven, were the masters of the building .
The house, which suffered severe damage during the ice drift in 1784, had a barn in Kirchgasse. This was followed by a house that served as a Catholic chaplain and in 1784 also suffered considerable damage and was probably demolished. A larger apartment building was then bought on his property in the 19th century.
The southern corner building, like a twin with the building at number 33 (as it is today), had the same shapes and heights, which picturesquely bordered the alley. It was built as a parsonage in 1752 to replace a modest vicar's apartment and was adorned with a statue of Mary on the corner of the house facing the street. Belonging to the rectory was a garden house attached to the church, which resembled the "Bergisch style".
St. Clemens as a parish church
St. Clemens served the Mülheim Catholics as a parish church from 1796, but its modest space and the constant growth of the parish forced the construction of a larger church. This was created in 1864 according to a design by the architect Ernst Friedrich Zwirner and was named for the high festival Maria Himmelfahrt , the later Church of Our Lady, which was built on the not far away Regentenstrasse.
Building description
Exterior church building
A drawing from the end of the 19th century shows the Clemenskirche on high walling along the bank in a thoroughly plastered, whitewashed state. For the hall construction with an attached two-storey vestibule in the west and a high tower on the east side, Clemen specified a clear dimension of 19.10 m in length and 13.20 m in width. The western gable front was crossed by a cornice above the vestibule in its center and ended with a stone cross at the height of the ridge . To the south, the church, the arched portal of the vestibule bearing a keystone with the date 1754, was joined by a wall reaching the neighboring house, which had a gate to the rectory. The ends of the three-bay aisles visible there were structured by massive buttresses covered like a desk , which at that time still had to absorb the pressure of a retracted vault . A buttress on the north side showed the year 1720 with its iron anchors embedded in the masonry. The fields of the yokes each had a pointed arch window , which was provided with simple Gothic tracery . On both sides of the church the aisles ended in apses and their yoke fields in small curved gables over a round hatch. On the east side of the church, the tower in front of the choir had small additions on both sides, which were in line with the apses, of which the south was the small sacristy and a north addition carried the above-mentioned panel with the text of Abbot Lohe. No measure was given for the height of the tower. It was simply designed and ended on the fourth floor with a surrounding stone balustrade . A single-storey, eight-sided structure with a domed roof with a lantern and a small helmet rose within this, which , according to Clemen, was equivalent to that of the Church of Mary of Peace .
Interior church architecture and furnishings
The church, which was also plain in its interior, the central nave of which exceeded the narrow side aisles by a yoke length, was equipped with a groin vault supported by rectangular columns , except for the flat-roofed western yoke with the organ gallery there .
Despite its modest size, the church had three simple altars in the Baroque style, one of the side altars bearing the coat of arms of the court chamber councilor Bertoldi and which was probably a family foundation. On the gallery, which was provided with a baroque balustrade, there was a small organ case from 1725, also corresponding to the Baroque period. The organ stage's balustrade bore the inscription "RENOVATUM 1791". All three bells of the Clement Church bore the inscription "ALEXIUS PETIT ME FUNDIT ANNO 1756".
St. Clement in the 20th century
No major changes have been made to St. Clemens since the Liebfrauenkirche was rebuilt, only the most necessary repairs were carried out.
State during the time of National Socialism
At the beginning of the 1940s, the church, which was designated as unused at the time, underwent a restoration due to its alarming state of construction. In the overview of the provincial curator of the Rhine province, Metternich , measures taken for the preservation of monuments were also listed with regard to the Mülheimer Clemenskirche. A series of necessary work was carried out for these in the financial years 1939/40 and 1940/41 with funds from state and provincial subsidies. The western masonry of the tower was repaired, and parts of the equally damaged house stone and masonry sections on the western side of the tower gallery were tackled. In addition, the church building received new roofing. The renovated condition of the church, which at that time still had a porch on its west side, is documented by a photograph by Cologne's August Kreyenkamp .
Destruction in World War II
The Rhine district of Mülheim was exposed to particularly heavy bombing by the Allies . In a single attack in November 1944, around 8,000 incendiary bombs and 100 high-explosive bombs weighing 225 kg each were dropped over it, and the area was hit by an unknown number of air mines and phosphor canisters . St. Clemens was not spared either and suffered severe damage. A photograph from 1949 shows the remains of the church, which consisted of the masonry of the burned-out ground floor and the torso of the tower (not on the picture).
Investigation of the ruin
The Rhenish Office for the Preservation of Monuments apparently took stock of the remaining urban cultural assets shortly after the end of the war. In March 1949, an investigation into the destroyed Clemenskirche took place, during which further discoveries confirmed the early date of origin of the Romanesque building, which had already been established in 1939. The findings were provided by the remaining masonry of the church ruins, which was now revealed by the destruction of the war, such as clean tuff masonry that had become visible and remains of the original eaves in the western wall pillar. Remains of the quarter-length eaves had become visible above the arched frieze of the eastern axis and the eastern corners of the central nave and the choir now revealed that they had previously been emphasized by the incorporation of trachyte blocks . In addition to the present-day arcade, which was recognized as the northern outer wall as early as 1939, there were (in contrast to the current situation) on the south wall, apart from pilaster strips, rectangular window frames with plaster remnants from the early days. Together with other details, a single-nave hall building with two axes of around 6 m by 8.5 m, which was mainly made of tuff, was concluded.
reconstruction
Southwest view
Details of the spire
Bronze portal by Joachim Schürmann
Tail gables and gargoyles
The reconstruction of the church by the architect Joachim Schürmann took place between the years 1952 and 1960. Since the Romanesque core of the baroque building had only been discovered a few years before the end of the war, Schürmann wanted to create a simple, whitewashed church that should convey the impression of a “Romanization in the spirit of modernity”. When implementing this idea, the approach should be that the rebuilt structure would integrate existing original parts. The western porch of the church was not renewed either during this work or during renewed restorations by Schürmann in 1979/80.
Today's church
The irregular floor plan of the church, which was created by the numerous changes in the past and has only a few axes or right angles , has remained unchanged. Incidentally, according to Bellot's remarks, nothing of the condition of the old Clemenskirche has been reconstructed, rather parts that can be easily restored have been falsified by omitting previously existing shapes or by adding new ones. As the most momentous of the decisions made, Bellot criticizes the renouncement of a vaulting, which was not carried out again because of the allegedly questionable statics of the outer walls and buttresses. Today's arcade walls, originally fine structures and supports of the vault according to Bellot, would now have become meaningless in the room. Today's church is equipped with a flat wooden ceiling that equally covers all naves. It should also be stated that the pointed arch windows on the outer polygon sides of the apses there would be blocked. The outer north wall of the aisle, which was destroyed in the war and has now been replaced, has only small round windows, the format of which, according to Bellot, was not considered to be based on the originals, and the wall remained unstructured on the inside and the original was not emulated on the outside and buttresses were dispensed with. Even the former fork tracery of the south side window was not reinstalled, but was filled with glass blocks . The rich ornamentation of the former west facade was greatly reduced, the destroyed vestibule was not renewed. Bellot documents through photographs that the dome of the tower was incorrectly reconstructed due to a too steep domed roof and that it now has a modified tail hood.
The church has been illuminated at night since December 2015.
Interior and equipment
Central nave
East view
Aisle in the northeast
End of the south aisle
The church can be entered from the west via two side door entrances or through the bronze arched portal designed by Schürmann . This work was created in 1960 and shows motifs that the artist assigned to the life of St. Clement. The portal is not followed by a separate vestibule, but rather the end of the central nave, above which the organ gallery was formerly. After a few meters, the side aisles, integrated by arched arcades, are only narrowly wide and are equipped with folding seating for special occasions. The three rectangular pillars of the arcades were decorated by indicated fighters at the level of the arch base . The remaining masonry of the church is unadorned except for the Romanesque frieze of the northern outer arcade and has been whitewashed overall. The floor made of coarse gray stone slabs and the wood paneling of the ceiling create a contrast to the plain white , creating an optical expanse of the interior. The central aisle leads through church pews set up on both sides to the slightly raised floor of the east choir, in front of which a small organ from 1725 is set up on the right and a reading desk on the left . The choir niche itself is empty, the only decoration is a hanging cross, which was created by Werner Schürmann (a brother of the architect), as well as the massive altar table made of light marble .
Bells
In the tower hang three bells , which were cast in 1960 by the bell foundry Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock . The bell is coordinated with the others in Mülheim.
|
No. |
Surname |
Diameter (mm) |
Mass (kg) |
Percussive ( HT - 1 / 16 ) |
inscription |
| 1 | Clement | 815 | 330 | b 1 +10 | ST. CLEMENS / DEPRECA PACEM UNITATEMQUE ECCLESIAE |
| 2 | Peter | 725 | 230 | c 2 +10 | ST. PETRUS / CUSTODI RHENUM REGIONEMQUE NOSTRAM |
| 3 | Maria | 675 | 190 | of 2 +11 | ST. MARIA / PROTEGE JUVENTUTEM NOSTRAM |
Rhine promenade Mülheimer Ufer
In the illustration from the 1940s, St. Clemens was still standing on a two-tier masonry rubble stone plinth directly on the banks of the Rhine. At the end of 1953 the Rhine promenade was laid out, which essentially corresponds to the current situation at the church. Also at this time, a sculpture of St. Nepomuk, the patron saint against the dangers of water, which the sculptor Eduard Schmitz jun. Was erected on the sea wall in front of the west portal of the church . created.
Saint Clemens has often been the patron saint of boatmen and their churches on the Rhine since early times . He was the patron saint of the old double church in Schwarzrheindorf as well as the St. Clemens Church in Langel and also the old Cologne collegiate church St. Kunibert , which was originally also consecrated to St. Clemens and bore his name.
literature
- Yearbook of the Rheinische Denkmalpflege, Ed .: On behalf of the Provincial Association, by the Provincial Curator of the Rhine Province. XVII. IXVIII. Born in 1941. Printed by L. Schwann, Düsseldorf
- Manfred Becker-Huberti (ed.): Cologne churches: The churches of the Catholic and Protestant communities in Cologne . Bachem Verlag, Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-7616-1731-3 .
- Christoph Bellot: On the history of the Clement Church in Mülheim am Rhein (= Colonia Romanica. Volume IX). Cologne 1994, pp. 109-118.
- Johann Bendel : The city of Mülheim am Rhein, history and description, legends and tales. s. ed., Mülheim am Rhein 1913.
- Paul Clemen : The art monuments of the district of Mülheim am Rhein. (= The art monuments of the Rhine Province on behalf of the Provincial Association of the Rhine Province , Volume 5, Section 2.). Verlag L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1901.
- Hans Vogts : The Mülheim old town in the last 150 years of the Bergisch rule (= yearbook of the Cologne History Association, Volume 26). Cologne 1951.
- Lisa Weyand: Catholic parish of St. Clemens and Mauritius . Cologne 2016, ISBN 978-3-00-051749-5 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Manfred Becker-Huberti: Cologne churches. The churches of the Catholic and Protestant communities in Cologne . Section Saint Clemens, p. 48.
- ↑ Lisa Weyand: Catholic parish of St. Clemens and Mauritius . Cologne 2016.
- ↑ a b c d e Christoph Bellot: On the history of the Clemens Church in Mülheim am Rhein . P. 109 ff.
- ^ A b Johann Bendel: The city of Mülheim on the Rhine . “The first fortification 1255–1283”, p. 28 f.
- ↑ Hans Vogts with reference to: V. von Zuccalmaglio, history and descriptions of the city and the district of Mülheim am Rhein. Cologne 1846
- ↑ a b Christoph Bellot: On the history of the Clemenskirche in Mülheim am Rhein, with reference to notes in the inventory files of the Rhenish Office for the Preservation of Monuments from March 15, 1949 . P. 114 f
- ↑ a b c Hans Vogts: The Mülheim old town in the last 150 years of the Bergisch rule , p. 152 ff
- ↑ a b Yearbook of the Rheinische Denkmalpflege 1941, p. 352 f
- ^ Johann Bendel: The city of Mülheim on the Rhine . "With reference to the Cologne yearbooks of the 14th and 15th centuries", p. 35
- ^ A b Johann Bendel: The city of Mülheim on the Rhine . "The old parish church of Mülheim", p. 334 ff
- ^ Johann Bendel: The city of Mülheim on the Rhine . "The Destruction 1614/15", p. 72 ff
- ↑ Christoph Bellot: On the history of the Clemens Church in Mülheim am Rhein . P. 115, with reference to Renard and a photo of the inscription in the city curator's collection
- ^ Johann Bendel: The city of Mülheim on the Rhine . "The God costume", p. 277 ff.
- ↑ Paul Clemen, in: The art monuments of the Mülheim am Rhein district , Mülheim, "Old Catholic parish church s. Clementis ”, p. 238 ff
- ↑ History workshop Mülheim ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Uwe Schäfer: St. Clemens in Mülheim now also shines at night , Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, December 25, 2015.
- ^ Gerhard Hoffs: Bells of Catholic churches in Cologne . P. 558f.
Web links
- St. Clemens (website of the parish of St. Clemens and Mauritius)
- Romanesque churches in Cologne: St. Clemens in Mülheim. In: Web presence Förderverein Romanische Kirchen Köln . Retrieved July 5, 2019 .
Coordinates: 50 ° 57 ′ 51 ″ N , 6 ° 59 ′ 54 ″ E