St. Elisabeth (Georgenthal)

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St. Elisabeth

The Church of St. Elisabeth is the parish church in the Thuringian community Georgenthal in the district of Gotha .

history

Between 1235 and 1257 the church was built under the direction of the monastery builder Wigandus. Together with the Elisabeth Church in Marburg (built 1235–1283), it is considered to be one of the oldest churches dedicated to St. Elisabeth. 1235 was the year of Elizabeth's canonization . In 1257 the church was first mentioned in a letter of indulgence from the bishop of Hebron in what was then Palestine to Abbot Bartholomäus von Georgenthal. The church, which was later redesigned several times, was probably built at the beginning of the 13th century. Larger late-Gothic alterations and extensions to the church can be seen around 1500. In the years 1505 to 1507 Luther's companion wasGeorg Spalatin , active as a novice teacher at the church. In 1525, during the German Peasants' War , a large part of the buildings of the Georgenthal monastery was destroyed so that its Romanesque monastery church, which was used as a quarry, was largely demolished.

Today's church, which at that time served as a chapel (lay church) for the monastery staff and farmers from the surrounding monastery villages and was integrated into the wall enclosure of the monastery, escaped destruction. Even in the ensuing turmoil, the church retained its patronage, presumably because of Luther's veneration of Elisabeth, the former landgravine. The servants, farmers and women from the monastery villages had no access to the abbey church. In 1602 the church was almost completely renovated under Duke Johann , whereby the church walls were raised by about 3 m, which can still be seen today (see photo above). In 1603, at Duke's instigation, a regular service was held again. In 1604 the church was modernized, but the Georgenthalers remained parish after Graefenhain for over 100 years . From 1640 to 1675 St. Elisabeth served as the residential church. In 1718 the church received its first pastor, Tobias Merbach, who lived in "Schloss Georgenthal" until 1725 due to the lack of a parsonage. The restored castle was the summer residence of Duke Ernst the Pious until 1675. He visited the church via a covered corridor, which is no longer visible, through a door that is now walled up on the west side of the church in the upper gallery, in order to get into the royal box, which can no longer be seen today. In 1719 the tower was dismantled and rebuilt in 1786. In 1786 the 15 m high, curved roof turret was built . Further renovation work was carried out between 1891 and 1917 under Pastor Paul Baethcke . In 1959 the chronicle delivered further conversions and renovations.

window

The installation of large rectangular windows and other renovations took place in 1780. The windows donated by the Schlenk family of inns are a special treasure. They were created by Wilhelm Francke in Naumburg based on designs by Paul Baethcke , Georgenthal priest and researcher of the monastery ruins . The two stained glass windows in the chancel to the east contain depictions of the monastery founder, Count Sizzo III. von Käfernburg and the founding abbot Count Eberhard von Berg, on the other hand Martin Luther and the Duke Ernst the Pious . The Schlenks ran an inn in the center of the village until 1892/93, which had arisen from the former cloister hospice of the Cistercian monastery. It was the oldest inn in Thuringia, founded in 1528.

organ

The first organ was not procured until 1767; it came from the Reinhardsbrunn palace chapel . In 1894 the organ builder workshop Rudolf Böhm from Gotha delivered a new organ. In 1786/87 the church received the characteristic 15 m high turret to accommodate the church bells.

Church window

The colored Schlenck windows with motifs from Georgenthal's history, which were built in 1902 by Wilhelm Francke in Naumburg based on designs by the Georgenthal priest and researcher of the monastery ruins Paul Baethcke (1850–1936), are special treasures . The windows show u. a. Count Sizzo III. von Käfernburg, the monastery donors, the founding abbot Count Eberhard von Berg, Martin Luther and Duke Ernst the Pious.

Bells

At the beginning of the 20th century, the church had a triple bell made of bronze, which the art historian Paul Lehfeldt described as follows:

1. Cast by Karl Friedrich Ulrich in Apolda in 1887, "when Kaiser Wilhelm I had just turned 90 under Germany's jubilation".
2. 1825 by Jacob Bitorf (Bittorph) in Seligenthal, with a poorly cast, but interesting frieze [...] and a relief of the crucifixion on the mantle rich in figures
3. In 1893 jumped during the funeral ring for Duke Ernst II, cast by the Ulrich brothers in Apolda

The bells were handed in and melted down for the First World War . In front of the church are wooden stalls with three cast iron bells that were handed over to their destination in 1924 as their successors. They were shut down due to material wear and tear in 2004, and in 2008 they were placed in these stalls as a memento after the three bronze bells "Faith", "Hope" and "Love" had been installed in the church tower in November 2007. They were designed by the Graefenhain artist Gert Weber. and was cast in the Bachert bell foundry in Karlsruhe

Parish

The parish is part of the parish Tambach-Dietharz in Kirchenkreis Waltershausen- Ohrdruf the Evangelical Church in Central Germany .

Impressions

Web links

Commons : St. Elisabeth Church (Georgenthal)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e f g h i j k Flyer of the church
  2. a b Lehfeldt at digital collections of the University of Weimar
  3. ^ A b Ellrich / Heinke / Hoerenz: Between Hörsel and Wilder Gera , Wartburg Verlag Weimar, 2005, ISBN 3-86160-167-2
  4. Until 1892/1893 the Schlencks owned the inn in the center of the village, which was the former cloister hospice of the Cistercian monastery. It was founded in 1528 and was considered the oldest inn in Thuringia
  5. ↑ Information board at the church