St. Elisabeth (Nordhausen)

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The St. Elisabeth Church in Nordhausen in the Nordhausen district was built before 1422 and demolished shortly after 1828.

history

The first mention of the Church of St. Elisabeth was in 1422, when the Mainz auxiliary bishop Heinrich granted a forty-day indulgence. In 1436, the citizens of Nordhausen, Hans Swelngrebil and Hermann von Werther, founded the St. Elisabeth Hospital as a pilgrims' hostel ; it was built directly on the Mühlgraben. The church was added to the hospital as a place of worship. The city of Nordhausen took over the patronage of the foundation and appointed two councilors as guardians. In 1437 the altars of the abandoned St. Aegidius chapel on the Barfüßer Tor and the deserted chapel of St. Barbara in Oberrode were moved to the St. Elisabeth church. The founders of the hospital, Hans Swelngrebil and Hermann von Werther, applied for this to Archbishop Dietrich von Mainz , the approval document is dated May 16. They retained some rights to the altars.

In the course of the Reformation, the parish of St. Elisabeth was merged with the parish near St. Nikolai . In 1524, the city council of Nordhausen paid 200 guilders to Hans Swelngrebil so that he waived all his rights to the hospital foundation. A similar settlement was concluded in 1549 with the von Werther family, who had inherited the rights to the hospital from Hermann von Werther, who died in 1463. From 1549 the city also accommodated homeless people in the hospital. In 1577 the Altendorfer parish moved their services to the church of St. Elisabeth, because the Altendorfer church had become too dilapidated.

In 1828 the city of Nordhausen sold the church property including the adjoining apartment and the church was released for demolition for the purpose of building the area. The public auction was set for July 17, 1828. A Sebastian Krapf bought the property for 180 thalers, the church was demolished and the area was built on with houses. The church property was added to the Altendorf church. The hospital continued to exist for a long time after the chapel was demolished. In 1895 it was still used as a municipal poor house. In 1980 it was demolished.

Hospital building

The building had two floors. On the ground floor there was a kitchen, an equipment room and a communal men's room, on the first floor there were rooms for pilgrims and the poor and a communal women's room.

Works of art

  • The church had two vicarages , which were donated by the hospital's donors, Hans Swelngrebil and Hermann von Werther.
  • Three reliquary boxes came from a donation from Nordhausen citizen Konrad von Tannrode together with his wife Sophie in 1430. These relics are said to have been brought from the Holy Land by ancestors of the family.
  • The church had an organ , it is described as very artistic.
  • Gravestones of members of the Swelngrebil and Werther families were there. Hermann von Werther's tombstone (year of death 1463) is described in more detail: On the tombstone he was shown praying in a kneeling position, with his hands folded over the coat of arms. At his side was a short sword, he wore pointed shoes. On the coat of arms was his family coat of arms, a running greyhound and a greyhound. A Latin transcription read: "Anno domini quadringentesimo sexagesimo trino on die sancti remingii obiit cicumspectus vir herman de Werter." (In the year of the Lord 1463 on the day of St. Remigius (October 1), the prudent man Hermann von Werther died.) If canceled the tombstone was sold to the church for 3 thalers and made into grinding stones.

Elisabeth Fountain

The well that is still preserved today was considered to be a healthy well, the legend of an eye healing has been handed down. Metal pipes have been carrying the water that feeds the well since the 17th century. Around 1920 the water dried up. On March 22nd, 2000 the fountain was restored and put back into operation. It was once one of the Seven Wonders of Nordhausen.

literature

  • Ernst Koch : History of the Reformation in the imperial city of Nordhausen am Harz , In: Series of publications by the Friedrich Christian Lesser Foundation Volume 21 , Nordhausen: Atelier Veit Verlag, 2010, p. 178f.
  • Ernst Günther Förstemann: Chronicle of the city of Nordhausen - Friedr. Chrn. Lesser's historical news of the formerly imperial and the Heil. Rom. Free city of Nordhausen , Nordhausen: Magistrat zu Nordhausen, 1860, pp. 128–130
  • Dean Hellwig: Old Nordhäuser Testaments and Foundations In: From the Heimath, Sunday paper of the Nordhäuser Courier , Nordhausen, 1895, p. 59
  • Karl Meyer: Festschrift for the 36th General Assembly of the Harz Association for History and Archeology in Nordhausen , Nordhausen: Self-published by the author - Printed by D. Witt'chen Buchdruckerei, 1903, p. 70
  • Ludwig Günther Leopold: Church, parish and school chronicle of the community offices Heringen and Kelbra, the county of Hohnstein and the county of Stolberg-Roßla and Stolberg-Stolberg , Nordhausen, 1817., p. 229
  • Hans Silberborth : History of the free imperial city of Nordhausen , In: The thousand year old Nordhausen. First part , Nordhausen am Harz: Magistrat der Stadt Nordhausen, 1927, p. 267f.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Documents for the Church of St. Elisabeth in the Nordhausen City Archives on the Thuringia archives portal

Coordinates: 51 ° 30 ′ 16.1 ″  N , 10 ° 47 ′ 21 ″  E