St. Georgen (Parchim)

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St. Georgen

The parish church of St. Georgen is the church of the Evangelical Lutheran parish of the same name in Parchim . The community belongs to the Parchim provost in the Mecklenburg parish of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany ( Northern Church ). The church was built in 1289 in the center of the old town. After a construction period of eighteen years, it was presumably consecrated in 1307; later it was rebuilt and expanded several times. It is a three-nave and nine-bay Gothic brick building on a field stone base with a west tower. The originally steep spire was destroyed in 1612.

history

Previous construction

The church, consecrated in 1307, was built on the remains of the previous building using the remaining wall remains. Some of these remains can still be seen on the outside of the west wall and inside the church. The old church was a late Romanesque basilica , which was probably built by Bishop Berno between 1180 and 1190. What is certain, however, is that it stood in 1229, perhaps a little before that. It is thus in parts the oldest building in the city of Parchim.

Before 1289 the basilica burned down, so that according to the Parchim Chronicle of the Georgen pastor Cordesius (1634–1676) Pope Nicolaus IV (1288–1292) granted an indulgence for the construction aid . This Pope belonged to the Franciscans , who have also been recorded in Parchim since 1246.

Today's St. Georgen Church

After the building was rebuilt as a Gothic hall church , the choir and the ambulatory were expanded as early as 1420/30 . In the course of the great city fire in 1612, the tower, the belfry and the bells were completely destroyed by fire. The subsequent reconstruction of the tower ended in its shape still existing today with a lower height of 48.50 meters.

After renovations had already taken place in the church in 1711 and 1806, the last extensive renovations took place in 1844 and 1898. In 1844 all the chairs and choirs were demolished (with the exception of the ratchet choir), the church was whitewashed, the floor paved with stones, the altar raised, the organ and pulpit painted. Apostles were broken out of the main altar by H. Leptzow and moved to a new altar shrine. These construction measures were led by master builder Garthe.

In 1897/98 the lime plaster was removed again, the altar was lowered and a neo-Gothic altar top was installed by building officer Gotthilf Ludwig Möckel . All choirs and fixtures were removed again. The floor was tiled with colored slabs, all grave slabs were put into the walls. Max Salomon from Berlin painted the vaults and walls. Air heating and gas lighting were also installed.

Reformation at St. Georgen

Martin Luther's teaching is said to have been first proclaimed to St. Georgen by Caspar Lönnies in 1526 . He was then suspended by Duke Albrecht , but shortly thereafter reinstated in his office by Duke Heinrich zu Mecklenburg in 1533. From this point on, evangelical preaching was held at St. Georgen and a Catholic preaching at St. Marien. In 1537 Duke Heinrich filled the vacant position at St. Georgen with Johann Riebling (1494–1554), a theologian recommended by Martin Luther himself, who was supposed to enforce the new church order in Mecklenburg. He was the main pastor of the George Church and since 1540 general superintendent (bishop) for the whole duchy.

renovation

In the 20th century only the most basic conservation measures were carried out. In the years 1979 to 1983, the outer skin and the roof could be partially restored with donations from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria as part of the special construction program for the churches of the GDR . On October 28, 1996, the first friends' association was founded with the aim of realizing the urgent renovation of the ailing Frisian organ from 1871. This project was completed on October 31, 2001. After the organ renovation, the friends' association devoted itself to restoring the church bells, which had hitherto been silent. This was put back into operation on September 30, 2007. Furthermore, since the reunification, a modern winter church - south of the tower - (December 2001), a gas heating system, as well as a kitchen and sanitary wing have been installed in the St. Georgen Church. In 2006 and 2007, the existing electrical system was replaced and the bell cage was comprehensively secured and reinforced.

Interior

pulpit

The pulpit is a carving. It contains many biblical scenes. It was completed in 1580 and bears the dedication inscription:

IN . DEI. HONOREM. AC. PATRIAE. SUAE .ORNAMENTUM. D. D. JOHN. GRANSIN. CIVIS. LUBICENSIS.

From the early 15th century there is a wooden Christ as Man of Sorrows . On the pillars of the choir there are remains of wall paintings from the second half of the 15th century. The church fathers Gregor and Ambrosius are shown . There are also two triumphal cross groups and a bell from around 1400.

Most of the interior was created after the Reformation. The first organ was made by Fabian Peters in 1564, the pulpit was built in 1580. It was donated by the Lübeck citizen Johannes Gransin and shows the life of Jesus as well as the founder and his wife. The texts under the depictions of the stations of Christ in the pulpit are still in Latin. Dehio wants to attribute the pulpit as a work by the Lübeck carver Tönnies Evers the younger . In the opinion of Wilhelmlesenberg , this can at best be regarded as a workshop attribution. This also applies to the inscriptions on the council stalls made in 1608/1623, on which the oldest depiction of Parchim's coat of arms can be seen. The Luther picture is from 1612. In 1613 the bell was made by the Parchim bell caster M. Westfal. This was repaired in 2006. The fifth with a brass bowl dates from 1620. A bell made by M. Westfal in 1622 is no longer available.

In 1651 the first church book was created, in it baptisms are noted, since 1784 dates of birth and since 1657 also weddings and funerals. The epitaphs date from 1727 and 1734, as well as from 1811. The organ was rebuilt in 1754 by organ builder Paul Schmidt from Rostock.

In the church is the grave of Johann Jakob Engel , a leading representative of the Berlin Enlightenment, who comes from Parchim. The Friese organ was consecrated on December 15, 1871.

altar

Winged altar

The oldest existing equipment is the former altarpiece from 1421 , which has been preserved in a modified form. We owe the knowledge about the origin of the retable from the St. Georgen Church in Parchim to a contact between the painter Henning Leptzow and the church leaders of the St. Georgen Church of November 29, 1421 about its manufacture. The altar retable represents a pentaptych , whereby it is a double convertible winged altar with a central shrine and four side wings. Today it consists of a carved festival view and two painted walls. In the holiday view, the central shrine appears divided into three parts. In the center is a 19th century painting depicting Christ and the Emmaus disciples. What was originally seen in the central part is unknown. To the right and left of the painting are the twelve apostles, each in groups of three. Various saints are depicted in the side wings. In the Sunday view, six scenes from the life of St. George were shown on the right wing . The paintings on the left wing are almost completely lost. All parts of the reredos are made of oak.

The winged altar was heavily redesigned for the first time at the end of the 17th century. In 1846 the altar was divided according to the taste of the time, the central shrine served on a neo-Gothic altarpiece as the altar of a chapel of the church, the side wings were temporarily not used. After that, historical conservation began, but it was not until the mid-1960s that the parish began to make efforts to bring the individual parts of the winged altar together again. In 2001, all parts of the altar were assembled into a convertible winged altar and they were installed in the north-eastern side chapel of the ambulatory.

From 2002 to 2006 the box wings of the reredos were restored. Due to the acutely endangered color version, the focus was on preserving the paint layer. The now different appearance of the side wings and center shrine as well as earlier interventions and changes were accepted. There were no additions to individual image carrier components or reconstructive measures.

Of the former 35 altars in the church, two further late Gothic winged altars have been preserved in addition to the main altar. They are in the Bergrade and Lancken churches .

Bells

Belfry

Since 2007 the St. Georgen Church has again had five bells . The plans to rebuild the bells began with the restoration of the bell (around 1400), which existed in 2001 but could no longer be rung due to the massive damage, and the apostle's bell (1613), in the course of which the latter received a new crown, the defects in the hood and plate and the crown of the smallest bell was repaired.

The history of bells in St. Georgen was interrupted by a town fire in 1612, which probably destroyed all the bells. The presumed extent of the damage shows that the medieval bell from 1400 that is still in existence today either only reached St. Georgen after the fire or - which is more likely - was located as a choir bell in the roof turret on the nave. This can be verified on the occasion of a cityscape from the 17th century and still existed in 1728, but was removed in the course of the 18th century.

The first bell casting to rebuild the bells was done in 1613 by the bell founder Michael Westfal, who lived in Parchim. The apostle bell is still there today; it is the second largest bell. Your casting did not go according to plan: The hood in particular is afflicted with numerous casting defects. Presumably the bell never had a complete crown due to insufficient use of metal. For its striking sound - almost exactly in the middle between c 1 and c sharp 1 - the bell has heavy ribs at around 3300 kg.

In 1622 the Great Bell was cast . In the registration form from 1940, a diameter of 1820 mm and the strike tone g 0 are entered. During the Second World War , the bell was classified in the least significant group A and immediately destroyed after it was confiscated.

The third bell, the former guard bell , came into the light of history in 1665 through the work of the Wismar foundryman Adam Dankwart. This bell was also a victim of the Second World War due to incorrect classification.

Two other bells were so-called small choir bells , which, together with the other three bells of the church, have been classified in group A despite their age and historical significance, so that all bells of the church after arrival at the collection point of the so-called Bell cemetery in Hamburg were to be smelted immediately. In this way three bells were lost. After the war, the apostle bell and a doorbell could be returned by installing them on a misshapen steel yoke. Until 2001 the apostle bell was the only bell in the church that could be rung.

After the foundation of the friends' association in 2001, plans were made to preserve the two existing bells and to re-cast three more bells to ring a five-bell. Since the bell cage is part of the inventory worth seeing, changes to the construction were not to be tolerated, which showed clear and unchangeable specifications for the musical structure of the bells. If clearly noticeable movements of the tower were to be expected in the run-up to the ringing of the apostles' bell, a structural dynamic measurement showed that the tower reacts particularly sensitively to smaller bells.

The Bachert bell foundry in Karlsruhe received the order to cast the new bells . Two bells were made in 2006. The casting of the big bell (4150 kg, chime: a 0 +7,) took place at the hour of Jesus' death on Friday, May 18, 2007. The predicted chime was hit exactly, so that the bell without any correction Could leave the foundry. The second bell (1613, 3310 kg, chime: c 1 +9) is the larger of the two still existing old bells, the apostle bell described above . The third bell (2006, 1072 kg, chime: f 1 +7.5), according to the wish of the congregation, carries the faith of a witness of faith in the recent past, namely Dietrich Bonhoeffer :

+ WONDERFULLY CARRIED OUT BY GOOD POWERS WE EXPECT WHAT'S COMING MAY + GOD IS WITH US IN THE EVENING AND MORNING + AND CERTAINLY ON EVERY NEW DAY +

The fourth bell is a newly cast spirit domini bell (2006, 195 kg, strike tone: d 2 +9), the fifth bell is the old, restored bell made by bell founder Johannes Reborch (around 1400, 119 kg, strike tone: f sharp 2 +8 ).

Overview of the bell of St. Georgen in Parchim
No. Surname Casting year Foundry, casting location Diameter
(mm)
Mass
(kg)
Percussive
( HT - 1 / 16 )
1 Big bell 2007 Albert Bachert , Karlsruhe 1,886 4,150 a 0 +7
2 Apostle bell 1613 Michael Westphal, Parchim 1,772 3,310 c 1 +7+
3 Dietrich Bonhoeffer 2006 Albert Bachert, Karlsruhe 1,190 1,072 f 1 +7.5
4th Spiritus Domini 00688 00195 d 2 +9
5 Doorbell around 1400 Johannes Reborch 00569 00119 f sharp 2 +8

Church life

In addition to the traditional parish life of a parish, the maintenance of the “open church” should be mentioned in particular. This includes the voluntary keeping of the church building and the offer of tower tours and guided tours for visitors during the summer months.

Otherwise there are year-round sightseeing opportunities after the Sunday services at 10:00 a.m.

See also

literature

  • Georg Christian Friedrich Lisch : The churches to Parchim In: year books of the association for Mecklenburg history and archeology. Volume 8, 1843, pp. 107-109 ( digitized version ).
  • Georg Christian Friedrich Lisch: The high altar of the S. Georgen Church in Parchim. In: Yearbooks of the Association for Mecklenburg History and Archeology. Volume 23, 1858, pp. 364-376.
  • Georg Christian Friedrich Lisch: The high altar of the S. Georgen Church in Parchim. In: Yearbooks of the Association for Mecklenburg History and Archeology. Volume 27, 1862, pp. 227-229.
  • Friedrich Schlie : Art and historical monuments of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Volume IV, Schwerin 1901.
  • Regional Church Archives Schwerin, Parchim local files.

Web links

Commons : St. Georgen (Parchim)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Georg Christian Friedrich Lisch: The churches in Parchim year books of the Association for Mecklenburg History and Archeology, Volume 8 (1843), pp. 107-109.
  2. William Read Mountain : Evers, Tonnies (Anthony) d. Ä. - his son Tönnies E. d. J. In: Ulrich Thieme (Hrsg.): General lexicon of visual artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 11 : Erman-Fiorenzo . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1915, p. 110–111 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).

Coordinates: 53 ° 25 ′ 39.7 "  N , 11 ° 50 ′ 49.8"  E