St. Katharinen (Magdeburg)

The church in 1927

West facade, 1927

The St. Katharinen Church was a church in Magdeburg's old town . It was consecrated to Saint Catherine . The Katharinenkirche burned down in the Second World War in 1944 and served as protection for many Magdeburg residents and refugees during the heavy air raids in January 1945 . The 736 year old church was finally demolished between 1964 and 1966.

history

middle Ages

The foundation stone for the church was laid in 1230, although the presence of Archbishop Albrecht I von Käfernburg seems possible. The consecration to Saint Catherine (to sunte Katerina) took place because the Archbishop had brought a finger relic of Catherine of Alexandria to Magdeburg in 1220 . The church was probably consecrated by Archbishop Burkhard I von Woldenberg .

In 1468 the original nave was torn down to build a larger one. Due to a thunderstorm , the northern church tower caught fire in 1521. However, there was only minor damage.

reformation

In 1524 the parish, the pastor Johann Ziegenhagen and the chaplain Bode converted to Protestantism .

Structurally, small changes and additions were made, in which a tower clock was built in 1593 and a new pulpit in 1603 .

On the Sunday after Easter in 1613 there was an extensive fire in the town which also severely damaged the Church of St. Catherine. Among other things, the bells , the clockwork and the organ were destroyed. Further damage was caused by looting that occurred during the fire. A town citizen named Teufel was identified as the cause of the fire , who unloaded a wagon full of straw on Peterstrasse for construction purposes and came too close to his stove. The fire quickly spread to other houses and entire streets. A total of 212 houses were destroyed.

However, the damage to the church was repaired in a short time. Already in August 1613 a bell founder Borstelmann had cast a new bell on behalf of the community. In 1618 this bell had to be cast because of a crack. Also in 1613 a new organ was built, which Michael Praetorius praised for its sound in his work Syntagma musicum .

On November 26, 1630, one of the spiers fell down during a heavy storm, but without otherwise damaging the church.

Thirty Years' War

When Magdeburg was stormed by imperial troops under Tilly on May 10, 1631, St. Catherine's Church was also badly damaged. A massacre took place in the church , in which 53 people, mostly women, were cut off the heads by the troops of Tilly. The church caught fire. The towers and the church roof collapsed. The organ was also destroyed. The big bell and the signing bell were the only ones in the entire old town, apart from the intact bells of Magdeburg Cathedral .

In 1637 Hans Harnischwischer erected a belfry on the ruins of the northern tower so that the bell could be used again. On June 16 of the year the councilor Pascha Thomas took over the office of the church father , which he held until 1653. After his death, he was accused of misappropriating community funds. He was succeeded by Paul Lüderwald .

On June 1, 1653, the poorly repaired north tower collapsed. The crown bow broke off the big bell . A new emergency bell house was only inaugurated on March 18, 1655. The big bell had been repaired by the bell founder Georg Schreiber.

In 1656 the remains of the southern tower collapsed.

Reconstruction from 1668

In 1668 the reconstruction of the church began. Armed with letters of recommendation from Electors Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg and the administrator of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg, fundraisers traveled through Germany, but also through the Netherlands , Sweden and Switzerland . The construction costs should be 6000 thalers. The new altar was donated by Joachim Balicke in 1676 and designed by the sculptor Tobias Wilhelmi and the painter Fensterer. In 1679 the Katharinenkirche was consecrated by the pastor of the neighboring Sankt-Johannis-Kirche Ernestus Bake . Nikolaus Müller became the first pastor after the reconstruction.

In 1689 work began on rebuilding the steeples. A decision taken in 1691 to set up a tower house was not implemented. In 1692 a new pulpit was built. On August 1, 1695, the tower button was set and the bells were brought from the emergency bell cage to the southern church tower. In the same year the community bought the organ of the Sankt-Johannis-Kirche for 170 thalers , which was rebuilt in 1705 by master organ builder Arp Schnitger for 260 thalers. However, the sound of the organ also met with criticism. In 1701 a clock was installed again in the church tower. In 1707 the churchyard was finally surrounded with a wall.

In 1723 a fire broke out in the neighborhood that spread to one of the church towers.

At least around 1750, the double name Sanct Catharina and Sanct Margaretha was in use for the church .

In 1798 the organ built by Johann Wilhelm Grüneberg was installed. Plans to build a new organ, which had previously been pursued in 1755, had failed due to cost reasons.

French occupation

During the time of the French occupation, the church was first used as a horse stable in 1806 and later (1811) as a warehouse. On December 9, 1812, the Catholic Church was awarded the Katharinenkirche. However, the non-intended use continued. In September 1813 it was used as a cattle barn, after which a cattle disease broke out in the church in January 1814 .

After the withdrawal of the French troops, the Protestant Katharinengemeinde received on May 15, 1816 on the orders of Friedrich Wilhelm III. their church back. 2276 thalers were used to repair the worst damage, some of which was raised by the Prussian state.

On April 15, 1817 the handover took place on April 20, the evangelical consecration of the church.

Work Leberecht Uhlichs

Leberecht Uhlich held the office of pastor from October 1, 1845 until his suspension in September 1847 . His legendary sermons attracted so many visitors that some of the people had to stand on the street in front of the church.

Late 19th / early 20th century

Extensive repair work was carried out in the 1870s. In 1873 the image of Saint Catherine was exchanged over the portal. In 1876 large parts of the interior and the floor were renewed. By laying a gas pipe for the lighting, the possibility of church services was created in the evening hours.

In 1880 a new organ was installed by the organ builder Reubke. The old organ was sold to the parish of the Friedrichsbrunn village church in 1882 . In 1890 a heating system was installed.

During the First World War , the church had to give up three of its bronze bells for armaments purposes. Therefore only the big bell of 1613 was rung.

In 1925 there was a switch to electric lighting. In 1927 two newly cast bells were consecrated.

Second World War

Catherine's Church burned down on September 28, 1944 in a bomb attack during the Second World War . During the heaviest air raid on Magdeburg on January 16, 1945, many people saved themselves in the ruins of the church and thus escaped the fire in the city center.

Demolition in the GDR

The remaining towers in 1964

From 1961 to 1963 clean-up work took place as part of the Action atonement . In the GDR , however, the intention was to build the northern section of the Breite Weg as a socialist city ​​center. The churches in this area were therefore found to be annoying by the planners. Initially, the integration of the church into the new cityscape was planned. However, on February 5, 1964, it was decided to demolish the nave. After heated debates, it was decided that at least the towers could remain standing. The nave was blown up on March 24, 1964. In July 1965, however, the towers were also ordered to be demolished. In 1966 the church towers were demolished. After 736 years the story of the Katharinenkirche ended.

Today's development

New buildings around the church in comparison

During the GDR era, the teachers' house was built at the former location of the church, and after renovations it now bears the name “Katharinenturm”. Today a bronze model reminds of the St. Katharinen church at the former location.

On July 6, 2016, the reconstruction of the so-called Katharinenportal , one of the earlier entrances to the church, began. For this purpose, the portal secured before the church was finally demolished in 1966 is attached to a newly constructed concrete retaining wall. After the work is completed, the portal will be illuminated with a color concept at the end of 2016 and will serve as a reminder of a past piece of Magdeburg history.

literature

• Helene Penner: The Magdeburg Parish Churches in the Middle Ages (Phil. Diss. University of Halle 1919), printed in: Saxony and Anhalt - Yearbook of the Historical Commission for Saxony-Anhalt , 2017, Volume 29, pp. 19-104, here pp. 46– 47.
• Kurt Haupt: St. Katharinen 1230–1930. Images from the church and city history of Magdeburg. Magdeburg 1930.
• Hans-Joachim Krenzke: Churches and monasteries in Magdeburg. City Planning Office Magdeburg, 2000.

Web links

Commons : Sankt-Katharinen-Kirche (Magdeburg)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• kirchensprengung.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Detlef Horenburg, Bonhoeffer Church in Friedrichsbrunn Twitter during the devotion on December 3, 2013 on www.mz-web.de
2. ^ Rainer Schweingel: Start of construction for Katharina's portal. In: www.volksstimme.de. Retrieved July 8, 2016 . 

Coordinates: 52 ° 8 '5 "  N , 11 ° 38' 19.9"  E