St. Kilian (Bedheim)

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Evangelical Church of St. Kilian
Choir room

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Kilian in Bedheim , a district of the city of Römhild , in the district of Hildburghausen ( Thuringia ), was built at its core at the end of the 13th century. It has a main organ and a swallow's nest organ from the early 18th century. Both instruments have a mechanical action mechanism and can be played individually or together by an organist. The system is unique in this form worldwide.

history

The oldest parts of the church are the chancel and the vestry that were built in 1260 or 1290th The first pastor is documented for the year 1290 and a document confirms for 1332 that the church is consecrated to the Franconian Apostle Kilian . From 1362 to 1775 the noble family von Heßberg was the castle owner and church patron. In 1521 Hans Philipp von Heßberg introduced the Reformation and founded the school system. The new building of the nave began in 1696 and was completed with the re-inauguration on July 21, 1699. In 1728 the church tower was raised by one storey and got its present shape. Conrad Friedlieb Rühle von Lilienstern acquired the castle and the church patronage in 1778. An extensive interior restoration was carried out between 1900 and 1903. Among other things, the interior was painted almost entirely with brown oil paint, except for the church ceiling, chancel and triumphal arch, which were painted in color. The next major restoration took place from 1968 to 1972. In addition to the new roofing of the north side of the church roof and new slating of the church tower, the original painting was restored. The re-inauguration was on November 5th, 1972. In the 1980s, the parishioners renewed the exterior plastering of the nave and restorers renewed the portals and inscriptions. In 1991 the church tower was plastered and all roofs were re-covered in the early 2000s.

Furnishing

The listed choir tower church and the benches on the two-story gallery have 200 seats. The 37 meter high church tower stands on the chancel, which is covered with a ribbed vault , and is provided with slate-slanted, triple onions and arcades. The prayer bell, cast in bronze in 1515, hangs in it . It bears the inscription "AVE MARIA GRACIA PLENA DOMINUS TECUM". There are also two cast steel bells that were cast in 1919 by the company Schilling & Lattermann in Apolda as a replacement for bells melted down in 1917 .

Some old Gothic paintings, such as six consecration crosses and a depiction of the story of Saul's conversion to Paul, are still preserved. The two-storey galleries are painted in Baroque style, including on the south side below with the coat of arms of the lords of the castle - church patrons. On two large ceiling paintings from the workshop of the family Tischbein that are evangelists represented with symbol characters. The ornate pulpit and the carved wooden figures are worth mentioning.

The sandstone grave slabs on the northeast corner of the nave show Hans Philipp von Heßberg and his two wives Magdalene née Zufraß and Anna née von Mur. The fourth tombstone belongs to his brother Urz (Ulrich) von Heßberg. The chancel is the burial place of the von Heßberg and Rühle von Lilienstern families. For example, the wife of Conrad Friedlieb Rühle von Lilienstern, Charlotte née Wolzo, who died in 1794, is buried under the altar . She was a childhood sweetheart of Friedrich Schiller . An epitaph on the north wall in the chancel dates from 1583 and depicts Hans Wilhelm von Heßberg.

Organs

Prospectus of the main organ
Swallow's Nest Organ

history

The main organ on the west gallery is the work of the organ maker Caspar Schippel from Hildburghausen , who was privileged in Saxony-Hildburghausen and built it in 1711. Two coats of arms on the organ point to Heinrich Siegmund von Pflug and his wife Martha Marie von Heßberg as the donors. The new construction of the swallow's nest organ, which was installed opposite the main organ above the triumphal arch , and the reconstruction of the main organ was carried out by the Saxon-Roman organ maker Nicolaus Seeber in 1721. The carving was made by the sculptor Hans Justus Leib from Streufdorf . The client was Johann Philipp von Heßberg, church patron and son of Martha Marie von Heßberg from his first marriage. The six angels playing music on the organ could be a tribute to his six children who died between 1713 and 1720.

The sophisticated mechanics of the organ, a challenge in terms of organ building technology, is sensitive and susceptible to moisture and dirt. This circumstance required frequent repairs. In 1856 the organ builder Michael Schmidt from Schmiedefeld added three bass registers with 81  pipes and built the new organ behind the case of the Schippel organ . In addition, he redesigned the swallow's nest organ as a remote control unit . After the organ had not been playable for decades, it was repaired in 1956/57 by master organ builders Gerhard Kirchner from Weimar (main organ) and Gustav Kühn from Schleusingen (swallow's nest organ) . Since 1973 organ concerts have been held regularly in the summer months.

1976 were the Gothaer organ builder Hans Helfenbein the register trombone 16 'and trumpet 8' installed at the main plant. From 1994 to 1996 the Alexander Schuke Potsdam Orgelbau GmbH restored the organs and reconstructed the original organ system from 1721. Of the 18 registers, 14 were completely or partially original. Four registers were renewed based on the example of the Pfersdorfer Schippel organ and the Seeber organ in Haina . The organ consecration took place on September 22, 1996.

construction

The main organ is played from the upper manual of the play cabinet , which is located in the foot of the main organ on the gallery, and the swallow's nest organ is played from the lower manual. Both organs can optionally be played together by an organist. The connection of the two mechanical organs is made possible by about 20 meters long wooden abstracts , which are located with the register action in a wooden box in the attic. There are a total of 48 abstracts for the 48 valves and, running in parallel, seven other pieces of wood for the seven registers of the swallow's nest organ. Until the 1950s, a Kalkant provided the wind for both organs. The swallow's nest organ was supplied with the necessary air by a wooden wind tunnel that ran across the attic. Since 1996 every organ has its own electric wind generator .

Today's organ system has the following disposition:

I Manual (Swallow's Nest Organ) CD – c 3
1. Dumped 8th'
2. Grand Principal 4 ′
3. Hollow flutes 4 ′
4th Principal 2 ′
5. Quinta 1 1 ⁄ 2  ′
6th Cymbel II
7th Hautbois 8th'
II Manual (main organ) CD – c 3
8th. Dumped 8th'
9. Viola da gamba 8th'
10. Quintatona 8th'
11. Principal 4 ′
12. Smalled up 4 ′
13. Octav 4 ′
14th Sesquialtera II
15th Mixture III
Pedal CD – c 1
16. Sub bass 16 ′
17th Violon 16 ′
18th Principal bass 8th'

literature

  • Joachim Neubert, Günter Stammberger, Bernhard Großmann, Martin Hoffmann: The churches in the district of Hildburghausen ... nothing more than God's house - the gate of heaven ... Verlag Frankenschwelle, Hildburghausen 2006, ISBN 3-86180-174-4 , p. 22-25.
  • Parish Bedheim: Church leaders

Web links

Commons : St. Kilian  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Joachim Neubert, Günter Stammberger, Bernhard Grossmann, Martin Hoffmann: The churches in the district Hildburghausen ... none other than the house of God - the gate of heaven ... . P. 24
  2. ↑ Felix Friedrich Eberhard Kneipel: Organs in Thuringia - A Destination Guide . Verlag Klaus-Jürgen Kamprad, Altenburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-930550-67-8 , p. 133
  3. ^ Construction of the swallow's nest organ in Bedheim , accessed on March 18, 2017
  4. ↑ Alexander Schuke Potsdam Orgelbau GmbH: Disposition St. Kilian Church in Bedheim / Thuringia

Coordinates: 50 ° 23 ′ 27 ″  N , 10 ° 39 ′ 6.8 ″  E