St. Lawrence (Horní Blatná)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
St. Lawrence in Horní Blatná
Side view

The Church of St. Laurentius ( Czech Sv. Vavřince ) is a Baroque church building in the center of the Czech town of Horní Blatná ( German  Bergstadt Platten ) in the Ore Mountains .

history

Previous construction

In 1535, Elector Johann Friedrich von Sachsen visited the community. He gave it the name Platten and made 200 guilders available for the construction of the church and school. A tax from a monastery near Crimmitschau was supposed to be used for the maintenance of the pastor . A small church bell, a chasuble and a chalice were taken from the dissolved Grünhain monastery , and another bell from a Zwickau monastery.

In 1539 Magister Seidelman was accepted as the new pastor, who was replaced by Johan Meusszahl the following year. In 1541 the consecration of this first Protestant church building on the "Pfarrteich" took place with his successor Wolfgang Schmatzner. In 1544 a pewter baptismal font was made, which was taken over into the current building and is still preserved. Under the construction underlined a passage of the Holy Spirit mine , which mining damage are caused and the church had become dilapidated, worn away until they had 1,592.

Current church building

The current building was erected on the market square from 1593 and was consecrated to Protestants on August 15, 1594. Originally it was a rectangular house of prayer. In 1605 a wooden tower was added to the east. In 1611 the church was renovated after cracks had formed from the weight of the tower. The interior of the church was whitewashed. On May 14, 1672, at 5 a.m., the tower collapsed and destroyed the sacristy below. The tower was replaced by a stone tower in 1682. In 1617 the ceiling in the nave was paneled and the altar grilles, miners' chairs and council chairs were completed.

After the citizens of Plattner demanded that the rulers profess their religion as a result of the Peace of Prague , the last Protestant pastor Johann Jahn resigned in 1636. Platten became Catholic and from then on only Catholic clergy provided church service. The Protestant part of the population was forced to convert to Catholicism or to leave the country. In the winter of 1654, the majority of the population left Platten, founded the exile town of Johanngeorgenstadt immediately behind the neighboring Saxon border and built a new Protestant town church based on the model of the Platten Church.

In 1676 the edict of restitution, suspended 40 years earlier in the peace provisions, expired and the religious struggle came to an end. In 1686 the church was consecrated Catholic by order of the Archbishop of Prague and St. Laurentius was named patron saint. Between 1753 and 1755 the masonry was increased and the two choir towers were added.

On May 3, 1958, the building of the church was entered in the State Register of Cultural Monuments . In the years 1992–1997, with financial support from collections of former German residents, financial support from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and considerable financial support from the municipality of Horní Blatná, a comprehensive repair of the exterior and interior of the church was carried out. The mayor at the time, Vilém Schneider, played a major role in the renovation.

architecture

Outside

The late baroque building has a rectangular floor plan. The nave is covered with a mansard roof with dormers and the roof skin is made of wood shingles . There is a lantern with an onion hood on the roof ridge .

On both sides of the nave, low octagonal turrets with hoods are attached to the western facade . The outside facade of the church is structured by pilaster frames. In the main facade there is a statue of St. Lawrence in a conch niche above the right-angled entrance portal . On the northwest side of the main facade there is a statue of Immaculate in a conch niche in the turret , and in the turret on the southwest side there is a statue of the Madonna. Right-angled side entrances lead to the corner turrets in the main facade. The side entrances are located under the third window of the ship, of which the northern one is in an annex. There are also niches in the polygons between the nave and the church tower. In the southern niche there is a statue of Saint Anthony, the opposite niche is empty.

The tower built in 1682, also known as the “city tower”, is a church tower, but belonged to the city administration. In the lower, square part, the sacristy is located under a mighty stone vault. The ascent to the tower is via a so-called tower conversion with a spiral staircase on the east side. The bell floor is located on the upper floor of the square tower section . It has large window openings to the north and south with a semicircular closure and a smaller rectangular window to the east, which are provided with ventilation blinds. In the adjoining, octagonal tower part is the former tower room and the tower clock . The tower is covered with a helmet and a lantern. The outer wall of the church tower is partly smooth, in the octagonal part it is structured by pilaster frames with fields ending at obtuse angles. The modern polygonal porch on the east wall of the tower is structured by cornices, on one there is a plaque with the house number 198.

Inside

The interior of the undivided nave is covered with a flat wooden ceiling with a painted stucco mirror . The inner walls are structured by pilasters with capitals ornamented with saddlecloth and bell motifs , on whose cornices the ceiling rests. To the west is the columns supported, three-sided gallery, with a balustrade executed parapet . The insert chapels on both sides of the tower are open to the choir and connected to it by corner pilasters decorated with rich ornaments. Below the church tower there is a mighty barrel vault , which is separated from the nave by a semicircular portal with beveled corners. In the north wall of the nave there is probably an originally late Gothic, later Baroque redesigned portal hidden.

Furnishing

View into the nave with the main altar, side altars and pulpit

Altars

At the eastern end of the nave is the main altar, which dates from the first third of the 18th century. It is decorated with ornament and ribbon motifs and includes a central relief with a portrait of St. Lawrence . There are also statues of Saints Wenceslaus and Florian on the side .

A rococo table altar with a contemporary image of Saint Cecilia surrounded by statues of angels, an altar with statues of the Fourteen Holy Helpers , a Rococo Altar of Calvary and an altar of Saint Francis Xavier , with an image of saints and a painting overpainted from the modern age, date from the time the current building was completed Sculpture is equipped.

In the northern insert chapel there is a canopy altar of the Pietà , in the southern insert chapel there is an altar with a satue of St. Joseph .

On December 25, 1609, the wife of the city judge Gabriel Siegel donated a Bornkinnel , which, according to the custom known from the Joachimsthal church, was now also placed on the altar in plates every year from Christmas to Candlemas.

Baptismal font

The Renaissance baptismal font from 1544 was made from pewter donated by the local mine owners. It was taken over from the previous building dismantled in 1592. The outer decoration with tubes and buttons comes from the St. Joachimsthal tin caster Leonhard Dürr. In 1597 it was renewed and given various decorations.

organ

In 1613 an organ with eight voices was purchased for seven hundredweight pewter. During the First World War , the tin organ pipes had to be given up. After the end of the war, the organ was completed again and at the same time provided with an electric drive.

Bells

The big bell of the original, three-part peal was cast in Joachimsthal in 1584, it weighed 500 kilograms and was raised in the church tower on October 4th, 1584. When the tower was repaired in 1769, this bell broke and had to be melted down in Prague. The inscription on the upper edge read: "THIS BELL IS CASTED BY THE ROMAN: KAIL. MAYL. RUDOLPH II. AND COMMON STEWER ON THE BERCKSTADT PLATTEN BY NEWEN VON HANNS WILDT IN S: JOACHIMSTHAL". On the lower edge: "UNDER THE CAPITAL TEAM DES GESTRENGEN, NOBLE U: HONORABLE ALBERT OF GLOBES TO POCHLOWITZ IN 1548 YEAR, OCTOBE 4:". In the middle, on one side, was Christ on the cross with the inscription: "SO GOT LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GIVED HIS SINGLE SON, IN WHICH ALL WHO BELIEVE IN HIM WILL NOT BE LOST BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE" : "JOHAN 3: C: HANNS WILDT HAS ADDED X GULDEN. JACOB WILDT". On the other side the inscription read: "LIKE MOSES HAVE RAISED A SNAKE IN THE DESERT, SO THE SON OF MAN HAD TO BE RAISED, TO WHICH ALL THOSE IN BELIEVING WERE NOT LOST, BUT HAVE THE ETERNAL LIFE. JOHN: 3". Below was the Schlick's coat of arms, which belonged to St. Joachim and St. Anna was held.

During the First World War, two bells had to be handed in for war purposes. In 1927 a new, three-part bell was purchased. The largest bell is decorated with a representation of Saint Lawrence and weighs 647 kilograms. The middle one measures 368 kg and is decorated with the image of the cross, the small bell shows Saint Barbara and weighs 252 kg. There are also two other small bells hung in the lantern.

Other equipment

In addition, there are two patron saints' benches with painted figural and ornamental decorations inside the church, one of which dates from before 1700.

Personalities

The following people were buried in the town church:

  • 1662: Father Stanislaus Kuchenhardt
  • 1693: Paul Wenzel Seeling
  • 1697: Rosina Seeling b. Löbel
  • 1699: Father Johann Hermann Mabam
  • 1704: Father Wenceslaus Leopold Pfanner
  • 1707: Margaretha Schlegel
  • 1741: Christian Elster
  • 1747: Anna Barbara Heßler b. Plaster (cross chapel)
  • 1750: Anna Regina Seeling b. Hanickl
  • 1751: Maria Magdalena Richter
  • 1758: Father Bernhard Thaddäus Richter
  • 1762: Adalbertus Seeling (Kreuzkapelle)
  • 1762: Maria Elisabetha Seeling b. Elementor (Kreuzkapelle)
  • 1770: Johann Franz von Heßler (Kreuzkapelle)

Web links

Commons : St. Laurentius (Horní Blatná)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Kronika města Horní Blatná , begun by Georg Stecher, 1565–1750, p. 126 ff. ( Digitized version )
  2. a b c d Rudolf Beck: Catholic Church in Bergstadt Platten . In: Adolf Moder (ed.): Neudecker Heimatbrief . Episode 161, 4th issue of the 20th year. Nuremberg June 15, 1968, p. 9-10 ( digitized version ).
  3. a b Martin Thiel: From the history of the mining town plates . In: Adolf Moder (ed.): Neudecker Heimatbrief . Episode 40. Artelshofen April 30, 1953, p. 4–5 ( digitized version ).
  4. kostel sv. Vavřince ÚSKP 19518 / 4-804 in the monument catalog pamatkovykatalog.cz (Czech).
  5. ^ Walter Glatz: Renovation of the Church of St. Laurentius in Bergstadt Platten: Review . In: Roland Renftel (Ed.): Neudecker Heimatbrief . Episode 382, ​​2nd issue of the 48th year. Munich 1996, p. 10–11 ( digitized version ).
  6. a b c Martin Thiel: Church and market place of the "old flat" . In: Adolf Moder (ed.): Neudecker Heimatbrief . Episode 55. Hersbruck March 15, 1955, p. 10–11 ( digitized version ).
  7. ^ Walter Korb: 400 years of the mining town of Platten . In: Adolf Moder (ed.): Neudecker Heimatbrief . Episode 124. Nuremberg November 1, 1963, p. 6-7 ( digitized version ).
  8. ^ Rudolf Beck: Catholic Church in Bergstadt Platten . In: Adolf Moder (ed.): Neudecker Heimatbrief . Episode 162, 5th issue of the 20th year. Nuremberg August 1, 1968, p. 9-10 ( digitized version ).
  9. ^ Kronika města | Porta fontium. Retrieved November 29, 2019 .
  10. a b Melanie Korb: Plattens beautiful bells ringing . In: Adolf Moder (ed.): Neudecker Heimatbrief . Episode 163, 6th issue of the 20th year. Nuremberg September 15, 1968, p. 3 ( digitized version ).
  11. ^ Rudolf Herold: Bell consecration in Bergstadt Platten in 1927 . In: Adolf Moder (ed.): Neudecker Heimatbrief . Episode 198, 1st issue of the 25th year. Nuremberg February 1, 1975, p. 6 ( digitized version ).

Coordinates: 50 ° 23 ′ 24.4 "  N , 12 ° 46 ′ 13.1"  E