St. Marien and St. Nikolai (Beelitz)

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Parish church of St. Marien and St. Nikolai in Beelitz

The parish church Sankt Marien und Sankt Nikolai is a Protestant church in Beelitz in the district of Potsdam-Mittelmark (state of Brandenburg).

history

The church in Beelitz was first mentioned in a document in 1247. The field stones in the west transverse structure, in the tower substructure and in some of the tower floors date from this time . Occasional stones from this period are also built into the longitudinal walls. Investigations have shown that the building was raised over time, as rubble from several city ​​fires was piled up around the church . This can be seen, for example, in the bricked-up pointed arches that are now in the base of the church. The Wunderblutkapelle was located next to the church as a free-standing, independent building at that time. It can be entered from the church today.

In 1511 the church was vaulted and rebuilt in brick to a flat-roofed pillar basilica to a three-aisled hall church. A sacristy with two floors was added to the choir in the south ; the roof covered with thatch . The church tower was raised by a timber frame . To absorb the side forces that occur, additional buttresses were attached to the outside of the church. It is possible that the chapel was integrated into the interior of the church at this time , in which a large arch opened the room to the choir. This is covered with a richly designed cross vault. A star vault can be seen in the aisle, and a ribbed vault in the central nave .

In the following centuries the church fell victim to fire several times. Damage is reported from the years 1526, 1563, 1619 and 1700. After the last fire, the church was given a roof made of bricks. Inside, the vaults and inner walls were plastered to remove the traces of fire. At the same time, the gallery , which is still preserved today, was built in .

Furnishing

The church is around 43 meters long and 18 meters wide. Less the masonry, this results in a usable area of ​​659 m². The nave is around 20 meters high, the tower 35 meters. The Petruskanzel, a gift from the Prussian King Friedrich I from 1703, is well worth seeing .

organ

After the first major renovation in the 16th century, the church received an organ in 1516 from an unknown organ builder from Loburg . It was destroyed in the fire in 1619. Only 78 years later did the organ master Johann Ziedlern add another instrument - but this organ was also destroyed only two years later in the fire in 1700. Another used organ that had been bought from Berlin was inaugurated on Reformation Day in 1723 . It had to be repaired in 1726 and 1727 and 1770. In 1814, a new organ with twelve stops on a manual and pedal was built from parts of the existing instrument under the direction of Johann Tobias Turley . Thanks to a donation from Gottfried Wilhelm Baer , a second manual with six parts was added and the work was redesigned. In 1886 a heavy infestation by the common rodent beetle was found, which made it necessary to rebuild the organ. Adam Eifert from Stadtilm then built a new organ with 20 stops on two manuals. It was inaugurated on May 15, 1887. During the Second World War , a large number of the metal pipes were stolen so that the instrument could no longer be used. The company Hans-Joachim Schuke from Potsdam built the sixth organ of the church in 1963. It comprises 21 registers with three reeds. The prospectus comes from church building officer Werner Richter from Berlin.

Bells

A first indication of the presence of bells can be found in the records of the city fire in 1526, in which the musical instruments were destroyed. Other specimens were destroyed in the fire in 1700. From the remains of these bells, Johann Jacobi created two new bronze bells with a diameter of 115 and 45 cm, respectively, in 1716, to which a third bell with a diameter of 105 cm was added in 1733. They were destroyed in the First World War and only replaced by three steel bells from Apolda in 1921 . They are 101, 122 and 156 cm high.

Miracle Blood Chapel

The miraculous blood chapel is a special feature. The unusual proximity to the church and its octagonal design lead to the conclusion that it was intended to be based on early Christian baptisteries. At this point a blood miracle is said to have occurred on the occasion of a Corpus Christi procession in May 1235 , which was expressed in a corporal marked with "traces of blood ". Other traditions, on the other hand, describe a sacrifice in the host that led to the naming of the miracle blood chapel, which from today's perspective seems rather questionable. As a result of the blood miracle, Beelitz, which was rather remote from the major trade routes, gained - for the conditions at the time - national attention. It is conceivable that the church wanted to benefit from this, comparable to the effects of the miracle blood legends in the Zehdenick or Wilsnack monasteries .

and display information about the image
View from the church tower to Beelitz

Need for renovation

In 2013 the church showed a high need for renovation . The outer walls are soaked through to a height of 1.70 meters and have to be provided with a vertical seal against rising water. This already resulted in sanding and flaking as well as occasional salt efflorescence . A lack of condensation water channels on the windows, in combination with a temperature difference between the interior and the outside of the wall, lead to a loss of condensation , which flows downwards in an uncontrolled manner along the window. The floor is also affected by moisture damage, as it was made from different materials that have different water permeability. This moisture leads to real dry rot and white pore sponge in the chairs, the pulpit and the stairs to the gallery on the north side.

It is therefore planned to carry out a drainage with a plinth renovation in a first construction phase. The outer shell of the building is then to be refurbished in order to subsequently revise the interior.

literature

Web links

Commons : St. Marien und St. Nikolai (Beelitz)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The construction phases of the Wunderblutkapelle , website of the parish in Beelitz, accessed on June 10, 2013.
  2. ↑ Dieter Hoffmann-Axthelm: The miracle blood of Beelitz . Lukas Verlag, 2009, ISBN 978-3-86732-049-8 , p. 37– (accessed on June 11, 2013).
  3. ^ Christian Wilhelm Spieker: Church and Reformation history of the Mark Brandenburg . Duncker and Humblot, 1839, pp. 273– (Retrieved June 11, 2013).
  4. ↑ The Jewish legend , the website of the parish in Beelitz, accessed June 8, 2013.
  5. ↑ K. g. Saur: Yearbook for the history of Central and Eastern Germany 53 . Walter de Gruyter, January 1, 2007, ISBN 978-3-598-23202-2 , p. 381– (accessed June 11, 2013).
  6. ^ Clemens Bergstedt: In dialogue with robber knights and beautiful Madonnas: The Mark Brandenburg in the late Middle Ages . Lukas Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-86732-118-1 , p. 167– (accessed on June 11, 2013).
  7. ^ Necessary renovation work , website of the parish in Beelitz, accessed on June 5, 2013.

Coordinates: 52 ° 13 ′ 58.6 "  N , 12 ° 58 ′ 37.7"  E