St. Martini (Braunschweig)

View of the Martini Church and its surroundings

Martini Church from the west

The Martini church with flat spiers at the time of the rebuilding of the city

The Martinikirche is a parish church in Braunschweig . She was of the 12th century as the main and Parish precincts of Old Town built. Construction began around 1190/1195. Heinrich the Lion is considered the initiator . It is the only medieval double-towered church in Braunschweig with a completed western building (see also: Sächsischer Westriegel ). It is located west of the old town market and is surrounded on three sides by the street An der Martinikirche.

history

Construction of the original St. Martini Church lasted until around 1225/1230. Like the Brunswick Cathedral, it was built as a Romanesque pillar basilica with a cross-shaped floor plan, which was expanded into a Gothic hall church between 1250 and 1400 . The many yoke gables on the outside, which are regarded as typical for the region, are characteristic of the Gothic extensions .

In 1400 the choir was added and in 1434 the Annenkapelle, which was donated by Wasmod von Kemme from Braunschweig and which was covered for a long time by a tower with a pointed roof, later with a dome-shaped roof. Inside it contains six large statues (around 1440): Maria, the three wise men, Joachim and Anna selbdritt. Figures of apostles and saints can be seen above the keel arches , with the coronation of Mary in the middle. The other figures, only recognizable from below, show, among other things, figures making music and the heads of Brunswick citizens and monks of the time.

On the southern gable of the former transept there are several sandstone sculptures from the 14th century. Tympana hanging over the entrances on the north side represent the Lamb of God and the Entombment of Mary. These are the only original tympana preserved in Braunschweig.

In 1441 the bronze baptismal font was cast by Barthold Sprangken. It shows seven scenes from the life of Jesus. In 1528 the church became Protestant. In 1616 the baptismal font was given a wooden, three-story canopy on which biblical stories are also depicted, and in 1675 a wrought-iron grating followed. In 1899 the baptismal font was moved to its current location in the Annenkapelle. The workshop of Jürgen Röttger , in which the canopy was made, also created the richly decorated pulpit from 1617 to 1621 , which also contains numerous biblical motifs, such as figures of the five wise and five foolish virgins . Around 1700 the gables of the choir were equipped with gothic tracery , like the one in the neighboring old town hall . Between 1722 and 1725 Anton Detlev Jenner's marble and alabaster , completely preserved, baroque high altar was created , which shows , among other things, a scene from the Lord's Supper .

In the 19th century, a tower that stood between the two tall towers was removed. Between 1897 and 1899 Max Osterloh carried out extensive renovations. Among other things, the gallery on the south wall was reduced in size and newly decorated. During the Second World War , the roof structure and the westwork burned out completely. The interior of the church, however, was largely spared from the fire. The church was consecrated again in 1956, and the exterior was restored from 1979 to 1987. The two towers of the same height were not restored until 1980. The Annenkapelle was again given a pointed, but flatter tower. A Gothic roof turret , in which the tuning bells were hung, was not rebuilt. From 1991 to 1992 the interior was painted according to medieval color findings.

In 2003, the Braunschweiger AIDS-Hilfe used the westwork of the church as an embassy area: the 580 meters long red ribbon in the world at that time hung 10 days below the towers to draw attention to World AIDS Day .

Furnishing

From the Romanesque construction phase, the western building with parts of a Romanesque bell chamber and the two western side aisle portals that were moved during the renovation have been preserved. The former ducal box is hidden behind the organ prospect with its view through three Romanesque round arches.

On the outside wall and inside the church there are numerous epitaphs of deserving Braunschweig citizens. Most of the epitaphs date from the second half of the 16th century. The oldest epitaph dates from 1554 and commemorates the mayor Gerhard von Pawel and his second wife Anna von Windheim.

One of the best-known epitaphs is the epitaph of the Brunswick reformer Martin Chemnitz hanging in an exposed position south of the high altar . The approx. 2.40 m high work contained a painting of the theologian, sitting at a table and equipped with a book, an inkwell and a pen. The painting is attributed to the environment by Lucas Cranach the Younger . Below the board is the biblical passage Gal 2.20 EU in Latin , which Chemnitz himself had determined in his will.

The twenty-six-armed candlestick in front of the high altar was donated by Jost Kale at the end of the 16th century.

organ

Organ brochure from 1631

The first organ in the church was built in 1510 by Johann Sporleder. The present organ front dates from 1631 and was built by Jonas Weigel . Shortly after completion, Delphin Strungk became organist at the Martini Church. The historical prospectus and the gallery parapet, which ran differently until the end of the 19th century, are richly decorated with images of the twelve apostles and scenes from the passion story. The central inscription comes from Psalm 150, verses 1 and 6. Under the back positive, facing the believer who is leaving the church, there is the inscription: "HAEC SI CONTINGVNT TERRIS QVAE GAVDIA COELO" (When these joys are bestowed on the earth, which (only then ) Heaven.)

Today's organ was built by the Hillebrand brothers in 1969–1972 after a successor to the original organ had been destroyed in World War II . The sound disposition was a reconstruction of the organ from 1631. Today's organ has 45 registers and has the following disposition :

I Rückpositiv C–
Dumped	08th'
Quintad	08th'
Principal	04 ′
Flute	04 ′
Pointed flute	02 ′
Sesquialter II0
Sharp III
Sordun	16 ′
Schalmey	08th'
Tremulant

II main work C–
Quintad	16 ′
Principal	08th'
Viola di gamba	08th'
Reed flute	08th'
octave	04 ′
Coupling flute	04 ′
Fifth	2 ² ⁄ ₃  ′
octave	02 ′
Rauschpfeife III0
Mixture VI
Trumpet	16 ′
Trumpet	08th'

III Upper structure (swellable) C–
Dumped	16 ′
Principal	08th'
Capstan whistle	08th'
octave	04 ′
Pointed flute	04 ′
Nasat	2 ² ⁄ ₃  ′
octave	02 ′
third	1 ³ ⁄ ₅  ′
Fifth	1 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′
Sharp IV
Aliquot III
bassoon	16 ′
oboe	08th'
Tremulant0

Pedal C–
Principal bass	16 ′
Sub-bass	16 ′
Octave bass	08th'
Thought bass	08th'
octave	04 ′
flute	02 ′
Peasant pipe0	01'
Mixture VI
trombone	16 ′
Trumpet	08th'
Cornett	04 ′

Zimbelstern

Bells

The Martinikirche in Braunschweig has the largest bell in the city, the “Great Eagle” (weight: 5172 kg, strike: f sharp ⁰ ). The entire chime of the church includes eleven bells:

No.	Surname	Casting year	Mass (kg)	Nominal
1	Great eagle	1624	5172	f sharp ⁰
2	Sermon or Martin's bell	1665	3300	a ⁰
3	Wedding bell	1967	2154	cis ¹
4th	Call bell	1981	1535	e ¹
5	Epiphany Bell	13./14. Century	1250	f sharp ¹
6th	Reformation Memorial Bell	1985	760	g sharp ¹
7th	Martin Chemnitz bell	1987	660	a ¹
8th	Johann Arndt bell	1987	565	h ¹
9	Thomas Bell	1982	489	c sharp ²
I.	Tuning bell	around 1300	55.2	h ²
II	Tuning bell	around 1300	17th	e ³

According to findings from August 2011, the two tuning bells are the oldest bells in the city of Braunschweig. The three kings bell bears the inscription "+ IASPAR · FERT · MIRBAM · THVS · MELCHIOR · BALTAZAR · AVRUM" (German: Kaspar brings myrrh, Frankincense Melchior, Balthasar Gold.). It was previously rung as a weather bell to avert storm and weather damage to the church and its surroundings, as the Three Wise Men were considered weather saints.

Use and environment

Cup from the Fürstenberg porcelain manufactory from around 1830 with Martini church and old town market .

In the church services are held regularly, and it also serves casualia . "Market devotions" take place on Saturdays during the weekly market . Concerts are occasionally held, including organ concerts. Guided tours of the church and church history are offered.

The buildings around the Martinikirche include - clockwise from the north - the former headquarters of the Löbbecke bank , the old town hall , the former Rüninger customs house , the Gewandhaus and the former landscaped house - today the district court.

To the south of the Martinikirche there is a square that, like the streets to the west and north, is called "An der Martini Church". The Martinifriedhof was located there until 1758 , on which the Paulskapelle stood, which was first mentioned in 1311 and demolished in 1791. Today the place is used as a parking lot.

gallery

Southeast view with the Annenkapelle (left)
Interior view towards the altar
Inside view towards the organ
Engraving of the Martinikirche with third tower and roof turret (1776)

literature

Elmar Arnhold: St. Martini - parish church in the old town. In: Medieval metropolis Braunschweig. Architecture and urban architecture from the 11th to 15th centuries. Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2018, ISBN 978-3-944939-36-0 , pp. 104-115.
Georg Dehio : Handbook of German Art Monuments, Bremen / Lower Saxony. German art publisher, 1977.
Verena Friedrich: St. Martini Braunschweig. Kunstverlag-PEDA, Passau 1995, ISBN 3-930102-75-7 .
Wolfgang Kimpflinger: Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany , architectural monuments in Lower Saxony, Volume 1.1 .: City of Braunschweig, Part 1. Hameln 1993, ISBN 3-87585-252-4 .
Norbert Koch: St. Martini. In: Luitgard Camerer , Manfred Garzmann , Wolf-Dieter Schuegraf (eds.): Braunschweiger Stadtlexikon . Joh. Heinr. Meyer Verlag, Braunschweig 1992, ISBN 3-926701-14-5 , p. 153 f .
Richard Moderhack : Brunswick town history. Braunschweig 1997.
Sebastian Wamsiedler: The rediscovery of the tuning bells of the St. Martinikirche in Braunschweig. In: Yearbook for bell technology. Volume 25/26. Gescher 2013/2014, pages 15-30.