St. Michael (Fuerth)

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City Church St. Michael, south side
The church from the northeast around 1614, one of the earliest views of the church.

The Evangelical Lutheran town church of St. Michael in Fürth was for a long time the focus of church life in the town ( Parochialkirche ). The Archangel Michael as patron of the city church since the 13th century and patron.

history

South view with the cemetery and rectory (right) after an engraving by Johannes Alexander Boener from 1704
North view with the Holy Sepulcher Chapel after an engraving by Johannes Alexander Boener from 1704

On November 1, 1007, Fürth was mentioned for the first time with certainty in a document. At the Synod of Frankfurt , Heinrich II. Fürth transferred the existing churches to the Bamberg Cathedral Chapter , although the list in the document does not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the number of churches that existed at that time. It is assumed that at that time there was only one Martin's chapel, which was located near the Rednitz in the valley floor. Their parish could only be transferred after the death of the bishop of Eichstätt Megingaud and took place in 1016. In 1349, the Michaeliskirche is mentioned for the first time in a document. This second church was built under certain circumstances because of the new sovereign, since St. Martin was the only church in Fürth that still belonged to the Eichstätt diocese . At that time the income was distributed according to the key 1/3 to St. Michael and 2/3 to St. Martin, which shows the initially even greater importance of St. Martin. The document also includes an obligation to procession to St. Martin with relics and flags. The occasion of the certificate was the detachment from St. Johannis in Burgfarrnbach because of the frequent flooding on the Rednitz (at that time possibly further west), which blocked the access to St. Martin. In 1362, St. Martin was first designated as a side church , the obligation to procession to the older chapel was retained.

In a papal document from 1235, the St. Lorenz chapel of the Holy Sepulcher is referred to as a branch church of the Fürth church, the latter was probably still St. Martin. In 1258, the relationship between the churches was described as a union relationship, which probably existed from 1237 to 1354, administered by a joint pastor. But around 1300 St. Lorenz was already the more important church. The Bamberg pastors chose Nuremberg as their residence, the senior pastor had his seat in Nuremberg even before 1243, and the common chief pastor was still clergyman of the Bamberg cathedral chapter. According to the papal bulls of 1388/1402, the Bamberg canons no longer had any privilege on St. Lorenz and St. Sebald , the senior pastors had a residence obligation. In further documents from 1474 and 1513 the right to appoint the Fürth pastorate on the part of the chief pastor in Nuremberg is mentioned, in 1477 the appointment of the chief pastor to provosts . The Fürth pastors were not only appointed from Nuremberg, but were also subject to the local jurisdiction.

Consequently lay

  • ecclesiastical sovereignty in Fürth by 1258 at the latest (certainly by 1235), but the seat was moved to Nuremberg before 1243, which is why the union probably began between 1235 and 1243;
  • from 1258 to 1354/1388 at the latest there was a union relationship;
  • Between 1354/1388 and 1513, Nuremberg took over church sovereignty.

Accordingly, Fürth also followed the Reformation in Nuremberg (June 5, 1524), which took place in Fürth between 1524 and 1526. This further complicated the so-called triple rule in Fürth, the diocese of Bamberg , the burgraves of Nuremberg and from 1415 the margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach and the imperial city of Nuremberg competed for suzerainty in the city. In the absence of an exact date, September 3, 1528 (first visit ) is considered to be the beginning of the Reformation in Fürth. After the Martinskapelle had left, probably during the Thirty Years' War , St. Michael remained the only church in Fürth until 1824. "In the old town in Fürth, which was structurally renovated after being destroyed in the Thirty Years' War, the Michaeliskirche is the only medieval and at the same time the most venerable and historically most important monument ." (Heinrich Habel).

From 1923 to 1964 the composer Frieda Fronmüller was organist and choir director, from 1955 church music director at St. Michael.

On June 3, 2018, the ZDF television service was broadcast from the church .

Building history and appearance

North side

The building history of the church is not fully understood, but can be roughly divided into four phases:

  • The nave was built around 1100 and is therefore the oldest surviving, but later often redesigned, part of the church. On the north and south side of the nave there are Romanesque stonemasons' marks. It was redesigned, among other things, through the subsequent addition of the 45 meter high tower, which was the only landmark of the city until 1824. An old entrance to the church was probably built with the tower, next to the rarely used portal on the west side, the entrance, which is usually used today, was built on the south side of the nave.
  • The church tower with four main floors up to today's tower gallery was built in 1380/90, the portal is dated to 1390/1410 due to stylistic comparisons with Nuremberg works of art.
  • The choir was added around 1480.
  • The octagonal tower tower above today's tower gallery was added in 1520/1530.

The orientation of the axis church to the southeast - the sunrise point on St. Martin - leaves an original Martin's patronage or reverence to the probably already Carolingian Martinskapelle suspect in the valley.

The tower was built partly before and partly after the construction of the choir. The defensive tower (7.5 × 7.5 meters in basic dimensions, 45 meters high) was the tallest building in Fürth until the town hall tower was built and was subsequently attached to the nave (there was probably no tower before). In the Thirty Years' War a paid guard did his job on the tower. Originally (until 1885) there was only a narrow entrance from the inside of the church to the tower. Evidence of deviating stonemason's marks and the poorer construction quality must have put the octagonal tower top on later (1520/1530). The tower gallery is rather rare in the Franconian area. Until World War II, a crucifix with a relief showing Maria and Johannes was attached to the tower gallery and was replaced in 1955 by a copy by the sculptor Hasenschwanz. The tower clock on the 3rd floor is already present on a copper engraving from 1705, including a possibly older sundial. The four clocks on the tower top were not installed until around 1883; Artillery damaged the tower in World War II, as a Wehrmacht command post was located in the tower from April 12, 1945, which was not hidden from the Americans. When bombarded, the enamel dials of the upper clocks also broke, repairs were carried out in 1948 and 1952. In 1997 the dials were replaced.

Several epitaphs are attached to the nave , so on the south side (from west to east) for

  • Martin Leitzmann, 1754 by Friedrich Romsteck
  • Memorial plaque to Gustav Adolf, by the Fürth artist Konrad Mannert and attached on August 28, 1932
  • Lieutenant Colonel Johann von Mayenfeld from 1760

On the west side there is an epitaph for

  • the magistrate Andreas Holzmann, donated in 1741, cast by Friedrich Romsteck.
Memorial plaque for the Holy Sepulcher Chapel

There is a memorial plaque for the Holy Sepulcher Chapel on the north outside of the choir. The west portal is vaulted by a copy (1977) of the tympanum from 1380/90. In front of the south side of the church is a Wilhelm Löhe monument by Johannes Götz from 1928, a bronze bust on a granite stone plinth with three bronze reliefs.

A mount of olives group on the south side of the choir was removed in the 19th century.

Furnishing

Inside the church, looking towards the choir and altar

In 1675 the parish gave the church a general Baroque style. Due to the considerable increase in population at that time, there were plans in 1689 to expand the church with transepts, but these were not implemented. In order to increase the capacity of the church, galleries were built instead from 1629 to 1704 .

Losses and dubious changes, especially in the 19th century, characterize the church: The so-called Kunigunden altar from the Dürer period (donated in 1497) fell victim to a wave of purification and was sold in 1815 to the Nuremberg art dealer Christoph d´Allemand, who in turn gave it to the community the St. Salvator Church in Nördlingen, where it still stands today. A "renovation" by the Nuremberg academy director Albert Christoph Reindel in 1830 brought further losses that are now generally classified as painful: two side altars, a brass baptismal font from 1624, the late Gothic baptismal font, the Moses pulpit (from 1680) were irretrievably removed. Reindel gave the interior its current romantic Gothic character: the choir altar and the pulpit are in neo-Gothic shapes, a corresponding stone tracery was painted on the gallery parapet and exposed in this version during the last renovation.

In 1881 a sacristy was added, in 1885 the nave windows were extended downwards, in 1886 a south-facing gallery was created above the entrance, which was removed again in 1975/78. In 1885 neo-Gothic ornaments were added, in 1905 it was redesigned in Art Nouveau style , and in 1952 the municipality had the galleries painted in one color. The different layers can be seen on a parapet next to the organ.

The room-defining chandelier comes from the Fürth blacksmith Franz Nüssel and was hung in 1961, it symbolizes the heavenly Jerusalem that the congregation is walking towards.

The altar today consists of a stone canteen (1497), a neo-Gothic retable (1830) by Albert Christoph Reindel and a figure of Christ in the altar from 1883 by the Fürth artist and royal professor Johann Christian Hirt. The artistic quality of the reredos and the figure of Christ have been questioned more often since the second half of the 20th century, the removal was discussed during the renovation in 1975/78, but was rejected.

The choir (around 1480) appears inside the church as a star vault with two longitudinal yokes and an end with five caps and a continuous rib on the central axis. The keystones show, among other things, the coat of arms (arrow) of the pastor Konrad Held (died approx. 1500), who has been in office since 1464, who took over half of the costs of the choir and also donated the altar. The end of the choir shows the coat of arms of provost Metten von Lichtenstein, who donated 100 guilders (red and white in the tooth cut).

The 6.80 meter high sacrament house made of Vacher sandstone is attributed to Adam Kraft's workshop or environment . The iconography of the tabernacle is interpreted as follows:

St. Sebastian
Maria Christ John
Judas Thaddäus (originally St. Laurentius ?) Paul (originally John the Baptist ?)
St. Peter St. Martin St. Michael St. Paul

The versions of the figures are very different in terms of artistic quality. The chalice motif underscores the meaning of the sacrament house as a place where the Eucharistic bread is stored: Jesus Christ holds a chalice with his right hand to the spear wound from which the blood gushes.

A copy of a painting by Peter Paul Rubens (Descent from the Cross) can be found in the interior of the church next to the sacrament house as small works of art , above it a Man of Sorrows (approx. 1490/1500, perhaps by Hans Nussbaum), in the throats of the choir figures of John the Baptist and King David , on the south side in the chancel a wooden crucifix from approx. 1510. An oil painting with a representation of St. Michael - currently positioned above the choir arch - is dated around 1730/50.

The ten-part glass windows in the choir and the adjoining areas of the nave were made in the Mayer'sche Hofkunstanstalt according to designs by Hans Gottfried von Stockhausen . The first three windows were handed over to the parish by the parish priest Karl Will on June 29, 1958 ( Peter and Paul ), further windows followed in 1958, 1963 and 1969. Clockwise today you can see:

  • Baptismal window (1963): Creation (“God's spirit floats on the water”), four rivers from the Garden of Eden, Noah's Ark on the water, passage of God's people through the Red Sea, exodus from Egypt, Moses gives the people water from the rock , Baptism of Jesus, appeal “Go into all the world ...”, a human couple renewed through baptism.
  • Passion Window I (1958): Angry crowd, sleeping disciples, arrest of Jesus, Jesus in conversation with a disciple, institution of the Lord's Supper, entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
  • Main choir window (1958): Christ holds the globe, including St. Michael fighting the dragon.
  • Passion window II (1958): acceptance of the crucified, watchman on the cross, Mary and John under the cross, three crosses on Golgotha, soldiers raffling off the skirt, crowning of thorns, weeping Peter is ashamed of denial.
  • Revelation window (1969): Elijah under the juniper, watering the thirsty, lamenting the job, healing a blind man, feeding the 5000, conversation between Jesus and the woman at Jacob's fountain, clothing of the naked, liberation of Peter from prison.
  • “Call-to-service” window (1958): homecoming of the prodigal son, the shepherd finds the lost sheep, three parables (Lord's Supper, scoundrel, worker in the vineyard), Zacchaeus on the mulberry tree, tax collector Matthew follows Jesus, Saul's call in The succession.
  • Grace Window (1969): shows the heavenly Jerusalem and the completion of what began in Baptism. In the middle of the window, a stream of water emanates from a lamb, according to Revelation 22, a tree is planted that bears fear twelve times a year. Couple of people corresponding to the baptismal window.

Organs

Main organ

Interior with organ

The main organ of St. Michael was built in 1979 by Ekkehard Simon (Landshut). The existing neo-Gothic prospect and the appearance of the organ case from 1904 have been preserved. In line with the taste of the time, the instrument has a neo-baroque sound disposition that is strongly rich in overtones. The action mechanism is mechanical, the register control is electrical. As game help one is capture system incorporated with 128 combinations.

The work has 45 sounding registers , distributed over three manuals ( Rückpositiv , Hauptwerk, Schwellwerk) and pedal , which enables the representation of organ music from all epochs. The disposition (see also the list of organ registers ) is as follows:

I Rückpositiv C – g 3
Metal dacked 8th'
Quintad 8th'
Night horn 4 ′
Principal 2 ′
third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
Sif flute 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Oktavlein 1'
Zimbel III 1'
Vox humana 8th'
Tremulant
II Hauptwerk C – g 3
Pommer 16 ′
Principal 8th'
Gemshorn 8th'
octave 4 ′
Pointed flute 4 ′
Fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
octave 2 ′
recorder 2 ′
Mixture IV-VI 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Trumpet 8th'
III Swell C – g 3
Wooden dacked 8th'
Willow pipe 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Coupling flute 4 ′
Nasat 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Ital. Principal 2 ′
Third flute 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
Seventh 1 1 ⁄ 7  ′
None 8 ⁄ 9 ′
Undecime 8 ⁄ 11 ′
Sharp V 1'
Dulcian 16 ′
oboe 8th'
Schalmey 4 ′
Tremulant
Pedal C – f 1
Principal 16 ′
Sub bass 16 ′
Great fifth 10 2 ⁄ 3  ′
octave 8th'
Dacked bass 8th'
octave 4 ′
Reed flute 4 ′
Far octave 2 ′
Mixture IV 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
trombone 16 ′
Trumpet 8th'
Clarine 4 ′
  • Coupling : II / I, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P

Organ positive

Another small organ in the chancel is called the "Italian". It was built in Naples in 1775 by Januarius Severino with a short octave and without a pedal, restored by Rudolf Kubak in Augsburg in 1985 and acquired by the parish in 1990. Almost nothing is known about Severino's life, only in the parish church of Qrendi on the island of Malta there is another instrument made by this organ builder. The organ has been preserved in its original condition with a short octave and mid-tone tuning , only a modern fan motor was installed. The 45 keys - white lower keys with ivory, black lower keys with ebony covering - possibly date from the 19th century. The tuning is mid-tone with a pitch of a ′ = 432 Hertz.

The instrument has met with national interest, especially from organists who are interested in performing early music . A concert recording with the Severino Ensemble is distributed as a CD by the municipality, the proceeds are used to maintain the instrument.

positive
Principal 8th'
octave 4 ′ starting in the small octave
Decimaquinta 2 ′
Decimanona 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Vicesimaseconda 1'

In the principle 8 'register, C – B are dacked with wood, H – g with open wooden pipes, g sharp – c´´´ with open rental pipes, of which bd ′ can be played in the middle field of the prospectus. With a Tirapieno train, the registers 4 ', 2', 1 1 ⁄ 3  'and 1' can all be switched on or off.

Bells

The ringing of the town church St. Michael consists of four ringable bells :

  • D-bell, cast by "Stucklieutnant" Stumm in Nuremberg in 1791, approx. 2000 kg, contains the coat of arms of the Nuremberg keeper d. Names of the Fürth church caretaker August Friedrich Dresel, Johann Brenner, Johann Arnsperger u. Konrad Dehm.
  • F-bell "Jesus lives", 940 kg, 1952 from Rincker in Sinn (Dillkreis)
  • Bell, "Jesus is the winner", 670 kg., 1952 by Rincker
  • B-bell, "Jesus is King", 400 kg, 1952 by Rincker

The tower also hangs the

  • oldest bell in Fürth (around 1400), which was only used until the First World War . Tonally, it doesn't match the other bells today. Inscription "Lucas Marcus Matheus Johannes Ave Maria Gr (atia)".

In 1632, Wallenstein's troops took what was then the largest bell with them. The other bells were cast in 1791/92. The bells rang for almost every news of victory in World War I and also for the hoisting of the swastika flag at the town hall on March 9, 1933. Two bells were removed in the First (June 29, 1917) and three in the Second World War (replaced in 1922 and 1952). The F, G and B bells were consecrated on June 8, 1952 by the parish priest Eduard Putz.

No. year Mass
(kg) 		Chime inscription Others
1 1791 2,000 d 1 August Friedrich Dresel, Johann Brenner, Johann Arnsperger, Konrad Dehm Chime
2 1952 940 f 1 Jesus lives Quarter-hour strike
3 1952 670 g 1 Jesus is victor
4th 1952 400 b 1 Jesus is king
5 1400 160 e 1 Lucas Marcus Matheus Johannes Ave Maria Gr (atia) suspended from 1952 to 1989, currently not active

literature

  • Josef Dettenthaler: The painter of the former Fürth high altar. In: Fürther Heimatblätter, 1971 / 6,7, pp. 101–111
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church Community of St. Michael Fürth (Ed.): Sankt Michael zu Fürth - From the life of a Protestant community. (Festschrift at the end of the renovation on October 1, 1978). Fuerth 1978
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church Congregation St. Michael Fürth (Ed.): [Gemeindeblatt] St. Michael. Topic of the day: completion of the construction work. September 29, 2000.
  • Heinrich Habel: Stadt Fürth (= Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments [Hrsg.]: Monuments in Bavaria. Volume V.61). Karl M. Lipp Verlag, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-87490-571-3 .
  • Alexander Mayer: The new church square or: The transformation of the barn. In: Altstadtbläddla, Altstadtverein St. Michael Fürth, issue 35, 2001
  • Hermann Probst: Lost works of art of the Fürth St. Michaeliskirche. In: Fürther Heimatblätter, 1959/7, pp. 117–123
  • Hans-Otto Schmitz: The Kirchberg of St. Michael in Fürth from the point of view of engravers and cartographers. In: Fürther Heimatblätter, 2001/1, pp. 1–23.
  • Adolf Schwammberger: Fürth from A to Z - A history lexicon. Neustadt an der Aisch 1968, ISBN 3-923006-33-0 . Pp. 206-214
  • Georg Stolz: Evang. Luth. Parish church of St. Michael in Fürth. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 1988.
  • Georg Stolz: St. Michael Fürth. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin / Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-422-02107-5
  • Michael Kleiner: Under the starry sky. 1000 years of the Bamberg diocese. The story in pictures of life. Heinrichs-Verlag, Bamberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-89889-051-9 .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Heinrich Habel: Stadt Fürth (= Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation [Hrsg.]: Monuments in Bavaria. Volume V.61). Karl M. Lipp Verlag, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-87490-571-3 , p. 196 ff. (Quote: p. 198)
  2. ↑ Evangelical Lutheran Church Congregation St. Michael Fürth (Ed.): Sankt Michael zu Fürth - From the life of a Protestant community (commemorative publication at the end of the renovation on October 1, 1978) Fürth 1978, p. 11 ff.
  3. ^ Hermann Probst: Lost works of art of the Fürth St. Michaeliskirche . In: Fürther Heimatblätter, 1959/7, pp. 117 ff.
  4. ^ Adolf Schwammberger: Fürth from A to Z - A history lexicon. Neustadt an der Aisch 1968, ISBN 3-923006-33-0 . P. 206 ff.
  5. ^ Georg Stolz: St. Michael Fürth. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin / Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-422-02107-5 , p. 2 ff.
  6. ↑ Hans-Otto Schmitz: The Kirchberg of St. Michael in Fürth from the point of view of engravers and cartographers . In: Fürther Heimatblätter, 2001/1, p. 1 ff.
  7. ↑ Michael Kleiner. Under the starry sky. 1000 years of the Bamberg diocese. The story in pictures of life . Heinrichs-Verlag, Bamberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-89889-051-9 , p. 19 ff.
  8. ↑ https://www.zdf.de/gesellschaft/gottesdienste/evangelischer-gottesdienst-294.html
  9. ↑ a b Evangelical Lutheran Church Community of St. Michael Fürth (ed.): Sankt Michael zu Fürth - From the life of a Protestant community (commemorative publication at the end of the renovation on October 1, 1978). Fürth 1978, p. 61 ff.
  10. ^ A b Heinrich Habel: City of Fürth (= Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation [Hrsg.]: Monuments in Bavaria. Volume V.61). Karl M. Lipp Verlag, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-87490-571-3 , p. 198 ff.
  11. ^ Adolf Schwammberger: Fürth from A to Z - A history lexicon. Verlag für Kunstreproduktionen Schmidt, Neustadt an der Aisch 1968, ISBN 3-923006-33-0 , pp. 206 ff, 372.
  12. ^ Georg Stolz: St. Michael Fürth. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin / Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-422-02107-5 , p. 18 ff.
  13. ^ Description of the altar on the St. Salvator website
  14. ↑ On Nüssel cf. Entry in FürthWiki : Franz Nüssel
  15. ^ Hermann Probst: Lost works of art of the Fürth St. Michaeliskirche . In: Fürther Heimatblätter, 1959/7, pp. 117 ff.
  16. ^ Adolf Schwammberger: Fürth from A to Z - A history lexicon. Neustadt an der Aisch 1968, ISBN 3-923006-33-0 . Pp. 172, 206 ff.
  17. ^ Georg Stolz: St. Michael Fürth. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin / Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-422-02107-5 , p. 14 ff.
  18. ↑ See e.g. B. With the Italian for the weekend . In: Fürther Nachrichten of April 17, 2008.
  19. ↑ Information on the organs in St. Michael with disposition, accessed on November 11, 2016. There the structure is indicated as follows: 8 ′ - 4 ′ - 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ - 2 ′ - 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ - 1 ′ .
  20. ^ Parish of St. Michael: A special Italian introduces herself . Accessed: November 20, 2016.
  21. ↑ Severino-Ensemble: “Auff Italian Manner”. A concert with the Italian organ from 1775 in Fürth, St. Michael on November 18, 2012 . CD and booklet. Self-published by the municipality of St. Michael.

Coordinates: 49 ° 28 ′ 48.2 ″  N , 10 ° 59 ′ 18.8 ″  E