St. Michaelis (Gerdau)

St. Michaelis in Gerdau

St. Michaelis is an Evangelical Lutheran church in Gerdau in the Lower Saxony district of Uelzen . It was donated by Duke Hermann Billung and built in the 10th century.

history

The church was donated by Hermann Billung , an important margrave in the Duchy of Saxony, shortly after Charlemagne had converted the Saxons . The church building was erected on the old foundation walls of a Gothic brick building at a time that is not exactly known. The St. Michaelis Church was first mentioned in a document from the year 1004. In it Bernhard I , a son of Hermann Billung, assigns the St. Michaelis Monastery Lüneburg to the church and the Gerdau manor and some villages in the area. The patronage passed through the church to the monastery. In return, he received the Gerherd Treasure . At the beginning of the 16th century, a Gothic brick tower was added to the church building.

In 1874 St. Michaelis was equipped with an organ. At the end of the 19th century, the church reached its capacity limits. Since the congregation was strongly influenced by the revival movement that started in Hermannsburg , the number of people attending the church increased considerably. In addition, cracks appeared in the choir . All of this led to the church council deciding to renovate and expand the church in 1888. Under the consistory master builder Conrad Wilhelm Hase , the altar house and sacristy were demolished. For this purpose, a larger cruise ship with a new chancel in neo-Gothic style was built. In 1891 the building work was completed. In 1934 the church received two works by the church painter Rudolf Schäfer . They represent creation and the proclamation to Mary.

The soiling of the church walls and the barrel vault from a stove heating had led to whitewashing. In 1983 the church council decided to expose the barrel vault and the valuable neo-Gothic carvings and paintings. In many years of restoration work, a stylistically uniform interior was created again. The church was consecrated on the 1st of Advent 1984. The restoration of the pulpit and a new painting of the choir took place in the following years, in 1990 the restoration of the church was completed.

organ

View of the organ

The organ was built in 1874 by the organ builder Philipp Furtwängler from Elze . The instrument has 15 stops on two manuals and a pedal . The playing and stop actions are mechanical.

I main work C – f ³
1.	Drone	16 ′
2.	Principal	8th'
3.	Reed flute	8th'
4th	Viola da gamba	8th'
5.	Octave	4 ′
6th	Octave	2 ′
7th	Mixture IV

II Oberwerk C – f ³
8th.	Violin principal	8th'
9.	Lovely Gedact	8th'
10.	Salicional	8th'
11.	Gemshorn	4 ′

Pedals C – f ¹
12.	Sub bass	16 ′
13.	Principal bass	8th'
14th	Drone	8th'
15th	trombone	16 ′

Coupling : II / I, I / P

Parish

The Evangelical Lutheran parish of Gerdau belongs to the parish of Uelzen . In addition to a weekly church service, the congregation offers various musical events and group offers. In addition to Gerdau, the catchment area also includes Barnsen, Bohlsen, Holthusen II, Bargfeld, Groß Süstedt, Hansen, Klein Süstedt and Böddenstedt . Since 2005, the Gerdau parish has been parishally connected to the Eimke parish .