St. Nikolai (Mühlhausen)
The construction of the under listed building standing Protestant parish church of St. Nicholas in Muehlhausen in Thuringia was begun in the 14th century, but it was only by Wilhelm Röttscher 1897-1898 regular as an aisled rib-vaulted hall church.
history
Mühlhausen is located in the north-west of the Thuringian Basin on the upper reaches of the Unstrut , which was already inhabited prehistorically and was a center of the Thuringian Empire until the 6th century. In 967 it is referred to as a crown property in a document from King Otto II . Since 1135 it had the status of an imperial city . The Unstrut was here from a trade route, the Hessenwegcrossed. The construction of the Nikolaikirche begins around 1314 with the new construction of the choir instead of a previous building on an early urban market in the west of the lower town, which was first mentioned in 1297. The completion of the church did not succeed at that time. The older merchant settlement in the west, in which St. Nikolai was located, became a suburb after a wall was built around the market town. Since Mühlhausen was spared from war damage, the medieval townscape has been preserved to this day. Today there are twelve medieval church buildings in the city, in the Middle Ages there were sixteen.
Building description
The Evangelical Parish Church of St. Nikolai is the largest of the suburban churches. The entire church was made of travertine using the usual shell technique , i.e. In other words, stone remnants and mortar were filled between the inner and outer shells made of flat blocks. The structural appearance was shaped according to the ideas of the 19th century through historical remodeling of the exterior and the renewal of the Gothic vaults. The regular shape of a three-aisled cross-rib vaulted hall church , as it was intended when it was built in the 14th century, it was given in 1897–1898 by raising the north wall and adding a rib vault . The eastern part, a 5/8 polygon as a choir and separated chapels at the end of the side aisles , is still typical of a basilica, which will later be replaced by a hall system. In contrast to the choir, the outer walls of the nave are without buttresses , and the window walls are smooth, but in the choir they are profiled.
The tower, which was only completed after 1339, stands in place of the eastern yoke of the southern aisle. It has two square floors up to the eaves , and two more rise above it. Are located on the outer wall of the third floor a pointed arch fries and corner pilaster strip . Above the square floors there is an octagonal bell chamber with bundles of round bars at the corners. The helmet, which is covered with slate, is surrounded by a tracery parapet at the foot and there are pinnacles with finials at the corners . In the bell cage there are one bronze and two cast steel bells. The sacristy on the tower ground floor has a stone Gothic cross rib vault. In a niche above the pointed south portal with a simple tympanum stands the mighty wooden figure of St. Nicholas as enthroned bishop , depicted with wrinkled garments and aging facial features. The northern portal has a straight lintel , above which there is a short, three-part window.
Interior
Simple Achteckpfeiler and semi-circular sheet of consoles intercepted services and humpback foliage fighter carrying the neo-Gothic ribbed vault. Of the original two galleries , only one was rebuilt at the end of the 19th century. The pulpit, altar and organ also date from this period. The nave and choir have high, two-part windows with simple tracery and profiled walls. Three windows of the choir polygon contain stained glass, the middle one, the Christ window, was made around 1900, the other two are considered originals from before 1400.
literature
- Ernst Badstübner : The old Mühlhausen. Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 1989, ISBN 3-7338-0055-9 .
- Georg Dehio : Handbook of the German art monuments. Band Thuringia. Munich 2003.
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 12 '24.3 " N , 10 ° 27' 2.5" E