Nikolaikirche (Chemnitz)

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Nikolaikirche - view around 1900

The Nikolaikirche was one of the oldest churches in Chemnitz . She was in the British air raid on 5./6. Badly damaged in March 1945, the ruins removed by 1948.

history

Long-distance traders settled near the Chemnitzfurt as early as the middle of the 12th century and built a wooden chapel in honor of their patron saint Nikolaus . At the foot of the Kapellenberg , a local market developed at the same time as the remote market. In 1331 a document attests to the Nikolaikirch inner courtyard, which was the meeting place for the rural communities. The Nikolaikirche, newly built in 1486, burned down in 1532 and was rebuilt in 1550. Since it was in front of the walls of the city until April 1, 1844 - the incorporation of Niklasgasse as Nikolaivorstadt to Chemnitz - it was often defenselessly exposed to armed conflicts. The old church was last renovated in 1789 until it had to be closed on January 20, 1882 for structural reasons.

At the same historical location (a little to the east), the foundation work began in autumn 1885, so that the foundation stone for the new church could be laid on April 28, 1886. It was designed by the Dresden architect Christian Gottfried Schramm as a neo-Gothic hall church and served as his reference object for numerous other churches in the area. With 750 seats, it offered 250 seats more than its predecessor. The consecration of the bells took place on September 12, 1887 and the church consecration on March 7, 1888.

Almost to the day 57 years after its consecration , the church was badly damaged in the heavy air raids on March 5, 1945 . The ringing, supplemented with steel bells in 1922 - the two largest of the three bronze bells fell victim to the so-called metal donation in 1917 - was recovered and sold to the parish of Thum in the Ore Mountains. The removal of the ruins of the church ended with the demolition of the remains of the tower in 1948.

Today the parish of St. Nikolai Thomas uses the former chapel, consecrated as a church, on the Nikolaifriedhof .

Furnishing

Two years after its completion, the Nikolaikirche received its most beautiful exterior decoration in 1890: five statues above the portal depicting Christ and the four evangelists, a gift from the Royal Saxon Ministry of the Interior from the funds of the art fund. The execution of the statues was entrusted to the local sculptors Rudolph Hölbe and Eppler by the Academic Council in Dresden .

The interior of the church was adorned by the figural colored glazing, which was designed by E. Beck in Herrnhut based on designs by the Dresden history painter Anton Dietrich and executed by the Dresden glass painter Bruno Urban (1851-1910). The altar relief with the motif of the Holy Communion comes from the Dresden sculptor Oskar Rassau , it was carved by A. Trache in Dresden.

The organ, which had 27 sounding voices , was built by the Dresden court organ builders Gebr. Jehmlich , the 2469 kilogram E-flat major chimes were cast by C. Albert Bierling in Dresden.

Peal

A two-story bell house was built on the Nikolaifriedhof in 1963. The building, which is covered by a gable roof, houses a spacious bell room in which a three-part bronze bell hangs. The bells were cast in Apolda in 1963 and were consecrated on April 6 of the same year. In memory of the bells that hung in the tower of the Nikolaikirche from 1887 to 1917, the E flat major triad was chosen for these new bells. They bear the following inscriptions:

  • Bell 1 (1500 kg): “O country, country, country, hear the word of the Lord. Parish of St. Nikolai-Thomas since 1945. "
  • Bell 2 (750 kg): “Pray without ceasing. Parish of St. Nikolai 1331–1945 "
  • Bell 3 (400 kg): “Comfort, comfort my people. Parish of St. Thomas 1911–1945 ”.

The bells hang on straight yokes in a three-field steel bell cage and are rung electrically.

literature

  • Richter, Jörn; Weber, Stefan (ed.): From the monastery village to the industrial suburb. A Chemnitz district history of Kappel and the surrounding area. Chemnitz 1999.
  • Zöllner, Wilhelm: Chemnitz at the end of the XIX. Century. Körner & Lauterbach, Lithographische Kunstanstalt, book and stone printing, photography and autotype, Chemnitz 1900, Reprint Chemnitz 1999.
  • Adam Daniel Richter: Cumbersome Chronica of the Chrurfürstlich Sächzische Stadt Chemnitz, at the foot of the Meißnischen Ertzgebürges, compiled from reliable news, together with attached documents. Verlag Schöpfische Buchhandlung, 1767, Zittau and Leipzig, part 1, p. 208, ( online )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.altes-chemnitz.de/chemnitz/nikolaikirche.htm Drawing of the 1947 church ruin in Altes Chemnitz , accessed on Oct. 27, 2018
  2. ^ A b c Wilhelm Zöllner: Chemnitz at the end of the XIX. Century . Körner & Lauterbach, Lithographische Kunstanstalt, book and lithography, photography and autotype, Chemnitz 1900, reprint [of the edition] Verl. Heimatland Sachsen, Chemnitz 1999, p. 83, ISBN 3-910186-30-0 .

Web links

Coordinates: 50 ° 49 ′ 41.8 ″  N , 12 ° 54 ′ 57.2 ″  E