St. Nicholas (Pretzsch)
The Protestant town church St. Nikolaus is located in Pretzsch , a district of the town of Bad Schmiedeberg .
history
A Peter and Paul Church in Pretzsch is mentioned as early as the 15th century in a foundation of the fishermen's guilds at the time. The church was an altar of the Holy St. Nicholas was consecrated. The previous building, presumably a three-aisled Gothic hall church, was destroyed by Swedish troops in 1637 during the Thirty Years War .
The reconstruction took place until 1652 under Wolf Christoph von Arnim , who also donated the new altar and the pulpit. The church was consecrated on December 6, 1652.
In the years 1720 to 1727, at the instigation of the then Electress Christiane Eberhardine , a baroque transformation of the building into the court church began. The designs for this came from Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann . The royal box , the galleries and the ceiling paintings date from this period. After the death of the Electress, the work was finished with a tower top, the weather vane of which shows a crown, the monogram of the Princess and the year she died. In the years 1896 and 1993 restorations were carried out on the building.
description
building
The church is a plastered brick building with a recessed rectangular choir and a tower facing west. The south portal and the ogival windows in the east wall of the choir are late Gothic. On the south side of the choir there is a two-storey extension from around 1570. The sacristy extension on the north side of the choir dates from 1629 and was converted into a royal box from 1720 onwards. The octagonal tower top designed by Pöppelmann is decorated at the corners with fantasy capitals and floral braids.
Interior and equipment
Choir and nave
The ceiling of the choir is groin vaulted . The corridor-like galleries in the east and south of the room date from around 1570. The entire nave of the church was redesigned after 1720 and has a flat plaster ceiling with paintings from the Baroque era . These are designed as putti with the monogram of Christiane Eberhardine. The tribal coats of arms of the princes can be seen in the corners of the ceiling. A three-sided double gallery is located in the west of the nave. In the southeast side of the ship, in front of a triumphal arch, is the Electress's crypt .
altar
The late Mannerist altarpiece dates from 1652 . This was designed by Johann Georg Kretzschmar . In the middle of the essay is a relief framed by twisted columns wrapped in vine leaves and depicting the Last Supper . The evangelists Matthew and John are on the side of the consoles. The risen Christ can be seen above the gable. Overall, the altar is richly decorated with cartilage and gold decorations. The altarpiece was donated by ten officers from the regiment of Wolf Christoph von Arnim, whose names and coats of arms are on the back of the same. The altar is very similar to the altar of the former castle church in Dresden-Pillnitz , which was also designed by Kretzschmar.
Baptism and pulpit
The hexagonal baptism made of sandstone dates back to 1896 and was modeled on the wooden original of the baptism erected by Kretzschmar in 1652. The original is a sandstone pulpit, the design of which also comes from Kretzschmar and also has a signature from him. The pulpit has only been in its current location since the church was rebuilt in 1720. The pulpit basket is decorated with twisted columns and sculptures of Christ and the Evangelists. The sound cover, carried by two angels, is decorated with a cloud cover. Two angels can be seen above him with a banner.
Organ and painting
The organ of the church was built in 1847 by Moritz Baumgarten from Zahna . The painting to the north of the triumphal arch depicting the crucifixion comes from David Hoyer from Leipzig and was donated by the Electress in 1716.
Epitaphs and tombstones
In front of the crypt of Electress Eberhardine there is an epitaph for Wolf Christoph von Arnim and his wife Catharina Dorothea, née Countess von Hoym , which was supposedly erected in the presence of Elector Johann Georg II . Two wooden double tombs are located under the western gallery. These were built for Dorothea Elisabeth von Arnim and Christoph Adam von Arnim as well as for Magdalena Sophie von Arnim and Ludwig August von Arnim. The tombs were originally located in the former palace chapel and are stylistically consistent with the altar of the palace chapel. This is now in the church of Sachau . Behind the altar is a Renaissance- style grave slab for Anna von Millnitz, née Kannin from the Klöden family. Next to the sacristy door is the grave slab for Margaretha von Blankenburg, née Haugwitz.
Outbuildings
A sandstone relief from around 1570 depicting the Last Judgment is attached to the outer facade of the south-eastern extension and is believed to have been made by Christoph Walther II . Unfortunately, the lower part of the plate is destroyed with the resurrection of the dead. On the south facade of the church tower is a late Gothic tombstone of the knight Heinrich Löser, who died in 1493. The tombstones of a woman from the Renaissance period from the beginning of the 17th century and two baroque inscription tombstones can also be found here.
Individual evidence
- ^ Georg Dehio : Handbook of German art monuments , Saxony Anhalt II, administrative districts of Dessau and Halle. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-422-03065-4 , pp. 680–682.
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 42 ′ 57 ″ N , 12 ° 48 ′ 30 ″ E