City Church of Aalen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Aalen city church

The city ​​church of St. Nikolaus is a Protestant church in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg .

history

Today's Aalen city church is probably the third building at this point in the heart of Aalen's old town. The first building was an early Gothic chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas . When Aalen became an imperial city in 1360, this chapel had already been replaced by the parish church of St. Nicholas, first mentioned in 1340. The cemetery, which was originally located directly at this church, was relocated in front of the city gates to the St.

The first Protestant service in Aalen was held on June 29, 1575. From then until the beginning of industrialization, Aalen was a purely Protestant town. In the Thirty Years' War , retreating troops allied with Sweden set fire to two powder wagons after the battle of Nördlingen. The resulting city fire destroyed the church and large parts of the city.

After the fire of 1634, the church was poorly rebuilt in 1648/49. The young Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart , whose father was a cantor in Aalen , also played on the church's Prescher organ .

Church and tower before the collapse (around 1730)

For the greater security of the city, the tower was later raised again by eleven meters and thus reached a height of approx. 46 m (160 shoe). Because the foundations were not designed for such a load, increasing damage to the tower became apparent from 1760 onwards; however, the commissioned builder was unable to repair it. The tower collapsed on Pentecost Tuesday, May 28, 1765, at 8:45 a.m. and severely damaged the nave and the choir, shortly before the assembled Aalen councilors wanted to inspect the damage. The crucifix, altar, pulpit and organ remained undamaged in the choir. Even in the Latin school (today Café Rambazamba), which stood directly next to the church, stones penetrated through the windows. Two of the tower keeper's children were killed in the accident.

Today's construction

Church and building of the tower (around 1790)

The collapse of the tower necessitated a completely new building in 1765–1767. One of the rare examples of a Protestant church interior was created in the form of the Baroque . According to the design of the Württemberg master builder Johann Adam Groß the Younger , the builder Johann Michael Keller the Younger created a baroque transverse hall . A comparable building is the Stephanuskirche in Alfdorf , which was also built by Keller based on the Aalen model. However, according to the latest research, both churches can no longer be classified as early and rare examples of Württemberg cross-churches .

The room has a floor area of ​​36 m × 16 m. With a clear height of 11 m, the church has space for 550 people in the nave and 300 people in the galleries.

Although the church, like its predecessor buildings, is dedicated to St. Nicholas, in parish life only the term city ​​church is used. The building can only be found under this name on city maps and in the media.

Furnishing

The town church is equipped with an altar pulpit group and a pulpit lid with the rising Christ by Thomas Schaidhauf. The altar cross from the 16th century comes from the previous church. The altar grille decorated with the city coat of arms is remarkable. On the ceiling of the room three frescoes by Anton Wintergerst: in the middle the Last Judgment, left and right of it the resurrection and the ascension of Christ.

organ

Sketch of the former organ

The church has an organ made by the Vorarlberg company Rieger Orgelbau , which was inaugurated at Easter 2009.

I main work C – c 4
1. Montre 16 ′
2. Principal 8th'
3. Flûte harm. 8th'
4th Violoncello 8th'
5. Octave 4 ′
6th Super octave 2 ′
7th Mixture V 2 ′
8th. Tromba aalensis 8th'
II Positive expressive C – c 4
9. Principal 8th'
10. Salicional 8th'
11. Dumped 8th'
12. Principal 4 ′
13. Reed flute 4 ′
14th Nazard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
15th Whistle 2 ′
16. Tertia 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
17th Scharff IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
18th Basson 16 ′
19th Trumpets 8th'
20th Clarinet 8th'
Tremulant
III Swell C – c 4
21st Darling Covered 16 ′
22nd Violin principal 8th'
23. Wooden flute 8th'
24. Viola de gambe 8th'
25th Voix céleste 8th'
26th Flute oct. 4 ′
27. Fugara 4 ′
28. Carillon I-III 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
29 Flautino 2 ′
30th Trumpets 8th'
31. Hautbois 8th'
32. Clairon 4 ′
Tremulant
Pedal C – g 1
33. Principal bass 16 ′
34. Sub bass 16 ′
35. Violon dolce 16 ′
36. Octavbass 8th'
37. Covered bass 8th'
38. Cello dolce 8th'
39. Octave 4 ′
40. trombone 16 ′
41. Trumpet 8th'

Tower bubbles

Even today, the tower blowing , which is run by members of the Aalen youth band , takes place every working day at 6:00 p.m. On Saturday at 11:45 a.m. at market time, a chorale will be played in all four directions. The tower winds can be heard at 8:30 a.m. on public holidays.

Web links

Commons : Stadtkirche Aalen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Torsten Krannich u. a.,: Evangelicals on the Eastern Alb. A journey through the history of the Reformation of the Aalen dean's office . In: Evangelical Church District Aalen (ed.): Evangelical Church Buildings in the Dean's Office Aalen . Einhorn-Verlag, Schwäbisch Gmünd 2016, ISBN 978-3-95747-042-3 , p. 187-196 .
  2. ^ Karlheinz Bauer: Aalen . Theiss, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-8062-0321-0 , p. 109 ff .
  3. ^ Günther Memmert: The city church in Aalen and the Stephanus church in Alfdorf. On the type of Protestant cross-hall church in the Swabian Baroque . Dissertation, University of Stuttgart, 2010 - available at [1]
  4. ↑ On the history of the organs of the town church and the new Rieger organ

Coordinates: 48 ° 50 ′ 15 "  N , 10 ° 5 ′ 36.7"  E