City Church St. Jakobi (Chemnitz)
The Protestant town church St. Jakobi (also called Jakobikirche) is one of the oldest preserved sacred buildings in the Saxon city of Chemnitz and is located in the immediate vicinity of the old and new town hall .
Building history
Romanesque predecessor building
Today's church building had a Romanesque predecessor, the foundations of which could be proven during excavation work between 1953 and 1959. It was a rectangular hall 19.65 meters long and 11.60 meters wide. This was followed in the east by a square choir with a side length of 7.90 meters. An apse formed the eastern end of the building, while in the west there was a mighty tower block with a width of 16 meters. This design can be found in several village churches from the 12th and 13th centuries in the north-west of Saxony (for example in Pomßen and Klinga ). In addition to the foundations, a large number of shaped stones - z. B. extensive remains of a round arch frieze - found. Stylistically, this results in a dependency on the Augustinian canons' collegiate church in Wechselburg , whose hut exerted an eminent influence on the sacred building activities in Central Saxony between 1170 and 1220.
New choir in the 13th century
The Romanesque hall church underwent a significant change around 1230–1250 : The choir square and apse were removed and a high-Gothic rectangular choir was added instead. It extended over a length of four yokes. A system of buttresses and services suggests that the room was vaulted or at least vaulted. On the north side two additions could be detected, one of which was used as a sacristy , the other perhaps as a charnel house .
New construction of the nave as a Gothic hall church
Presumably, a town fire attested to in 1333 gave rise to a complete new building of the nave . The individual forms of construction permit dating to the period between 1350 and 1365. Instead of the previous hall was a three-aisled hall church with an extension of five yokes . To gain enough space, the Romanesque tower was demolished and the building was extended to the west. While the new side aisles end in polygonally broken apses, the early Gothic rectangular choir, which is barely a century old, was retained. The church interior was vaulted throughout, the ribbed vaults rested on octagonal pillars over square plinths.
In a further construction phase at the end of the 14th century, the western nave yoke underwent a major change: by drawing in a vault, it was divided into two storeys, with the upper room being set up as a gallery and the lower room as an open vestibule (“paradise”). For this purpose, the wall surfaces between the buttresses on the west, north and south sides were opened up with steep pointed arches.
Use of the "high tower" as a bell tower
After the Romanesque west tower was demolished, the “ high tower ”, a few meters south of the church and probably unused at the time, was used to accommodate the bells . Therefore, after 1335, it was increased by adding a bell storey with ogival sound windows. The "high tower" of the Jakobikirche still serves as a bell tower today. It is therefore also called the “Jakobikirchturm”.
Establishment of the hall choir
The completion of the medieval construction work on St. Jakobi was the addition of the magnificent choir between 1405 and 1412. First, the early Gothic hall choir was demolished, with the exception of the western yoke (between the side apses), which is now part of the nave. This was followed by a new building with a significantly expanded floor plan: The presbytery , which ends in a 5/8 polygon , is accompanied by side aisles, which are led around the "inner choir" as a walkway. A similar solution had previously been used for the new construction of the east choir of St. Sebald in Nuremberg . In Chemnitz, the local principle was followed, in which square and triangular yokes alternate. Thus, for the ambulatory, the result is the image of a closure constructed over nine sides of a hexagon. In contrast to Nuremberg, the vaulting of the central nave was not made with a cross-ribbed vault, but with a reticulated vault, as had been introduced in Bohemia a few decades earlier. The structure of the inner wall surfaces is probably inspired by a surrounding tracery frieze from there. The exterior construction follows the scheme of a “rich choir facade”, as it has been common in Central Germany since the end of the 14th century (for example Moritzkirche Halle, Schlosskirche Altenburg , Nikolaikirche Zerbst , Marienkirche Bernburg ). The buttresses are covered with rich tracery that corresponds to the (though completely renewed) tracery in the slender windows. Parallel to the choir, the sacristy was also built on the north side, a rectangular room spanned by a steep ribbed vault.
Chemnitz citizenship ensured that the new choir was richly decorated over the centuries, including a monumental high altar (around 1500) and the famous Holy Sepulcher (between 1490 and 1525), which is now in the Schloßberg Museum.
Modifications and changes from the 16th to the 18th century
With the introduction of the Reformation in Chemnitz in 1539, there were also changes inside the city church. The room was adapted to the requirements of the Lutheran service by demolishing the rood screen and most of the side altars. A new pulpit was built and the aisles were provided with wooden galleries - allegedly since 1555. A new organ was installed in the choir . The year 1617 represented a serious turning point, when a city fire also struck the church, the bell tower and the town hall. The roof structure of St. Jakobi burned, and falling parts of the tower smashed the western central nave vault. However, the interior was largely spared from the flames. A painterly repairs, during which the walls were given a white coloration while the pillars were given an "ash gray" coloration, took place in 1667. In place of the previous galleries in the side aisles, a new, two-storey gallery was built in 1717, while the choir was filled with various glazed prayer rooms and boxes. Two-story extensions were added to the north and south sides of the nave, which also served to accommodate prayer rooms.
The furnishings were also subject to constant changes: In 1746, when the bell tower burned again, the bells fell victim. It was replaced by Johann Gottfried Weinhold (Dresden) until 1749 . The history of the organs at St. Jakobi at that time is a chain of constant repairs and new constructions: the church received a new organ by Gabriel Raphael Rodensteen as early as 1560. It was replaced in 1677 by a baroque instrument made by Georg Lorenz Leube (Zwickau). After almost a hundred years of use, a new building was necessary between 1762 and 1765. At that time the church received an excellent organ work by the Gera master Christian Ernst Friederici . It had 43 registers and was one of the largest organs in Saxony.
A heavy loss occurred in 1792 when the huge late Gothic high altar was torn off and destroyed with the exception of a few remains. In its place, a new altar in classicist taste was implemented. He had two paintings by Adam Friedrich Oeser that have been preserved to this day: the resurrection of Christ and two angels with the elements of the Lord's Supper. Two other paintings with depictions of Moses and Christ come from Oeser's hand . They once adorned the confessionals in the choir. The last mentioned changes were financed by a foundation of the Chemnitz councilor Johann Georg Treffurth.
Redesign in the sense of historicism
After the interior had been cleared of all later ingredients - including the prayer room and the classicistic altar - and provided with new fixtures in the Gothic style (pulpit, galleries) as early as 1848, the exterior was extensively redesigned between 1875 and 1879. According to plans by the building councilor Conrad Wilhelm Hase (Hanover) and under the direction of Hugo Altendorff (Leipzig), the building was wrapped in a rich neo-Gothic architectural backdrop. The last post-medieval components - including the baroque roof turret - were removed beforehand. Following the example of French cathedrals , the west facade was covered with eyelashes , pinnacles and a large rosette , the missing gable top over the central nave was added, and a rising tracery balustrade was added. The four buttresses were decorated with statues of the apostles Peter, Paul, Andrew and John. The whereabouts of the medieval figural decorations on the facade is unclear. The nave facades were given buttresses in the form of pinnacles and a tracery balustrade below the roof approach. At the choir, the weathered tracery of the buttresses was completely renewed, essentially keeping the traditional forms. However, instead of the previous porphyry tufa, sandstone was used, which was also used for the other newly added components. The roof received a slate covering with rich ornamental decoration and a new roof turret with a steep helmet. Fortunately, the planned regotisation of the bell tower did not take place.
The interior remained largely unchanged, but the high altar, which has been without an attachment since 1848, was given a new, towering retable in Gothic forms (design: H. Altendorff). In 1885 a new organ by the Weißenfels organ builder Friedrich Ladegast was installed on the west gallery. The richly decorated neo-Gothic case contained a large work of 62 sounding voices. Finally, the middle choir windows were decorated with glass paintings from the workshop of Carl Ludwig Türcke (Zittau).
Reshaping in Art Nouveau
Just a few years after its completion, the neo-Gothic exterior architecture suffered from increasing structural damage, which led to the fall of numerous ashlar stones on the west facade and finally to the dismantling of the roof turret in 1903. A repair was out of the question: On the one hand, they shied away from the associated high costs, on the other hand, the neo-Gothic facade decoration on St. Jakobi was perceived as a poor achievement, especially in view of the new town hall building that was just being built. As early as 1909, the Commission for the Preservation of Art Monuments was in favor of a complete redesign based on plans by the architects Schilling & Graebner (Dresden). The shape of the west facade should be worked out more strongly before the renovation in 1879, but should experience an independent artistic development in the spirit of the time. To create additional rooms, it was also planned to add two storeys to the sacristy. In addition, plans were made to add a bridal hall on the north side and to create a new roof turret. However, these projects did not come to fruition. Work began in July 1911 and was completed in September 1912. At that time, the church was essentially given its present-day appearance. The west facade was provided with four new statues, which stand under the motto “Pray and work”: Scholar, worker, mother with child and merchant. The previous figures of the apostles were moved to the east side of the church. The middle part of the facade was structured by four pointed arch windows above which there were reliefs with the symbols of the evangelists (destroyed). A mighty Christ figure rises above it. A group of five music-making angels concludes. The coat of arms of Chemnitz with the bust of the Apostle James was placed above the central pointed arch arcade . The northern extension was increased and also provided with artistic decoration: Two reliefs show a young man with a harp and a woman with a water jug. A portrait of Martin Luther was placed on the upper floor . The sacristy was expanded to the east, and a new entrance building was added. The interior remained essentially unchanged, but the installation of a new pulpit and the installation of a large organ from the Dresden company Gebr. Jehmlich with 82 sounding voices are worth mentioning . The glazing of the choir windows was also completely renewed.
Destruction in 1945 and reconstruction by 1974
Chemnitz city center was largely destroyed in the heavy air raids on March 5, 1945 . The wooden roof of the Jakobikirche burned down, as did the interior with galleries and stalls. The masonry of the church (pillars / vaults) was initially preserved. In August 1945 the vault of the nave collapsed - with the exception of the side apses . The Jakobikirchtower collapsed south in February 1946 into the ruins of the old town hall.
After the end of the war, the Jakobikirche was one of the most heavily destroyed buildings in the Saxon regional church . The hall choir was saved from collapsing by building an emergency roof. A simple brick wall closed it off from the rubble of the almost completely destroyed nave. From Palm Sunday 1949 the hall choir could again be used for church services.
Until 1950, the destroyed Jakobikirchturm was re-listed as part of the old town hall up to the bell chamber. A platform formed the temporary end of the structure at a height of 32 m. The big bell of St. Jakobi, which was brought back to Chemnitz from the bell cemetery in Hamburg-Veddel , could be hung in the new bell cage.
By 1958, the remains of the destroyed nave had been freed from 700 cubic meters of rubble and the surrounding walls secured from further deterioration. Between 1959 and 1961 a new roof in the original shape was put on over the nave and choir. Instead of wood, however, steel ties were used. At the same time a roof turret was erected, the shape of which is based on the baroque predecessor, which was broken off in 1879, but was significantly higher. The building was provided with new windows until 1967 and the west facade was repaired. This essentially completed the external reconstruction. Planning and management were in the hands of the architect and church building manager Dr. Georg Laudeley (1901–1978).
For the interior, a solution with steel supports and a flat vaulted ceiling or a coffered ceiling was initially planned. A variable, glass partition was to be installed between the nave and the choir. A reconstruction of the Gothic hall with vaults seemed impracticable due to a lack of material. However, this was consistently demanded by the then Institute for Monument Preservation - Dresden Office . The problem was solved by a compromise: The pillars and arcade arches were rebuilt true to the original, but the vaults were dispensed with in favor of a flat ceiling. The work mentioned could be carried out with interruptions until 1974. In this year the Saxon regional church ordered a construction freeze for St. Jakobi, since the funds were to be used in favor of other church buildings threatened by decay. The space of the old town church, which was now used as a warehouse for building materials, presented itself in the condition it left behind until 1994: without flooring and plastering, covered at the top by a simple wooden ceiling, closed off from the choir by the temporary partition wall from 1947.
Restoration since 1997
After 1990 the nave was cleared and from 1994 it was used for exhibitions, church services and concerts. At the same time, a support association was founded, the aim of which was to restore the space without using the vaults.
Between 1997 and 1999, a. the roof re-covered, the buttresses of the choir, window tracery and the west facade restored and the surrounding walls provided with new plaster. The windows were re-glazed throughout.
Finally, since 2004, work on the final reconstruction of the nave has been running. There were two main competing ideas: leaving the previous condition - i.e. with a flat ceiling - or reconstructing the ribbed vault that defines the space. The insight that a Gothic hall church needs a corresponding upper room closure led, after lengthy considerations, to the decision to reinstall the vaults. In contrast to the original, a Rabitz technique was chosen. This restored the original impression of the nave. As a replacement for the lost keystones, new creations were used in the central nave, which show the symbols of the four evangelists in a modern design language. The remaining keystones of the two side apses as well as the vestibule yoke were restored and regained their intense Gothic colors.
The long-planned replacement of the temporary brick wall with a glass partition has made it possible to experience the entire church space again since 2004. The ship and hall choir are visually reunited in this way, but can also be used separately. For the glass wall as well as for the other necessary fixtures - staircase to the west gallery including cladding, gallery in the north apse and vestibule at the main portal - modern forms were deliberately chosen. The same goes for the lighting fixtures. The floor was covered with ceramic tiles.
The restored nave was returned to its intended purpose with a festive service on July 19, 2009.
During restoration work in the southwestern aisle bay in 2012, previously unknown fragments of tracery and the associated painting were found after a brick facing was removed. These were covered when a two-storey gallery was installed in 1557 and were preserved in this way.
The heavily used choir will be restored in several construction phases over several years. After the work has been completed, it should again be presented as the architectural highlight of the entire room.
In addition, the installation of a main organ corresponding to the room is planned in the nave. It should find its location - like its predecessors - on the west gallery. Only after completion of the work mentioned can the reconstruction of the St. Jakobi city church be finally considered complete.
Interior
altar
The Jakobikirche has a late Gothic winged altar , the carved parts of which were created by Peter Breuer around 1504 . The paintings on the wings are by Hans Hesse , with the backs being painted over in the early 17th century. In the middle shrine you can see a crucifixion group with Christ, Mary , Mary Magdalene and John . Three angels who caught the blood from the wounds of Christ in goblets have not survived. On the wings (some of which are badly damaged), when open, you can see representations of male and female saints and donor figures. When closed, the adoration of the wise men and the flight to Egypt are shown. Originally the altar was created for the Chemnitz Johanniskirche . It has not been used there since the 18th century, and has been dismantled and stored in various places. Center shrine, predella and sprinkling were lost. 1969–70 the remaining parts were brought together again, the shrine and predella were rebuilt. At Easter 1970 the work of art was put back into service in St. Jakobi.
pulpit
The present renaissance pulpit was created in 1612 for the Leuben village church near Dresden . After it was demolished in 1905, it was stored and left in 1949 to the Chemnitz Jakobigemeinde for the rebuilt choir. Unfortunately, the work did not reach Chemnitz in full: both the column and the sound cover remained in Dresden and are now lost. The pulpit, which is dimensioned for village proportions, is clearly too small for the large Gothic church interior. The simple polygonal pulpit is provided with rectangular writing fields on which verses from the Old and New Testament are attached. They refer to Christ's death on the cross. The painting on the front shows the crucified Christ surrounded by the four evangelists. It comes from the hand of Andreas Göding.
baptism
The font was brought to Chemnitz together with the pulpit in 1949 through the mediation of the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments. Before that, it was owned by a Dresden museum. Its original destination cannot be proven. The work, certainly made for a village church in the Dresden area, dates from around 1600. The chalice-shaped stone is richly adorned with floral ornaments. At the foot there are two serpents as symbols of the sin overcome in baptism. Staged representations of Christ's baptism and the blessing of children can be found on the cup. Originally the work was colored. However, only remnants of this are still detectable, as well as the formerly existing cover.
Bells
The ringing of St. Jakobi consists of four bells , the big bell on the high tower and three smaller ones in the roof turret.
| No. | Surname | Casting year | Foundry, casting location | Chime |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunday bell | 1749 | Johann Gottfried Weinhold, Dresden | b ° + 1 / 16 |
| 2 | Prayer bell | 1966 | Franz Schilling & S., Apolda | g '- 5 / 16 |
| 3 | Wedding bell | 1966 | Franz Schilling & S., Apolda | b '- 8 / 16 |
| 4th | Baptismal bell | 1966 | Franz Schilling & S., Apolda | c '' - 5 / 16 |
In 1749 Johann Gottfried Weinhold cast the largest bell to date for the Jakobikirche in Dresden. She was the only one who escaped the destruction of the Second World War and returned to Chemnitz unharmed. In the course of the reconstruction it could be reassembled. It bears the following inscriptions:
- Shoulder, all around: GOSS ME JOHANN GOTTFRIED WEINHOLD IN DRESDEN
- Flank: the following inscription under the name of God as a tetragram : QVATVOR CAMPANIS / FVLMINE / D. XVI MAII MDCCXXXXVI / ACCENSA TVRRI / CONSVMTIS / NOVAE / ANNO MDCCXXXX VIIII / RESTITVTAE / CHEMNITIO [large] / SONPETVAM FELICITATEM
Since March 1966, three bells from the Apoldaer bell foundry Schilling have been ringing in the newly built roof turret . The bells bear the following inscriptions in modern capital letters around the shoulder:
- Prayer bell: + BLESSED ARE THE HEARING AND KEEPING GOD'S WORD +
- Wedding bell: BUT ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WANT TO SERVE THE LORD
- Baptism bell: GROW IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD .
use
St. Jakobi is primarily a parish church for the Evangelical Lutheran. Parish of St. Jakobi-Johannis in Chemnitz. The Sunday service is held in the nave, while the choir is reserved for the hourly prayers and smaller services. In addition, the church is used for a variety of cultural purposes - musical events, exhibitions, etc. St. Jakobi is open to the public every day as the “Open City Church”.
swell
Parish archive of the St. Jakobi-Johannis parish, Chemnitz, building files of the Jakobikirche 1945–1990.
literature
- Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony. H. 7: Amtshauptmannschaft Chemnitz. Arranged by Richard Steche. Dresden 1886.
- Buchwald, G. (Ed.): The Ephorie Chemnitz I u. II. New Saxon Church Gallery. Leipzig 1902.
- Dehio, Georg: Handbook of the German art monuments. Saxony II. Administrative districts Leipzig and Chemnitz. Edited by Barbara Bechter, Wiebke Fastenrath, Heinrich Magirius et al. Munich, Berlin 1998.
- Monuments in Saxony. Its maintenance and care in the districts of Dresden, Karl-Marx-Stadt, Leipzig and Cottbus. Weimar 1978.
- The Jakobikirche in Chemnitz. Memorandum for the consecration after the renovation was completed, September 22, 1912. Chemnitz 1912.
- Eckardt, Götz (ed.): Fate of German architectural monuments in the Second World War. A documentation of the damage and total losses in the new federal states. Bd. II. Berlin no year
- Herbst, Wolfgang: The two Chemnitz Ladegast organs (op. 115 and op. 117). In: Ars Organi, H. 2/2003, pp. 68-75.
- Karl Marx City. Results of the local history inventory in the area of Karl-Marx-Stadt. From a collective of authors, arr. v. Ernst Barth. Berlin 1977 (values of our homeland, vol. 33).
- Laudeley, Georg: The market church of St. Jacobi in Chemnitz. A contribution to their building history. Chemnitz 1934.
- Magirius, Heinrich: Architecture and sculpture of the Augustinian canons' church in Wechselburg - their significance for the style development in Upper Saxony in the 12th and 13th centuries. In: Preservation of monuments in Saxony. Communications from the State Office for Monument Preservation Saxony (2003), pp. 7–23.
- Richter, Adam Daniel: Some news of church history in the city of Chemnitz. Annaberg 1743.
- Richter, Adam Daniel: Cumbersome Chronica of the Königl at the foot of the Meißnischen Erzgebürges, compiled from reliable news. Pohln. and Churfürstl. Saxon city of Chemnitz with attached documents. Annaberg 1753/54.
- Richter, Gert / Morgenstern, Thomas: Old and New Town Hall of Chemnitz. Munich, Berlin 2000 (DKV Art Guide No. 547).
- Richter, Horst: Excavations in old Chemnitz churches. In: Announcements of the Chemnitzer Geschichtsverein, 65th year book, new series (1995), pp. 137–144.
- Richter, Tilo: The city church of St. Jakobi in Chemnitz. Shape and building history from the 12th century to the present. Leipzig 2000.
- Saxony's church gallery. Vol. 8: The Chemnitz, Stollberg and Neustädtel inspections. Dresden undated (around 1841).
- Thiele, Stefan: Small guide through the city church of St. Jakobi in Chemnitz. Chemnitz 2009.
- Thiele, Stefan: The Jakobikirche and its reconstruction between 1945 and 1990. In: Chemnitzer Roland, H. 1/2010, pp. 3–6.
- Thiele, Stefan: In the middle of the city: The market church of St. Jakobi. In: Chemnitzer Seiten, Edition September 2010, pp. 26–28.
- Weber, Stefan: From the history of the St. Jakobi town church. In: Chemnitzer Roland, H. 1/1996, pp. 7-9.
- Weber, Stefan: Chemnitz. A city center seeks its face. Limbach-Oberfrohna n.d. (1993).
Web links
- The Church of St. Jacobi
- Ev.-Luth. Parish of St. Jakobi-Johannis Chemnitz
- Förderverein Stadt- und Marktkirche St. Jakobi eV
- Chemnitz - through the ages / St. Jakobikirche
- Report from the colloquium "Chemnitz and its main church St. Jakobi in the 15th century", June 4, 2010, Chemnitz
Coordinates: 50 ° 49 ′ 58 ″ N , 12 ° 55 ′ 9 ″ E