The Evangelical Lutheran town church St. Laurentii in the center of Itzehoe (Kirchenstrasse 6) is the largest sacred building in the town.
history
The church consecrated to St. Lawrence was first mentioned in 1196. The two-aisled Gothic hall church was largely destroyed in the town fire of 1657 in the Danish-Swedish War and then only provisionally restored. The preserved cloister is therefore the only medieval monument in Itzehoe.
From 1716 to 1718, today's church was built as a baroque brick hall with a wide-span wooden barrel vault. The original tower protruded little over the church roof and had a flat, pointed roof. In 1894–1896 it was increased by almost 40 meters to 79.45 meters according to plans by Johannes Otzen and provided with a baroque onion dome, four pointed turrets at the corners and a viewing platform. The construction stages can be easily distinguished by the brick colors.
The tower was badly damaged in a storm on January 8, 2002, and the necessary renovation was completed in 2005.
Most of the inventory dates from the time between the fire and the new building, the large altar from the workshop of the Hamburg woodcarver Hein Baxmann , which shows 24 scenes from the history of salvation, and the pulpit, which was originally attached to the center of the rood screen that was removed in 1962 .
Around 1523 there were two organs . In 1562 a new building was carried out by Matthias Mahn (Buxtehude). In 1657 the instruments were destroyed by Swedish bombardment. From 1685 to 1688 Christian Kock built a new factory with a spring shop (III / P / 38).
In 1713 the church collapsed due to dilapidation. The construction of the new organ was started by Arp Schnitger in 1715–1719 and completed after his death by his student Lambert Daniel Kastens . Vincent Lübeck accepted the instrument on August 7th, 1720 and certified Schnitger and Kastens that they “brought the organ to complete perfection”. In 1734 Johann Dietrich Busch and Carstens (Kastens) carried out a repair and in 1830 Marcussen & Reuter (Aabenraa) carried out a major renovation.
In 1905 the Schnitger / Marcussen organ was replaced by a new one by Wilhelm Sauer , the prospectus was moved and was used again. In 1948 a neo-baroque renovation was carried out by Ernst Brandt (Quickborn) and in 1976 a renovation with expansion (Chamadewerk) by Franz Grollmann . Since the year 2000, the organ has had a second, single-manual console with a mechanical action and pedal , which controls the so-called prospect organ . The historic prospect pipes of the Arp Schnitger organ that have not been used since 1905 can be played from here. (Principal 16 'and Principal 8'). For the two historical Schnitger registers, the organ builder Heinz Hoffmann (Hamburg) has made two new octave registers (4 ′ and 2 ′) in a similar design, as well as the wind chest and game mechanics. A register system with 48 manubriums, based on the historicizing of a North German baroque organ, was also added.
Schnitger disposition from 1720 (after Hess, 1774)
During the renovation work, the tower was scaffolded, the copper roofs of the pointed turrets dismantled and placed on a side roof on the back of the church at a height of 5-7 meters. One of the almost three meter high roofs was stolen and its whereabouts remained unclear for a few months. After a nationwide press campaign and police investigations, the spire was back in its place a few months later. The thief remained undetected.
Gustav Fock : Arp Schnitger and his school: a contribution to the history of organ building in the North Sea and Baltic Sea coast area . Bärenreiter, Kassel 1974, ISBN 3-7618-0261-7 (publications of the organ science research center in the musicology seminar of the Westphalian Wilhelms University, Münster; 5).
Karl-Friedrich Hacker: Illustrated church guide to the crypt of the St. Laurentii church in Itzehoe. Ed. Footura Black, Itzehoe 2011, ISBN 9783981447200 .
Siegfried Hansen: The altar of the St. Laurentius Church in Itzehoe. In: Heimatverband Kreis Steinburg (ed.): Steinburger Jahrbuch 1971. Itzehoe 1970, pp. 5-9.
Rudolf Irmisch : Building history of the St. Laurentii church in Itzehoe. In: Heimatverband Kreis Steinburg (Ed.): Steinburger Jahrbuch 1966. Itzehoe 1965, pp. 78–88.
Rudolf Irmisch: The tombs and coffins of the St. Laurentii Church in Itzehoe. In: Heimatverband Kreis Steinburg (Ed.): Steinburger Jahrbuch 1972. Itzehoe 1971, pp. 28–38.
Dietrich Krueger: On the occasion of the completed restoration of the St Laurentii Church: Itzehoe's landmark through the ages. In: Norddeutsche Rundschau from April 6, 1985. Itzehoe 1985.
Dietrich Krueger: Additions to the building history of the St. Laurentii Church in Itzehoe. In: Heimatverband Kreis Steinburg (Ed.): Steinburger Jahrbuch 1986. Itzehoe 1985, pp. 226-237.
Dietrich Krueger: Seven panel paintings in the St. Laurentii Church in Itzehoe. In: Heimatverband Kreis Steinburg (ed.): Steinburger Jahrbuch 1975. Itzehoe 1974, pp. 13-20.
Dietrich Krueger: To rebuild the organ in the St. Laurentii Church in Itzehoe. In: Heimatverband Kreis Steinburg (ed.): Steinburger Jahrbuch 1977. Itzehoe 1976, pp. 163–169.
Ortwin Pelc : St. Laurentii church and cloister in Itzehoe. In: Heimatverband Kreis Steinburg (ed.): Steinburger Jahrbuch 2009. Itzehoe 2008, pp. 45–53.
Heinrich Seggermann, Wolfgang Weidenbach: Monument organs between the North and Baltic Seas. Ed. Merseburger, Kassel 1992, ISBN 3-87537233-6 . (= 127th publication of the Society of Organ Friends .)
↑ Gustav Fock : Arp Schnitger and his school. A contribution to the history of organ building in the North and Baltic Sea coast areas . Bärenreiter, Kassel 1974, ISBN 3-7618-0261-7 , p.169 .
↑ Joachim Hess: Dispositien the most remarkable kerk organs . Johannes vander Klos, Gouda 1774, p.122 ( limited preview in Google Book search). , erroneously stated under Hamburg / Hauptkirche.
