Collegiate Church (Kaiserslautern)
 Collegiate church |
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| Basic data | |
| Denomination | Protestant |
| Country | Germany |
| Building history | |
| Client | Premonstratensians |
| construction time | from 1250 - before 1350 |
| Building description | |
| Architectural style | Gothic |
| Function and title | |
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Church of the Premonstratensian Monastery until the beginning of the 16th century |
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| 49 ° 26 '40 " N , 7 ° 46' 15" E | |
The former collegiate church of St. Martin and St. Maria ( abbey church for short ) in Kaiserslautern is now a Protestant parish church. It is the oldest hall church between the Rhine and Saar and is one of the most important Gothic church buildings in the Palatinate. The building made of sandstone blocks faces east and jumps back a little from the front of the street, so that the Marktstrasse widens to a roughly triangular square (the former market square). The roof landscape is characterized by the octagonal main tower, the two west towers and the gable roofs on the north front.
Building history
The collegiate church goes back to a monastery of the Premonstratensians, which Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa invited to Kaiserslautern from Leutkirch in Württemberg in 1176 . Of the three-aisled monastery church in late Romanesque style, which was initially used, only the foundations could be proven in the 1960s. Around 1250 the Premonstratensians began building a new church. First of all, today's choir was built, which was completed in 1291 with the consecration of the Richardiskapelle (which no longer exists today). Construction of the nave was started 30 years later and was probably completed before 1350. The northern porch was added in the second half of the 14th century, and the two western towers were built at the beginning of the 16th century. In 1510 or 1511 the Premonstratensian monastery was converted into a secular collegiate monastery, which was dissolved in the course of the Reformation in 1565. Since then the church has been a Protestant parish church. At the beginning of the 18th century, the main tower, which originally only had two floors, was raised by one floor. In 1806 the Richardiskapelle was torn down (in its place the pharmacist and then mayor Goswin Müllinghoff built his house and pharmacy), in 1819 the cloister was demolished. Extensive repairs around 1880. The church was badly damaged during World War II. From 1946 to 1950 the church, especially the main tower, was restored in a simplified form. In 1965 the Gothic sacristy was demolished and the church restored. After excavations in the area of the former monastery, the new church administration was established there.
Choir
The choir with an early Gothic 7/12 finish is very narrow due to local conditions. The main tower of the church rises above the square west yoke . Of the additions to the choir, only the northern vestibule remains, on the south side the traces of the vault of the former cloister can still be seen.
Longhouse
The high Gothic nave is just as long as the choir. It consists of a main aisles and two side aisles under a shared gable roof, and two octagonal towers rise at the west end. The unusual narrow formation of the aisles and the slight deviation from the axis to the choir are due to the local conditions. The six bays of the nave and the vestibule are marked on the north side (facing the former market square) by gable roofs. The north portal with Wimberg is richly decorated with tracery. Inside, the bays of the nave and choir are designed with ribbed vaults , so that despite the different times of construction, a uniform spatial impression is created.
Furnishing
The interior of the church is modern. In addition to the high altar in the choir, a modern, mobile (and therefore removable) altar is now used under the main tower. In the northern vestibule there is a marble monument in memory of the Palatinate Union of Lutherans and Reformed Protestants to the Protestant Church of the Palatinate in 1818 ( Konrad Knoll , 1883).
organ
The organ is in the left aisle. It was built in 1968 by Gebr. Oberlinger Orgelbau , Windesheim , and has 64 registers on four manuals and pedal with the following disposition :
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- Coupling : I / II; III / II; IV / II; III / I; I / P; II / P; III / P; IV / P.
- Playing aids : 6 free combinations; 2 fixed combinations; 1 free pedal combination; Register crescendo; Single tongue storage; Tongue holder; 16 'from; 32 ′ from.
Bells
On August 16, 1957, 6 new bells were cast by the Bachert bell foundry in Karlsruhe. In early November of the same year they were pulled up into the tower. The quarter of an hour strikes the bells 4 + 2 + 3 in sequence, while the big bell strikes on the hour. Every Saturday at 6:00 p.m., all bells ring in for Sunday, and only bells 2–6 ring for the Sunday service.
| No. | Surname | volume | Casting year | Foundry, casting location |
Weight (kg) |
| 1 | Holiday or faith bell | as 0 | 1957 | Bachert, Karlsruhe | 3985 |
| 2 | Home bell | c 1 | 2000 | ||
| 3 | Union Bell | it 1 | 1260 | ||
| 4th | Communion bell | f 1 | 885 | ||
| 5 | Our Father Bell | g 1 | 780 | ||
| 6th | Baptismal bell | b 1 | 470 |
Carillon
In 2009, a carillon with 47 bells was inaugurated in one of the two small west towers . It can be played automatically and by hand. The initiative to set up the instrument came from the church musician Helmut Freitag .
