Fröndenberg Collegiate Church

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Tower of the collegiate church
patio

The Stiftskirche Fröndenberg is a listed church in Fröndenberg used by the Protestant parish . Due to a simultaneum , the Catholic parish also has a right of use. The owner is the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

history

From around 1230 the church was built as a Cistercian monastery church for Fröndenberg Abbey . It is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher of the Counts of the Mark . About 100 years before the Reformation, the monastery was transformed into a free worldly noble monastery . From the middle of the 17th century the church became a simultaneous church with use by the Evangelical Lutheran, the Evangelical Reformed and the Roman Catholic parishes. This Simultaneum still exists today. Due to the secularization of the monastery carried out by the state in 1812, the church is owned by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia as the legal successor to the Prussian state.

Building description

The church is a Gothic hall church with a straight east end and a roof turret over the crossing. A bell tower was added to the west in 1902.

The construction of the church from small blocks made of green sandstone began in the middle of the 13th century with the choir , the crossing and the cross arms . This component consists of roughly square yokes . Construction continued with the east yoke of the nave . Two slightly wider yokes in the west were necessary for the nuns' gallery. The construction of the upper storeys and the arching of the gallery bays are dated to around 1300.

The eastern parts of the church are slightly lower than the nave. The east facade is elaborately designed. A large dazzle rose with a tracery filling is located above a staggered group of three windows. The dazzle rosette is unique in Westphalia. There are certain similarities to the north transverse house rose in Notre Dame de Paris and to the nave window in Minden Cathedral . In the gable between small round windows there is a large relief of a Madonna under a canopy. Two kneeling donor figures can be seen on the side. The south choir window is dated towards the end of the 15th century. At the front of the south transept there is a tracery window from the 14th century. In the east yoke of the nave there is a group of three windows, including a bricked-up pointed arch portal. The three-lane windows in the western bays are kept simple. In the south, the windows are partially walled up due to additions. The choir and transept have high rib vaults. The capitals are decorated with flat foliage and stylized animals. The vault ribs partially end in mask heads. The vault in the Langhausjoch is higher. The ribs are provided with decorative washers. The west yokes are set off by a belt with bevelled edges.

Of the originally existing large wall paintings, there are only significant remains of two saints standing in front of leaves in the west yoke of the north wall.

Around the year 1500 a sacristy was added to the north. A three-sided gallery replaced the nun's gallery, which was demolished in 1826. The west tower was added in 1902 from Ruhr sandstone blocks. Between 1979 and 1985 the church was extensively restored and plastered except for the tower.

Furnishing

The furnishings include three masonry altar blocks from medieval times. The wooden late baroque high altar retable is from 1776. You can see the Prussian eagle in a split gable and a crucifixion image. The oak pulpit dates from 1797.

The middle section of a Gothic winged altar donated by Abbess Segele von Hamme in the 15th century is significant in terms of art history . The artist came from the environment of Conrad von Soest . It may even be an early work by Conrad. It could also be a work by the so-called Master of the Fröndenberger Altar . Scenes from the life of Mary are depicted on a gold background. There are also two panels on either side of the midfield. Some boards are in Munster and Cleveland .

There is also a stone Gothic niche for sculptures. There is a pietà from the 15th century , the original painting of which was uncovered in 1980. A wooden image of Saint Mauritius dates from the 15th century.

In the church is the high grave of Count Eberhard I von der Mark (also called Everhard II, Count von Mark, Count von Altena) and his wife Irmgard von Berg. The figures of the couple of counts are shown lying in blind arcades on a plate framed by a pin. Coats of arms can be seen on the side of the plate. The walls of the Tumba are decorated with stone decorations. At the beginning of the 14th century a picture of the Madonna was inserted between the heads of the figures. A total of four consecutive counts are buried in the church.

The church also contains numerous other grave slabs. These include grave monuments of six abbesses from the monastery period and a grave slab of an abbess from the early days of the monastery (1280). The epitaph for Johann von der Recke was created around 1600.

organ

The organ was started in 1687 by Tobias Bader. It was completed in 1692 by Peter Heinrich Varenholt. As the only Bader organ in Westphalia, the original pipework has largely been preserved despite later extensions. The organ prospect in the Baroque style dates from 1826. The organ was rebuilt and expanded several times while retaining the historical substance. It has 25 registers distributed over two manuals and a pedal . Of the total of around 1670 pipes , 540 come from the time of the builder, the first seven stops in the main work and the first three in the breast work.

I main work C – f 3
1. Quintad 16 ′
2. Principal 8th'
3. Reed flute 8th'
4th octave 4 ′
5. Gemshorn 4 ′
6th Nasard 2 23
7th octave 2 ′
8th. Mixture IV-VI
9. Trumpet 8th'
II breastwork C – f 3
10. Metal dacked 8th'
11. Principal 4 ′
12. Flute 4 ′
13. Forest flute 2 ′
14th Fifth 1 13
15th octave 1'
16. Sesquialtera II 2 23
17th Scharff III – IV 23
18th Krummhorn 8th'
Tremulant
Pedal C – f 1
19th Sub-bass 16 ′
20th octave 8th'
21st Pommer 8th'
22nd octave 4 ′
23. Mixture III
24. trombone 16 ′
25th Trumpet 4 ′

Peal

The three-part cast steel bell was purchased in 1902 and sounds in g'-b'-des ".

literature

  • Dehio Association (Ed.): Georg Dehio, Handbook of German Art Monuments. North Rhine-Westphalia II Westphalia . Berlin / Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-422-03114-2 , pp. 333-335.

Web links

Commons : Stiftskirche Fröndenberg  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. More information on the Bader organ

Coordinates: 51 ° 28 ′ 24.5 "  N , 7 ° 45 ′ 57.5"  E