St. Stephen's Church (Helmstedt)

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North side of St. Stephen's Church with west building

The St. Stephen's Church in the Lower Saxony district town of Helmstedt is a three-aisled Gothic hall church , which was consecrated to St. Stephen in 1300 as a successor to the Romanesque sacred building that was destroyed on the same site . The towerless church built on the highest hill in the city was Helmstedt's first parish church and, between 1576 and 1703, it was also the university church of the former Helmstedt University . Today's congregation of the Sankt-Stephani-Kirche belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran regional church in Braunschweig .

history

The previous Romanesque building was built between 1125 and 1141 on a hill in Helmstedt. This church was burned down in the course of the destruction of the city of Helmstedt at the turn of the year 1199/1200 by troops of the Magdeburg Archbishop Ludolf and King Philip of Swabia .

Saint Stephen

Around 1230, the construction of today's St. Stephen's Church in Gothic style began on the same place at a trading center. The construction work dragged on over several decades of the 13th century, so that the church could not be consecrated to Saint Stephen until 1300. a. is also the patron saint of merchants. Due to structural changes in the following years, the building received Gothic and Romanesque sections as well as interior elements from the Renaissance and Baroque periods . In the 15th century, the west building with the indicated towers was built, which, however, do not protrude in height above the church roof.

The first Protestant sermon of the Lutheran doctrine took place in the Stephanikirche in 1530 by the pastor Heinrich Wende, who was expelled from the city a short time later by the ducal sovereign. With the final introduction of the Reformation in 1568 in the area of ​​the Duchy of Braunschweig-Lüneburg by Duke Julius , the abbots of the neighboring Catholic monastery Ludgeri also lost control of the Stephanigemeinde, who up to that point held the right to fill the parish.

On October 15, 1576, the University of Helmstedt was founded with a solemn service in the Stephanikirche in the presence of Duke Julius and Hereditary Prince Heinrich Julius . From this date on, the building served as a university church for around 127 years until 1703. At this point in time, this function was transferred to the converted Augustinian Church on the Helmstedt market square. However, until the closure of the university in 1810, professors in the theological faculty of the university were main pastors and general superintendents of the Stephani congregation.

In the 19th century, the cemetery immediately to the north and south of the building was leveled and around 50 of the previously more than 200 epitaphs and tombstones of prominent personalities from the city and the former university were attached to the outer wall and inside the church. The community's cemetery has been located on the outskirts of the city on Magdeburger Tor since 1872 .

The church survived the bombing raid on Helmstedt in World War II on February 20, 1944 undamaged, so that the original structure has remained unchanged. Through alterations and structural additions to the building, however, the church was repeatedly changed or repaired over the centuries, so that it can only be recognized as a purely Gothic hall church by its external appearance. In the interior in particular, other stylistic epochs flowed into the church.

Furnishing

The St. Stephen's Church has a number of objects that are rare in terms of church history and, due to the age of the church building, come from different art historical epochs.

Choir of the Stephanikirche with high altar and main altar

Altars

In earlier centuries the church had a total of 18 altars dedicated to saints at which prayer masses were held. With the emergence of the Reformation movement, these altars were removed in 1542.

Today there is a baroque high altar in the high choir of the hall church . The altarpiece dates from 1644 and was donated by the treasurer and later mayor Christoph Royer. The picture in the predella shows the Lord's Supper with Jesus Christ . The main picture in the middle shows Mary with the Jesus child and the three wise men . The upper picture shows the biblical scene in the garden of Gethsemane . On the reredos is a carved group of figures with the crucified Jesus, Mary and the evangelist John . The figures placed next to the pictures show the four evangelists Matthew (in a green robe), Mark (in a golden yellow robe), Lukas (in red clothing) and again John (in blue clothing). Since the Reformation (in Helmstedt since 1568), all the pastors of the Stephanikirche have been recorded on the back wall of the retable.

The main altar in the front area is a stone block from around 1900, when the church was extensively restored.

Renaissance pulpit

pulpit

The pulpit is a work of art from the Renaissance. It was donated in 1596 by the two sons of the ducal chancellor Joachim Mynsinger von Frundeck , Sigismund Julius Mynsinger and Heinrich Albert Mynsinger. The Stephani pulpit was designed by the craftsman Georg Steyger from Quedlinburg. It is provided with extensive decorations: the pulpit is carried by Moses with the tablets of the law. Relief-like representations from the New and Old Testament are executed on the pulpit stairs. Around the pulpit, 14 coats of arms of the donating Mynsinger family can be seen on the parapet . A wooden model of the city of Jerusalem has also been built in the sound cover above the pulpit . Numerous angel figures can be seen at the door to the pulpit staircase and around the pulpit.

Bells

The oldest and largest bell of St. Stephani with the strike sound it was cast around 1250 and weighed around 3000 kg. It had to be melted down in 1927. The smaller council bell from 1710 was also melted down in 1917. Three bronze bells from 1927 had to be handed in during the Second World War . Between 1942 and 1948, only one measuring bell (diameter 44 cm, 55 kg) from 1733 sounded in St. Stephani, which is the only historical Stephani bell that has survived and is now exhibited in the Helmstedt District and University Museum.

The church currently has three cast steel bells weighing 2250 kg, 1350 kg and 1050 kg, which are suspended in the west building under the roof. They have the beat notes c sharp , e and f sharp . The following inscriptions are engraved in the bells: Glory to God on high , peace on earth and a pleasure for men . The steel bells with plate crowns were cast by the Bochum Association and were consecrated on Reformation Day in 1948.

Baptismal font from 1590

Baptismal font

In the western entrance of the church looking towards the altar there is a baptismal font made of brass . The basin with the baptismal font was poured in 1590 by Mante Pelking (occasionally also mentioned as Mante Pelckinck or Mante Pelkinck ) from Hildesheim. It was donated by the council of the city of Helmstedt for the then university church. The coats of arms and the names of the founding councilors are therefore engraved on the base of the pelvis. In each of the two rows of the foot above, six figures of the apostles have been modeled. The six pictures on the baptismal font and on the lid show reports of baptism and conversion from the Old and New Testaments. In detail these are on the basin bowl: Baptism of Jesus by John ; Ascension of Christ; Outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples (Pentecost); Conversion of Saul ; Baptism of children by Jesus; Paul in the Roman dungeon. The story on the lid of the baptismal font is about the following topics: Moses' passage through the Red Sea; Baptism of the eunuch from Ethiopia by Philip ; the temple spring ( Ezekiel XLVII); Jesus and Nicodemus ; the flood with Noah's ark ; Conversion of the captain Cornelius . The top of the lid is crowned with the representation of the Trinity : God the Father holds his son in his arms, on whose head a dove (symbol of the Holy Spirit ) sits. The lid itself is suspended by a chain in the vaulted floor and is balanced there by a counterweight in such a way that it can be easily lifted to open the baptismal font.

Panel paintings

In the interior of the church there are a total of 55 panel paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries, most of which take up themes from the New and Old Testament. The panel paintings are oil paintings and are copies of works by great artists (including Jacopo Tintoretto , Peter Paul Rubens , Matthäus Merian ). Each painting has a brass plate on the lower frame, on which the subject and the copied painter are noted. Eleven panel paintings hang on the organ gallery in the western part of the church, the others are distributed among the galleries in the south and north aisles. Two larger paintings, donated by Mayor Heinrich Duve and his wife Anna Modeler, are hung on the sacristy wall in the choir. One of these large panels shows a depiction of the Confessio Augustana by the copperplate engraver Johann Dürr , the other depicts the blood judgment of Jesus .

Western interior with Schuke organ

organ

The organ of St. Stephen's Church is located on the western gallery of the church and is divided into two organ works: the main case and a smaller back positive on the gallery parapet. The organ prospectus indicates the year 1584. At that time the organ was built into the church by master organ builder David Beck from Halberstadt. In the following years the instrument received some extensions, so u. a. in the years 1747–1750 by Johann Christoph Hüsemann two pedal towers left and right of the main housing. The organ was exchanged in 1882 by the organ building workshop Wilhelm Sauer from Frankfurt / Oder, only the historic case remained. The next extensive renovation took place in 1954 by the organ builder Friedrich Weißenborn, who installed a new instrument behind the old prospectus and removed the two pedal towers.

As early as 1975, this instrument had to be replaced by the Karl Schuke company from Berlin with a new organ behind a historical facade. The Schuke organ has 36 registers on three manuals and a pedal with mechanical action and electro-pneumatic register control. In 2000, the organ builder Christoph Grefe from Ilsede also installed a processor- controlled setting system that can store up to 4000 registrations.

I Rückpositiv C – g 3
1. Dumped 8th'
2. Quintadena 8th'
3. Principal 4 ′
4th Coupling flute 4 ′
5. Sesquialtera II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
6th Gemshorn 2 ′
7th Sif flute 1'
8th. Scharff IV
9. Krummhorn 8th'
Tremulant
II Hauptwerk C – g 3
10. Pommer 16 ′
11. Principal 8th'
12. Reed flute 8th'
13. octave 4 ′
14th Pointed flute 4 ′
15th Nasat 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
16. octave 2 ′
17th Mixture V-VI
18th Scharff III – IV
19th Trumpet 8th'
III Swell C – g 3
20th Wooden dacked 8th'
21st recorder 4 ′
22nd Principal 2 ′
23. third 3 ⁄ 5 ′
24. Fifth 1 ⁄ 3 ′
25th Cymbel III
26th Vox humana 8th'
Tremulant
Pedal C – d 1
27. Principal 16 ′
28. Sub bass 16 ′
29 octave 8th'
30th Dumped 8th'
31. octave 4 ′
32. Night horn 2 ′
33. Mixture V
34. trombone 16 ′
35. Trumpet 8th'
36. Clairon 4 ′

Church window

The twelve stained glass windows of the Stephanikirche were only made between 1904 and 1906 by the Quedlinburg Glasmalereianstalt Ferdinand Müller and replaced the previously used unadorned glass from the last renovation in 1818. Eight of the larger colorful windows were donated by Helmstedt citizens and companies and represent Bible stories The glass windows are described in detail below.

  • Main entrance south : Depicted is the patron saint of St. Stephen's Church, Saint Stephen, in his stoning scene. The inscription reads: Lord Jesus receives his spirit . ( Acts of the Apostles Luke 7:58)
  • South side center : The glass window depicts the crucifixion scene of Jesus Christ; The Helmstedt city arms are depicted above the crucifix. Inscription: You cannot do anything without me . ( Gospel according to John 15, 5)
  • North side center : The glass window shows the handover of the imperial charter for the University of Helmstedt by Chancellor Mynsinger to the Duke's son Heinrich Julius on October 15, 1576 in the Stephanikirche. The awarded university coat of arms can be seen above the scene. Inscription: The word of the Lord abides forever . ( 1st letter of Peter 1:25)
  • North side east : In the four-part window the reformer Martin Luther is depicted during the interrogation in Worms in 1521.
  • South east : The window tells of the visit of the reformer Johannes Bugenhagen in Helmstedt. Inscription: Introduction of the Reformation in Helmstedt on October 14, 1542. However, the Reformation did not finally prevail in Braunschweig Land until 1568 when Duke Julius took over the government.
  • Apse center : Depicted is Jesus Christ with a crown of thorns, a scene based on a painting by Albrecht Dürer .
  • Apse left : In the lower part of the window the Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel to Mary is depicted. The upper part shows the birth of the Christ child and the adoration of the three kings.
  • Right apse : The lower part of the glass window tells the story of Jonah and the whale ( Jonah 2). The part above shows the risen Christ in a halo.

There are also two other smaller colored windows in the apse. In the pastor's sacristy (south side-east) there are also two small stained windows, each showing two goblets and two crosses.

In addition to these twelve stained glass windows, there are other windows in the church building that are kept simple.

St. Stephani over the city

useful information

  • Although the St. Stephen's Church has no towers, the house of God is visible from all directions due to the elevated position of the hill above the old town of Helmstedt.
  • In old church records, the building is also called ecclesia in monte ( Latin for church on the mountain ).
  • The hill on which the church building is located already served as a burial place around 1100.
  • Johannes Borcholt (1535–1593), professor at the University of Helmstedt , was buried in St. Stephen's Church, as was the famous theologian Georg Calixt (1586–1656), whose tomb can be found on the south wall of the high choir.
  • The Marsberg mayor and metallurgical entrepreneur Jürgen (Georg) Koch had a cast-iron grave slab made for his son Alexander, who died at the University of Helmstedt as a result of a duel on February 26, 1584. This plate with the name and day of death of the dead, a Latin funeral poem under the coats of arms of father and mother over other religious and decorative infusions, is still preserved in the church.

See also

literature

  • Rudolf Kleinert: St. Stephen's Church in Helmstedt. Helmstedt 1965/1982
  • Rosemarie Pohl: Ecclesia in Monte. The church on the mountain. Helmstedt 2008
  • Hermann Oertel: The St. Stephanikirche in Helmstedt. For the 825th anniversary of the parish and the organ consecration in 1975.

Web links

Commons : St. Stephen's Church (Helmstedt)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Hans-Erhard Müller: Helmstedt - the history of a German city. 2nd edition 2004, p. 105
  2. ↑ cf. Rosemarie Pohl: Ecclesia in Monte. The church on the mountain. Helmstedt 2008, p. 17
  3. ↑ More information about the organ of St. Stephani
  4. ↑ cf. Rosemarie Pohl: Ecclesia in Monte. The church on the mountain. Helmstedt 2008, p. 46

Coordinates: 52 ° 13 ′ 32.9 ″  N , 11 ° 0 ′ 46 ″  E