Lower City Church (Kleve)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
West facade of the Lower City Church to Kavarinerstraße
Interior

The Lower City Church of St. Mary's Conception , also Minorite Church , formerly also an annex church , in the old town of Kleve is a branch church of the Catholic parish of St. Mary's Assumption . Until 1802 it was the monastery church of the Klever Minoriten (Franciscans).

history

Floor plan of the Minorite Monastery

monastery

The Minorite Monastery in Kleve is considered to be Count Dietrich's († 1305) foundation from 1285. He provided the Friars Minor with land and a house and a modest church that was probably already there. The monastery has been documented since 1300.

In the years 1425 to 1445 the entire monastery complex was rebuilt with today's simple Gothic monastery church. The church formed the southern flank of the rectangular monastery complex with convent buildings and cloister . The choir stalls were carved by Arnt von Kalkar in 1474. The monastery survived the Reformation in the Duchy of Kleve . In 1698 the church received a baroque pulpit by Nikolaus Albers . Under French administration , the monastery was closed in 1802. Church, convent and farm buildings were sold in private hands.

secularization

From 1843 the St. Antonius Hospital was built in the convent buildings . This made various renovations and new constructions necessary, which, together with the consequences of the Second World War , left only small remains of the original buildings.

In 1952 the hospital moved to a new building elsewhere. Above the former east wing of the monastery complex - extended to the north - the new Klever Rathaus was built.

Catholic parish church

After profane use in Napoleonic times as the parish church of the lower town , the church was used again for worship services.

During the Second World War the Lower City Church and large parts of Kleves were almost completely destroyed in bombing raids. In the post-war years, it was rebuilt based on the original form. The most important pieces of equipment were outsourced and have been preserved.

From 1974 to 2003 Friedrich Leinung was pastor at the Lower City Church . During this time it became a nationally recognized center of post-war reconciliation work. In addition, the charitable center Klosterpforte was built near the church .

Relics of St. Adalbert

Since 1992 a piece of the relic of Adalbert von Prague from Gniezno has been in the new altar of the church. The relic in Gniezno was saved by Urban Thelen during World War II .

Architecture and equipment

The lower town church is a typical simple, towerless mendicant order church . It is a hall church with only one (right) aisle . The nave comprises five yokes . The main nave is continued by the three-and-a-half-bay, polygonal choir . The aisle also closes with a polygonal apse . The ships are equipped with two separate gable roofs covered. The nave and choir are spanned by groin vaults .

The most important piece of equipment is the choir stalls from 1474, which are attributed to Arnt von Kalkar ( Arnt Beeldsnider - "Arnt the picture carver "). The rich figure work contrasts depictions of saints with drastic grotesques .

Also noteworthy are the baroque pulpit by Nikolaus Albers (1698) and the crucifixion group in the choir arch .

literature

Web links

Commons : Unterstadtkirche  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Internet presence of the parish ( memento of the original from March 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.himmelfahrt-kleve.de
  2. ↑ kavariner.de
  3. ↑ a b rp-online.de , September 29, 2008
  4. ↑ Arnt Beeldsnider (rheinische-geschichte.lvr.de)
  5. ↑ kleve.de
  6. ↑ dnb
  7. ↑ Wolfgang Schieder: Secularization and Mediatization in the Four Rhenish Departments 1803-1813 , Part V / 2, p. 912
  8. ↑ kkikk.de
  9. ↑ cf. Friedrich Leinung: Ray Hamley and the calls from above . Kleve 2004
  10. ↑ Evidence in the article by Friedrich Leinung
  11. ↑ klosterpforte-kleve.de
  12. ↑ https://rp-online.de/nrw/staedte/kleve/reliquien-vor-zerstoerung-gerettet_aid-21829445
  13. ↑ Inside shot
  14. ↑ Horse dog in monk's cowl , der.westen.de, December 23, 2012


Coordinates: 51 ° 47 ′ 21.6 "  N , 6 ° 8 ′ 21.9"  E