- St. Mary's Church, Rostock
St. Mary's Church, Rostock, in German Marienkirche, is the biggest of three town churches found in the
Hanseatic city ofRostock , in northernGermany . The other two are St. Petri "(Petrikirche)" and St. Nicholas "(Nikolaikirche"). A fourth, St. James "(Jakobikirche)", was heavily damaged during theSecond World War and subsequently demolished.Building
St. Mary's Church "Marienkirche", on Ziegenmarkt, is a large
Brick Gothic church. Built in the 13th century, it was enlarged and modified at the end of the 14th century into the present basilica. The first reference to a church on this site is in1232 , which is thought to be the predecessor of the current building. The triple-nave cross-shapedbasilica is inBrick Gothic , a building style typical of theHanseatic port cities of northern Germany. The huge tower with a baroque lantern at the top was not completed until the end of the 18th century.Interior
Main Altar
The main altar was built in 1721 by a
Berlin craftsman. He shows in three pictures: Bottom " The Last Supper " ; Middle " Revival " ; Top " Spilling of the holy Ghost " .Pulpit
Pulpit in the style of renaissance made by Rudolf Stockmann in
1574 . Decorated with scenes from the passion ofJesus and a baroque rooftop from1723 .Stained Windows
The monumental south window of the crosshouse with a height of 26 meters shows The Day of Judgement.
Astronomical ClockBehind the main altar is an
astronomical clock built in1472 by Hans Düringer. It consists of three partitions - Top: Apostle-go-round giving an hourly performance of the apostles crossing before Jesus for a blessing before entry into eternal bliss, and the last, Judas, is shut out [http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ohiolair/1/1216844100/tpod.html] ; Middle: Clock with daily time, zodiac, moon phases, and month; Bottom: Calendar, which is valid until 2017. The medieval clock is the only one of its kind still in working condition with its original clockworks.Babtismal Font
Bronze font from
1290 with scenes from the life and passion of Jesus. The font is carried by four kneeling men and is one of the oldest pieces in St. Mary's.Rochusaltar
The late gothic Rochusaltar is an sidealtar of once 39 in this church. Manufactured from
oak wood in1530 the master carver can probaply be found in the circles around carver Benedict Dreyer ofLübeck . Rochus is a saint ofBlack Death and it is assumed that the altar was build and set up in connection with Black Deathepidemics which also ravaged in Rostock.Organ
The huge baroqueprospect of "Marienorgel" was developed and built in
1770 by Paul Schmidt, an organ maker from Rostock. Because the lack of enough pressurizedair ( referred to as wind ) thesound was weak. That is the reason why this organ was extensively elaborated and enhanced upon throughout the centuries, with among others, Marx, Winzer and Börger. In1938 the organ was eventuelly completed by organ builder Sauer, Frankfurt/O. and equipped with anelectro-pneumatic action. Today it consist of four manuals and a pedalboard, 83 stops ( registration ) and 5.702organ pipes , with the largest measuring elevenmetres , the smallest the size of a cigarette. 30 pipes (voices ) are remains of the original instrument.World War II
In the
1942 th heavy airraid s by theRAF , which lasted three days, much of Rostock was destroyed. Thesexton of St. Mary's Mr. Bombowski saved the church by decisive action. Although threeincendiary bombs smashed through theroof of the tower, he extincted thefire with the help from his daughter and a German auxiliaryairforce commando. Comment of the former "NSDAP Kreisleiter" ( the localNazi Party chief ) and then Lord Mayor of Rostock, W. Volgmann - " The old hut should have burned up". Inside the church is a picture by the painter E. Tschirch which depicts St. Mary's Church surrounded by ruins.Part of the Rostock Skyline
External links
* [http://www.marienkirche-rostock.de Marienkirche Rostock]
* [http://www.mv-terra-incognita.de/beitraege/denkmale/b/marien/marien.htm Historische Rostocker Bauwerke – Die St.-Marien-Kirche]
* [http://www.rettet-st-marien-rostock.de Stiftung St.-Marien-Kirche zu Rostock e. V.]
* [http://www.st-marien-kantorei-rostock.de Marien-Kantorei Rostock]Sources
* "Architekturführer DDR Bezirk Rostock " - Verlag für Bauwesen 1977
* "In deinen Mauern herrsche Eintracht und allgemeines Wohlergehen", Karsten Schröder - Ingo Koch Verlag 2002
* "ROSTOCK - a tour of the city under the symbols of bull and griffin", Selma Kleinfeldt - Klatschmohn Verlag 1997
* "Tadellöser & Wolff " , Walter Kempowski - Random House 1996
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