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 of Rostock, in northern Germany. The other two are St. Petri "(Petrikirche)" and St. Nicholas "(Nikolaikirche"). A fourth, St. James "(Jakobikirche)", was heavily damaged during the Second 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 in 1232, which is thought to be the predecessor of the current building. The triple-nave cross-shaped basilica is in Brick Gothic, a building style typical of the Hanseatic 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 of Jesus and a baroque rooftop from 1723.

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 in 1472 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 in 1530 the master carver can probaply be found in the circles around carver Benedict Dreyer of Lübeck. Rochus is a saint of Black Death and it is assumed that the altar was build and set up in connection with Black Death epidemics 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 pressurized air ( referred to as wind ) the sound 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. In 1938 the organ was eventuelly completed by organ builder Sauer, Frankfurt/O. and equipped with an electro-pneumatic action. Today it consist of four manuals and a pedalboard, 83 stops ( registration ) and 5.702 organ pipes, with the largest measuring eleven metres, the smallest the size of a cigarette. 30 pipes (voices) are remains of the original instrument.

World War II

In the 1942th heavy air raids by the RAF, which lasted three days, much of Rostock was destroyed. The sexton of St. Mary's Mr. Bombowski saved the church by decisive action. Although three incendiary bombs smashed through the roof of the tower, he extincted the fire with the help from his daughter and a German auxiliary airforce commando. Comment of the former "NSDAP Kreisleiter" ( the local Nazi 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