Lubeck has been a free city in the Holy Roman Empire since 1226. The bishop is weak. Center of the Hansa. On the peninsula. As you approach the city, you can see 7 spiers - decorations of 6 churches, clearly oriented along the west-east axis.
The struggle with the chapter for the choice of a bishop. The cathedral - the residence of the bishop - is on the southern outskirts. Marienkirche - sponsored by merchants - in the center. These 2 buildings form an ensemble. Groups of turrets and copper spiers, rising above it like eternal masts and flagpoles, give the city a festive look.
The construction of Marienkirche is a desire for monumentality. At first they began to build a hall church with one tower, but on last stage works rejected the project in favor of a larger basilica with 2 towers (1277-1351). The height of the towers is 125 m, the central nave is 40 m.
The plan and profile correspond to the model of a French Gothic cathedral, the style is unrecognizable. Not stone, but brick. Like most brick churches in Northern Europe - clarity, harmony and synthetic unity of form.
The western facade is directed upward. The towers that frame it are divided into tiers by cornices with quatrefoil patterns and topped with triangular pediments built into hipped spiers. Such spiers are common in Romanesque architecture in Germany. The hipped spire is one of the stable motifs of medieval architecture in the German lands.
The Marienkirche building is a wide basilica without a transept, but with an ambulatory and a crown of chapels; the wide side naves are a legacy of the hall church. Features of the plan: the side naves are wider than the ambulatory; the pentagonal apse has only 3 chapels. Half of the hexagonal vault is part of the chapels, the other half covers the ambulatory. The choir plan is a reworking of the plan for the hall choir of the cathedral in Lübeck. In the profile, the place of the triforium was taken by a continuous internal gallery with an openwork balustrade and pinnacles: elements characteristic of the external decor of temples were used in the interior. The upper tier of the central nave is designed in the form of a system of deep niches, some of which are tightly bricked. The system is called an “aqueduct” and was first used in Bremen Cathedral.
The prototypes of columns and pilasters are the Cologne Cathedral, from the same place, from the sacristy, - the shape of the windows, divided into 3 lancet-shaped sections and devoid of openwork decor. The clusters of columns and many of the ribs of the vault, painted red, contrast sharply with the white walls.
Chapel of St. Anna.
By 1310, the "Clerk's Chapel" was added to the east of the south tower. It combined the functions of a narthex and a chapel and, decorated with a portal, served as the second main entrance to the church from the Lübeck Market Square. Presumably it was dedicated to St. Anna and hers modern name received after the Reformation, when clerks moved in. The star-vaulted chapel (12 m x 8 m x 12 m) is considered a masterpiece of High Gothic architecture. It is often compared with examples of English cathedral Gothic and the capitular hall of the Marienburg Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork. Currently, parish services are held in the Pisar Chapel during the winter period (from January to March).
In the south-eastern part of the ambulatory, the city authorities erected their own chapel in 1390 - “Burgomasterskaya”, which is distinguished externally by the combination of glazed and unglazed bricks in the masonry. The inauguration ceremonies for elected city council members took place here. On the top floor of the chapel, especially important values of the city were kept: city privileges, charters, contracts and other documents of the city council. This part of the church is still owned by the city.
In total, St. Mary's Church has nine large side chapels and ten small funeral chapels, named after members of the Lübeck city council.
St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague.
1355 – Charles IV – status of capital city. Old connection with German lands. 1344 - independent archbishopric - St. Vitus Cathedral founded. Charles's connection with France is the architect Mathieu from Arras. He developed a plan for the choir, erected part of the ambulatory and the crown of the chapels. 1352 – died – Petr Parler – innovation.
A feature of the plan, the vaults are not brought into line with the boundaries of the spans - due to the abandonment of the longitudinal rib and by doubling the number of diagonal ribs, which formed a complex network of rhombuses, rhomboids and triangles. Look from wall to wall - along a zigzag path. A departure from the traditional uniform sequence of flights. In cross-section, the vault has rounded outlines and an unusually pointed apex: the cylindrical vault is dissected by transverse vaults framing the windows. Moreover, all ribs have the same diameter.
The profile of the apse is the Cologne model, but simplified: the apse covers not 7, but 5 sides of the decagon. The composition is also very distinct and clear - an expressive frame of windows and a parapet running along the lower edge of the roof, as in Reims. The dominant role in the composition is vertical elements. Innovative motive in external design in the eastern part of the cathedral: the pinnacles that decorate the buttresses between the chapels of the ambulatory break through the cornice: their vials end up on the surface of the cornice. A very sophisticated touch.
An even more radical innovation is the design of the portico in front of the south portal (1367-68). The arcade of the portal is formed by a richly profiled semicircular arch with canopies covering the moldings. But this arcade is partially hidden behind ribs separated from the vault, which are devoid of ornamental decoration at the intersections and converge at the top of the forward central column of the portal. Since this column protrudes forward, the door leaves are located at an angle to the wall.
St. Mary's Church (Marienkirche) was founded in Lübeck in 1251. In terms of the height of the central nave, it ranks first in the world among brick Gothic churches.
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Marienkirche in Lubeck
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Market Square
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Around your finger
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Imitating Lubeck
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Near the town hall
Marienkirche in Lubeck
After the fire
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Overnight
Marienkirche in Lubeck
High nave
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Funeral Chapel
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Brick Gothic
Marienkirche in Lubeck
First plans
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Final result
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Temple plan
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Lübeck and the Bishop
Marienkirche in Lubeck
City Cathedral
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Eras and styles
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Repentant restorer
During the post-war restoration, they tried to recreate the interior appearance of Marienkirche as much as possible in its original Gothic form, including the characteristic paintings of columns and vaults. At the same time, one of the restorers placed his own, stylized Gothic images, that is, fakes, in place of the lost original images. However, in 1952 he still admitted to it, after which they were removed.
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Saint Christopher
A special place in the temples, built with the money of Hanseatic merchants and sailors, was occupied by images of one of their main patrons - St. Christopher with the baby Jesus in his arms. We have already seen such multi-meter frescoes in the Gothic churches of other cities of the Hanseatic League - Stralsund and Wismar.
Marienkirche in Lubeck
On a skate
Restoration work in the Church of the Virgin Mary continued until 1959. The final touch was this turret on the roof ridge (Dachreiter), which returned to its place in 1980.
Marienkirche in Lubeck
World Heritage
Significant funds are required to preserve this UNESCO World Heritage gem. In the spring of 2010, the Marienkirche community decided to charge tourists a symbolic fee of two euros - the so-called Marientaler.
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Marienkirche in Lubeck
Marienkirche - the main temple of Lübeck
This city has its own Cathedral, even older, but not he, but another church is considered the main one here - not only because it is almost twice as tall as him. The Church of the Virgin Mary was the parish market church and the city council church of Lübeck, the capital of the Hanseatic League. Along with the town hall, it was she who was supposed to symbolize the wealth and power of not only the city, but also the entire Hansa.
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Market Square
Today, Marienkirche, together with other monuments in Lübeck, is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. It was founded on the highest point of the Old Town in 1251. It took a hundred years to build, and this is what it looked like in 1580. Construction was delayed because the plans were changed several times to make the church even more impressive and impressive. No money was spared, and there was no shortage of it.
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Around your finger
According to legend, having set out to build such a large temple, the residents of Lübeck managed to deceive the devil himself, answering his question by telling him that they were not building a church at all, but a drinking establishment. Rejoicing, he began to help them. When he realized that he had been tricked, he wanted to destroy the building by throwing a huge stone, but they calmed him down, promising to equip a tavern in the basement of the neighboring town hall (Ratskeller).
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Imitating Lubeck
Marienkirche is considered the foremother of numerous churches in the North German brick Gothic style. There are about seven dozen of them in the Baltic region. Lubeck, being the main city of the Hanseatic League, was also a trendsetter in architectural fashion - both sacred and secular, and at its peak, this union included about two hundred cities.
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Near the town hall
Marienkirche is located near the Market Square (Marktplatz), which is overlooked by the representative façades of the town hall in Gothic and beam styles. We will get to know the town hall in more detail in one of the following reports. This painting was painted in 1880. Much of the appearance of this square has been preserved, except for the disproportionately large shopping center built opposite the town hall.
Marienkirche in Lubeck
After the fire
This is what the temple looked like after the fire that occurred as a result of the bombing of Lübeck in March 1942. The vaults collapsed in many places, and due to high temperatures later plaster cracked and collapsed. Old Gothic paintings became visible on the walls. Even during the war, they were photographed in case of further bombing and destruction, in order to later use the photographs when restoring the temple.
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Overnight
The bombing of Lübeck that Palm Sunday night involved 234 RAF aircraft, dropping some 9,000 bombs on the city. In just a few hours, something that had taken centuries to build was destroyed. In addition to hundreds of casualties, almost every second building here was damaged or destroyed. Walking through its streets today, it’s hard to believe.
Marienkirche in Lubeck
High nave
This view of the three-nave basilica now opens from the bell tower of the nearby St. Peter's Church (Petrikirche). In terms of the height of the central nave among Gothic brick churches, Marienkirche ranks first in the world - 38.5 meters, and the height of the bell towers together with weather vanes is almost 125 meters. Inside the church at the foundation of one of them...
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Funeral Chapel
These bells fell from the South Tower of the Church of the Virgin Mary during a devastating fire on the night of Palm Sunday 1942. When restoring the temple, they decided to leave them in this place as a reminder of the war. The new main bell was donated to the Marienkirche on behalf of German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in 1951 on the occasion of its 700th anniversary.
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Brick Gothic
When erecting the Marienkirche, medieval German architects took an example from the architecture of French Gothic churches, primarily in Reims and Soissons, but they seemed to have to reinvent Gothic, since French churches were built of stone, and in the Baltic region there was no such quantity. This is how brick Gothic appeared - the Hanseatic version of the French style.
Marienkirche in Lubeck
First plans
Before the construction of the Gothic Marienkirche began on this site near the town hall building there was more old church in Romanesque style. Having begun its reconstruction in 1251, they planned to build a hall temple here, that is, a building with naves of equal or approximately equal height. However, Lubeck continued to grow richer year after year, so this option soon seemed too modest to the city fathers.
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Final result
For these and other reasons mentioned we'll talk Later, it was decided to significantly increase the height of the central nave of the Marienkirche, making maximum use of the technical and design capabilities of Gothic architecture, and also to build two tall, impressive bell towers.
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Temple plan
After the completion of the temple in 1350, it was expanded several more times, adding new chapels. The last one was completed in the Gothic style in 1444. Now the temple has nine large side chapels and ten small ones. The latter are used as tombs and are named after noble city dynasties.
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Lübeck and the Bishop
Another reason for the construction of such a large parish church was the constant conflicts between the residents of Lübeck and the local bishop. The Hanseatic merchants were deeply religious, but proud people with a strong sense of self-esteem, which complicated their relations with the Catholic hierarchy.
Marienkirche in Lubeck
City Cathedral
Lübeck Cathedral, here in the photo from the mid-19th century, was consecrated in 1247, that is, several years before construction work began on the construction of the Marienkirche. It was one of the first large sacred buildings in the brick Gothic style. The length of its central nave is still impressive - 130 meters with a modest 20-meter height of the vaults.
Marienkirche in Lubeck
Eras and styles
If appearance Marienkirche remained virtually unchanged over the centuries, its interior decoration changed in accordance with the aesthetic ideas of new eras. During the Reformation, many works of sacred art were removed from it, and the paintings disappeared under white plaster, and in the 17th-18th centuries, altars and baroque furnishings appeared in the Gothic temple.
Lübeck's Marienkirche, built between 1250 and 1350, played a huge role in the development of local architecture. She is called the mother of North German brick Gothic, because she served as a model for 70 churches in this style in the Baltic region. In this church, the Gothic style that had spread into the church was embodied in North German red brick. The vaults of Lübeck's Marienkirche are the highest in the world for a brick church (38.5 m).
The church is a three-nave basilica with side chapels, a choir surround and a crown of chapels around the apse, as well as a Narthex with a transverse Nave. The monumental western facade is decorated with two towers. Their heights, together with the Weathervanes, are 124.95 and 124.75 m. As the main parish church for city officials and citizens of the Hanseatic city of Lübeck, the Marienkirche is located in the shopping district, which extends to the warehouses on the Trave embankment, not far from the Lübeck Town Hall and the Market Square.
History of construction
And on the site of Marienkirche there used to be a wooden church from the era of the first German colonization, and after the refounding of the city in 1156, a Romanesque brick church appeared, which by the beginning of the 13th century. both in its size and in its representativeness, it ceased to meet the requirements of an independent and prosperous merchant class. Romanesque sculptures from this Romanesque church are currently on display in Lübeck's St. Anne's Monastery.
The model for the new three-nave basilica in Lübeck was the Gothic and Flanders cathedrals, built from natural stone. Marienkirche is one of the most bright examples sacred building in the brick Gothic style and served as an example to follow for many churches in the Baltic region (for example, the churches of St. Nicholas in E and E).
By 1310, a building was added to the east of the south tower "Clerk's Chapel". It combined the functions of the Narthex and the chapel and, decorated with a portal, served as the second main entrance to the church from the Lübeck Market Square. Presumably it was dedicated to St. Anne received its modern name after the Reformation, when clerks moved into it. The star-vaulted chapel (12 m x 8 m x 12 m) is considered a masterpiece of High Gothic architecture. It is often compared with examples of English cathedral Gothic and the chapter hall of the Teutonic Order in Europe. Currently, parish services are held in the Clerk's Chapel during the winter period (from January to March).
In the south-eastern part of the ambulatory, the city authorities erected their own chapel in 1390 - "Burgomaster", which stands out externally due to the combination of glazed and unglazed bricks in the masonry. The inauguration ceremonies for elected city council members took place here. On the top floor of the chapel, especially important values of the city were kept: city privileges, charters, contracts and other documents of the city council. This part of the church is still owned by the city.
In total, St. Mary's Church has nine large side chapels and ten small funeral chapels, named after members of the Lübeck city council.
Destruction and restoration
On the night of Palm Sunday from March 28 to 29, 1942, the Lübeck Marienkirche, like Lübeck and St. Peter's Church, was almost completely burned out during an air raid on Lübeck, which destroyed a fifth of the historical city center. The fire destroyed the famous "Organ of the Dance of Death", which was played by Dietrich Buxtehude and, with a high degree of probability, Johann Sebastian Bach.
Lost in the fire were Bernt Notke's Gregorian Mass, Bernt Notke's monumental Danse Macabre (by Bernt Notke, replaced by a copy in 1701), Laettner's carving, Jacob van Utrecht's Trinity Altarpiece (previously attributed to Bernart van Orley), and the Entrance Christ to Jerusalem" by Friedrich Overbeck. The bells that collapsed during the fire became a reminder of these tragic events; their fragments can be seen in the Funeral Chapel in the south tower of the church.
Even before the end of the war, a temporary roof was erected over the Marienkirche. The restoration of the church began in 1947 and lasted for 12 years. In 1951, the celebration of the 700th anniversary of the church was held under the restored roof of the church. On this occasion, the church received a new main bell as a gift from Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, and the Memorial Chapel in the south tower was consecrated.
St. Mary's Church (Marienkirche) is the third largest church in Germany, a masterpiece of North German Brick Gothic, a symbol of the wealth and prosperity of the free imperial city of Lübeck. Already in 1160, soon after the founding of the city, a small wooden church was built on the site of the current church, which was replaced in 1173-1774 by a stone Romanesque basilica. In 1226, the City Council of Lübeck bought the status of a free imperial city from the Holy Roman Emperor, by which time the city had become one of the largest and most prosperous shopping centers Western Europe , and the merchants of Lubeck are so rich that they could afford to build a church in the city that was not inferior to the Gothic cathedrals of France and Flanders. In 1251, construction of a large Gothic church began on the site of the basilica. Since there were no deposits of natural stone in Northern Germany, they decided to build the church from baked red brick - the raw material for it was clay, which was abundant in the North German Lowland. Construction of the church took 100 years and was completed in 1350. Marienkirche is a three-nave basilica with side chapels, a choir, an ambulatory, an apse surrounded by chapels, and a vestibule with a transverse nave. The Westwerk (monumental western facade) has two towers, the height of which (including weather vanes) is almost 125 meters. The height of the vaults of the central nave of St. Mary's Church is 38.5 meters, making it the tallest brick church in the world. The Chapel of the Scribes, built in 1310 to the east of the south tower, is considered a masterpiece of High Gothic, thanks to its magnificent star vault. It combined the functions of a narthex and a chapel, and also served as the second main entrance to the church from the Lübeck Market Square. In 1390, in the south-eastern part of the outpatient clinic, the city authorities erected the Burgomaster Chapel. The inauguration ceremonies of elected members of the City Council took place there; the city archive was kept on the top floor of the chapel. This part of the church is still owned by the city today. In 1444, a chapel of the Virgin Mary was built in the eastern part of the dispensary. In total, St. Mary's Church has nine large side and ten small (funerary) chapels. The interior of the church was richly decorated with works of sacred art donated to the temple by the City Council, Lübeck merchant guilds and noble families. During the Middle Ages, the church had 38 altars, many sculptures, reliefs, frescoes and paintings. The windows were decorated with stained glass, and carved benches made of valuable wood were installed in the choir. Among the relics that have survived to this day are a large bronze font (1337), an altarpiece (1495), a relief with scenes of the Passion of Christ by the sculptor Heinrich Brabender (1515) and the famous Antwerp altar of 1518, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. During the Reformation, many paintings and statues were removed from the church, and services began to take place only in the nave and choir. In the 17th - 18th centuries, the interior of the church was redecorated in the Baroque style, the walls were covered with whitewash and decorated with sculptures, bas-reliefs and magnificent epitaphs of noble citizens. IN XIX century changes occurred again in the design of the interior decoration - it was restored to its medieval appearance. During World War II, on the night of March 28–29, 1942, Lübeck was subjected to massive bombing. Many buildings were destroyed and burned. The same fate befell the Marienkirche - the vaults of the church and the roofs of the towers collapsed, and a strong fire broke out in the building. The collapsed bells of the south tower broke the medieval stained glass windows, which were stored in special boxes, and the famous “Dance of Death” organ of the 15th century, played by Johann Sebastian Bach himself, as well as the frieze “Dance of Death” and the painting “Gregorian Mass”, created in the 15th century, were destroyed in the fire century by Bernt Notke, the magnificent carvings of the lectorium, the Trinity altar by Jacob van Utrecht, the painting "Christ's Entry into Jerusalem" by Friedrich Overbeck and many other works of art. The restoration of the church was carried out in 1947-1959, a new carillon with 36 bells was brought from the Church of St. Catherine in Gdansk, in 1955-1956 the medieval stained glass windows were restored, in 1967 the astronomical clock of the 16th century was restored, in 1968 and 1986 it was installed in the church new organs. In 1987, St. Mary's Church in Lübeck was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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St. Mary's Church in Lübeck (Marienkirche, German: Lübecker Marienkirche) is the most famous temple of the city, a symbol of the power and prosperity of the Hanseatic city and the main decoration of the Lübeck Starograd Island (German: Altstadtinsel). Marienkirche in the old part of Lübeck is a World Heritage Site cultural heritage UNESCO.
Lübeck's Marienkirche, built between 1250 and 1350, played a huge role in the development of local architecture. She is called the “mother of North German brick Gothic”, because she served as a model for 70 churches in this style in the Baltic region. In this church, the Gothic style that spread in France was embodied in North German red brick. The vaults of Lübeck's Marienkirche are the highest in the world for a brick church (38.5 m).
The church is a three-nave basilica with side chapels, a choir surround and a crown of chapels around the apse, as well as a vestibule with a transverse nave. The monumental western facade is decorated with two towers. Their heights, including weathercocks, are 124.95 and 124.75 m. As the main parish church for city officials and citizens of the Hanseatic city of Lübeck, the Marienkirche is located in the shopping district, which extends to the warehouses on the Trave embankment, not far from the Lübeck town hall and the Market Square.
