Hi Hive friends,
I hope you are well and in good health. Yesterday I was sick, I must have eaten something wrong, today I feel better again and that's why I decided to write this post. Today I want to take you to three different churches in Wismar, each with its own charm. We saw all three of them on our discovery tour through Wismar and so I wanted to write a separate post about them.
Here you can see St. George's Church, which we passed first. It is one of the largest brick churches in northern and eastern Germany and was destroyed by bombing in the past, but later almost rebuilt around 1900. The reconstruction was made possible, among other things, by donations from many people and the initiative "Wege zur Backsteingotik" (Paths to Brick Gothic) of the German Foundation for Monument Protection.
The preliminary completion of the work took place in 2010. It was also built in the brick Gothic style, like St. Nicholas Church and St. Mary's Church. The name comes from the patron saint St. George. Initially, St. George's Church was planned only as a kind of hall church, but then it was built much larger. It was expanded with a mission chapel, a large transept, a low choir and a tower almost 60 meters high. That is why it looks so huge in the small old town of Wismar.
In the past, there was also a high altar retable, but it was removed during the war. The new place was now the St. Nikolai Church. It came to the restoration, which was also financed by donations.
In the past, the church had four large bells, but two of them were melted down at the beginning of the war. Another one was melted down for the casting of a St. Nicholas bell. In 1945 the tower was finally destroyed, and with it the last remaining bell.
Nowadays, many church events take place in the church, as well as readings or concerts. When we were there, however, the doors were closed, as with the other churches, which was a bit of a pity. I would have liked to see the church from the inside.
During my research, I still found out that the observation deck on the west tower is very popular. It was completed in 2014 and from it you have a great view over the old town and the harbor. If the view is good, you could even catch a glimpse of the island of Poel, which is located near the Bay of Wismar in the Baltic Sea. Where I think it was quite good that we did not go up, probably we would have been blown away by the wind.
The sky had cleared in between, but it didn't last long. Nevertheless, we were grateful for the few rays of sunshine.
Here you can see a poster of a concert that will take place in the church.
The second church we visited was the Church of the Holy Spirit. In the past, the church was a hospital church, where the sick and needy were cared for and nursed. Attached to it is a nave, which served for accommodation. Here in Germany, we have television series that solve crimes, also called Soko's. The entrance gate to the courtyard of this church served as a backdrop for the fictional police station of Soko Wismar. Before I read about it, I didn't know anything about it. I sometimes watch the Soko's, but mostly only Soko Leipzig, because I like the actors. But now back to the church. It was built in the middle of the 13th century and later accommodated not only homeless people but also pilgrims. It was, so to speak, place of worship, clinic and hostel together.
For me, the green bell tower was very beautiful to look at in the clear sky; it all seemed so calm.
The third church, St. Mary's Church, is located quite in the center of Wismar, so it is easy to reach on foot. Strictly speaking, it is located between the market square and the Fürstenhof, but at the time we were there, there was not much going on, which was probably also due to the weather. As you can see, only the tower is still preserved, which is about 80m high, because the ship was also too badly damaged during the Second World War. Until that time, it was considered one of the most beautiful brick churches in northern Germany. It is a former council church, which was built in the first half of the 13th century. You wouldn't believe how high the dials of the tower clock are: They have a diameter of 5m! The church tower houses the permanent exhibition "Ways to Brick Gothic", which explains the importance of medieval brick Gothic. I'm sure I'll be back another day to take another look at all the beautiful walls from the inside.
In the immediate vicinity there are many gabled houses and if you walk up the street a bit, you come right up to St. George's Church. I also found that fascinating- Wismar was very small and everything was within walking distance, yet there was not a little to see.
Here are just photos of the road leading down from the church. It's nothing special, but I thought the view was nice.
I hope that wasn't too many churches for you ;) I'm too fascinated by architecture and how it changes over time, for example the post-war reconstruction and how they made it happen.
How did you like my post about the churches in the old town of Wismar? Even though we couldn't go inside, I found it nice to admire the churches from the outside and see the similarity of the baroque style in them. Also the not only physical proximity but the circumstance with the bells I found impressive. Which church did you like better from the architecture? Feel free to write it to me in the comments.
Have a great start to the weekend!
And we here, in the west of Romania, we have a church exactly like the one you presented, the church is called the Red Church (Evangelical Lutheran Church), it is amazing.
I just looked at pictures of her, she looks very beautiful! Thanks for stopping by:)
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I couldn't help noticing the reliefs in rhythmic repetition on the brick wall and arch. Did you find the same patterns shown elsewhere around the church? Are those dragons and a mask? I don't know much about their symbolism but it makes me wonder what the architect was thinking when he created or approved this design.
I didn't find anything like that elsewhere around the church, but maybe I missed it. I also thought of something like that, but I didn't find anything specific when I read up on it. What first goes through the minds of architects until the finished building, that would be very interesting!:) Thanks for stopping by!
It was a pleasure and wishing you a happy Wednesday
St. Geoge's church has very neat detailing, I quite like it. I wish it was open to the public. Shame...
That would have been really great, I want to go there again in the summer and then I'll check the opening times beforehand :)
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