The Martinskirche (St. Martin's church) is the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

main church in

Sindelfingen Sindelfingen ( Swabian: ''Sendlfenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg in south Germany. It lies near Stuttgart at the headwaters of the Schwippe (a tributary of the river Würm), and is home to a Mercedes-Benz assembly plant. History * 1155 � ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

, Germany. It was built in

Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later ...

as a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

with a flat wooden ceiling, then part of a monastery. Today, the church is also a venue of church music events.

History

The present church was conceived around 1059 to serve as the church of a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery, founded by Adalbert II., . The church was built on the foundations of an earlier church, in

as a

with a flat wooden ceiling. Construction began in 1080, and the church was consecrated on 4 July 1083 by the Bishop of Würzburg and the Archbishop of Salzburg, dedicated to

Martin of Tours Martin of Tours ( la, Sanctus Martinus Turonensis; 316/336 – 8 November 397), also known as Martin the Merciful, was the third bishop of Tours. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in France, heralded as the ...

. Building was completed in 1132 under

Welf VI Welf VI (111515 December 1191) was the margrave of Tuscany (1152–1162) and duke of Spoleto (1152–1162), the third son of Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria, and a member of the illustrious family of the Welf. Biography Welf inherited the familial po ...

of Spoleto. The church also served the local parish. The was dissolved in 1447. Sindelfingen had its first Lutheran pastor in 1554, named Martinus. The church was restored three times: first from 1863 to 1868, directed by Christian Friedrich Leins, second in 1933, supervised by

Ernst Robert Fiechter Ernst Robert Fiechter (28 October 1875, in Basel – 19 April 1948, in St. Gallen) was a Swiss architect and archaeologist. He is remembered for his research of ancient Greek temple and theatre architecture. He was a cousin to psychologist Carl Gust ...

and H. Seytter, and third in 1973/74, led by Martin Stockburger.

Architecture

The church was built as a traditional basilica, with three

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

s. The original wooden ceiling is preserved, one of the oldest in the state of

, with the tree felling dated to 1131. The ceiling was painted with the symbols of the four Evangelists in 1933, designed by Fiechter in a retrospective style. The entrance door features Romanesque door hardware (''Beschläge'') from the 12th century.

Organ

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

was first mentioned in 1576. A new organ was built in 1661 by Jakob Müntzer, using five of the stops of the earlier instrument. The organ was expanded and restored in 1687, adding a

pedal A pedal (from the Latin '' pes'' ''pedis'', "foot") is a lever designed to be operated by foot and may refer to: Computers and other equipment * Footmouse, a foot-operated computer mouse * In medical transcription, a pedal is used to control p ...

and two stops.

Walcker organs

A new organ with two manuals was completed in 1830 by

Eberhard Friedrich Walcker Walcker Orgelbau (also known as E. F. Walcker & Cie.) of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, is a builder of pipe organs. It was founded in Cannstatt, a suburb of Stuttgart in 1780 by . His son Eberhard Friedrich Walcker moved the business t ...

from Ludwigsburg. It was installed in the old housing with 19 stops and a pedal of 2 ½ octaves. When the church was remodelled from 1862 to 1864, the old housing was replaced by a simpler one to match the style of the building better. Demands for a better organ that could also serve concert music led to the foundation of a collection towards a new organ (''Orgelfonds'') before World War I. It was funded by generous private donations and from the money for the requisition of large organ pipes for the war. Walcker was commissioned to build a ''Konzertorgel''. It was completed in 1920, with two manuals, pedal and 15 stops, and with room for expansion of up to 45 stops.

Weigle organ

The present main organ of St. Martin was built in 1961 by from Echterdingen, revised in 1974 and 1991. It had 37 stops, three manuals and pedal. In 2016, the Weigle organ was restored by from Leonberg, taking it completely apart for restoration. An electronic control was added, and some stops were replaced.

Gallery

Martinskirche (Sindelfingen) Apsiden Mittelapsis mit Zahnschnittfries.jpg, Apses Martinskirche (Sindelfingen) Westportal 12. JH Löwenkopf Türring verschafft Asylrecht.jpg, West portal from the 12th century Martinskirche (Sindelfingen) Mittelschiff Pfeiler Chor.jpg, Nave towards the choir Martinskirche (Sindelfingen) Mittelschiff Pfeiler Orgel.jpg, Nave towards the organ Martinskirche Sindelfingen 20-04-2019 11.jpg, Weigle organ

References

External links

* *{{KlosterBW, 735 Former collegiate churches in Germany Churches of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg Roman Catholic churches completed in the 1080s Romanesque architecture in Germany