The church of St Peter and Paul in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

, Germany, is also known as Herderkirche (Herder Church) after

Johann Gottfried Herder Johann Gottfried von Herder ( ; ; 25 August 174418 December 1803) was a Prussian philosopher, theologian, pastor, poet, and literary critic. Herder is associated with the Age of Enlightenment, ''Sturm und Drang'', and Weimar Classicism. He wa ...

. It is the most important church building of the town, and is called Stadtkirche (town church), opposed to the courtly Schloßkirche (court chapel). It has been the church of a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

parish since 1525, after the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. The church is part of the

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

'' Classical Weimar'', together with other sites affiliated with the

Weimar Classicism Weimar Classicism () was a German literary and cultural movement, whose practitioners established a new humanism from the synthesis of ideas from Romanticism, Classicism, and the Age of Enlightenment. It was named after the city of Weimar in th ...

movement. Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1998, these sites bear testimony to the cultural importance of Weimar during the late 18th and 19th centuries and the outstanding architecture that arose in response to the cultural values of the time.

History

The first church was built on the same location from 1245 to 1249, but destroyed by fire in 1299. Only the foundations remain. The second building was badly damaged in the 1424 town fire. The present building dates back to the a

hall church A hall church is a Church (building), church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height. In England, Flanders and the Netherlands, it is covered by parallel roofs, typically, one for each vessel, whereas in Germany there is often one s ...

in late

Gothic style Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque ar ...

, built between 1498 and 1500. The choir served as the burial place of members of nobility of the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () was a dynasty which included Saxon monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynas ...

in the

Ernestine duchies The Ernestine duchies (), also known as the Saxon duchies (, although the Albertine appanage duchies of Weissenfels, Merseburg and Zeitz were also "Saxon duchies" and adjacent to several Ernestine ones), were a group of small states whose numb ...

. The church has been

since 1525, and Martin Luther gave sermons there. Weimar-1840-Herderplatz-Oeder

The ducal family evidently attended services not only in the small Schloßkirche, but also in the town church.

John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of 2000, performing Church cantata (Bach), Bach's church ...

suggests that

Bach cantata The cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, known as Bach cantatas ( German: ), are a body of work consisting of over 200 surviving independent works, and at least several dozen that are considered lost. As far as known, Bach's earliest can ...

s using a festive orchestra were first performed there, including his first cantata for Christmas, ''Christen, ätzet diesen Tag'', BWV 63 and ''Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret'', BWV 31 for the Easter Sunday of 1715, scored for soloists, a five-part choir and three instrumental groups. Bach frequently played the organ, and two of his sons were baptized in the church. The church is often called "Herderkirche" after the famous theologian and philosopher

, who worked from in 1776 until his death in 1803 as general superintendent. He is buried in the church. In 1807, the Duchess Anna Amalia, who venerated the philosopher, was also buried there. The square in front of the church was named after Herder when the Herder Memorial was established in 1850. Towards the end of the Second World War, the church was severely damaged by bombing on 9 February 1945. The pitched roof and the wooden vaults were largely destroyed, the remaining stone vaults in the eastern portions collapsed. The entire interior was badly affected. The church was opened again after reconstruction on 14 June 1953. The repair and restoration of the interior was performed until 1977.

Features

Not much is left of the original Gothic interior, the baptismal font, the stairs to the pulpit and parts of a mural of

St. Ursula Ursula (Latin for 'little she-bear') was a Romano-British virgin and martyr possibly of royal origin. She is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion. Her feast day in the pre-1970 G ...

Altarpiece by Cranach

The remarkable triptych image of the city was begun by

Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucas Cranach the Elder ( ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German ...

in 1552/53, shortly before his death, and completed in 1555 by his son

Lucas Cranach the Younger Lucas Cranach the Younger (, ; 4 October 1515 – 25 January 1586) was a German Renaissance painter and portraitist, the son of Lucas Cranach the Elder and brother of Hans Cranach. Life and career Lucas Cranach the Younger was born in Wittenber ...

. It is regarded as a major work of art of the 16th century in Saxony and Thuringia.

Organ

Today's organ was built in 2000 by the organ builder

Wilhelm Sauer Wilhelm Carl Friedrich Sauer (23 March 1831 – 9 April 1916) was a German pipe organ builder. One of the famous organ builders of the Romantic period, Sauer and his company W. Sauer Orgelbau built over 1,100 organs during his lifetime, amongst ...

(

Frankfurt (Oder) Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With around 58,000 inh ...

) in the historic case of 1812. It is a reconstruction of the previous organ, which was built in 1907 by Eberhard Friedrich Walcker (

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a Cities of Germany, city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg (district), Lu ...

). The instrument has 53 stops, it has slider chests and a mechanical key action, with electric stops and coupling. The church is a concert venue of the festival Thüringer Bachwochen.

References

External links

Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirchgemeinde Weimar

Bach, Goethe, Herder / St. Peter und Paul in Weimar
''Monumente Online'' * Thomas Geßner

Sonntagsblatt Bayern 4 April 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter and Paul, Weimar PeterPaul PeterPaul Weimar PeterPaul Weimar PeterPaul Weimar PeterPaul Johann Gottfried Herder Weimar Peter und Paul Buildings and structures completed in 1249 Churches completed in the 1240s Churches completed in 1500