St Andrew's Church, Erfurt

St Andrew's Church
German: Andreaskirche
St Andrew's Church
Location in Germany
50°58′49.34″N 11°01′21.77″E / 50.9803722°N 11.0227139°E / 50.9803722; 11.0227139
LocationErfurt, Thuringia
AddressAndreasstraße 14
99084 Erfurt
CountryGermany
DenominationLutheran
Previous denominationCatholic
Websiteandreasgemeinde.wordpress.com
History
StatusParish church
DedicationAndrew the Apostle
Architecture
Heritage designationKulturdenkmal in Thuringia
StyleGothic
Years built15th century
Specifications
Number of towers1
Bells3 (d′ – f′ – a′)[1]
Administration
DioceseProtestant Church in Central Germany

St Andrew's Church (German: Andreaskirche) is a Gothic church building at Andreasstraße (Andrew Street) in the historical centre of the city of Erfurt in Thuringia, Germany. The surrounding quarter Andreasviertel and the northern district Andreasvorstadt are named after it. St Andrew's Church is now a Lutheran parish church.

History

A preceding building was first mentioned in a document in 1182. In 1210, the construction of a new church began, which was completed around 1370. A fire destroyed the church in 1416; it was rebuilt in the later course of the 15th century. Around 1830, the building was modified. It has a flat ceiling with a pointed barrel; a crucifixion relief from around 1370 is emblazoned above the southern main entrance. A stone relief dating from 1450 shows the motif of the Lamentation of Christ.[2] The Reformation was introduced in 1522; since then, St Andrew's Church has been Protestant.

In 1604, the church's congregation merged with the neighbouring St Maurice's and, in 1973, with the congregation of St Michael's Church. Since 1727, a wooden model of the epitaph for Martin Luther has been in St Andrew's Church.[3]

In 1836, in the wake of the Prussian Union of Churches, Johannes Andreas August Grabau, then the pastor of St Andrew's, was imprisoned for refusing to utilize the new United Agenda. Two years later, he led much of his congregation to the United States, and went on to form the Buffalo Synod.[4]

Organ

Johann Rudolph Ahle was the cantor at a predecessor instrument in the 17th century, which was built by Johann Georg Kummer from Dachwig. The present organ was built in 1987–1989 by the company Mitteldeutscher Orgelbau A. Voigt from Bad Liebenwerda in the historical organ case from 1787, partly reusing pipe material from the predecessor organ. The instrument has 25 stops on two manuals and pedal. The actions are mechanical.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Andreaskirche" (in German). Evangelische St. Andreasgemeinde Erfurt. 25 October 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  2. ^ Piltz, Georg (1987). Kunstführer durch die DDR (in German). Bayreuth: Gondrom. p. 306.
  3. ^ Meller, Harald, ed. (2008). Fundsache Luther. Archäologen auf den Spuren des Reformators (in German). Stuttgart: Theiss. pp. 306–309. ISBN 978-3-8062-2201-2.
  4. ^ Kriegbaum-Hanks, Susan (4 March 2021). "A Brief History of the Old Lutheran Immigrants and the Buffalo Synod: 1838 - 1867". Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  5. ^ "Orgel der Andreaskirche in Erfurt" (in German). Kirchenmusik Erfurt der EKM. Retrieved 18 December 2021.

Media related to Andreaskirche (Erfurt) at Wikimedia Commons