Bremen Cathedral
Encyclopedia
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The cathedral belongs to the Bremian Evangelical Church, a member of the Protestant umbrella organisation named Evangelical Church in Germany
Evangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
. It is the proto-cathedral of the former Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen.
History
The first church structure that can be verified on the site of St Peter's Cathedral in Bremen was a timber church on on a high point overseeing the Weser River built by Saint Willehad, an early missionary to the Frisians. The church was built about 789 in conjunction with the creation of the Diocese of Bremen with Willehad as the first bishop. Willehad died the same year.Just three years later Saxons attacked and burned Bremen and its tiny timber cathedral. No trace of it remains. The see remained vacant for thirteen years until it was reestablished under Bishop Willerich in 805. St Peter's was built as the cathedral church of local sandstone in several stages by Bishop Willerich
Willerich
Willerich was the second bishop of Bremen in Germany; or, according to some, the first, his predecessor Willehad being just a missionary in the area, and the diocese set up after his death. He was consecrated in 804 or 805....
.
After the sack of Hamburg by the Danes in 845, Bremen became the seat of the combined Bremen and Hamburg Archdiocese under Archbishop Saint Ansgar
Ansgar
Saint Ansgar, Anskar or Oscar, was an Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. The see of Hamburg was designated a "Mission to bring Christianity to the North", and Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North".-Life:After his mother’s early death Ansgar was brought up in Corbie Abbey, and made rapid...
who held the see from 848 to his death in 865. He was one of the most prominent missionaries to northern Europe and is credited with the beginnings of the conversion of the Danes and Swedes to Christianity. He was succeeded by Archbishop Rimbert
Rimbert
Saint Rimbert was archbishop of Bremen-Hamburg from 865 until his death.A monk in Turholt , he shared a missionary trip to Scandinavia with his friend Ansgar, whom he later succeeded as archbishop in Hamburg-Bremen in 865...
.
It is believed that during Ansgar's time the cathedral had a central nave and two side aisles with a choir at each end of the nave, a typical Carolingian church form. There was a cathedral school and cloister.
Early in the tenure of Archbishop Adalbrand (1035-1043) the church was in the process of being rebuilt and enlarged, but in 1041 most of Bremen including the cathedral was destroyed by a terrible fire. The fire also destroyed much of the cathedral library. Bishop Adalbrand ordered the building rebuilt in 1042, but died before it could be completed.
Most of the rebuilding fell to Archbishop Adalbert
Adalbert of Hamburg
This article is about Adalbert of Hamburg-Bremen. For other uses, see Adalbert .Adalbert of Hamburg-Bremen was a German prelate, who was Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen from 1043 until his death...
(1043-1072). The cathedral was rebuilt as a pillared basilica with rounded Romanesque style arches and a flat timber ceiling. Two stubby, flat-topped towers were added to the west front. A crypt was built under the west part of the nave. The building plan was based on the cruciform shape of the cathedral at Benevento
Benevento
Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato...
in Campania, Italy which Adalbert was familiar with. He also brought craftsmen from Lombardy to make repairs and embellish the cathedral, much to the consternation of local builders and artists. Adalbert ignored the criticism and forced his vision for the cathedral on the local townspeople. On Adalbert's orders parts of the city walls were torn down to provide low-cost stone for the cathedral. Adalbert's short-sightedness resulted in Saxons
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
sacking the city and the cathedral in 1064.
Adalbert also wanted to improve the reputation of the cathedral school and invited Magister Adam of the Magdeburg Cathedral School to come to Bremen and eventually become its director. After 1072 Adam wrote The Deeds of the Bishops of the Hamburg Church
Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum
Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum is a historical treatise written between 1075 and 1080 by Adam of Bremen. It covers the period from 788 to the time it was written. The treatise consist of:*Liber I...
, a history of the missionary efforts in northern Germany and Scandinavia in four volumes. Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. He is most famous for his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum .-Background:Little is known of his life other than hints from his own chronicles...
, as he became known, used the earlier works of others available to him at what was left of the Bremen cathedral library to describe the events and people in the Christianization of north Germany, Frisia
Frisia
Frisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight. Frisia is the traditional homeland of the Frisians, a Germanic people who speak Frisian, a language group closely related to the English language...
, and Scandinavia, for which Hamburg had authority to send missionaries. Adam of Bremen continued to revise and update his writing until his death in 1080. His fourth book was mainly written, it is believed, as a guide to the geography and customs of the peoples of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden for future missionaries in the conversion of the pagans of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. In his work is found the first reference to Vinland
Vinland
Vinland was the name given to an area of North America by the Norsemen, about the year 1000 CE.There is a consensus among scholars that the Vikings reached North America approximately five centuries prior to the voyages of Christopher Columbus...
.
Under Prince-Archbishop Gebhard II (1219-1258) the church was remodeled to reflect the new Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
that swept across Europe. Because of the scarcity of building stone, the church was constructed in baked brick as were many other large ecclesiastic and public buildings in northern Europe. The flat basilica ceiling was changed to ribbed vaulting that was the hallmark of Gothic church architecture. The towers and front wall of the west front were blended together and a rose window was added. The towers were raised above the roof of the nave although left with flat tops. St Peter's is one of the largest historic brick structures in Europe.
At Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
1334 Prince-Archbishop Burchard Grelle claimed to have found the skulls of the Saints Cosmas and Damian
Saints Cosmas and Damian
Saints Cosmas and Damian were twin brothers, physicians, and early Christian martyrs born in Cilicia, part of today's Turkey. They practiced their profession in the seaport of Ayas, Adana, then in the Roman province of Syria...
. He "personally 'miraculously' retrieved the relic
Relic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
s of the holy physicians Cosmas and Damian, which were allegedly immured and forgotten in the quire
Quire (architecture)
Architecturally, the choir is the area of a church or cathedral, usually in the western part of the chancel between the nave and the sanctuary . The choir is occasionally located in the eastern part of the nave...
of the Bremen Cathedral. In celebration of the retrieval Prince-Archbishop and cathedral chapter
Cathedral chapter
In accordance with canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese in his stead. These councils are made up of canons and dignitaries; in the Roman Catholic church their...
arranged a feast at Pentecost
Pentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
1335, when the relics were translated from the wall to a more dignified place." (For the original quotation see the note) Grelle claimed the relics were those Archbishop Adaldag
Adaldag
Adaldag was the seventh archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, from 937 until his death.He was of noble birth, a relation and pupil of Adalward, Bishop of Verden, and became canon of Hildesheim...
brought from Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 965. In about 1400 the cathedral master-builder Johann Hemeling commissioned a shrine for the relics, which has been accomplished until after 1420. The shrine from carved oak wood covered with gilt rolled silver is considered an important mediaeval gold work. In 1649 Bremen's Chapter, meanwhile Lutheran, sold the shrine with the alleged relics to Elector Maximilian I of Bavaria
Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria
Maximilian I, Duke/Elector of Bavaria , called "the Great", was a Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. His reign was marked by the Thirty Years' War ....
. It is now shown in the Jesuit church of St Michael
St. Michael's Church, Munich
St Michael is a Jesuit church in Munich, southern Germany, the largest Renaissance church north of the Alps. The style of the building had an enormous influence on Southern German early Baroque architecture.-Architecture:...
in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
.
Under Prince-Archbishop Johann Rode
Johann Rode von Wale
Johann Rode von Wale was a Catholic cleric, a Doctor of Canon and Civil Law, a chronicler, a long-serving government official and as John III Prince-archbishop of Bremen between 1497 and...
, officiating between 1497 and 1511, the basilica style church was further transformed into a German "High Gothic" style church with an new northern nave. Several chapels were added and even more ambitious plans were made for the church. The cathedral was used mainly for religious celebrations and special events, but not on a daily basis. Parish church functions were handled by other nearby churches.
When the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
swept through northern Germany, St Peter's church belonged to the cathedral district immunity
Sovereign immunity
Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a legal doctrine by which the sovereign or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from civil suit or criminal prosecution....
, an extraterritorial enclave of the neighbouring Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen. The still Catholic Cathedral Chapter closed the church after in 1532 a mob of Bremen's burgher
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
s had forcefully interrupted a Catholic mass and prompted a pastor to hold a Lutheran preach. Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
was condemned as a symbol of the abuses of a long Catholic past by most local citizens and the building fell into disuse and then disrepair. In 1547 the chapter, meanwhile prevailingly Lutheran, appointed the Dutch Albert Rizaeus, named Hardenberg, as the first Cathedral preacher of Protestant affiliation. Rizaeus turned out to be a partisan of the rather Zwinglian understanding of the Lord's Supper
Lord's Supper
The Lord's Supper may refer to:*Eucharist, Mass or Communion, a rite in Christianity*The Last Supper, the last meal Jesus of Nazareth shared with his disciples in the collection of Christian Scriptures called The Holy Bible....
, which was rejected by the then Lutheran burghers, city council, and chapter. So in 1561 - after tremendous quarrels - Rizaeus was dismissed and banned from the city and the cathedral shut again its doors.
While the majority of Bremen's burghers and city council adopted Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
until the 1590s, the chapter, being simultaneously the body of secular government in the neighbouring Prince-Archbishopric, clung to Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
. In 1638 the Prince-Archbishopric's Lutheran Administrator Frederick II
Frederick III of Denmark
Frederick III was king of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death. He instituted absolute monarchy in Denmark and Norway in 1660, confirmed by law in 1665 as the first in western historiography. He was born the second-eldest son of Christian IV of Denmark and Anne Catherine of Brandenburg...
reopened St Peter's as a Lutheran place of worship, while meanwhile all other churches in town had become Calvinist. On January 27 the same year, the south tower collapsed causing severe damage to surrounding buildings and killing eight people. In 1642 a Lutheran Latin School opened at St Peter's. Just eighteen years later, a lightning struck the north tower and burned the roof, which collapsed into the nave destroying the roof. The north tower was quickly rebuilt as a stubby, flat-roofed structure. The south tower remained in its ruined form.
In 1803 the cathedral district immunity with St Peter's, meanwhile an extraterritorial enclave of Bremen-Verden
Bremen-Verden
Bremen-Verden, formally the Duchies of Bremen and Verden , were two territories and immediate fiefs of the Holy Roman Empire, which emerged and gained Imperial immediacy in 1180...
, which had succeeded the Prince-Archbishopric in 1648, was incorporated into the Free Imperial City
Free Imperial City
In the Holy Roman Empire, a free imperial city was a city formally ruled by the emperor only — as opposed to the majority of cities in the Empire, which were governed by one of the many princes of the Empire, such as dukes or prince-bishops...
of Bremen. Its burgomaster
Burgomaster
Burgomaster is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or chairman of the executive council of a sub-national level of administration...
Johann Smidt
Johann Smidt
Johann Smidt was an important Bremen politician, theologian, and founder of Bremerhaven.Smidt was a son of the Reformed preacher Johann Smidt sen., pastor at St. Stephen Church in Bremen. Smidt jun. studied theology in Jena, and was one of the founders of the Gesellschaft der freien Männer...
, a devout member of the Reformed (Calvinist) church
Reformed churches
The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations characterized by Calvinist doctrines. They are descended from the Swiss Reformation inaugurated by Huldrych Zwingli but developed more coherently by Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger and especially John Calvin...
, confiscated the considerable estates
Estate (law)
An estate is the net worth of a person at any point in time. It is the sum of a person's assets - legal rights, interests and entitlements to property of any kind - less all liabilities at that time. The issue is of special legal significance on a question of bankruptcy and death of the person...
of the Lutheran congregation, arguing it would be a legal non-thing, null and void. The representatives of the Lutheran congregation, led by the cathedral preacher Johann David Nicolai, started to fight for its right to exist. The fight lasted until the congregation's official recognition in 1830, asserted by a majority of Bremen's Calvinist senators (government members) against the expressed will of Smidt. Smidt abused his governmental power to suppress the Lutheran congregation by way of ordinances, confiscation and public discreditation.
The attitude of the prevailingly Calvinist public towards the Lutheran St Peter's cathedral remained distanced. The citizens saw no reason to waste money by restoring the dilapidated cathedral. In 1873 the Calvinist and Lutheran congregations in Bremen reconciled and founded a united
United and uniting churches
United and uniting churches are churches formed from the merger or other form of union of two or more different Protestant denominations.Perhaps the oldest example of a united church is found in Germany, where the Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of Lutheran, United and Reformed...
administrative umbrella, the still existing Bremian Evangelical Church, comprising the bulk of Bremen's citizens. By the 1880s the citizens of Bremen decided that the cathedral should be restored to its medieval glory. Money was raised for the restoration of the building and work began in 1888. Reconstruction continued off and on until 1901 when the church reopened. The restoration was done according to the Romanesque Revival
Romanesque Revival architecture
Romanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid 19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture...
style, a then modern interpretation of the ancient style as created by Max Salzmann. The towers were raised to their present height and completed in 1892. The interior of the church was restored in the Gothic style making it difficult to see the changes in style that occurred over time.
The West Front of the cathedral reflects the Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
origins of the building, however the modern front including the west window was part of the 1880s reconstruction of the cathedral. The lower sections were restored to show the sandstone origins of the building, but the rest of the cathedral is built in the characteristic Hanseatic Brick style of north Germany. It is believed that the west facade once had a two story "porch" with an upper and lower gallery. Twos interesting traditions with a connection to the cathedral is that when a man reaches the age of 30 and is not married, he must sweep the cathedral steps until a young lady gives him a kiss and then he is released from his duty. Women who reach their thirtieth birthday unmarried go to polish the cathedral doorknobs in the company of friends and family until they are released by the kiss of a young man.
The church was struck by a fire bomb during an Allied air raid
Bombing of Bremen in World War II
The Bombing of Bremen in World War II by the Royal Air Force and the Eighth Air Force targeted strategic targets in the state of Bremen, which had heavy anti-aircraft artillery but only 35 fighter aircraft in the area. In addition to Wesermünde/Bremerhaven, targets were also in Farge and...
in 1943 and damaged repeatedly until 1945 when a high explosive bomb caused the collapse of the roof vaulting. The structure was so severely damaged that it was feared that the building would totally collapse. However the ruins were stabilized and the church was reconstructed by 1950. From 1972 to 1981 the church was once again restored to the High Gothic form of the 1901 restoration.
Interior
The remaining beautifully hand-carved choir stalls from 1365 may still be found in one of the chapels.The stone baptismal font dates back to 1229 and has been moved to all parts of the cathedral over the years and now rests near the entrance.
The pulpit installed in 1638 was a gift to the people of Bremen from Queen Christina of Sweden
Christina of Sweden
Christina , later adopted the name Christina Alexandra, was Queen regnant of Swedes, Goths and Vandals, Grand Princess of Finland, and Duchess of Ingria, Estonia, Livonia and Karelia, from 1633 to 1654. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King Gustav II Adolph and his wife Maria Eleonora...
, whose troops - in the course of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
- had already captured the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, and aimed at gaining the city too. The pulpit has survived the many catastrophes that plagued St Peter's history and remains in its original location.
St Peter's was the original resting place of St Emma of Lesum, a wealthy benefactress of the church, who lived in outside the city in the early 11th century. When her tomb was opened, her body had crumbled to dust except for her right hand; the one that gave aid to the poor. The relic was moved to the church at Werden.
An unusual "Bleikeller" or lead basement is located beneath the nave, which even before the Reformation had a reputation as an excellent place to preserve bodies of the dead in amazing form. Eight mummies in glass-topped coffins can be seen there. The displays lists among those on display: two Swedish officers from the Thirty Years' War, an English countess, a murdered student, and a local pauper. The crypt has become the cathedral's most visited attraction for more than 300 years. The cathedral museum was constructed in one of the side chapels in the 1970s cathedral restoration.
St Peter's has several fine examples of artistic epitaphs for individuals that have survived the many restorations of the cathedral. The three finest are for Chapter Senior Segebade II von der Hude (ca. 1500-1578), Dr. Gerhard Brandis (1518), and Cathedral Provost Sigebade Clüver (1547).
Towers
The cathedral has twin 99 meter towers referred to as the north tower and the south tower. The towers were constructed flanking the main entrance portal on the west front of the church between 1215 and 1253. In 1346 the towers were strengthened and given pyramidal tops of uneven heights. When the towers were restored and raised in the 1890s they were given Rhenish "helmets," which still cap the towers today. It is possible to climb the south tower for a view of the city. The north tower remains closed. The crossing tower is a reminder of the original style of the west front towers with a pyramidal cap.During the Middle Ages the towers had eight bells. Today the towers house the cathedral's four bells. The north tower has three bells. The oldest surviving bell is the "Maria Gloriosa cast in 1433 by the famous bell maker Ghert Klinghe. The other bells were removed and melted down for the war effort in World War II. In 1951 two bells, "Hansa" and "Felicitas", were donated to the cathedral by former residents living abroad. In 1962 a prominent Bremen family donated a fourth bell, the "Brema," which hangs in the south tower. The Brema weighs 7000 kg.
Organs
Bremen has a long-standing tradition of fine organ music since 1526. From 1698 to 1843 the famous organ built by Arp SchnitgerArp Schnitger
Arp Schnitger was a highly influential German organ builder. He was primarily active in Northern Europe, especially the Netherlands and Germany, where a number of his instruments survive to the present day; his organs can also be found as far away as Portugal and Brazil.Notable examples still in...
, one of the Baroque period's best known organ makers was the main organ. Its replacements, the Schulze organ and then the Wilhelm Sauer organ, one of the largest in northwest Germany. The cathedral today has five organs in different parts of the cathedral and continues the long tradition of great organs and organists.