Church of the Holy Spirit (Heidelberg)
Encyclopedia
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, Germany
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...
. It stands in the middle of the market place in the old center of Heidelberg not far from the Heidelberg Castle
Heidelberg Castle
The Heidelberg Castle is a famous ruin in Germany and landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps....
. The steeple of the church, rising above the roofs, dominates the township.
Early history
The Church of the Holy Spirit is first mentioned in a manuscript from 1239. In 1398, the foundations of the current late GothicGothic 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....
church were laid on the site of a late 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,...
basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
which, in turn, had been erected in the place of even an older church. Thus the current church is the third sacral building on the site.
Construction
Documents name Arnold Rype, who was also mayor of Heidelberg for a time, as the master builder. In the usage of the time, the term "master builder" referred not to the architect but the financial coordinator. The only known architects of the Church of the Holy Spirit are Hans Marx, who worked on the church until 1426 as well as Jorg, who was responsible until 1439. Both men probably supervised work on the nave. Under the reign of Prince-electorPrince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
Frederick I
Frederick I, Elector Palatine
Frederick I, the Victorious was a Count Palatine of the Rhine and Elector Palatine from the House of Wittelsbach in 1451 - 1476....
a notes specialist in the construction of church towers, Niclaus Eseler came from Mainz to Heidelberg and was probably responsible for the execution of the primary work on the spire of the Church of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, the steeple was completed by Lorenz Lechler
Lorenz Lechler
Lorenz Lechler was a late-15th cen. German master mason who composed Instructions, a booklet on gothic design, and who contributed to the Heidelberg Church...
.
Stages of construction
The construction lasted for some one hundred and fifty years. The Choir was consecrated in 1411 and the nave was finished in 1441. Probably in the same year the construction of the steeple was started. The work was interrupted until 1508 and the tower was finished in 1544. In 1709, after the church had been set on fire by the French during the War of the Palatinian SuccessionWar of the Grand Alliance
The Nine Years' War – often called the War of the Grand Alliance, the War of the Palatine Succession, or the War of the League of Augsburg – was a major war of the late 17th century fought between King Louis XIV of France, and a European-wide coalition, the Grand Alliance, led by the Anglo-Dutch...
, it was rebuilt and received a baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
spire.
Use
In the 14th century, the Church of the Holy Spirit took over as parish church from St. Peter's Church, which became the university church for the University of Heidelberg.Originally, the Church of the Holy Spirit contained the tombs of the Palatinate electors but they were destroyed by fire during the War of the Palatinian Succession. Today only the tomb of Prince-Elector Rupert III
Rupert of Germany
Rupert of Germany from the House of Wittelsbach was Elector Palatine from 1398 and German King from 1400 until his death...
, the founder of the church, is still preserved.
The famous Palatine Library, the Bibliotheca Palatina, was founded and at first kept in the gallery of the Church of the Holy Spirit, where good light for reading was available. During the Thirty Years War from 1618 to 1648, this collection of manuscripts and early printed books was taken as a booty by Maximilian I, Elector 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 ....
and presented to the Pope. Of the approximately 5,000 books and 3,524 manuscripts taken, in 1816 a mere 885 were returned. The rest form the Bibliotheca Palatina section of the Vatican Library
Vatican Library
The Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...
. For the University Jubilee, many of these books were briefly brought back and displayed in Heidelberg.
In the course of its history, the Church of the Holy Spirit was used by both Catholics and Protestants, even simultaneously. Starting in 1706, a partition was used so that both congregations could hold their services without any mutual disturbance. In 1720, Karl III Philip, Elector Palatine came into conflict with the town's Protestants as a result of fully handing over the Church of the Holy Spirit to the Catholics. Prince Karl III Philip gave way,due to pressure for Prussia, Holland, and Sweden and repartitioned the wall.
In 1936 the separating wall was removed and the church is now exclusively Protestant.
At the beginning of the 1970s, the steps at the rear of the Church of the Holy Spirit were popular with the Hippies and the Flower Power movement and became a tourist attraction during this time. In 1972 a rock concert by Werner Pieper and the English band Quintessence
Quintessence
Quintessence, literally fifth essence , can refer to:-Science:* Aether , the fifth classical element after earth, fire, water, and air...
was organised in the church and attended with great enthusiasm by students and Hippies alike. In conservative church circles this performance was viewed more critically.