"Ain't nobody here but us Lutherans"
Trip Start
Feb 23, 2010
1
39
40
Trip End
Jul 15, 2010
Hamburg, Germany
Monday, May 31, 2010
Anyway, we managed to find a Catholic church that was one Metro stop from our hotel in the St. Georg district of Hamburg - the Domkirsche St. Marien zu Hamburg (St. Marien Cathedral in Hamburg). Information on the history of St. Mary's is unclear (due to my meager understanding of German). The original church was built in the 9th century and was the cathedral (domkirsche) of the Archdiocese of Hamburg. (Saint) Ansgar was the first Archbishop of Hamburg (834-865); a statue of Ansgar sits in the square in front of the current church. During the reformation the diocese of Hamburg was disbanded and the Cathedral was closed altogether in 1804, and later destroyed. A new St. Mary's church was completed in 1893. During the last century, immigration led to an increase in the Catholic population in Hamburg. Consequently, after a 1100-year absence the Archdiocese of Hamburg was re-established only in 1995 and the "new" St. Mary's was named the Cathedral. The light and airy interior of the church is more modern than those we are accustomed to seeing, but nonetheless inspiring. A spectacular neo Byzantine mosaic of "The Assumption of Mary into Heaven" is situated in the apse.
We also visited St. Michaeliskirsche, a grand Lutheran Cathedral in the heart of Hamburg and a landmark in the city. The church was built between 1647 and 1669 and was dedicated to the Archangel St. Michael, who is depicted over the door of the Cathedral battling Satan. The bell tower of St. Michaelis is quite beautiful and can be seen from most parts of the Hamburg, including the harbor. The large interior is decorated with very ornate woodwork and features a beautiful pipe organ situated over the entrance. The Baroque church was damaged or destroyed a number of times over the centuries (lightning strike, a fire and bombing in the Second World War) and reconstructed. It is the largest church in Hamburg and holds 2,500 people. The church had some very distinguished congregants, namely Georg Philipp Teleman, the music director, and his godson, Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach (son of composer Johannes Sebastian Bach); both are buried in the crypts at the church (after their deaths, we hope). Johannes Brahms was music director at the church; it was thought that it was one of his compositions, and not the sermons, that put congregants to sleep.
