Kreuzkirche | |
---|---|
![]() Dresden Kreuzkirche (2008) | |
Religion | |
Affiliation | Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony |
Rite | Protestant |
Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Cathedral |
Location | |
Location | Dresden, Germany |
Geographic coordinates | 51°2′56″N13°44′21″E / 51.04889°N 13.73917°E |
Architecture | |
Architect(s) | Johann George Schmidt |
Style | Late Baroque Neoclassicism |
Groundbreaking | 1764 |
Completed | 1800 |
Website | |
Official Website |
The Dresden Kreuzkirche (Church of the Holy Cross) is a Lutheran church in Dresden, Germany. It is the main church and seat of the Landesbischof of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony, and the largest church building in the Free State of Saxony. It also is home of the Dresdner Kreuzchor boys' choir.
A Romanesque basilica dedicated to Saint Nicholas had existed at the southeastern corner of the Dresden market since the twelfth century. [1] [2] A Side-chapel of the Cross, named after a relic bequeathed by the Meissen margravine Constance of Babenberg (1212–1243), was first mentioned in 1319. Over the decades, it became the name of the whole church, which was officially dedicated on 10 June 1388 to the Holy Cross.
From 1401 it was rebuilt as a hall church with a prominent westwork in the German Sondergotik style. Based on the architectural works by Peter Parler (1330–1399), the construction later served as a model for numerous church buildings in Upper Saxony such as St. Anne's Church, Annaberg-Buchholz or St. Wolfgang's Church, Schneeberg. Finished about 1447/49, the church burned down in 1491, the first of five blazes over the next centuries. The Wettin electors of Saxony, residing at Dresden since 1464, had the Gothic hall church rebuilt, from 1499 under the architectural direction of Conrad Pflüger. From 1579 until 1584 the westwork was restored in a Renaissance style.
The church was heavily damaged by Prussian cannonade during the Seven Years' War, with its Late Gothic choir almost completely destroyed. After the war, the Dresden master builder Johann George Schmidt (1707–1774) set up plans for a Baroque reconstruction, which however were opposed by contemporary architects of the Neoclassicist school following Zacharias Longuelune (1669–1748). Prince Francis Xavier of Saxony backed Schmidt and laid the foundation stone in 1764, [2] nevertheless, after the preserved westwork collapsed in 1765, Schmidt had to accept the Neoclassicist chief architect Friedrich August Krubsacius (1718–1789) as adviser. Choir and steeple were accomplished in 1788, the new church was consecrated in 1792 and construction works finished in 1800.
After the building was gutted by a fire in 1897, the church interior was reshaped with Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) elements according to plans designed by the Dresden architects Schilling & Graebner including works by Hans Hartmann-MacLean. The Church of the Cross was again set on fire during the bombing of Dresden on 13 February 1945. In its current form with its sober scratch coat interior, it was re-opened in 1955. In the course of the reconstruction of the nearby Frauenkirche a debate arose over a restoration of the pre-war design, but from 2000 to 2004, the interior was refurbished in its 1955 condition.
The director of the choir is known as the Kreuzkantor. Roderich Kreile is the twenty-eighth Kreuzkantor since the Reformation.
Since the Reformation: [3]
Peter Schreier was a German tenor in opera, concert and lied, and a conductor. He was regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century.
Rudolf Mauersberger was a German choral conductor and composer. His younger brother Erhard was also a conductor and composer.
The Dresdner Kreuzchor is the boys' choir of the Kreuzkirche in Dresden, Germany. It has a seven-century history and a world-wide reputation. Today, the choir has about 150 members between the ages of 9 and 19, from Dresden and the surrounding region. The boys attend the Kreuzschule in Dresden. They are also called "Kruzianer".
Samuel Rüling was a German composer and poet in the early 17th century.
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Erhard Mauersberger was a German choral conductor who conducted the Thomanerchor as the 14th Thomaskantor since Johann Sebastian Bach. He was also an academic teacher and composer.
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Hans-Christoph Rademann is a German choral conductor, currently the director of the Dresdner Kammerchor and the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart.
Roderich Kreile is a Lutheran church musician, choir director and university teacher. Since 1997, he has been the director of the Dresdner Kreuzchor at the Kreuzkirche, Dresden, as the 28th Kreuzkantor since the Reformation.
The Kreuzschule in Dresden is the oldest surviving school in Dresden and one of the oldest in Germany. As early as 1300, a schoolmaster was mentioned. It was founded as a grammar school for the singers of the capella sanctae crucis, now the Dresdner Kreuzchor. The school is now a Protestant Gymnasium, officially called the Evangelisches Kreuzgymnasium.
Störmthal is a village, part of Großpösna in the Leipzig district in Saxony, Germany. It is known for its church in Baroque style. The organ, an early work by Zacharias Hildebrandt, was played and inaugurated by Johann Sebastian Bach and is still in mostly the condition of Bach's time.
Jörg Herchet is a German composer.
Matthias Herrmann is a German musicologist and university professor.
Dieter Härtwig is a German dramaturge, musicologist and author of numerous writings on Dresden's music history and its personalities.
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Manfred Weiss was a German composer especially of symphonies, concertos and vocal music, based in Dresden. He taught composition and music theory at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber from 1959, as professor from 1983 to 1997, influencing generations of composers, and instrumental in the restructuring of the music department after the German reunification.
The Dreikönigskirche is a Lutheran church located in the Innere Neustadt of Dresden, Germany. It is the centre of a parish, and a community venue called Haus der Kirche. The church is a listed cultural monument of Dresden.
Gottfried August Homilius composed Passions for Good Friday services at the Kreuzkirche in Dresden where he was music director (Kreuzkantor) from 1755 to 1785, including oratorios based on the gospels of Matthew and John, Luke and Mark in German. While these works were neglected, their revival began at the Kreuzkirche and led to publications, performances and recordings. Reviewers agree that the compositions in the style of Empfindsamkeit deserve attention.
Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst, RMWV 4/1, is a motet for choir, a cappella by Rudolf Mauersberger, composed in 1945 based on texts in German compiled by him from the Book of Lamentations. It is subtitled Trauermotette nach den Klageliedern Jeremiae, as a mourning motet after Jeremiah's Lamentations. He wrote it after the bombing of Dresden in World War II for a mixed choir of four to seven parts. It was first performed on 4 August 1945 by the Dresdner Kreuzchor in its first vespers after the war in the destroyed Kreuzkirche.