Reformed Great Church of Debrecen

The Debreceni Református Nagytemplom (German: Protestant Great Church of Debrecen) is one of the most famous buildings in the city of Debrecen. It is located in the center of the city between Kossuth tér and the Calvin tér. It is regarded as a symbol of the Protestant faith in Hungary. In this context, Debrecen is dubbed as the Calvinist Rome. The church building is Hungary's geographically largest Calvinist church ( 1500 square meters of area ) and also houses the largest bell of a reformed church.

• 2.1 architecture inside
• Lajos Kossuth 2.2 armchair
• 2.3 Organs

History

Occupied the site of today's church in the 10th century a church was like the following churches destroyed by fire. Between 1297 and 1311 the St. Andrew's Church was built in its place. That was a Gothic hall church. The approximately 16 by 46 meters large church burned down in 1564 from again. The at that time already confessed to Protestantism city population began in 1626 with the new direction of the St. Andrew's Church. With the assistance of György Rákóczi, the construction has already been completed in 1628. 1640-42 erected an extraordinary tower, in which a 60 hundredweight bell, which was cast from Austrian cannonballs, was hung. In 1707 the church was damaged during the struggle for independence by the imperial troops. On June 11, 1802, the church burned down again in a conflagration.

The present church building

The present building was built in 1805-1824 in the classical style. Construction of the new neoclassical church began on April 8, 1805. Original plans submitted by Mihály Péchy, but were amended several times until the completion of the church. The original plan was for a church in front with a circular floor plan and a large dome in addition to the two towers, which was then abandoned for economic reasons. The western tower was finished in 1818, the eastern on August 6, 1821. Both towers are each 61 meters high. The original plans called a dome, which was not realized. 1823/24 the south facade was redesigned according to the plans of Károly Rabl. The clock tower provided with helmets carry even baroque style elements. The left tower is climbable. There is also the newly cast after the fire, 50 hundredweight old Rákóczi bell in it.

Architecture

Architecture inside

The nave of the church is 55 meters long and nearly 15 meters wide. The transept is 38 meters long and 14 meters wide. The interior is designed in white as usual in Reformed churches. The interior is 21 meters high. The Church offers for 3000 believers seats, a total of up to 5000 seats.

Lajos Kossuth chair

Opposite the main entrance is the pulpit, the altar table and the chair of Moses, and the armchair in which Lajos Kossuth has been sitting during the National Assembly session in the Hungarian Revolution in 1849. From this armchair Lajos Kossuth declared on 14 April 1849, the independence of Hungary from the Habsburg Empire. The chair is still kept in the church, further attracts hordes of visitors and makes Debrecen, together with the Kossuth statue in front of the main entrance of the church, a center of the Hungarian Kossuth worship.

Organs

The church has two organs. One is located directly above the main entrance to the south of the church. This is a new, electronic, built with resonance tubes organ with three manuals and 52 stops, the electronics engineer Péter Albert planned in 1981. The older classical organ located opposite her behind the pulpit. It was built in 1838 by Jacob German man. This is a classical case organ with 3 manuals and 43 registers.