Roskilde Cathedral
Roskilde Cathedral (Danish: Roskilde Domkirke ) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark is the first Gothic cathedral of brick. The Roskilde standing on the Danish island of Zealand building thus contributed significantly to the dissemination of Brick Gothic. The 1280 completed church is the traditional burial place of the Danish kings, and more recently a tourist magnet. In 1995, UNESCO adopted the cathedral on the list of world cultural heritage.
Architectural History
According to Saxo Grammaticus erected by Harald Bluetooth 985 the first church on the hill above the bay of Roskilde and was also buried there. However, there were detected no remains of this church. In the 11th century had Estrid, sister of Knut build the Great and mother of Sven Estridsson, at the same location a stone church.
The building of the brick church was begun in the 1170s in the Romanesque style and completed in 1280 with the Gothic choir. In the following centuries, several chapels were added inside and outside the church. Originally dedicated minor saints, they were later replaced by grave chapels and mausoleums of kings in the individual style of the time. 1690 could be Christian V. in advance of the clergy reserved for choir a tomb for himself and his son and their wives build.
Architecturally, it is at the cathedral to a domed basilica with three-nave gallery ambulatory (without bands ), transept and twin-tower facade. At the main building numerous outbuildings are grown, the predominantly serve as grave chapels. These are on the north side from west to east: the Glücksburger Chapel, St. Bridget's Chapel, Saint Andrew's Chapel, the Chapel of Christian IV and Oluf Mortensen's porch; on the south side from west to east the Dreikönigskapelle ( about the Knights' Hall with the Cathedral Museum ), the Chapel of Frederik V and the chapter house. In a free-standing in front of the church building is the tomb of Frederik IX.
Equipment
The main altar is an Antwerp altarpiece of 1560th As nachreformatorisches artwork he shows more detailed carving scenes from Jesus' childhood and the Passion with the crucifixion at the center.
In the church the tombs of 21 Danish kings and 17 queens, including Harald Bluetooth, Margaret I., Christian IV and Frederick IX .. Margaret's body was lying originally as her father and her son in the monastery church was buried by Soro, but was 1413 transferred to Roskilde. Her grave was destroyed in the Danish - Swedish war. The first grave chapel with three altars at which priests should pray for his soul, was the first Oldenburg King Christian I built for himself and his descendants, however, took advantage of this to Roskilde Cathedral until the Reformation as a burial site. Unlike their ancestors, there is no monument is located in the chapel of his own, Christian III built. and Frederick II is huge, magnificent mausoleums in the Renaissance style.
Since the cathedral was not only kings as grave laying, the floor is covered with hundreds grave plates. In the crypt there are graves.
A point of interest is the so-called king pillar on which the body size of several European rulers is located, ranging from Christian I at 2.19 m, which greatly exceeded even the 2.08 m by Tsar Peter the Great.
Organ
The organ in Roskilde Cathedral is one of the most important of Denmark. It includes old registers in an ornate case that date back to the time of the Renaissance. In 1554, the Dutch organ builder Herman Raphaelis Rottenstein - Pock created a new organ with Rückpositiv whose chassis and three to four flute registers are preserved. The lower case is derived from the previous organ from the 15th century. The Frisian sculptor and carpenter by Jensoen from Leeuwarden and Jan van Boelswart from Bolsward and Gregorius of Lübeck designed the prospectus and the gallery balustrade. In the 1650s, found an engaging extension remodeling place in a three-manual instrument, which amounted to a new building, including older parts. It may be that was involved Johan Lorentz the Elder, whose work was succeeded by his master journeyman Gregor Mülisch († 1654) continued and completed by Peter Karstensen Botz 1654/55. The registers of pedal and the master work found in a common housing into place, the Caspar Lubekke designed in the Baroque style. There was also a separate chest factory in the form of a canopy organ above the console.
In 1833 the organ by Jürgen Marcussen and Andreas Reuter PW was drastically altered, the Brustwerk removed, installed a swellable Oberwerk, new tracker action and a new wind system, changes the pitch and set up the pedal mechanism behind the main plant. In 1877 the organ was romanticized by the Busch company. The company Frobenius led 1926/27, a reconstruction according to the principles of Albert Schweitzer with pneumatic actions by. 1952-1957 built the same company the organ at once. All these alterations were reversed within a comprehensive restoration in 1991 by Marcussen & Son under the direction of organ expert Cornelius H. Edskes and the state of 1655 largely restored. The pedal was reunited with the main work behind a common prospectus, the game table and reconstructs the wind system with four Keilbälgen and Brustwerk mounted in the original shape. Lost registers have been carefully reconstructed in the scale and design based on remaining residues or old models, made the wind chests with the range of 1654 but complements from the state of 1654 two register at the main plant and chest work. In Rückpositiv the notes F # and G have been maintained at the Kanz Ellen from 1833 as Subsemitonien. Since 1991, this valuable instrument used for numerous CD recordings, more than 33 registers.
- Couplers: II / I, III / II, I / P, II / P
- Accessories: Tremulant (whole plant), Cymbelstjerne, Fuglesang, Calcantklokke
Tombs of the Kings
The following members of the Danish royal family are buried in the cathedral:
Dagmar of Denmark (1847-1928), the. Than Maria Feodorovna wife of Tsar Alexander III and was the mother of the last Tsar, Nicholas II, Petersburg was to transfer their bones 2006 the family tomb of the imperial family in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Sankt also in Roskilde Cathedral buried.