Church in Krummhörn-Pilsum

As single-nave church on cruciform plan with an enormous crossing tower, the church of Pilsum stands tall over the houses built on the village dwelling mount. In the 13th century, the church was constructed in three building phases and then dedicated to Saint Stephanus. First, around the year 1240 the builders constructed the nave, the upper blind vaults, which ascend a little bit towards the centre. Later, the windows were changed. Transept and choir area were built at the end of the 13th century. The half-round apse is subdivided with round-arched blinds and windows with astragals. The lateral Apsis had been removed, but during a far-reaching restoration of the church some years ago, they were added again. The crossing tower which served as orientation to the seamen with its striking form was built around 1300.

The older nave has a flat ceiling, the eastern parts are vaulted and the tower posing on the crossing is supported by powerful graded pillars on plinths made of sandstone. A few years ago, the wall paintings in the eastern part were discovered. In the apse, you see Christ in the Mandorla. In the triumphal arch separating the nave and the eastern part, you can discern the rests of a painting of the last Judgement. The bronze christening font (1469) made by Hinrik Klinghe, a son of the famous bronze caster Ghert Klinghe at Bremen, is supported by figures the heads of which symbolically present the four Evangelists (for example Marcus with lion’s head). On the font, you can see a crucifixion with Maria and John the Baptist and apostles and angels playing musical instruments. The pulpit is from 1704 and was built by Peter Gerkes Husmann, Emden. Under a gigantic pulpit ceiling, there is the pulpit with turned pillars, hanging fruits, puttoes and a fir cone hanging on the ground of the pulpit.

In 1694, organ-building master Valentin Ulrich Grotian from Aurich, who worked in East Friesland from 1688-1717, built the dual organ with its attached pedals and sixteen organ-stops. It is the most important preserved construction from the period of around 1700 across the North Sea coast region – not being from the workshop of Arp Schnitger. The front of the organ is made of dark oak timber; it has a polygonal middle tower and lateral point towers constructed on projecting console plinths. In between, there are  two-storey flat fields with tracery panels. During renovation in 1991 (by the organ workshop Ahrend from Leer-Loga) the old white color was removed. The original organ screens, which are nearly completely made of lead, were covered again with tin foil. Today, the intensive, singing and very colorful sound of the instrument has been restored. It is perfect for compositions of famous organ compositors from Northern Germany.

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Address
Ev.-ref. Gemeinde
Zur Kreuzkirche 1
26736 Krummhörn-Pilsum
Tel 0 49 26 / 4 00