Organ in Dornum
Going past the ancient presbytery from the 16th century (see below), you'll discover the St. Bartholomäus church of Dornum, sheltered by two mighty beeches. On the left, there is the belfry from the 13th century. Leaning a little due to its age, it lodges three bells. The church too was built at the end of the 13th century; the walls were changed, except the eastern wall. Like many East Friesian churches, the eastern façade is decorated by beautiful ornamental forms. Here you can see pointed arch blinds with brick patterns in the gable and white clover-leaf arch blinds with three windows.
From the 17th century on, it is the uniform inventory of a church. Under the barrel vault, which replaces the original rib vault, the northern side house two-floor high galleries; in the choir the Priechen (special galleries for the reigning family) are decorated with coats of arms belonging to the family of Closter, the reigning family of the “Herrlichkeit”. The altar from 1683 shows a contemporary copy of a crucifixion scene of Anthony van Dyck. The frame work was carved by the master of Esens, Hinrich Kröpelin. The splendid pulpit (presumably from 1660) also is from the very workshop. It was created by the father of Hinrich, Jacob. The baptism font made of sandstone from Baumberg was built at the end of the 13th century. Slender columns limit the round-arch arcades without decoration. In contrast, the upper border is decorated with a tendril frieze of vine leaves and grapes.
During restoration in 1995, the 19th century colored version was removed. On the western wall of the gallery there's a baroque three-manual organ with a separate pedal and 32 organ-stops. It was built in 1710/11 by Gerhard von Holy who worked at Aurich and Jever between 1709-1718 and also constructed the organ of Marienhafe. The back positive shows the classical division we already know from the Arp-Schnitger organs. The main organ has the same division, only greater and sauntered by both pipe towers of the pedal. The pipe fields and the casing fronts are framed by rich carvings. But this organ to was not safe from later interventions.
Since the 60s, it began rotting and was in a desolate state due to drying out and pollution. After several repairs without major results, in 1997/98 the organ workshop of Jürgen Ahrend from Leer-Loga initiated a fundamental restoration in accordance with standards of monuments preservation. The instrument is now accepted as a national work of art and has been given once more the ancient and wonderful sound. Six organ-stops of the valuable historic pipes are still from the stock of the predecessor and fourteen from Gerhard von Holy.
Near the church, in the centre of rustling lime-trees and beeches, stands the ancient presbytery. Judging by the construction style, the house might be as old as the church and the free-standing belfry. To build it, monastery bricks of a large size were used. With its high upper floor, the spacious hall, the wide stairs and deep window niches, it differs from the normal construction form of old East Friesian stone houses. You can compare more with a patrician house in the towns. Originally, the house belonged to monasterial barbican Münkewart at Dornumergrode – this also might be the reason for the different construction. The Cistercian monastery Ihlow near Aurich was the owner of the farm. Agricultural surplus production of the monastery and products from the monasterial workshops were sold here. In case danger, the building also served as a retreat place for monastery folk. The barn added to the presbytery was torn down in 1913, and the present annex was built, where the municipality hall is situated.
Address
Ev.-luth. Kirchengemeinde Dornum und Resterhafe
Kirchstr. 19
26553 Dornum
Tel 0 49 33 / 91 40 60
Fax 0 49 33 / 91 40 61
E-Mail info@kirche-dornum.de
Internet www.kirche-dornum.de
