St. Nicholas Church, Burg auf Fehmarn, Germany

St. Nicholas Church (St. Nikolai Kirche) construction was started around 1230, making the building the second oldest church on the island. The size of the church was increased in 1470 and in 1508 the tower of the church was built.

There is a bronze font in the church which dates from 1391. It is not certain how it arrived at the church, but the casting carried an inscription which records that the font was given by Korp Benno the Bishop of Arosia. Another significant item of the 14th century is a polptych which has fourteen panels today but it is believed to have lost further panels. In addition there is another stone font that was rediscovered when nearby buildings were being built. It has since had a base added, and small restorations have also been made.

Amongst the church's artefacts on display is a large chest that was used for storing the parishioners contributions. After each service the collection bag would be emptied into the chest, but it would only be opened once a year. When it was opened then the funds would be distributed to those in need.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Anne Heinen (2 years ago)
Schöne Kirche...mit einem idyllischen Friedhof drum herum..

Frank Wehde (2 years ago)
Tolle Kirche und idyllischer Friedhof

Henrik Forsstrøm (2 years ago)
Super flot kirke, bare ærgerligt den ikke er åben i vinterhalvåret.

Servando Martinez (2 years ago)
Sehenswerte Kirche, hervorragende Akustik, auch die Andacht zu Silvester hat mir sehr gut gefallen

Christophe Le Mot (2 years ago)
Vielen Dank für den schönen Familiengottesdienst zum Heiligen Abend. Wir haben ihn während unseres Festtagsexils besucht und fühlten uns willkommen. Die Predigt war inspirierend und das Musical der Kinder sehr schön. Es war einige Tage Küchentischthema. Wir freuen uns auf einen weiteren Besuch! Ach und noch etwas: Die Website der Gemeinde ist gut. Hierüber habe ich schnell und gut die Gottesdienszzeiten und einige interessante Details über das Gemeindeleben herausgefunden.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright beyondhue

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Lednice Castle

The first historical record of Lednice locality dates from 1222. At that time there stood a Gothic fort with courtyard, which was lent by Czech King Václav I to Austrian nobleman Sigfried Sirotek in 1249.

At the end of the 13th century the Liechtensteins, originally from Styria, became holders of all of Lednice and of nearby Mikulov. They gradually acquired land on both sides of the Moravian-Austrian border. Members of the family most often found fame in military service, during the Renaissance they expanded their estates through economic activity. From the middle of the 15th century members of the family occupied the highest offices in the land. However, the family’s position in Moravia really changed under the brothers Karel, Maximilian, and Gundakar of Liechtenstein. Through marriage Karel and Maximilian acquired the great wealth of the old Moravian dynasty of the Černohorskýs of Boskovice. At that time the brothers, like their father and grandfather, were Lutheran, but they soon converted to Catholicism, thus preparing the ground for their rise in politics. Particularly Karel, who served at the court of Emperor Rudolf II, became hetman of Moravia in 1608, and was later raised to princely status by King Matyas II and awarded the Duchy of Opava.

During the revolt of the Czech nobility he stood on the side of the Habsburgs, and took part in the Battle of White Mountain. After the uprising was defeated in 1620 he systematically acquired property confiscated from some of the rebels, and the Liechtensteins became the wealthiest family in Moravia, rising in status above the Žerotíns. Their enormous land holdings brought them great profits, and eventually allowed them to carry out their grandious building projects here in Lednice.

In the 16th century it was probably Hartmann II of Liechtenstein who had the old medieval water castle torn down and replaced with a Renaissance chateau. At the end of the 17th century the chateau was torn down and a Baroque palace was built, with an extensive formal garden, and a massive riding hall designed by Johann Bernard Fischer von Erlach that still stands in almost unaltered form.

In the mid-18th century the chateau was again renovated, and in 1815 its front tracts that had been part of the Baroque chateau were removed.

The chateau as it looks today dates from 1846-1858, when Prince Alois II decided that Vienna was not suitable for entertaining in the summer, and had Lednice rebuilt into a summer palace in the spirit of English Gothic. The hall on the ground floor would serve to entertain the European aristocracy at sumptuous banquets, and was furnished with carved wood ceilings, wooden panelling, and select furniture, surpassing anything of its kind in Europe.

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