So today was it. Day one of official tour. I was so excited I couldn’t sleep. We left at 8, took the train to Stade, then a little bus to Steinkirchen. Our first stop was St. Martin Kirche. This little Lutheran church was built around 1550, though the congregation itself is older, with records as far back as the 1300’s. This building holds a 1687 Schnitger organ (II/28) and it was AMAZING. Words can not even begin to describe the building and can even less begin to describe the organ. WOW. It’s amazing to think of how many years that building has been used to praise God in worship services, and fun to imagine people long ago coming for worship. The pews all have doors, and the alter is beautiful. The organ… wow. I have never heard anything like it. It poured out this rich, intense sound that left you with goosebumps and wanting more. Below are a few pictures from this stop.
The church
The front of the church
A close up of the BEAUTIFUL altar
No words needed.
One VERY happy girl.
After lunch, our next stop was St. Barholomaus Kirche, Mittelkirchen. This building dated from 1322 and also housed an amazing Schnitger organ (II/32). Also a Lutheran parish, I was thrilled to find Luther’s Small Catechism in German there!!! This was just as beautiful, but bigger. It had gorgeous stain glass on either side of the front, and numerous small balconies. This organ also needed 2 people to pump it, which was totally fun.
The church.
The altar
A view from the organ loft looking down to the rest of the church...
Stain glass window...
A close up of the other window, which was my favorite. You can't see in the picture, but it says "Lasset die Kindlein zu mir kommen" and just made me happy.
The real reason why we're in Germany (Or one of the reasons...)
Craig testing it out....
My turn!!!
Pumping hard. This was just about as cool as playing it!!
The little graveyard outside the church
After that, we went to Grunendeich for a concert.
The organ:
They were rededicating it or something, so their pastor was there. Most of the talk was in German, but I did catch "Martin Luther" two times and got all excited. Also, there was congregational singing, which was super cool.
It was a very good day.
No comments:
Post a Comment