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St. Peter's Church in Riga (German: Petrikirche)
is the highest church in Riga, as well as a remarkable Gothic-style
13th-century architectural monument of national importance, located
at Reformation Square 1 in Old Riga. Peter's Church tower was the
tallest wooden building in Europe until the Second World War.
It was first mentioned in the writings in 1209, but from the
13th century, the outer walls of the side areas of the current
building and some pillars in the interior have been preserved. Until
1524, it was a Roman Catholic church, but from 1526 to 1940 it was
the Riga Lutheran St. Peter's German parish church, since 1991,
Peter's church has been the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Riga St. Peter's Church Lutheran Church.
Peter's Church was first mentioned in writings in 1209
in the contract between Bishop Albert and King Visvaldi of Jersika - it
was built as a place of worship for merchants and a meeting place. In
the 15th century, the church was significantly supplemented (altar part,
vaults were added, the 136-meter high tower was completed in 1491). The
first public clock in Riga was installed in the tower of St. Peter's
Church in 1352. A watchman stood in the church tower to warn of
impending danger to the city or fire.
1408-1409 built a new altar
with a semicircular aisle and five chapels, creating a three-bay
basilica. Its altar part after Rostock St. St. Mary's Church was built
in the High Gothic style under the direction of Johan Rumeshotel, a
master builder invited from there. The reconstruction and expansion of
the church continued throughout the 15th century, especially in the
second half of the century (a new pyramidal tower was built in
1456-1491).
In 1524, the church suffered heavily in the so-called
vandalism of holy images - a Lutheran crowd invaded Riga churches,
vandalizing them. The riots were started by the blackheads of Riga, who
St. In Peter's church, he smashed his altar, then the other altars, wall
decorations, and holy pictures. The altarpiece of the church chapel,
painted by Albrecht Dürer, was also burned. In November 1524, the Rāte
of Riga forbade religious services to be held in the church and
confiscated its property. After the Catholic population was expelled
from the city, the building was handed over to the Lutheran
congregation.
On March 11, 1666, the more than 130 m high tower
built in 1491 collapsed in a storm after being struck by lightning.
1671-1690 In the 1970s, the church was rebuilt under the leadership of
builders Ruperts Bindenshu and J. Josten, building the main facade, the
western facade with baroque style portals. In 1721, lightning struck the
tower again, a big fire broke out, flames engulfed the entire building,
and the tower collapsed again. Towers 1743-1746. was rebuilt in its
current form in the 1960s, and its height was 120.7 meters. Johann
Gottfried Müthel, the last student of J.S. Bach, worked as the church
organist from 1767 to 1788.
Until the 1773 law, the building also
served as a burial place. Only between 1701 and 1773, 3,576 people were
buried in the church vaults and garden cemetery. Until 1940, it was
registered in the Department of Churches and Confessions of the Ministry
of the Interior of Latvia as a congregation of the Union of German
Evangelical Lutheran Churches, practically all members of which left the
territory of Latvia during the war years.
Peter's church suffered
heavily in the battle for Riga on June 29, 1941, when the tower, the
roof of the building collapsed during the fire, and the facade of the
church was badly damaged. After the war, the building remained the
property of the state, not allowing any congregation of believers to
enter it.
By order of the Government of the LPSR 1954-1984. the
church was restored in 1954: the restoration of the church started in
1954, first by restoring the gabled roof, and in 1967 by starting the
reconstruction of the unique tower (1968-1973). The current tower is
123.25 meters high and consists of metal structures, it has a built-in
elevator that takes visitors to a height of 72 m. The restoration of the
tower was completed on June 29, 1973, the same date it died 32 years
ago. The building was equipped with an exhibition and concert hall, a
museum, as well as an observation tower from which people could observe
the Riga panorama. The Architecture and Urban Planning Propaganda Center
was located in Eka.
In 1975, the tower clock brought from Armenia
was started, and in 1976, the bell game was started, which plays the
melody of the Latvian folk song "Rīga dimd" 5 times a day. Peter's
Church was completely restored in 1983, but the restoration work
continued in later years as well. Restored tombs, including the Baroque
tomb of the Blue Civil Guard. They installed the ancient wood-carved
epitaphs, which had been taken to Poland during the German-Baltic exodus
and were preserved there. On August 21, 1995, St. A plaque dedicated to
the restorers of St. Peter's Church. Funds for the construction of the
pulpit were donated by the German-White support group (Förderkreis). In
1997, the stained glass windows of E. Todes were restored in the
sacristy (artist I. Kārkluvalka), the walls were covered with restored
Dutch tiles (ceramists I. Pētersone, D. Zvanītāja, I. Vipule).
On June 29, 1991, religious services were resumed in the church, but
the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church (LELB) started negotiations with
the state about taking ownership of the building.
The religious
activities of St. Peter's Church is governed by the "Law on Religious
Organizations" and other regulatory acts. It is used as a cult building,
a venue for concerts, thematic exhibitions on the development of the
city and architecture, art exhibitions, cultural events, as well as an
international cultural tourism object that is available to visitors on a
daily basis. The building and the land around it are the property of the
city of Riga. Currently, the Evangelical Lutheran congregation of St.
Peter uses several church premises free of charge, but the Latvian state
continues to finance the research, conservation and restoration works of
the church.
Flat weather vanes, also with the silhouette of a rooster, are among
the oldest northern European wind indicators - flags and belong to the
group of so-called dragon flags. The principle of the dragon flag: the
weathervane is located on one side of the mast (flagpole). If the "flag"
is formed by the silhouette of a rooster, then it looks downwind.
Peter's Church has two wind vanes made as dragon flags. They are located
in the eastern part of the building - one at the end of the roof of the
middle area above the apse, the other - above the sacristy. Both are the
same and depict St. Peter walking with a key in his hands. The stair
turrets are also decorated with flags, one of which has the year number
"1723" cut out. Church towers were not only crowned with a rooster,
usually the end of the tower was complemented by a ball installed right
at the tip of the spire. It is possible that this element of decoration
initially had only a decorative role, but later it became a storage for
memorial articles. Scrolls with information about the history of the
building and the builders were placed in the orb.
Peter's Church,
since the construction of its Gothic tower in the 15th century, has had
seven wind indicators - roosters.
In 1491, after the completion of
the tower, the first rooster was installed. In 1538, when the tower was
sheathed with copper plates, this rooster was restored and put back on
the spire in the same year. In 1576, a strong storm bent the rooster, so
it was removed.
On July 13, 1577, the Free City of Riga installed the
second rooster. On October 4, 1577, an unusually strong wind blew it off
the tower.
On July 11, 1578, a new ball, rod and third cock were put
on. It was the flying rooster depicted in Mollīn's panorama of Riga in
1612.
In 1651, during the Swedish Vidzeme era, after 73 years of
service, it was badly damaged and removed, and on May 14 of the same
year, a large gilded fourth rooster was put on it. On November 17, 1659,
a strong storm at eight in the morning tore it off the pole together
with the bullet and threw it into the church yard.
On July 26, 1660,
a gilded fifth rooster was placed in the tower, which was located on the
spire of the tower until its collapse in 1666. In 1688, Rupert
Bindenschu asked the council what to install in the spire of the Peter's
church - a star, as envisaged in Josten's project, or a rooster. Two
months later, he showed off a model of the tower, decorated with the
city's small coat of arms, two keys, a cross and the ruler's crown. At
the very top of the spire was a rooster. Rathe did not accept it, but
instructed to make a new model, which would be crowned only by a bullet
and a rooster. Bindenschu produced a drawing of a rooster standing on
the tip of a spire. In the final version, which was accepted by the
council, it was intended to put a crouching rooster on the pole.
On
May 10, 1690, from eight to nine in the morning, the sixth rooster was
placed in the tower. During the siege of Riga in 1709, the bent cock's
tail was repaired.
On October 9, 1746, Johan Wilbern put the ball and
rooster restored after the fire of 1721 on the spire. They were strung
on the rod of the previous tower, which, after being straightened and
corrected, was again built into the structure of the new tower.
On
June 29, 1941, during the battle for Riga, a rooster, a bullet and a rod
fell to the ground as the burning wooden tower fell. They were searched
for and preserved in the rubble. Now the rooster and orb have been
restored and displayed in St. Peter's Church. On the other hand, the rod
has been built into the end of the tower for the third time.
On
August 21, 1970, the seventh rooster was installed in the restored
tower, which is an exact copy of the previous one. The gilded rooster
weighs 158 kg, is 2.10 m long from chest to tip of tail, and 1.53 m high
from the top of the sextet to the bottom of the belly. The rooster and
the ball below it are made of copper tin covered with very thin gold
plates, 140 grams of gold used.
In 2009, the rooster was restored,
after the restoration it was again placed in the spire of the tower.