The Unionskirche (Union Church) is the Protestant parish church of Idstein, a major town in the German Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis. Idstein was a residence of the Counts of Nassau. The church building in the center of the historic "Altstadt" (old town) dates back to the 14th century, but its interior was changed in the 17th century and is a unique Baroque monument, including 38 paintings of the Dutch Golden Age school of Rubens. The church was named Unionskirche in 1917, commemorating the union of Lutheran and Reformed Protestants in the Duchy of Nassau in 1817.
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Remnants in the tower prove that a Romanesque church existed before 1287 at the same location. The present church was built from 1330 to 1350 under Gerlach, count of Nassau, as the church for a Collegiate of six canons, founded in 1333. Collegiate and church were dedicated to St. Martin.[1]
The Reformation turned Idstein Protestant. After the Thirty Years' War, the church was transformed to a representative "Predigt- und Hofkirche" (church for sermon and court) by Johann of Nassau-Idstein (1603–77). From 1665 to 1678, galleries were constructed on three sides, and the ceiling of the nave was completely covered by 38 oil paintings from the Dutch Golden Age school of Rubens.[1] The paintings were created from 1673 to 1678 by Michael Angelo Immenraedt (Antwerp) and his pupil Johannes Melchior Bencard. Three paintings are based on designs by Joachim von Sandrart, five were executed by his nephew Johann von Sandrart. [1] Several paintings are based on well known works by Rubens, for example The Wedding at Cana[2] on the south wall largely based on Rubens's painting The Feast of Herod which hangs today in the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh.[3]
The sequence of paintings told the gospel to a partly illiterate congregation. The Biblical figures appear in courtly Baroque garments. The painting "Heimsuchung" (Visitation) shows Mary arriving, a servant carrying her cases on his head. Elisabeth seems to reside at an estate with a formal garden shown in the background, resembling the one of the Idstein residential palace which was begun in 1646.[4] Paintings looking up to the sky were arranged in the center of the ceiling, from altar to the back: "Verklärung Christi am Tabor" (Transfiguration), Kreuzaufrichtung (elevation of the cross), Auferstehung (Resurrection), Kreuzabnahme (Deposition), Himmelfahrt (Ascension), and "Johannes auf Patmos sieht den Himmel offen und die Engel mit dem Evangelium" (Vision of St. John on Patmos, literally: John on Patmos sees heaven open and the angels with the gospel).
Johann, infamous for his Persecution of witches (Hexenverfolgung) as late as 1676,[5] died shortly before the work was completed. Franz Matthias Hiernle erected an epitaph for Georg August Samuel von Nassau-Idstein (1665–1721), his wife Henriette Dorothea and their children, after a design by Maximilian von Welsch, which was placed left of the altar.[1]
The church was simply called Stadtkirche (Town Church). The few remaining Catholics of Idstein were not permitted to hold services until 1806, when they were granted to use the "Schlosskapelle" (Palace Chapel) until 1888, when they could move to their own church. The Stadtkirche was named Unionskirche in 1917, to commemorate the centennial of the union of Lutheran and Reformed Protestants in the Duchy of Nassau in 1817 in the so-called "Nassauische Union", to form the Protestant Church in Nassau. It was the first such union in Germany.[6][7]
The Unionskirche is a monument marked according to the Hague Convention.
The organ, built in 1783 by Stumm, was replaced in 1912 by an instrument of Walcker, but retaining the historic case (Prospekt).
The church choir, conducted by Edwin Müller, was named Idsteiner Kantorei in 1972 and started to perform two major concerts a year, in addition to services and concerts in smaller churches of the region.[8] Since 2003 the cantor has been Carsten Koch, who is also professor at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt. In addition to the standard repertoire, he selected rarely performed works such as Schumann's Missa sacra on 9 November 2008.[9] In 2011 they performed Mendelssohn's Lobgesang, with Christiane Kohl as a soloist.[10]
The Unionskirche has been a venue of the Rheingau Musik Festival, presenting especially vocal music, such as a recital of Elizabeth Parcells and concerts of the vocal ensembles Chanticleer, ensemble amarcord and Die Singphoniker, among others.
In 2000 the Idsteiner Bachtage were held as an ecumenical collaboration of the Unionskirche and St. Martin. Concerts at the Unionskirche included the Brandenburg Concertos, cantata BWV 34 and the Missa in A.[11]
In 2003 the Unionskirche hosted the annual choral concert of St. Martin, while that church could not be used due to restoration. In keeping with the interior design, works of George Frideric Handel were performed, including his Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate and a Gloria, rediscovered in 2001[12] and performed by coloratura soprano Katia Plaschka.[13]
Carsten Koch established a series of symphony concerts on the annual "Tag des offenen Denkmals" (European Heritage Day), beginning in 2004 a cycle of the symphonies of Beethoven.[14]