Protestant island church, Lutheran church in Norderney, Germany.
The Inselkirche is a red-brick Gothic Revival church consecrated in 1879, with a 25-metre square tower topped by a pyramidal roof and cross. Its nave measures 21.5 by 13.5 metres, rises 12 metres inside and seats about 600 people. The interior has a tall pointed chancel arch, three-sided galleries, an open roof truss, a pulpit, a font and an altarpiece.
A first wooden and brick church was built on this site in 1517 or 1518, a single rectangular room of about 50 square metres that also served as shelter during storm floods and pirate attacks. Enlarged in 1750/51 to seat some 200 people, it was demolished in 1878 because the growing number of spa guests had outgrown it. The Gothic Revival brick replacement, designed by builder Ernst Schumacher of Leer, was begun on 22 March 1878 and consecrated on 11 June 1879, the golden wedding anniversary of Emperor Wilhelm I and Augusta, who funded the 88,000 Mark cost.
The congregation's newsletter is called "ECHOLOT" and has appeared since November 2012, listing activities and dates. Since 1883 the Luther monument has stood on Kirchstraße beside the church. The wooden relief above the side entrance shows Abraham welcoming the three men at Mamre; the Sandomir teacher family, forced to leave the island under National Socialism, gave it to a neighbour for safekeeping.
The church stands on Kirchstraße, where the Luther monument has stood since 1883. Since spring 2015 the tower masonry has been under repair: defective bricks are being replaced and the joints renewed, so scaffolding may cover parts of the tower. The nave roof is to be restored in a second phase, with total costs of about €300,000.
The two ship models hanging in the nave are not mentioned in the church records; the sources document instead a wooden relief above the side entrance showing Abraham welcoming the three men at the oak of Mamre. The Sandomir family, Jewish teachers on the island, gave it to a neighbour for safekeeping when they had to leave Norderney under National Socialism. The roughly 200-year-old panel was originally largely unpainted wood and was coloured only later.
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