Stadtkirche Preetz, Medieval church in Preetz, Germany.
Stadtkirche Preetz is a medieval church on a hill overlooking Kirchsee lake, combining fieldstone walls with late Romanesque and baroque design elements. Its interior holds a Romanesque baptismal font from the 1200s, decorative bronze objects, and chandeliers that span several centuries.
A first church dedicated to St Lawrence was replaced around 1200/10 by a small fieldstone church measuring seven by twelve metres, with a fieldstone bell tower on its west side. The 14th-century brick choir survives as the Kleine Kirche. After the tower was reduced to a stump and the church lay nearly in ruins from 1708, Count Christian zu Rantzau funded the rebuild to designs by Rudolph Matthias Dallin in the 1720s. The nave was divided in 1938–41.
The three brass chandeliers are still not electrified. The oldest, the "Schneiderkrone", was donated in 1641 by the tailors' guild; the central sixteen-armed one, given by the shoemakers in 1696, hangs with a boot beneath it. A third was donated by Dorothea Wensin in 1649.
The church welcomes visitors during services and hosts concerts throughout the year, with special seasonal events during the holidays. Check in advance for current events and opening times, since access may depend on scheduled activities.
The wooden baptismal angel, carved by Christian Carl Döbel around 1730, hung in the church from 1743 to 1884, was removed during a campaign of de-baroquing, and was rediscovered in 1984 by the sexton Herbert Abram in the attic. Since 2000 it hangs again from its historic beam and is lowered over the font at baptisms.
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