Dorfkirche Ribbeck, Gothic church in Ribbeck, Germany
Dorfkirche Ribbeck is a Gothic brick hall church with a square west tower, its windows enlarged and framed with basket arches in 1722. The nave was extended eastward in 1887 and an apse added. The tower carries a baroque curved hood with a lantern, and the west end is separated inside by a semicircular glass wall.
The church began as a Gothic brick hall building with a square west tower; in 1722 the windows were enlarged and framed with basket arches, and the tower was altered and topped with a baroque scalloped helmet and lantern. In 1887 the nave was considerably extended to the east and an inset apse was added. A thorough renovation from 1991 to 1996 restored the tower helmet with support from the German Foundation for Monument Conservation.
The interior preserves a wooden pulpit from the 19th century and displays ornamental paintings influenced by the Schinkel school of architecture. The southern extension houses a barrel-vaulted crypt belonging to the von Ribbeck family, linking the building to local noble lineage.
The church stands on a grassy lawn in Ribbeck, a district of Nauen in the Havelland. The entrance porch with its arched doorway faces the visitor; the nave lies to the right of the tower. Inside, a semicircular glass wall separates the western two-storey section from the flat-ceiled nave. The stump of the Fontane pear tree is kept in the church, and a replacement pear tree was planted south of the building in 2000.
The octagonal lantern atop the baroque tower stands out clearly from the Gothic base and creates an unusual silhouette at the edge of the village. Many visitors notice the combination of two building styles only when examining the different sections more closely.
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