A műemlékek sokszínűsége (A 28. Egri Nyári Egyetem előadásai 1998 Eger, 1998)

Előadások / Presentations - Angus FOWLER: The preservation of churches particulary timber-framed ones in Hessen

The Förderiaeis Alte Kirchen has been able to find competent local craftsmen still able to use traditional methods in restoration or who can be trained to use them. In Silberg a local carpenter raised the timberframed church so that new stone foundations could be inserted to protect the timber from damp. (Local craftsmen had previously raised the church in nearby Quotshausen and protect it from damp so that it could be saved from demolition and used again. Also the timber-framed church in Hommertshausen had been saved 1957 by moving it 2 metres back from the road which was to be widened). In Volpertshausen the original roof construction as reconstructed on paper as a result of building investigation was restored by a carpenter using traditional methods incorporating as much of the original timber as possible. Craftsmen have also been found to restore the infillings (Gefache) of timber-framed constructions with traditional daub and wattle wickerwork (Flechtwerk) and roof workers (Dachdecker) who can provide the right type and size of slates or willing to reuse old traditional hand-made tiles which are good enough to be used again. An architect and professional restorer are active members of the committee of the Förderkreis Alte Kirchen. Partly as a result of the work of the Förderkreis Alte Kirchen churches and particularly timber-framed ones in Hessen are now no longer threatened by demolition or decay. This success is also due to the stronger public lobby for preservation with increasing awareness of the importance of historic buildings and also grater support from public authorities. Now after 25 years of the work of the FAK churches which have not been used for many years are being recognized again as the physical and spiritual centres of their villages. Local communities wish to use them again for church services, in one case also as a church for youth, for music and other cultural purposes. In 1988 the expertiese of the Förderkreis Alte Kirchen was called upon to help prepare the report on „Redundant Religious Buildings in Europe" (Doc, 6032) for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg by its Committee on Culture and Education. Since 1990the Förderkreis has helped to found similar organizations in eastern Germany. As a result of a lecture given by the FAK in Krakow in October 1989 the section „Let's Love Wooden Churches" of the Society of Art Historians was founded in Poland on the model of the FAK. During the recent Europa Nostra Forum on „The Threat to Wooden Architecture in Europe" May 1995 in Krakow the Förderkreis Alte Kirchen together with „Let's Love Wooden Churches" and other organizations and individuals established a network for the preservation of wooden church in Europe. The FAK played a leading part in the foundation and development of the European Council for the Village and Small Town ECOVAST which took place in Bellnhausen/Gladenbach in 1984. The FAK is represented on the Council of Eurpea Nostra and on the International Committee of ECOVAST. LITERATURE C. Ahrens (ed.), Frühe Holzkirchen im nördlichen Europa (Veröffentlichungen des Helms-Museums/Hamburgisches Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte 39, Hambrug 1982) H. Christie, 0. Olsen, H. J. Taylor, The wooden church of St. Andrew at Greensted, Essex, Antiquaries Journal 59,1 (1979) 92-112 W. Horn and E. Born, Two Timbered Mediaeval Churches of Cheshire St. James and St. Paul at Marton and St. Oswald at Lower Peover, The Art Bulletin 44 (1962) 263-278 Églises à pans de bois/Études de structures: Vol. 1 Champagne (n. d. ca. 1974), Vol. 2 Normandie (n. d. ca. 1980) (Ministère des Affaires Culturelles, Direction de l'Architecture) Cenre de Recherches sur les Monuments Historiques) Vol. 1 Champagne (n. d. ca. 1974), Vol. 2 Normandie (n. d. ca. 1980) S. E. Rigold, The Timber Churches of Champagne, Journal of the British Archaeological Association 3rd ser. 36 (1973) 26-42