Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Calvin

The first (carolingian) church here is named "Haito Muenster", as Bishop Haito ( as well abbot of the important Reichenau Abbey) had comissioned it. It was completed around 825. The foundations of these structure were reused, when the so called "Heinrich Muenster" was built just after 1000, sponsored and named after Emperor Heinrich II (Henry II) of the Ottonian dynasty. Already in 1019 this church got consecrated. The Muenster seen today is the third large church, erected 1180 - 1220/30. The late romanesque church had five towers, that all got destroyed (with most vaultings) in 1356 during the worst earthquake ever recorded in Central Europe. Modern seismologists estimate a magnitude of 7.1. The rebuilding of the Muenster was led by Johannes Parler, who at the same time was employed for building the Freiburg Muenster. So there are a lot of parallels between these two Muensters, only 70 kms apart. About 1500 the Muenster was finally completed in a combination of late romanesque and gothic style. The restauration process started about 400 years later. Pollution caused a lot of damage and meanwhile many of the carvings outside the church have been replaced by copies. So many of the details seen on the shots may be - copies. Looking east to the choir. Some art historians have compared the structure of the side walls with the CLUNY III. The interior differs surprisingly from the Freiburg Muenster. The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland differed from that one in Germany, as the Swiss Reformators (Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin, Johannes Oekolampad..) had a way more radical approach, than their Lutherian collegues. During the 9th of February 1529 a group of about 200 people forced their way into this (at that time still catholic) church and in a kind of frenzy destroyed all reachable crucifixes, statues and altars, just everything what was connected to "idolatry" in their thinking. The same afternoon the iconoclasm extended to many other churches in Basel as well. I wonder, why the the fast and furious iconoclasts did not destroy the many works, done by the stone carvers in and outside the church. Obviously only "holy" objects had to burn. Here is one of the many capitals around the choir, unfortunately the light is a bit dim around the choir, so the photo is blurry (sorry!). This capital is one of the many parallels to Freiburg, as like in the Freiburg Muenster, here is Alexander the Great going up to heaven in a basket, powered by two griffins. Alexander controls the griffins by holding up two roasted puppies on sticks. The Alexander-theme is not "extremely" rare, but twice within 70kms cannot be just accidently.

A saxonian settlement had probably existed here since the 6th century, but the town of Blomberg was founded around 1240 by Bernhard III. zur Lippe, the ruling lord of the Principality of Lippe. His grandson Simon I. zur Lippe built a castle as his residency and fortified Blomberg. In 1460 a woman named Alheyd Pustekoke stole from the near Martini -church 45 consecrated hosts. For fear of discovery, she threw them into a fountain, but the wafers did not sink. As host desecration was a felony at that time, Alheyd was convicted and burned as a punishment at the stake. Soon after, the news spread that the well, where the wafers did not had sunken, had miraculous healing powers and Blomberg became a place of pilgrimage. A chapel was erected over the well and in 1468 Augustinian canons estabslished a monastery. The church was expanded in 1473 to a late-Gothic hall church and is today the Protestant-Reformed parish church. The former abbey church lost the dedication after 1605 when Simon VI. von Lippe ordered his subjects to follow Johannes Calvin, but the the area around the church and the street are still named "Seliger Winkel" - "Blessed Corner". Though it was not really adequate to austere protestant beliefs (remember the iconoclasms), some nice embellishments inside the church did survive.

A saxonian settlement had probably existed here since the 6th century, but the town of Blomberg was founded around 1240 by Bernhard III. zur Lippe, the ruling lord of the Principality of Lippe. His grandson Simon I. zur Lippe built a castle as his residency and fortified Blomberg. In 1460 a woman named Alheyd Pustekoke stole from the near Martini -church 45 consecrated hosts. For fear of discovery, she threw them into a fountain, but the wafers did not sink. As host desecration was a felony at that time, Alheyd was convicted and burned as a punishment at the stake. Soon after, the news spread that the well, where the wafers did not had sunken, had miraculous healing powers and Blomberg became a place of pilgrimage. A chapel was erected over the well and in 1468 Augustinian canons estabslished a monastery. The church was expanded in 1473 to a late-Gothic hall church and is today the Protestant-Reformed parish church. The former abbey church lost the dedication after 1605 when Simon VI. von Lippe ordered his subjects to follow Johannes Calvin, but the the area around the church and the street are still named "Seliger Winkel" - "Blessed Corner". For almost two centuries this church served as the burial ground for the House of Lippe. The table tomb of Bernhard VII. zur Lippe and his spouse Anna von Holstein-Schaumburg is a work of Heinrich Brabender (1467-1537), a famous westphalian sculpteur, who was based in Münster. His late Gothic art can be found mainly in Northern Germany.

A saxonian settlement had probably existed here since the 6th century, but the town of Blomberg was founded around 1240 by Bernhard III. zur Lippe, the ruling lord of the Principality of Lippe. His grandson Simon I. zur Lippe built a castle as his residency and fortified Blomberg. In 1460 a woman named Alheyd Pustekoke stole from the near Martini -church 45 consecrated hosts. For fear of discovery, she threw them into a fountain, but the wafers did not sink. As host desecration was a felony at that time, Alheyd was convicted and burned as a punishment at the stake. Soon after, the news spread that the well, where the wafers did not had sunken, had miraculous healing powers and Blomberg became a place of pilgrimage. A chapel was erected over the well and in 1468 Augustinian canons estabslished a monastery. The church was expanded in 1473 to a late-Gothic hall church and is today the Protestant-Reformed parish church. For almost two centuries this church served as the burial ground for the House of Lippe. Note the large table tomb in the choirs´s center. The former abbey church lost the dedication after 1605 when Simon VI. von Lippe ordered his subjects to follow Johannes Calvin, but the the area around the church and the street are still named "Seliger Winkel" - "Blessed Corner".

A saxonian settlement had probably existed here since the 6th century, but the town of Blomberg was founded around 1240 by Bernhard III. zur Lippe, the ruling lord of the Principality of Lippe. His grandson Simon I. zur Lippe built a castle as his residency and fortified Blomberg. In 1460 a woman named Alheyd Pustekoke stole from the near Martini -church 45 consecrated hosts. For fear of discovery, she threw them into a fountain, but the wafers did not sink. As host desecration was a felony at that time, Alheyd was convicted and burned as a punishment at the stake. Soon after, the news spread that the well, where the wafers did not had sunken, had miraculous healing powers and Blomberg became a place of pilgrimage. A chapel was erected over the well and in 1468 Augustinian canons established the monastery "Zum Heiligen Leichnam". The church was expanded in 1473 to a late-Gothic hall church and is today the Protestant-Reformed parish church. The former abbey church lost the dedication after 1605, when Simon VI. zur Lippe ordered his subjects to follow Johannes Calvin, but the the area around the church and the street are still named "Im Seligen Winkel" - "In the Blessed Corner".

The first (carolingian) church here is named "Haito Muenster", as Bishop Haito ( as well abbot of the important Reichenau Abbey) had comissioned it. It was completed around 825. The foundations of these structure were reused, when the so called "Heinrich Muenster" was built just after 1000, sponsored and named after Emperor Heinrich II (Henry II) of the Ottonian dynasty. Already in 1019 this church got consecrated. The Muenster seen today is the third large church, erected 1180 - 1220/30. The late romanesque church had five towers, that all got destroyed (with most vaultings) in 1356 during the worst earthquake ever recorded in Central Europe. Modern seismologists estimate a magnitude of 7.1. The rebuilding of the Muenster was led by Johannes Parler, who at the same time was employed for building the Freiburg Muenster. So there are a lot of parallels between these two Muensters, only 70 kms apart. About 1500 the Muenster was finally completed in a combination of late romanesque and gothic style. The restauration process started about 400 years later. Pollution caused a lot of damage and meanwhile many of the carvings outside the church have been replaced by copies. So many of the details seen on the shots may be - copies. Looking east to the choir. Some art historians have compared the structure of the side walls with the CLUNY III. The interior differs surprisingly from the Freiburg Muenster. The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland differed from that one in Germany, as the Swiss Reformators (Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin, Johannes Oekolampad..) had a way more radical approach, than their Lutherian collegues. During the 9th of February 1529 a group of about 200 people forced their way into this (at that time still catholic) church and in a kind of frenzy destroyed all reachable crucifixes, statues and altars, just everything what was connected to "idolatry" in their thinking. The same afternoon the iconoclasm extended to many other churches in Basel as well. I wonder, why the the fast and furious iconoclasts did not destroy the many works, done by the stone carvers in and outside the church. Obviously only "holy" objects had to burn. Here is one of the many capitals around the choir. The head of a melancholic human - and conjoined twins. I have often seen a pair of lions sharing one head, this is the first pair of monkeys.

The first (carolingian) church here is named "Haito Muenster", as Bishop Haito ( as well abbot of the important Reichenau Abbey) had comissioned it. It was completed around 825. The foundations of these structure were reused, when the so called "Heinrich Muenster" was built just after 1000, sponsored and named after Emperor Heinrich II (Henry II) of the Ottonian dynasty. Already in 1019 this church got consecrated. The Muenster seen today is the third large church, erected 1180 - 1220/30. The late romanesque church had five towers, that all got destroyed (with most vaultings) in 1356 during the worst earthquake ever recorded in Central Europe. Modern seismologists estimate a magnitude of 7.1. The rebuilding of the Muenster was led by Johannes Parler, who at the same time was employed for building the Freiburg Muenster. So there are a lot of parallels between these two Muensters, only 70 kms apart. About 1500 the Muenster was finally completed in a combination of late romanesque and gothic style. The restauration process started about 400 years later. Pollution caused a lot of damage and meanwhile many of the carvings outside the church have been replaced by copies. So many of the details seen on the shots may be - copies. Looking east to the choir. Some art historians have compared the structure of the side walls with the CLUNY III. The interior differs surprisingly from the Freiburg Muenster. The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland differed from that one in Germany, as the Swiss Reformators (Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin, Johannes Oekolampad..) had a way more radical approach, than their Lutherian collegues. During the 9th of February 1529 a group of about 200 people forced their way into this (at that time still catholic) church and in a kind of frenzy destroyed all reachable crucifixes, statues and altars, just everything what was connected to "idolatry" in their thinking. The same afternoon the iconoclasm extended to many other churches in Basel as well. I wonder, why the the fast and furious iconoclasts did not destroy the many works, done by the stone carvers in and outside the church. Obviously only "holy" objects had to burn. This mermaid is another parallel to the Freiburg Muenster, as there as well is a breastfeeding mermaid. The baby holds a fish. The mermaid has legs, at least one (on the left) is visible. The artistic composition differs fairly from her Freiburg-sister, but like there the place of the carving is dim - and so the photo is blurry.