Church of Saint John in Aizpute: A Medieval Episcopal Church in Latvia
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Latvia
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Crusader, Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Cathedral
On this page14 sections
History
The Church of Saint John in Aizpute is a medieval church in Latvia, begun in the thirteenth century on the site of the former Curonian castle of Beyda above the Tebber valley. Also known by the historical name Hasenpoth, it is regarded as the oldest church in Courland, the historic region covering western Latvia.
Curonian and episcopal foundations
Aizpute was first documented in 1248, the year the Teutonic Order conquered Courland. Dietrich von Gröningen, the order’s master, began building a new castle within sight of the earlier Curonian stronghold. In 1253, the old castle site was assigned to Heinrich, Bishop of Courland, who began constructing a church there as Courland was divided between the Teutonic Order and the bishop.
Aizpute later became the center of the Bishopric of Courland. From the thirteenth through the sixteenth century, the church served as the seat of the cathedral chapter, the clergy associated with the bishop’s principal church, and of the bishopric itself. The cathedral chapter was dissolved after the Teutonic Order’s defeat at the Battle of Durbe in 1260, a major medieval conflict, and restored in 1290. The church was mentioned in 1378, when Hasenpoth received Riga town rights, by which time it was already an established episcopal seat.
Reformation and changing rule
The Reformation, the sixteenth-century movement that challenged Roman Catholic ecclesiastical authority, began spreading through Courland in 1526. The church consequently became Evangelical Lutheran, part of the Lutheran Protestant tradition. In 1567, Duke Gotthard Kettler ordered 70 Evangelical churches to be built in Courland and neighboring Semigallia. Duke Magnus, a son of Christian III of Denmark who resided at Pilten, transferred the church to the Evangelical congregation established in Hasenpoth.
Military and dynastic disputes over Hasenpoth were followed by the territory’s submission to Polish suzerainty. A church ordinance was issued in 1570, and a consistory, an administrative governing body for a church, began operating in 1623. The Evangelical Lutheran hymnal became generally binding in Courland in 1685. Despite opposition from Lutheran pastors, pre-Christian and Catholic customs continued among the population between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. These practices included divination, magic, offerings or hospitality for the spirits of the dead, and the veneration of saints and images.
Repairs, collapse, and rebuilding
The church underwent repeated repair and rebuilding. During the seventeenth century it was described as structurally dilapidated and partly collapsing, prompting renewal work under Duke Magnus. Extensive repairs followed in 1698 and 1699, financed by 5,472.24 thalers collected for the project. Around 1720, the roof structure collapsed, destroying major parts of the interior furnishings and leaving the church unusable. A temporary wooden building was erected, and a tower was added to the church in 1730.
Further maintenance took place in 1860, 1887, and from 1929 to 1939. The church’s present bell was installed in 1589. It is reputed to have been cast in Germany from recast war material and is regarded as the oldest bell still in use in Courland.
Twentieth-century congregational history
Between 1918 and 1940, during Latvia’s first period of independence, the congregations were united within the Evangelical Church of Latvia, and the Courland consistory was dissolved. The German congregation disappeared after the German population was required to leave in 1939 as a consequence of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
During the Soviet occupation of 1940 and 1941, many churches in Latvia were destroyed, congregations were dissolved, church property was confiscated, and pastors were killed. Congregational work nevertheless continued in Hasenpoth, which was placed under Grobin. Church work also continued without interruption during the German occupation from 1941 to 1945.
From 1945 to 1989, while Latvia formed part of the Soviet Union, pastors changed frequently and the training of new pastors could no longer be maintained, creating a shortage of clergy. Confirmations continued, although the pastor’s house was confiscated and not returned. After Latvia regained independence in 1990 and 1991, interest in congregational work briefly increased. The population later became more divided among different worldviews, and the church’s formerly dominant Lutheran orientation weakened. Contacts with Reformed congregations in Switzerland and Sweden enabled services to be held again in German and Swedish, while a parish house was returned.
Later preservation and local traditions
During the 1970s, the church’s tile roof was replaced with slate, the tower roof was covered with sheet metal, and a heating system was installed. Extensive renovation continued during the 1980s, and a new interior altar wall was installed in 1994. The church remains under monument protection. After the Soviet period, material about its history was compiled in Latvian and German from private records because church documentation had been destroyed during the Soviet era.
A Franciscan convent dedicated to Saint Clarissa stood near the church from 1448 to 1559. Local tradition tells of an underground passage linking the convent, church, and castle, supposedly used by the castle’s knights for nighttime visits to the nuns. According to the story, the strict prioress, the superior of the convent, ordered the passage filled in. The nuns’ tears were then said to have formed a spring flowing into the Tebber. The story remains part of local discussion.
The pastor and organist of the Aizpute congregation also serve affiliated churches and congregations. Zierau belonged to Hasenpoth until the seventeenth century and has again been served from Aizpute since 1972. Jamaiken is now independent, while Appricken, Neuhausen, Niekratzen, and Schnepeln fall within Aizpute’s area of responsibility. Pilten, the duke’s seat, reportedly once had a small church whose location can no longer be identified.
Remains
The church stands on Kirchberg, the hill that also occupies the former site of the Curonian castle. Its original building had a rectangular ground plan, but the present form reflects the addition of the tower and several later alterations. The steep fall of the ground toward the Tebber valley made the western front unsuitable for a tower, so the tower was attached at the building’s northwest corner in 1730.
Building and interior
Exterior fabric and tower
The southern facade and southeastern corner retain original building fabric, and the tower preserves its original ground plan. The western facade is now wider than the eastern facade, while other sections of masonry belong to later additions. These surviving differences in width and fabric reflect the church’s long sequence of rebuilding rather than a single unchanged construction phase.
Interior arrangement
The interior is simple in arrangement. An altar and a pulpit on the north side were made by an unidentified master in the late nineteenth century. Eight columns support the vault, and three chandeliers provide the church’s principal lighting.
Memorials, artworks, and music
Memorials and paintings
A tomb slab for Heinrich Basedow, Bishop of Courland from 1501 to 1523, is set into the eastern wall. The church also contains six altar candlesticks and two Bibles dating from the nineteenth century. Its paintings include The Crucifixion by F. Walter, dated 1864, and Christ on the Mount of Olives by Johann Leberecht Eggink, dated 1833.
Organ and bell
The organ was built in 1904 by the firm of Wilhelm Sauer in Frankfurt an der Oder. It is regarded as one of the best organs in Latvia and is used for concerts, organist training, and sound recordings. A planned repair of the former instrument was abandoned when it proved impractical, and a new organ was purchased instead. An electric blower was installed in 1993.
The bell installed in 1589 remains in use. Its reputed manufacture from recast war material in Germany connects a surviving object to the church’s early modern history, while its continued use preserves a feature associated with Courland’s ecclesiastical past.
Kirchberg archaeological setting
Kirchberg is considered archaeologically important because the hill may contain pre-Christian finds and remains connected with the former Curonian stronghold. Earthworks for cable laying encountered substantial resistance, and restoration work on the hill uncovered human remains, bricks, and an old hearth. Together, these discoveries add archaeological depth to the church’s position above the Tebber valley and its connection with the earlier settlement on the same hill.
