Marne / Marn
Results: 8 records
INFORMATION
Font ID: 10845MAR
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 13th century (late), Early Gothic
Cognate Fonts: The fonts at Büsum, Marne, Altenbruch, Borstel, Oederquart and Holdenstedt, are very similar and perhaps reproduced from the same models [cf. FontNotes]
Church / Chapel Name: Evangelisch-lutherische Maria-Magdalenen-Kirche Marne
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Mary Magdalene
Church Notes: medieval church here documented 13thC; present church early-10thC
Church Address: Alter kirchhof 17, 25709 Marne, Germany -- Tel.: +49 4851 574
Site Location: Dithmarschen, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Europe
Directions to Site: Located off road 5, on the N bank of the Elbe stuary, 25 km NE of Cuxhaven, 30 km S of of Heide, about 40 km W of Itzehoe
Historical Region: Nordfriesland
Font Notes:
Click to view
The entry for this church in the German Wikipedia [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria-Magdalenen-Kirche_(Marne)] [accessed 19 August 2025] [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria-Magdalenen-Kirche_(Marne)] [accessed 19 August 2025] mentions a 13th-century baptismal font made of bronze and bearing a Latin mirror inscription: "Das Bronzetaufbecken aus dem 13. Jahrhundert trägt eine lateinische Spiegelschrift."
The bucket-shaped basin has a running inscription [cf. supra] below the upper rim; below it appears Christ in Majesty and the Four Evangelists. The entry for this church in Dithsmadchen [https://www.echt-dithmarschen.de/typisch/poi/maria-magdalenen-kirche] [accessed 19 August 2025]
mentions a baptismal scene on it: "Aus der alten Kirche stammt das bronzene Taufbecken im Chor, ein Werk des späten 13. Jahrhunderts. Vier Männer im Gewand der Zeit tragen die eigentliche Taufe, geschmückt mit je zwei Münzen auf der Brust." There is no cover present now but the upper rim of the basin has the metal anchorings for the lock of an original cover.
Kroesen and Steensma (2004) write: "A number of fonts borne by three or four human figures date from the second half of the thirteenth century. They are standing on a ring on the ground that makes the font an optically stronger unit. The human figures are no longer stiff, straight figures but have the natural posture of someone bearing a heavy load and the folds of their garments suggest the style of the early Gothic. Six fonts of this type are identical to each other, which reveals that they could be reproduced from the same models. They are the fonts in Büsum [...], Marne, Altenbruch, Borstel and Oederquart, near the Elbe stuary and Holdenstedt near Lüneburg. Only the shape of the letters of the inscription betrays that these fonts were worked on by different people. The wall of the bowl has a small band at the top with the following inscription [...] [cf. Inscription area]. Under the inscription is a relief of a large enthroned Christ repeated four times. It takes up the entire height of the wide middle zone and is surrounded by four small medallions with the symbols of the evangelists. Apart from them, in this zone there are St Peter and St Paul, a saint with a book and a saint with a bishop's mitre."
The bucket-shaped basin has a running inscription [cf. supra] below the upper rim; below it appears Christ in Majesty and the Four Evangelists. The entry for this church in Dithsmadchen [https://www.echt-dithmarschen.de/typisch/poi/maria-magdalenen-kirche] [accessed 19 August 2025]
mentions a baptismal scene on it: "Aus der alten Kirche stammt das bronzene Taufbecken im Chor, ein Werk des späten 13. Jahrhunderts. Vier Männer im Gewand der Zeit tragen die eigentliche Taufe, geschmückt mit je zwei Münzen auf der Brust." There is no cover present now but the upper rim of the basin has the metal anchorings for the lock of an original cover.
Kroesen and Steensma (2004) write: "A number of fonts borne by three or four human figures date from the second half of the thirteenth century. They are standing on a ring on the ground that makes the font an optically stronger unit. The human figures are no longer stiff, straight figures but have the natural posture of someone bearing a heavy load and the folds of their garments suggest the style of the early Gothic. Six fonts of this type are identical to each other, which reveals that they could be reproduced from the same models. They are the fonts in Büsum [...], Marne, Altenbruch, Borstel and Oederquart, near the Elbe stuary and Holdenstedt near Lüneburg. Only the shape of the letters of the inscription betrays that these fonts were worked on by different people. The wall of the bowl has a small band at the top with the following inscription [...] [cf. Inscription area]. Under the inscription is a relief of a large enthroned Christ repeated four times. It takes up the entire height of the wide middle zone and is surrounded by four small medallions with the symbols of the evangelists. Apart from them, in this zone there are St Peter and St Paul, a saint with a book and a saint with a bishop's mitre."
COORDINATES
UTM: 32U 500000 5977959
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 53.95, 9
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 53° 57′ 0″ N, 9° 0′ 0″ E
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: metal, bronze
Font Shape: bucket-shaped, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
INSCRIPTION
Inscription Language: Latin
Inscription Location: around the upper basin side
Inscription Text: "QUI BAPTIZATUR HOC SACRO FONTE LAVATUR / MUNDUS LAB[atur] ET CATHOLICUS REPUTATUR"
Inscription Notes: Kroesen and Steensma (2004) give translation after Teuchert (1986): "Whoever is baptised by this holy fount shall be cleansed , the world may perish, but the baptised shall be counted as believers" -- one source describes the inscription as mirrored
Inscription Source: Kroesen and Steensma (2004)
REFERENCES
- Kroesen, Justin E.A., The Interior of the medieval village church = Het middeleeuwse Dorpskerkinterieur, Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters, 2004, p. 353-354