Our church
This church is the house of God of the Christian community of the Evangelical Lutheran Confession of Mylau. At this point, church services are held regularly, in which the congregation hears God's word, prays, praises God together, sings and celebrates the Lord's Supper. This is also where the children and adults are baptized, the young Christians are confirmed and the newlyweds are married in church.
Various churches have stood in this place for centuries. Today's church building was built in place of a simple village church in the years 1887 to 1890 in the style of neo-Gothic historicism (see the panels on the north wall of the church).
The rich interior with the shaped bricks, the wood carvings, the painting, the lamps, the stained glass windows etc. dates from the year 1890.
The interior of the church, which had suffered serious damage from the roof, which had been damaged for a long time, was restored from 1986 to 1988.
In the winter weeks high scaffolding could be erected in order to renew the vaulted fields with the stencil painting and the gilding. In the chancel, the painters and restorers have restored the ornaments with hand painting and gold leaf decorations in their original state. In addition, a lot of damage to the plastering was repaired, the windows repaired, the lamps restored, the chandelier salvaged from a dilapidated church, refurbished and hung in the church on the occasion of the celebration of the centenary of the laying of the foundation stone on September 25, 1987. Mylauer craftsmen under the guidance of restorer Müller from Plauen and many volunteers carried out the work. The monument office thankfully gave financial support.
The large windows in the chancel depict scenes from the three great Christian festivals:
left to right:
Christmas - The birth in the stable of Bethlehem (The time calculation is based on this event.)
Easter - The resurrection of Jesus from the tomb guarded by soldiers.
Pentecost - The disciples of Jesus are filled with the Spirit of God and preach the Gospel, the good news of God's love.
The basic structure of the organ is over 260 years old. It was built in 1731 in the old church by Gottfried Silbermann and, with minor changes, set up in the new church in 1890 with a neo-Gothic housing. It has 21 sounding voices and 1155 pipes. It was restored in 1989 by Orgelbau Jehmlich (Dresden).
The Mylauer peal was well known, the recording was broadcast regularly on the radio, but in 1942, against the protest of the parish, the bells were taken from the tower. In addition to the smallest remaining bell with a weight of 800 kg, a bell with a weight of 1414 kg was found in the bell store and returned in 1949. In 1986 the parish of Mylau was able to acquire another bell from a parish in Dessau, the sound of which matches the two existing ones very well and a weight of 2860 kg. This bell was cast in 1931 by the Schilling bell foundry in Apolda for the St. Marien Castle Church in Dessau as a war memorial bell and had to be delivered during the Second World War. At the end of the war it had not yet been melted down and was brought back to Dessau, but the church and tower had been ruined during bombing and has not yet been rebuilt. This bell has been hanging on our tower since June 7, 1988. On the occasion of the centenary of the church and at the beginning of the town twinning with the Württemberg city of Waldenbuch, a fourth bell, cast in Karlsruhe and weighing 665 kg, was pulled onto the tower on October 9, 1990. It completes the big bells that make the sound B, d, f, g. The bells should ring for the glory of God and call people to faith, prayer and peace.
Our church council
On Sunday, September 13th, 2020 we elected our new church council. We would like to thank everyone who voted and hereby introduce our church council.
The following were elected:
Carsten Thomas
Jörg Dietzsch
Andreas Schneider
Madeleine Hermann
Stefan Lange
Ines Mattai
The following were appointed:
Matthias Michael
Rebecca Schulz
Reinhard Stricker
Our sister church relationship
We have a sister church relationship with the parishes of Reichenbach and Neumark. This means that the pastors U. Penz and A. Schubert as well as Pastor A. Alders and the church staff work closely together and the parishes coordinate their events. Therefore, Pastor U. Penz is not only responsible for the Mylau parish, but also takes on services in Neumark and Reichenbach.
The Trinity Church was built in 1621. City fires and dilapidation repeatedly led to renovations and conversions.
Since the unification to the Reichenbacher Parish in 2011, the services have been held alternately in the Peter-Paul- and Trinity-Church.
The church of St. Peter and Paul was first mentioned in 1225. After it was destroyed by the great fire of 1720, the foundation stone for the new church was laid in 1721. During the last major church renovation in 1905/1906, extensions were removed and the church was given its present-day appearance. Further maintenance work has been carried out since the fall of the Wall, but the renovation has not yet been completed.
When it was built in 1498, the Protestant Church in Neumark was initially dedicated to the Catholic Church. The Marienwindow by Hans Hesse in the nave bears witness to this. The previous building was probably from the 12th century and was the spiritual center for a wide area. Almost the entire Pleißenquell area from Schönfels to Blankenhain is said to have belonged to the Neumark deanery. The oldest evidence of this is a document from 1225, which refers to a first church foundation in Greiz and on which a dean Gerwich von Neumark is listed as an important witness.
Our cemetery
Look at our cemeteries
I don't know about you - I like going to our cemeteries. To the graves of people I loved and who are no longer there, or just like that. I enjoy the silence and the changing seasons.
But of course I also see how much work and love a cemetery needs and gets to look after it. Some things cannot be seen at first glance, other changes immediately catch the eye - a renewed fountain, a freshly painted chapel door, a sign pointing to the parking lot at the cemetery.
Our cemeteries in Mylau and Friesen are places where you can know that those you are missing are in good hands. It is completely unimportant whether the deceased or you as a family member belong to our congregation or to the church at all. It is also irrelevant whether the deceased or you lived or live in Mylau or Friesen, or in the area or far away.
You can talk to us about any wishes regarding the grave site and burial. There are individual grave sites for coffin burials or urn burials, and there are communal areas in both cemeteries that are maintained by us. The funeral services can also be designed in very different ways. There are certainly ways to meet the various needs.
Cemeteries are also places where you can get into conversation with other people in mourning - sometimes it is good to talk to someone who has experienced something similar, who may be able to offer advice and who will definitely understand you.
In our cemeteries, however, we are also reminded of the hope that we are allowed to have: the many crosses point to Jesus Christ, whose resurrection we celebrate every year at Easter. He shows us that there is a way through death into life. Those we lost are not lost - we can hope that they live with God, are safe in His hand.
Our partner community St. Veit in Waldenbuch
We have had a very nice partnership with our partner community Waldenbuch for many years. There are regular warm meetings and the trumpet choirs organize a Whitsun camp every year. There is a lot of laughter, practice and a program for the ceremony in the St. Veit Church in Waldenbuch.
Click here to go to the website of our partner community
