Guide to Bach Tour
Dörna [V]

Contents

Description | History
J.S. Bach: Connection | Events in Life History | Performance Dates of Vocal Works | Festivals & Cantata Series
Features of Interest | Information & Links
Photos: Part 1 | Maps

Description

Dorna is a amall village in the municipality of Anrode in the Unstrut-Hainich district of Thuringia, 7.8 km north-west of Mühlhausen. Nearby Cities and Towns: Eigenrieden (1.6 nm West), Bickenriede (1.2 nm North), Lengefeld (1.2 nm North), Hollenbach (0.6 nm East), Popperode (2.4 nm South). Approximate population for 7 km radius from this point: 11,759.

Country: Germany | State: Thuringia | District: Unstrut-Hainich | Municipality: Anrode | Area: 52.43 km² (Anrode) | Population: 3,600 (Anrode, March 2006)

History

In the 1st century, there was an iron smelting in the local area next to a settlement of Hermunduren. A second settlement of this Germanic tribe lay with place of worship in the area of ​​today's Kirchberg. From this settlement emerged the village Thurnithi. The name means "thorny": The peasant Wehrdorf had surrounded itself with moat and Thorn hedges. Fortified by a rampart was already around 750 of the Kirchberg. The earliest written mention of Dornede took place in a document of King Heinrich II on March 4, 1004, with which he transferred ownership in the village to the diocese of Halberstadt.

In 1119 a church dedicated to St. George was built on the pagan place of worship, which was renewed and enlarged several times until 1713. At the end of the 13th century, the churchyard received a stone wall; it could only be reached through a mighty, inhabited gatehouse. From this the outer archway is still obtained. By rebuilding the church tower to the defense tower between 1290 and 1470, a fortified church had been built. At Oberdorf, the remainder of the moat surrounding the village is preserved in Hagen.

Until 1302 Dörna was owned by the Ritter von Salza (Knights of Salza). Hermann von Salza, Hochmeister des Deutschen Ordens (Grand Master of the Teutonic Order), had a Meierhof in Dörna. In 1302, the Free and Imperial City of Mühlhausen acquired the village. It was inside the shelter of Mühlhausen Landgraben. In 1565, 64 people were counted in Dörna. In feuds of the city with adjoining dominions Dörna was often plundered, robbed of his cattle and set on fire. In addition, it had very often to suffer from floods, worst of the "Thuringian flood" in 1613, drowned in the 15 Dörnaer. After 1864 again a devastating flood had occurred, was built from 1866 to 1871 at great expense, a several meters deep Umflutgraben with Wall southwest of the village, which should pass any quantities of water on the spot.

In 1802 Dörna fell together with Mühlhausen to the Kingdom of Prussia, from 1807 to 1813 to the Kingdom of Westphalia created by Napoleon. During this time, the village was the capital of the canton Dörna in the district of Heiligenstadt. After the Congress of Vienna in 1816 assigned to the district Mühlhausen in the Prussian province of Saxony, there was a sustained upswing in Dörna, which also showed in increasing population in the rural village.

In the GDR era there was an LPG in Dörna. After the fall of agriculture lost more and more importance, instead developed the small business. The population decreased.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the town

Johann Friedrich Wender (1655-1729), organ builder with workshop in Mühlhausen, Thuringia
George Atzerodt (1835-1865), emigrant to the USA, as a co-conspirator in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln sentenced and executed.

Source: German Wikipedia (February 2018), BCW

Bach Connection

The old Bonifatius Church in Arnstadt, set a bit apart from the large square, remained in ruins for nearly a century. Finally, however, the townspeople decided to put up a new church in its place, for "in the Hauptkirche (Oberkirche) there is not room enough for all the inhabitants of a city blessed with so abundant a population" the likely truth being that not all of the population was welcome in the church attended by the royalty and the nobility. Thus the so-called New Church (now referred to as the Bach Church) was built for the common people.

Upon entering the heavy, unadorned, square-shaped edifice one's gaze is drawn immediately to the rows of windows in the high eastern wall, the main source of light for the sanctuary. The barrel-shaped ceiling and the double rows of galleries are carried by immense columns fashioned out of oak trunks from the Thuringian Forest. The interior is decorated solely by the enchanting Rococo pulpit at one end of the choir and the Baroque organ front at the other.

The latter belonged to the original organ, installed in the church in 1703. This plain church, nearly devoid of ornament inside and out, was ennobled by the presence and music of J.S. Bach. The organ built by Johann Friedrich Wender of Mühlhausen, with its two manuals, one pedal and twenty-three registers, was located in the third gallery. At the tender age of 18, J.S. Bach was called to Arnstadt to test it when it was new. He was already an outstanding organist and possessed a fine ear for the technical quality, the tuning and the spatial sound effects of the instrument.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach later described the ordeal of having an organ tested by his father: "He would say in jest, 'The most important thing I have to know is whether the organ has a good lung', and in order to find out he pulled all the stops and played as full-tonedly as possible. At this point .the organ builder usually went pale with fright".

The authorities were not only satisfied with the results of the organ test: Apparently the organist had withstood a trial of his own performance, for shortly thereafter he was awarded steady employment under very favourable conditions.

According to Wolff, J.S. Bach examined the new organ at the New Church (also St. Bonifatius Church; today Bach Church)) in Arnstadt in the first half of July 1703, before July 13. According to Petzold, J.S. Bach met Johann Friedrich Wender from Dörna on July 3, 1703. It is not said there where the meeting took place, although it can be assumed that it was in Arnstadt. That was the beginning of mutually fruitful relationship. Johann Friedrich Wender probably helped J.S. Bach to get his next job at the Blasiuskirche in Mühlhausen in 1707. J.S. Bach examined several organs built by Johann Friedrich Wender:
1703: Arnstadt, Neuekirche (New Church)
1708: Mühlhausen, Blasiuskirche (St. Blasius's Church)
1708/1712: Ammern, St. Kirche
1713-1714: Merseburg, Dom- und Schlosskirche (the largest instrument ever built by Johann Friedrich Wender; not known if J.S. Bach examined it)
1735: Mühlhausen, Marienkirche (St Mary's Church)

Johann Friedrich Wender was born in the first days of December I655 in the village of Dörna, near Mühlhausen. Evidence is his baptism took place on December 6 in the local church of St. George. More details are missing, because the church records of Dörna go no more back. Johann Friedrich Wender had his workshop in Mühlhausen. There is not a documented source saying that J.S. Bach has ever been in Dörna. Dörna is included the places associated with J.S. Bach only because of this indirect connection.

Sources:
Christoph Wolff: Johann Sebastian Bach - The Learned Musician (W.E. Norton & Company, 2000), p. 526
Martin Petzoldt: Bachstäten Ein Reiseführer zu Johann Sebastian Bach (Insel Verlag, 2000), pp. 46, 344
Karl Müller & Fritz Wigan: Bach und Arnstadt (Historical Museum Arnstadt), p. 22

Events in Life History of J.S. Bach

Jul 3, 1703: Encounter with the organ builder Johann Friedrich Wender (1655-1729) from Dörna

Performance Dates of J.S. Bach’s Vocal Works: None.

Bach Festivals & Cantata Series: None.

Features of Interest

Kirche St. Georg

Information & Links

Dörna, Germany Page
Dörna (Wikipedia) [German]

Prepared by Aryeh Oron (December 2009 - April 2018)