St. Christophorus-Kirche Oese

The Evangelical Lutheran parish of Oese has about 1,000 members from the villages of Oese, Basdahl, and Osterwede. Our 16th-century St. Christophorus Church is a true gem that you should definitely see at least once. After all, our little village church is said to be the most beautiful in the entire Elbe-Weser Triangle.

Christophorus and Christopher

Despite times of war and severe weather, our church has retained its original form to this day. It was recently dedicated to Saint Christopher, the helper of the afflicted. The history of our church is closely linked to its founder, Christopher von Issendorf. His extensive estate enabled him to have a church built in Oese in 1575. Von Issendorf and his wife were buried in front of the altar; their gravestones have been preserved to this day.

The Church Grounds

You enter and exit the church grounds through a thatched gate. It was designed in 1964 based on a drawing from a burial plot plan dating back to 1791. The boulder wall surrounding the churchyard has stood for centuries. The painter and poet Otto Tetjus Tügel (1892–1973) and his son, Tetjus Tügel Jr. (1950–2018), are buried in the cemetery surrounding the church.

Special and Historical Relics

The three dials of the tower clock feature inscriptions instead of numbers: facing south, “Time is Grace”; facing west, “Be Not Deceived”; and facing north, “His Day Will Come.” A replica of the symbol of ecumenism has been mounted on the eastern tip of the ridge since the 1960s. Inside the brass sphere lies a copy of the 19th-century Oeser Emigrant Book. Next to the entrance, against the tower wall, stands a gravestone. Until 1987, this gravestone of the sexton Joh. Christ. Kröncke, who died in 1765, served as a stepping stone in front of the entrance door. It was not until the paving of an access path that it was removed, revealing well-preserved Bible verses on the reverse side. In the masonry above the entrance door, coats of arms carved into sandstone commemorate the church’s founder and his wife.

The Church’s Interior

The interior of St. Christopher’s Church is covered by a colorfully painted wooden ceiling. It features a multitude of flowers and fruits in red, green, and black. In some places, there are also angel heads—twelve in total. They symbolize the tribes of Israel.

The three-part winged altar bears the date 1597 in the upper left corner and was likely created by Dutch artists. Depicted in a naive painting style are the Fall of Man and the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, the institution of the Lord’s Supper, baptism, and the Resurrection. The corresponding Bible passages are written in Low German. A Dieckmann Bible from 1702, open on the altar, bears a dedication to Charles XII. It serves as a reminder that Oese was also part of Sweden at that time.

On the south wall of the church stands the wooden pulpit, built in 1616. Arranged in two rows one above the other, each with six panels, are the twelve apostles with their symbolic attributes. Above the pulpit is the richly decorated and carved sound cover. In the center below, a dove hovers as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. On the pulpit’s balustrade stands a wrought-iron hourglass with four chambers, each with a runtime of 15, 20, 25, and 30 minutes.

A crucifix hangs next to the pulpit. It is the oldest work of art in St. Christopher’s Church. According to tradition, it was crafted in the 14th or 15th century and formerly served as a processional cross during processions.

The Oeser Passion

The stained-glass windows of the Oeser Church deserve special attention. Beneath the richly decorated coats of arms, rendered in vibrant colors, are inscribed—in addition to the year 1578—the names, in small letters, of the nobles from the Bremen Knighthood who were persuaded to support the church’s construction. The small, diamond-shaped panes at the very top of the six large windows, which depict scenes from the Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ, were certainly commissioned specifically from the stained-glass artist. They are known as the “Oeser Passion” and are now widely recognized as being of great artistic value. It has been determined that, for five of the motifs, the stained-glass artist must have used works by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553) of Wittenberg as models.

Come visit our impressive church with its precious treasures!