Lügde - St. Marien

Lügde was first mentioned in 784 in the "Annales Regni Francorum" ("Royal Frankish Annals") when Charlemagne celebrated his first Christmas in what was then the Duchy of Saxony, namely in "Villa Liuhidi".

The "Villa Liuhidi" was probably a small fortified place. The town of Lügde may have had "some importance" as early as 1195, as a coin minted that year exists. It is certain that the city charter was granted in 1246 at the latest, as the town plan, which is still in its original form today, and the fortifications, such as the town wall, moat and defence towers, were created during this time.

Lügde was a planned foundation by the Pyrmont Counts. It has the typical three-street system with the main axis and two side streets. For a while, Lügde was the capital of the County of Pyrmont and the seat of the counts. As the older St. Kilian (see previous. uploads) church was located outside the now fortified town, a new church was erected inside the walls from around 1250 on. An inscription tells us, that in 1353 Magister Edulus and Thiderius completed (the tower). The nave was completed in an early Gothic style, the choir (in 1408) was late Gothic.

In February 1775 Lügde was hit by a flooding catastrophe. The church was severely damaged and could not be used for a long time. In September 1797 Lüdge was nearly completely gutted by fire. The church was burned down and even the bells were melted. The church got rebuilt, but finally replaced by today´s neo-Gothic church at the end of the 19th century. Stones from the old church were used for the church tower - and so the 1353-inscription was saved.