Our little St. Ulrich's Church has a pretty great historical significance.
In a sense, it marks the beginning of Oldenburg's rule by the counts. That is why it stands at the beginning of a statehood that only ended almost 1000 years later when Oldenburg was integrated into Lower Saxony in 1946.
In 1059, St. Ulrich's Church was donated by the earliest Oldenburg count and countess of whom the tradition knows. The legendary Count Huno and his wife Willa set up a monument here that is certainly older than the castle in Oldenburg, which was considered as the family's ancestral seat later.
Originally, the church may have consisted mainly of granite ashlars and erratic blocks. Over time, however, they were extended and improved several times, and, as you can see, mainly with bricks.
Today, access to the church is through the tower. There you are greeted by Count Moritz II. Not by him personally, of course, because he has not been among the living for more than 600 years, but by his image, which adorns the lid of his sarcophagus. He was originally buried in the neighbouring Benedictine monastery. But when it was demolished, the tombstone's value was recognized and transferred here. If you look more precisely at the count's eyes, you will certainly notice the similarity to Bremen's Roland. Therefore, it can be assumed that they both come from the same stonemason's workshop.
But the church has a lot more to offer in terms of exquisite inventory. The pulpit was donated by Count Anton Günther in 1612 and made in the workshop of the famous woodcarver Ludwig Münstermann. It immediately catches the eye, as does the altar from 1636, which is both beautiful and enigmatic. It is signed by Lucretia de Saint Simon, about whom we hardly know anything today. But apparently, a woman created the Rastede altar - a remarkable exception for the 17th century!
The Romanesque baptismal font of the church is even dated to the 13th century, and it probably comes from East Frisia. Only the count's crypt is older, which is located below the church and is a rare treasure not only for historians. A narrow staircase leads down into this ancient subterranean room, whose columns support the old cross-vaulted ceiling made of fieldstone.
The crypt is one of the oldest basic parts of the building and was built exclusively as a prayer chapel for the count's benefactors, which undoubtedly identifies St. Ulrich as a church in a ruler's seat.
Let us now leave the interior of the church once more and take a look at the free-standing Gothic bell tower from the 15th century. The bell tower was often built a little away from the main building in the northwest. The local builders were concerned that the loud rhythmic chime of the bells could affect the stability of the church building because the local ground was often quite boggy and not necessarily stable. Should the tower start to vibrate due to the sounds of the bell, the church would - thank God - remain unaffected.