Discover Buttforde: St. Mary’s Church and village history

Buttforde combines a historic church building with a distinctive settlement pattern. The Evangelical Lutheran St. Mary’s Church is a Romanesque granite ashlar church, built around 1230 on an artificially raised dwelling mound. Buttforde is a clustered village on an outlying geest island. This gives you two different points of interest to consider when planning your trip: the church’s architecture and the landscape and settlement pattern. There are also several specific historical features and a cycle route whose description recommends a visit to the church.

St. Mary’s Church: architecture and historical features

The term “granite ashlar church” refers both to the building material and to the form of the masonry; “Romanesque” identifies the building’s style. Here, a dwelling mound is an artificially raised elevation on which the church was built. This helps distinguish the building from its site: the style and stone relate to the building, while the mound is its foundation. For visitors interested in cultural history, this combination is a useful introduction to the building’s history, bringing architecture and location together without conflating them.

The Buttforde Marian altar is considered the oldest altar in East Frisia. The church also houses the surviving, working organ by Joachim Richborn, dating from 1681. Another point of interest is the Marian bell in the freestanding bell tower: it was made by the Bremen bell founder Berend Klinghe (1456–1474). Taken together, these features lead from the altar’s regional significance to specific historical details about the organ and bell.

Village character and landscape

The settlement pattern offers a different perspective from the church. Buttforde is a clustered village on an outlying geest island, surrounded by several dwelling mounds and residential sites. Here, the village form and the landscape description complement one another: “clustered village” describes the type of settlement, while the geest island and the surrounding mounds and residential sites describe its geographical setting. If you want to understand Buttforde not only through its church but also through the character of the village, these terms offer an overview of the village and its surroundings.

A cycle route with cultural interest

The description of the Jan-Schüpp cycle path recommends that cyclists visit St. Mary’s Church in Buttforde. The cycle path is about 47.9 km long, follows the Harle for part of the way—the old shipping route between Carolinensiel and Wittmund—and continues via Altfunnixsiel to Funnix. The description therefore answers two different planning questions: the recommendation identifies a cultural point of interest, while the distance and route provide an overview of the tour. If you plan to take the cycle route, check its current course before setting out.

Plan your visit

For a church visit, you can obtain the key from the Buttforde petrol station; guided tours are available by arrangement. If you would like a guided tour, arrange a time in advance. Also check how the key handover is arranged before your visit.

Discover more destinations: Funnix.

Back to the main travel overview: Wittmund.