The Great Church of Karcag
Its predecessor may have been built in the 16th century or before. The only surviving information is that in 1633, a tower was added to the existing church.
A little more than 100 years later, during the silent Counter-Reformation (under the reign of Maria Theresa), when Protestant churches were not supported, the people of Karcag exercised their squire right and started planning the construction of an imposing church. In 1743, the foundations of the new church were laid next to the old tower and construction began. There are local legends about how many people had to intervene to get Vienna enable the construction work, albeit with some fines. This is how the church was completed in 1756, and then completely rebuilt between 1793 and 1797 – including the 200-year-old old tower – because its structure was weak.
Consecration of the church
The new Great Church, which can still be admired today, was consecrated on 5 November 1797 in a grand ceremony. The church is truly monumental in size, nearly 60 metres long, 24 metres wide with 1.5 metres thick walls. It has a ceiling height of 16 metres and can accommodate 2500 people.
The tower
The period of the church’ construction is late Baroque, which at the end of the 18th century developed into Classicism. Looking at the tower, we find both romantic features and neo-Gothic elements. The 44-metre-high tower also served as a fire guard station, and if a fire broke out, the tower keeper would ring the bell to get the inhabitants to extinguish it as quickly as possible. In nice weather, from such a height you can see up to the border of Kunhegyes, Püspökladány and even the Kékes.
Church furnishings
The interior design and furniture style of the church is the same as that of the Reformed Great Church of Debrecen. The reason for this is that it was designed and built by the same person, and the carpenter was called to Debrecen from here to make the same kind of furniture.
The construction of the organ in the central inner nave was a princely gift in 1866, when Péter Takács and his wife, Mária Kerekes donated 26 thousand forints to the Reformed Parish of Karcag for this purpose. The organ, made by Ludwig Mooser, the famous Salzburg organ builder of the era, first had 17 variations, and was extended to 30 variations in 1906 during a repair. The thirty-register organ has 2 manuals, one pedal and it is of pneumatic design.
The bells
In March 1875, four bells arrived in the church and were installed in the tower under the direction of József Pozdech. During the First World War, three of the four bells were dismantled and taken away for military use. In 1923, generous donors cast a bell at their own expense to replace the old ones. The “P. Szabó bell” weighs 1360 kg, the “Csőreg bell” 660 kg, and the “Mile bell” 280 kg.
The large bell cast upon the order of István P. Szabó and the small four-quintal bell from the 19th century were dismantled in 1944 during the Second World War and transported to Budapest. After the war, it was reported that the two bells had not been melted down, but an investigation to find them was unsuccessful.
Yet, the tower did not remain without a big bell for long, as in 1948, Rebeka T. Nagy, the widow of Imre Kiss, had a bell of 12.12 quintals cast at her own expense.
The bells were electrified in 1975-1977 and converted to digital control in the late 1980’s.
Community life
The church not only serves as a place of worship, but also functions as a community space that can host various programmes and charity concerts, thanks to its wide capacity. This is where the sacred and the secular lives meet.
Sources:
https://karcag.hu/karcag-varos-es-reformatus-templomanak-tortenete/
György Elek (2017): “The Lord has helped us so far!”: the history of the Karcag Reformed Parish. Published by the Karcag Reformed Parish, Karcag.