Peterlingen Monastery

11th century abbey church

The Peterlingen Monastery is a former Cluniac monastery in Payerne (German: Peterlingen), Canton of Vaud , Switzerland . The abbey church is the largest surviving Romanesque church in Switzerland.

history

founding

The Peterlingen Monastery, located in the Kingdom of Hochburgund , was probably founded around 962 by Empress Adelheid as a memorial site ( memorial system ) on the burial place of her mother Queen Berta of Burgundy . This initiated the founding of the monastery insofar as she had the church of Peterlingen equipped with goods and donations for her burial place. It was affiliated to the Reform Abbey of Cluny in 962 as one of the first subsidiary monasteries. It was richly presented by the kings of Burgundy and the German emperors and had extensive property along the Jura , in the Lake Geneva region, in Zealand and also in Alsace. In 1033 Conrad II was crowned King of Burgundy in Peterlingen .

Decline

In the 13th century Peterlingen came under the influence of the Dukes of Savoy . The gradual decline of the priory began in the 14th century and could not be stopped when the antipope Felix V. Payerne elevated it to abbey in 1444. During the Burgundian Wars Payerne was allied with the Bernese and was therefore spared by the Confederates.

Bernese rule

With the conquest of Vaud in 1536, Peterlingen came under Bernese rule, and in the course of the Reformation , which was introduced by the Bernese in Vaud, the monks had to leave the monastery in 1536. Parts of the convent buildings were demolished or converted.

Abbey church

Interior of the abbey church

Building history

The former Notre-Dame abbey church is a typical example of Cluniac architecture and one of the most important church buildings of the Romanesque era in Switzerland. The current construction was started in the 11th century at the instigation of the abbot Odilo of Cluny on the site of the previous church from the 10th century, based on the second abbey church of Cluny. Parts of the previous building, including the archaic capitals, were incorporated into the new church.

Architectural style

The pillar basilica shows a three-aisled nave with seven bays , a transept with a crossing tower and a semicircular apse . The changing color of the ashlar stones used on the pillars and vault ribs gives a special impression. In the west, the nave ends in a bulwark-like solid building that contains the vestibule (with frescoes of the Last Judgment from the 13th century) and the Michael's chapel on the upper floor. Its high hipped roof was built in the 15th century.

In the east there is a relay choir with four side choirs. The Resurrection Chapel in the first northern side choir is decorated with wall paintings from the 13th century (Annunciation, Nativity, Prayer on the Mount of Olives and Ascension). Vicar General Jean de Grailly had the Grailly Chapel in the second south side choir rebuilt in Gothic style in 1454 . The crossing tower was rebuilt in Gothic style after a fire in the 16th century.

The basilica is 67 m long in total. The height of the central nave is between 14 and 15.2 m, the height of the choir 16.8 m and the height to the top of the tower is 63.4 m.

Development after the Reformation

After the Reformation, the abbey church was profaned and served in the 17th century as a bell foundry, in the 18th century, after intermediate floors were moved in, as a granary and later also as a prison and barracks. A careful restoration has been carried out since 1926, which is why the church is once again a monument of European importance.

A museum has been located in the remaining Romanesque buildings of the abbey since 1869. Of the former convent buildings south of the abbey church, only the chapter house, which was newly built at the beginning of the 16th century, has been preserved.

Renovation 2007–2020

From 2007 onwards the abbey church was thoroughly renovated. According to the experts, the building was in critical condition and threatened to collapse. Over a thousand craftsmen from a hundred companies in the region took part in the renovation work. Thanks to a laser beam , the Romanesque ornaments on the facades could be brought out again without the stones being damaged. The roofs, part of the vaults and the paintings inside the church have also been restored. In connection with the renovation program, Payerne's marketplace was redesigned. A new interactive discovery tour has been developed for visitors. The main burden of the renovation costs of 20 million Swiss francs was borne by the city of Payerne. The church reopened on July 11, 2020.

organ

Since 1999 there has been a specially designed organ by Jürgen Ahrend in the abbey church , which is based on Italian models in a copy of the case by Lorenzo da Prato in San Petronio Bologna . Before that, from 1981 to 1996, there was an instrument by the same organ builder that was transferred here from Taizé and is now in Lyon Cathedral.

Disposition

I Grand Orgue C – d 3 Principal 8th' Bourdon 8th' Prestant 4 ′ Flute 4 ′ Nazard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Octave 2 ′ Larigot 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Cornetto V 8th' Fittings III 2 ′ Cymbals II 1' Trumpets 8th'

II positive C – d 3 Bourdon 8th' Suavial 8th' Prestant 4 ′ Flûte douce 4 ′ Fifth 3 ′ Duplicate 2 ′ Voix humaine 8th'

Pedale C – d 1 Contrebasse 16 ′ Principal bass 8th' Octave bass 4 ′ Bombard 16 ′

literature

• L'abbatiale de Payerne. Ed .: Association pour la restauration de l'abbatiale, Lausanne 1966 ( Bibliothèque historique vaudoise ; vol. 39).
• Hans Eberhard Mayer : The Peterlingen forgeries and the beginnings of the monastery and city of Peterlingen. In: German Archive for Research into the Middle Ages. 19: 30-129 (1963).
• Hans Rudolf Sennhauser : The Abbey Church of Payerne VD. Ed .: Society for Swiss Art History GSK. Bern 1991, ISBN 3-85782-495-6 ( Swiss Art Guide ; No. 495).
• Les orgues des églises médievales de Payerne. Association pour la mise en valeur des orgues Ahrend de Payerne. Payerne 2010.

Web links

Commons : Payerne Abbey  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• L'Abbatiale de Payerne (French) on the Payerne official website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mayer, forgery of documents, pp. 34–44.
2. ^ Niclas Maeder: Payerne Abbey open to visitors again. Freiburger Nachrichten , July 9, 2020, accessed on July 10, 2020 . 
3. ^ Keystone-SDA: Reopening of Payerne Abbey. Bote der Urschweiz , July 8, 2020, accessed on July 10, 2020 (English). 
4. ↑ Eglise Abbatiale Payerne VD. In the organ directory Switzerland-Liechtenstein , accessed on July 27, 2020.
5. ^ Lyon: Cathédrale Saint-Jean (choir organ). The organ page , accessed on July 27, 2020.
6. ↑ Description of contents on the publisher's website, accessed on May 13, 2018.

Coordinates: 46 ° 49 ′ 14.5 "  N , 6 ° 56 ′ 14"  E ; CH1903:  five hundred and sixty-one thousand seven hundred thirty-seven  /  185628