Marienstatt Abbey Church

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Abbey church from the northwest
Floor plan of the abbey church

The Abbey Church of Our Lady of Marienstatt is the abbey church of the Cistercian Abbey of Marienstatt and a nationally important Marian pilgrimage church .

location

The abbey church and the adjoining baroque monastery buildings are located in the valley of the Nister in the local community Streithausen in the Rhineland-Palatinate Westerwaldkreis approx. 82 km (driving distance) southeast of Cologne and approx. 65 km east of Bonn at an altitude of approx. 235  m .

history

The abbey church, which may have started shortly after the monks moved to Nistertal (1222), but no later than 1245 and completed a good hundred years later (1347), is one of the first Gothic churches east of the Rhine , along with the Elisabeth Church of Marburg , which was started in 1235 . However, they had already started to rebuild Limburg Cathedral in the Gothic style before 1190 . And the first large Gothic church building east of the Rhine was the Magdeburg Cathedral in 1209 . The so-called Altenberg Cathedral (also a Cistercian building), located approx. 80 km (as the crow flies) northwest of Marienstatt, was not built until 1255. In the years 1688 to 1720, the church was designed in the Baroque style under Abbot Benedikt Bach and with numerous Altars provided. However, the baroque furnishings were reversed around 1980, except for the altars. On July 27, 1927, Pope Pius XI awarded the church the honorary title of a minor basilica .

central nave flooded with light

architecture

The church, which is stabilized on the outside by buttresses and buttresses , has a three-aisled and seven-bay nave , which is adjoined by a transept and a semicircular, three-storey choir with a walkway and wreath chapels . True to the Cistercian idea, it is kept very simple: it has only one roof turret instead of towers, the immaculate windows are frameless and look like they have been cut into the masonry; in addition, the exterior of the church is not colored. The west facade is dominated by an approx. 10 m high tracery window with no glass paintings surrounded by a profiled frame . The columns of the almost 18 m high and only two-storey cross - rib vaulted central nave are bricked and then plastered; the ribs of the vaults of the side aisles are supported on consoles, as is usual in Cistercian architecture. Columns, wall segments and vaulted caps are painted with joints .

Furnishing

  • The choir stalls , carved around 1290 but largely figure-less , are one of the oldest choir stalls still in use in Germany. Only the highlighted abbot stables shows a pelican feeding its young with its own blood.
  • In the choir of the church, the high altar of the basilica with the Ursula shrine created around 1350 stands out. The altarpiece ( retable ), in the lower area of which, when opened, skull relics and twelve reliquary busts of St. Ursula of Cologne and her companions can be seen, is one of the most important medieval winged altars in the Rhineland with the Oberwesel gold altar and the clear altar in Cologne Cathedral . Furthermore, the interior of the shrine shows depictions of the twelve apostles and the coronation of Mary in the upper area . The entire retable was extensively restored between 2001 and 2008.
  • In addition to numerous stone and cast iron tombstones , the abbey church also houses the well-preserved late medieval high grave of Count Gerhard von Sayn († 1493) and his wife Elisabeth von Sierck († 1489). On a stone, painted tumba it bears two wooden, larger-than-life figures of the count's couple. A wrought iron grille closes the tomb.
  • The Chapel of Mercy, which was added to the south aisle of the church between 1945 and 1947, houses the miraculous image of Marienstatt. The depiction of the "painful Mother of God" from the early 15th century comes from the Danube-Alpine region. There is evidence that she has been venerated in Marienstatt since 1425. With the installation of the Pietà, literally translated as “Mother of Mercy”, Marienstatt developed into a Marian pilgrimage site.
  • The new choir window was created in 2005 by the glass painter Wilhelm Buschulte .

organ

The history of the organs of the abbey church can be traced back to the 16th century. At that time there was a pre-baroque instrument that was attached to the north side of the main nave as a swallow's nest organ. At the end of the 18th century the large organ was on the gallery in front of the west window. In 1854, the organ builder Daniel Raßmann (Möttau) built a new organ on the west gallery with 16  stops on two manuals and a pedal , using pipe material from the previous instrument. In 1941 the organ and the organ stage were demolished.

To accompany the choir singing , a new choir organ was built in the north transept in 1912 . The romantically arranged instrument had 45 registers; it was expanded in 1941 during the renovation of the abbey church and moved to the parish hall. In 1950, the organ builder Anton Feith ( Paderborn ) built a new instrument, reusing a large part of the pipe material from the stored choir organ, which was, however, re-voiced according to the sound ideal of the organ movement . In 1964 the instrument, which last had 41 registers, was sold to the parish of St. Peter (Cologne-Neuehrenfeld) and installed there. From then on, a small loan instrument was used in the abbey church.

Rieger organ of the Marienstatt Abbey

The current organ was built by Rieger Orgelbau between 1969/70 . The instrument stands above the stalls of the choir stalls in the northern Vierungsjoch . Its housing is made of solid oak . The organ has the only authentic Spanish trumpets (horizontal trumpets ) outside of the Iberian Peninsula . The pipe material dates from 1732.

Following the complete renovation of the basilica since 2001, the instrument was expanded in 2006 and 2007 by Orgelbau Romanus Seifert & Sohn ( Kevelaer ). On the one hand, the bass range of the pedals has been reinforced by adding two 32-foot registers. In each case, only the subcontractive octave consists of actually newly added pipes . The tones c to f 'of the two new 32' registers are here obtained by a transmission from the already existing registers subset 16 'and trombone 16'. The four new stops are on two windchests behind the organ. A celesta harp, built in 1920 by the American organ workshop Skinner , was also added in 2006 . This hangs directly next to the organ behind the choir stalls. The register has a range of 61 notes. It is played using its own, special electropneumatic action (high pressure fan). It is equipped with reverberation damping.

In the course of mold treatment and cleaning by Rieger in 2012, the entire electronics of the instrument were replaced and a new setting system (type Sinua Castellan) was installed. In addition, the Seifert organ building workshop expanded the instrument to include two main stops (overblowing flute and viol) in the 8 'position, each with extensions in the 4' position. These registers can also be played individually from the first and fourth manual. Furthermore, a carillon was installed behind the organ . It consists of 12 cast sound bars in the bass range and 37 bronze tubular bells in the middle range. In addition, the gaming table was redesigned.

In 2015, the organ was again expanded by three stops, which, together with the celesta harp, were housed in a swellable housing on the western side of the organ and combined to form an auxiliary register (work). These are chorale bordoons and borduns that serve the monks as chorale accompaniment during choir prayers, as well as the resounding clarinet, with the latter having its own wind sill. In 2016, these were supplemented by a historical Dulciana, which was built in Central England at the end of the 19th century and is also intended for choral accompaniment.

The organ has 73 registers (over 5,000 pipes), four manuals and pedal, swell, chest and auxiliary register, each in its own swell box.

Disposition
I Rückpositiv C – g 3
01. Pointed 08th'
Flute (= No. 12) 08th'
02. Salizional 08th'
Viol (= No. 13) 0 08th'
03. Principal 04 ′
04th Coupling flute 04 ′
Flute (= No. 16) 04 ′
Viol (= No. 17) 04 ′
05. Gemshorn 02 ′
06th Sesquialter II 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′
07th Scharff IV 01'
08th. Krummhorn 08th'
Tremulant
II Hauptwerk C – g 3
09. Principal 16 ′
10. Principal 08th'
11. Pointed flute 08th'
12. flute 08th' E.
13. Viol 08th' E.
14th octave 04 ′
15th Reed flute 04 ′
16. Flute (ext. No.12) 04 ′ E.
17th Viol (ext. No.13) 04 ′ E.
18th Fifth 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′
19th Super octave 02 ′
20th Larigot II 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′
21st Mixture V-VII 01'
22nd Cornett V (from g 0 ) 0 08th'
23. Dulcian 16 ′
24. Trumpet 08th' S.
III Swell C – g 3
25th Drone 16 ′ S.
26th Principal 08th'
27. Reed flute 08th'
28. Aeoline 08th'
29 Beat (from g 0 ) 0 08th'
30th Octave 04 ′
31. recorder 04 ′
32. Nasat 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′
33. Hollow flute 02 ′
34. third 01 3 ⁄ 5  ′
35. Mixture V 02 ′
36. Trumpet 08th'
37. Hautbois 08th' S.
38. Clairon 04 ′
Tremulant
IV breastwork C – g 3
39. Wooden dacked 08th'
Flute (= No. 12) 08th'
Viol (= No. 13) 0 08th'
40. Quintad 08th'
41. Reed flute 04 ′
Flute (= No. 16) 04 ′
Viol (= No. 17) 04 ′
42. Principal 02 ′
43. Fifth 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′
44. Sifflet 01'
45. None 08 ⁄ 9 ′
46. Cymbel II 01 ⁄ 4 ′
47. Vox humana 08th'
Tremulant
IV Spanish work C – g 3
48. Trompeta magna (D) 16 ′
48. Chirima (B) 02 ′
49. Trompeta de Batalla (B) 08th'
49. Trompeta de Batalla (D) 0 08th'
50. Clarin Claro (D) 08th'
51. Bayoncillo (B) 04 ′
51. Bayjoncillo (D) 04 ′
Pedal C – f 1
52. Base (Ext No. 54) 0 32 ′ S.
53. Prefix 16 ′
54. Pedestal 16 ′ S.
55. Sub bass 16 ′ S.
56. Octave 08th'
57. Thought bass 0 08th' S.
58. cello 08th' S.
59. Chorale bass 04 ′
60. Night horn 02 ′
61. Prong III 05 1 ⁄ 3  ′
62. Mixture IV 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′
(Continued pedal)
63. Counter trombone (Ext No. 65) 0 32 ′ S.
64. Bombard 16 ′
65. trombone 16 ′ S.
66. trombone 08th'
67. Business 04 ′
Zimbelstern
Auxiliary register C – g 3
68. clarinet 08th' 0 N
69. Choralbordun 08th' N
70. Bordunschweung 08th' N
71. Dulciana 08th' K
72. Glockenspiel (C – g 3 ) 0 E.
73. Celesta harp (C – c 4 ) S.
  • Couple
    • Normal coupling: III / I, IV / I, I / II, III / II, IV / II, IV / III, I / P, II / P, III / P, IV / P
    • Sub-octave coupling: III / I, III / II, III / III, III / IV,
    • Super octave coupling: III / I, III / II, III / III, III / IV, III / P
  • Playing aids : Freely adjustable register crescendo ; Sinua Castellan composer systemwith an almost infinite number of composer positions, freely definable coupling (transposing, melody / bass coupling, coupling areas), user profiles, etc.
Notes on the disposition
  • Remarks:
(B) = bass side
(D) = treble side
E = 2006 supplemented register (Seifert)
K = register supplemented in 2016 (Krawinkel)
N = register supplemented in 2015
S = register supplemented in 2012 (Seifert)
  1. ↑ a b Overblowing.
  2. ↑ Swell.
  3. ^ Register in a swellable case directly next to the organ behind the choir stalls. No. 69–71 primarily intended for choral accompaniment during choir prayers.
  4. ↑ Penetrating tongues, in its own wind sill.
  5. ↑ Register from Central England, built at the end of the 19th century by the organ builder Peter Conacher.
  6. ↑ 12 cast sound bars (bass range) and 37 bronze tubular bells (middle range).
  7. ↑ Historical register from around 1920, built by the American organ builder Skinner. Equipped with reverberation damping.

Web links

Commons : Abbey Church of Our Lady of Marienstatt  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information on the history of the organs ( memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) on the abbey website, accessed on December 15, 2016
  2. ↑ a b The large Rieger organ on the abbey website, accessed on July 5, 2018

Coordinates: 50 ° 41 ′ 6.2 ″  N , 7 ° 48 ′ 10.4 ″  E