Alt-St. Servatius (Koblenz)

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The old Servatius Church in Koblenz-Güls
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Alt-St. Servatius is a Catholic church in Koblenz . The former parish church was built in the Güls district in the 13th century . After the late Staufer basilica became too small, it was replaced only 160 meters away by the new parish church of St. Servatius , built in 1833–1840 . It bears the patronage of St. Servatius of Tongeren .

history

A " Chapel of Golese", presumably on the site of the old Servatius Church, was first mentioned in 775 in Güls. It was founded by Archbishop Lull with permission of Charlemagne the monastery Hersfeld given. It was exchanged for the Servatiusstift in Maastricht in 1126 , which Archbishop Balduin von Trier expressly confirmed with the incorporation of 1332. This probably brought the Servatius patronage to Güls. The image of St. Servatius appears on the oldest Güls court seal from 1324, which shows him with a key like on old Maastricht representations.

The old Servatius Church was built in the 12th century. The lower floors of the tower still date from this time. The Romanesque church building dates from the first half of the 13th century. The village church is the most elaborate church building in the Lahn and Moselle areas and shows that it belongs to a rich monastery . The west tower received a tower clock in 1601 . The choir, including the large choir window, was renovated for the first time in 1686. In 1686 the church in the northeast received a sacristy .

After the church had become too small, a new Servatiuskirche was built a few meters away according to plans by the architect Johann Claudius von Lassaulx 1833–1840 . The old church was then profaned and neglected. The high altar , procured by Jesuits around 1600 , was sold to Niederberg in 1842 and placed in the parish church of St. Pankratius . A restoration started in 1932 was discontinued during World War II . The old church was damaged in the air raid on Koblenz on December 22, 1944, and the south aisle was completely destroyed. 95 people were killed in this air raid in Güls alone. In the years 1958–1961 the damage was repaired.

After a foundation was established in 2005, the old Servatius Church was extensively restored by 2013.

Construction and equipment

Outside

The old Servatius Church is a late Romanesque three-nave gallery basilica with a two-bay nave and a rectangular choir of the same width . A porch with a triangular gable is built on the north side . It is 16.6 m long and 14.3 m wide with the side aisles. The west tower with the lower floors, built in the 12th century, is made of quarry stone up to the coupled sound windows . The bell storey above from the 13th century has three-part sound openings, the cloverleaf arches of which are supported by two pairs of columns, and is structured with pilaster strips , cornices and round-arched friezes. This structure can also be found on the rest of the nave.

The church building is characterized by the arcades , gallery arches and window zones rounded into the vaults typical of the late Romanesque churches . The choir and the niche in the apse protrude high above the nave. Outside there are two grave slabs from the 15th and 17th centuries, and four basalt grave slabs from the 17th century on the tower. A grave cross dates from 1583.

Inside

The interior is characterized by ogival ground floor arcades and cloverleaf arched gallery openings, and arched windows in the upper storeys. The central nave is almost twice as high as it is wide. The choir with a protruding apse niche, under which there is a transverse gallery, is raised by nine steps. The choir and central nave have a ribbed vault , side aisles and galleries have a groined vault . Like the lighter cross ribs, the strong cross straps have a round profile.

The color scheme from the construction time in gray, red and yellow was exposed and supplemented during the restoration 1958–1961. On the arches of the galleries there are wall paintings from the middle of the 13th century depicting female half-figures with banners. According to today's interpretation, they represent the eight Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount from the Gospel of Matthew , which is a rare iconography in Europe . There is also a figure of St. Servatius with a key in his right hand, a work from the Middle Rhine region from the middle of the 14th century, and a figure of St. Sebastian (around 1560).

  • Sanctuary

  • Gallery

  • inner space

  • Medieval wall painting

  • Figure of St. Servatius

organ

The organ in the aisle

An organ in the church is documented as early as 1688 . In 1696 a new organ was purchased, which was transported by ship from Frankfurt . It cost 400 guilders . In the left aisle there is now an organ from the Klais company with 10 registers .

Bells

There were four bells in the former parish church of St. Servatius . They came from the years 1387, 1630 and 1745; the fourth bell was undated. In the First World War they were partially seized, the rest was melted down 1927th

Monument protection

Alt-St. Servatius is a protected cultural monument according to the Monument Protection Act (DSchG) and registered in the list of monuments of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate . It is located in Koblenz-Güls on Gulisastraße .

See also

literature

  • Energieversorgung Mittelrhein GmbH (ed.): History of the city of Koblenz. (Overall editing: Ingrid Bátori in conjunction with Dieter Kerber and Hans Josef Schmidt)
    • Volume 1: From the beginning to the end of the electoral era. Theiss, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-8062-0876-X .
    • Volume 2: From the French city to the present. Theiss, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-8062-1036-5 .
  • Fritz Michel : The churches of the city of Koblenz (The church monuments of the city of Koblenz. The art monuments of the Rhine province, 20th volume, 1st department) , Düsseldorf 1937
  • Fritz Michel: The art monuments of the city of Koblenz. The profane monuments and the suburbs , Munich Berlin 1954, (Die Kunstdenkmäler von Rheinland-Pfalz, first volume).
  • Willi Münch: The old Güls parish church , from the series “Heimatschriften” by the Gülser Heimatförderer, February 1980
  • Willi Münch: The new Güls parish church St. Servatius , from the series “Heimatschriften” by the Gülser Heimatförderer, May 1980
  • Wolfgang Schütz: Koblenz heads. People from the city's history - namesake for streets and squares. Verlag für Werbung Blätter GmbH, Ed .: Bernd Weber, Mülheim-Kärlich 2005 (2nd revised and expanded edition), p. 505 f., ISBN 224-0-00345-226-2 .
  • Ulrike Weber (edit.): Cultural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate. Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany. Volume 3.3: City of Koblenz. Districts. Werner, Worms 2013, ISBN 978-3-88462-345-9 .

Web links

Commons : Alt-St. Servatius (Koblenz-Güls)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Koblenz-Güls has its beautiful old church back in: Rhein-Zeitung , August 20, 2013
  2. ↑ General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Informational directory of cultural monuments - district-free city of Koblenz (PDF; 1.5 MB), Koblenz 2013

Coordinates: 50 ° 20 ′ 36.5 ″  N , 7 ° 32 ′ 52.5 ″  E