Apostle Church (Viernheim)
The Apostelkirche is a Catholic church in Viernheim . It belongs to the parish of John XXIII. Viernheim in the diocese of Mainz .
History and architecture
The Catholic Apostle Church in Viernheim was built in the neo-Gothic style between 1896 and 1899 according to plans by the Freiburg builder Max Meckel and consecrated on September 1, 1900 by Bishop Heinrich Brück . The three-aisled staggered hall with a wide three-axis transept and an apse with a three-eighth end is 65 meters long and 33 meters wide. The tower with a high pointed spire has a height of 75 meters including the weathercock. The interior is finished off with ribbed vaults on round pillars. The ceilings and walls are decorated with ornamental-vegetable paintings by Valentin Volk and others. The paintings in the style of the Nazarenes on canvas with a cycle of Christ above the central nave arcades were created by Julius Fischer. The artistically valuable glass paintings were designed by Bernhard Kraus during the construction period.
Furnishing
The original furnishings - altars, apostle windows, wall paintings - have largely been preserved. Five altars with ingredients from the collection Münzenberger are the main pieces. The high altar from the beginning of the 16th century was heavily redesigned by Joseph Schnitzer in 1899. The shrine with rich tracery and high crack contains six figures from around 1500 of southern German origin, some of which have been revised and recast. They depict Saint Boniface , a crescent Madonna and Saints Andrew , Vitus, Stephanus and Jakobus. On the inside of the wings there are painted, heavily restored depictions of the Dutch School with the Adoration of the Kings and the Resurrection of Christ from the beginning of the 16th century. The outside of the wings are neo-Gothic works with the Descent from the Cross and Entombment. The crucifixion group in the burst probably dates from the 15th century. In the predella there are busts of Saints Francis , Augustine , Gregory , Hieronymus , Ambrosius and Dominic .
In the left side chapel the cruciform or painful altar is set up. It shows a Pietà in the shrine and on the wings reliefs with Saints Helena and Heraclius . The Annunciation to Mary can be seen on the back of the wings. In the right side chapel you can find the Joseph altar, which was redesigned by the Busch company in 1905. In the center there is a depiction of Joseph with the boy Jesus and the apostles James the Elder and Paul, on the wings Saints Louis and Laurentius, on the outside the Holy Family .
In the south transept is the Altar of Our Lady, which comes from the church in Hüll near Nuremberg and was reworked by Joseph Schnitzer. In the shrine it shows a finely crafted, almost life-size Mother of God from the late 15th century, who was probably made by the master of the Martha altar in Nuremberg. It is flanked by the added figures of Saints John Evangelista and John the Baptist. Half-figures are depicted on the predella in grisaille painting .
In the north transept is the sacrament altar, which was reworked in 1899 by T. Bauhus. In the middle there is a Sacred Heart figure from the G. Busch company from 1905, next to it the apostles Peter and Paul, further representations of Saints Catherine and Margaretha, in the wings Saints Boniface and Kilian. The scene of the Annunciation is shown on the back of the wings.
On the pillars of the central nave there are colorful, neo-Gothic apostle figures. Two tapestries with the Stations of the Cross, painted by T. Bauhus, date from around 1900. The organ dates from 1903. It was made by the Würzburg organ builder Schlimbach. With 38 registers, it is the largest organ in the city.
literature
- Georg Dehio: Handbook of the German art monuments. Hessen II. The administrative district of Darmstadt . 2nd edition, Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-422-03117-3 , pp. 784–785.
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 32 ′ 16.3 " N , 8 ° 34 ′ 42.3" E