Red tips
The red peaks are a double tower and the landmark of the former residential city of Altenburg in the Free State of Thuringia . They once belonged to the St. Mary's Church of the Augustinian Canons Our Dear Women on the Mountain in front of Altenburg , which was founded in 1165. The red lace has been recognized as a nationally significant cultural monument since 2006 .
history
The collegiate church, to which the double tower complex belonged, is said to have been consecrated in 1172 in the presence of Friedrich Barbarossa and Udo von Naumburg . However, the documents that prove this have turned out to be forgeries. The church was built from brick in the Romanesque style from 1165 to 1172. The wooden roof trusses of the towers date from 1336. The monastery had a bad reputation among the reformers and was disbanded in 1543. Just a few decades later, the nave was in ruins, but the west tower remained intact. In 1618 the north tower received its baroque hood. After the monastery was dissolved, the city took over the building and in 1665 set up a school in it. Twenty years later the towers were turned into a prison and served as such for 200 years. At the beginning of the 17th century the nave was rebuilt and a widow's and orphanage was set up in it from 1669 to 1671. The structure got its current shape in the 19th century: in 1810 it was rebuilt after a fire and in the middle of the century it was supplemented by a half-timbered building. It was used as a breeding and work house. The builder Friedrich Sprenger carried out extensive repair work on the tower system from 1871 to 1873 and removed some additions in the process. During the GDR era, a museum for medieval handicrafts was located in the Rote Spitzen until 1972. A permanent exhibition on the building opened in June 2013, so that it can now be visited regularly again.
Description of the building
Main portal
The round arched main portal with its triple gradation and two inlaid columns is the poor remnant of the old monastery church. The main portal is a so-called column step portal, it is art-historically dated to the late 12th century. The sandstones of the portal are the largest sandstones built on the Red Peaks, they were probably viewed as a particularly valuable building material. The color change to the red brick is typical for the Staufer period and should symbolize the connection to the Carolingian tradition (Palatine Chapel Aachen).
With regard to the brick structure, the quality of the construction (stones used, joints) allows the conclusion that this work was carried out by Italian craftsmen. The tongue capitals of the columns appear archaic at the end of the 12th century. This may also be a deliberate stylistic recourse to Carolingian traditions, which presumably illustrated Barbarossa's understanding of rulership as the successor to Charlemagne. The column shafts and other components made of sandstone are provided with secondary scratch marks. These scratch marks are causally related to the symbolic sharpening of weapons, as this touch promised a magical power.
Romanesque painting of the barrel vault
The plastering of the barrel vault is still from the construction period and has Romanesque paintings. The paintings were only discovered recently and have only survived in fragments. The paintings are depictions of saints, probably scenic, stylistically they belong to the 12th century - at the latest the early 13th century.
Entrance hall / portal room
The entrance hall is located in the basement of the central building between the towers. Above the entrance hall was the emperor's gallery open to the nave.
The entrance hall of the collegiate church is not a vestibule in the liturgical sense (pre-church, paradise), but a pathway. The special importance is emphasized by the consistent use of high-quality hatched tiles and careful joint formation. Parts of this barrel-vaulted pathway certainly consisted of a staircase that is no longer available today and so far without evidence. The actual entrance in the west was originally completely open, and today's double arcade, which is now walled up, is a subsequent installation (but medieval). The main portal is in the east. The main portal was only used as an entrance by the canon himself, e.g. B. in processions. The “public” main entrance was originally in the north aisle.
Originally the portal room only had these two openings, there were no entrances to the towers. The entrance to the south tower from the portal room was added later and belongs to the time around 1400. In the post-Reformation period, this entrance to the south tower was made smaller again because the basement of the south tower was used as a prison.
Basement of the south tower
Initially, there was access to the basement of the south tower: An entrance on the south side was used to cross the west wing of the enclosure, which is connected here. This entrance was probably closed in the Middle Ages. The east wall of the south tower contains an apse , which suggests its use as a chapel. This apse shows Romanesque paintings from the mid 12th to early 13th centuries. These paintings have recently been rediscovered. It is a representation of the coronation of Mary in a mandorla . The framing is a fan-leaf frieze . Of the still preserved painting fragments from the Romanesque period, experts consider the ensemble of the Red Lace to be unique.
In 1935, during an excavation in the south tower, Hans Höckner found many skeletons in a tumultuous arrangement (no anatomical association). Between the human bones there was found material (ceramics) from the 17th to 18th centuries. These are probably medieval burials on the monastery grounds that were found during later construction work on the orphanage and were then reburied in a collective grave.
Since Hans Höckner has not documented his finds, another excavation is currently being carried out. A first result shows that the floor level of the south tower is more than three meters above the current street level of Torgasse.
literature
Paul Mitzschke u. J. Löbe: On the history of the Bergerkloster I and II, unknown verses about the Bergerkloster zu Altenburg . In: Mittheilungen der Geschichts- und Alterthumsforschenden Gesellschaft des Osterlandes, Vol. 9, Altenburg, 1887, p. 413
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g Former Augustinian collegiate church St. Mariena, Altenburg - vulgo: Rote Spitzen ( Memento of the original from May 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Website of the company pons asini. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
- ↑ a b c Reformatory tour: Red lace website of the Altenburg city administration. Retrieved May 7, 2017
- ↑ Sights in Thuringia at www.thüringen.info. Accessed on July 12, 2011
- ↑ Exhibition opening on June 21, 2013 at abge-info.de. Accessed June 12, 2013.
- ↑ Herbert Hintzenstern: Built for eternity. Monastery complexes in Thuringia - cultural evidence from ancient times. Verlagshaus Thuringia, 1996, ISBN 3-89683-104-6 , p. 60
- ↑ Barbara Perlich: Medieval brick building: on the question of the origin of brick technology. Imhof, 2007, ISBN 978-3-86568-202-4 , p. 188
- ^ Signs for Stadtarchäologie Altenburg / Uni Jena
- ↑ Sensation: Oldest painting of the Coronation of the Virgin discovered in Altenburg , OTZ from August 27, 2012
Coordinates: 50 ° 59 ′ 5.1 " N , 12 ° 26 ′ 16.2" E