Barmherzigenkirche (Graz)

Front view with a swinging tower facade

The Church of Mercy of the Annunciation is a Roman Catholic church in the fourth district of Lend in Graz . The sacred building is on Annenstrasse between Südtiroler Platz and Roseggerhaus. The church is a pastoral care office of the Convent of the Brothers of Mercy , who also look after the hospital , and belongs to the Graz-Mariä Mariahilf parish in the Graz-Mitte dean's office of the City Church Graz .

history

View from the Graz Schlossberg

In 1615 it was decided that the Brothers of Mercy should settle in Graz. The reason for the foundation and establishment was the unexpected healing of Archduke Maximilian Ernst, who was saved from an arm amputation by Brother Gabriel Ferrara. The Barmherzigen Brüder Hospital was the first hospital in Graz in the true sense of the word.

The place where the former execution site of the Mur suburb was located was made available to the brothers. The foundation stone was laid by Prince Archduke Ferdinand and his brother Maximilian Ernst. The Thirty Years' War delayed construction progress so that the church could not be completed until 1638. After a hundred years, this first Church of Mercy was demolished due to its dilapidation and replaced by today's baroque building, which was started in 1735 and consecrated in 1769. The Barmherzigenkirche serves as a garrison church from 1838–1938 and again from September 1966, as indicated by the gravestones and memorial plaques for the army in the hall of honor in the cloister. The Brothers of Mercy were expropriated under National Socialism; one brother died in the Auschwitz concentration camp . After the Second World War , however, the convention began again, expanding and modernizing the facilities.

Garrison Church In 1838 the baroque church was designated as a garrison church for military services and held this function until 1938. It was rebuilt as a garrison church for the Austrian Armed Forces in 1966 with military honors in the presence of Cardinal König, Bishop Schoiswohl, the mayor, the President of the Landtag and the Graz commanders. All military pastoral events, such as baptisms, weddings, confirmations, etc. as well as concerts and pre-Christmas events took place there.

After 52 years in the garrison church, the military bishop terminated the agreement with the Brothers of Mercy at the request of the two military pastors. Therefore, there are no military services and commemorations of the traditional associations. The memorial plaques of the former troops in the hall of honor and the Tegetthoff bell in the church have been preserved for reasons of monument protection.

The bell of the Tegetthoff

In the Barmherzigenkirche, which also serves as a garrison church, the second and steel ship's bell of the battleship SMS Tegetthoff (launched in 1912) of the former Austrian Navy has been located since July 23, 1973 .

This bell with a diameter of almost 51 cm (20 inches) was used as a ship's bell on board the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen from 1942 until the capitulation at the end of World War II . The bell , which is used for beating time, was not cast from iron until 1916, as the first bell from SMS Tegetthoff was melted down to use the bronze for armaments. The iron bell was exhibited with the Tegetthoff as spoils of war in Venice until 1920 and remained in La Spezia, Italy until 1942. It was fetched from the 2nd ship in 1945 and withdrawn from the Allies as the victorious power, was in 2 German naval schools and was handed over to the Republic of Austria in 1973 at the instigation of the Tegetthoff Navy Comradeship, which it as a permanent loan for display, then hanging in the church the comradeship passed on. It hangs on the pillar on the left in front of the sanctuary, and it can be rung with the piece of rope on the clapper. 2 stone tablets with a short description and bell slogan (signed "VS ST." (= Viktor Stark)) are mounted underneath at chest height.

In 2015, 150 years after the Battle of Lissa, a memorial service was held in the church.

architecture

High altar by Josef Schokotnigg

The master builder was the Graz court architect Johann Stengg , who also renovated the monastery church in Rein . The architecture and the interior are in the style of the high baroque and a high point in the development of the Styrian baroque architecture. A special feature is the swinging tower facade, to which there are hardly any comparisons in Austria and which therefore has an extraordinary art-historical significance.

Furnishing

The interior is characterized by the side wall pillars, which form three chapel-like niches on each side, each with side altars. The high altar comes from the Graz sculptor Josef Schokotnigg and forms the highlight in a splendid and rich interior design.

In the altarpiece there is a depiction of the angel's Annunciation to Mary . God the Father is enthroned above the image, surrounded by angels. Between the side columns there are three-dimensional representations of scenes related to the Order of the Brothers of Mercy: the acceptance of the order by Pope Pius V , the founder of the order John of God , the blessed Johannes Grande at the banishment of a plague devil and the saint Karl Borromeo giving communion to a person suffering from the plague. The famous South Tyrolean sculptor Veit Königer created the Sacred Heart Altar as his first known work for the Barmherzigenkirche.

On the sound roof of the pulpit, the archangel Michael fights against the dragon as a symbol of evil and on the edge of the sound roof sit the figures of Matthew , Markus , Lukas and Johannes . In a medallion are the following words, which are similar to those of the Sermon on the Mount : "Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it." On the pulpit there are scenes from the life of the Order's founder, John of God.

organ

The organ was built in 1893 by the organ builder E.F. Walcker & Cie. , Ludwigsburg , Württemberg. The two-part case was taken over from the previous organ. In it, however, only the pipes of the main work and the pedal as well as the wind system and bellows are housed. The pipe work of the swell works is in a separate case on the left side gallery. The Kegelladen instrument has 23 sounding stops on two manual works and a pedal. The actions are pneumatic. The instrument was restored by organ builder Christian Scheffler in 2013/2014 and partially reconstructed to its original state with its late romantic sound.

I main work C – f ³
1.	Bourdon	16 ′
2.	Principal	8th'
3.	Hollow flute	8th'
4th	Covered	8th'
5.	Viola di gamba	8th'
6th	Gemshorn	8th'
7th	Reed flute	4 ′
8th.	Octav	4 ′
9.	Cornett IV-V	8th'
10.	Mixture V	2 ² ⁄ ₃  ′

II Swell C – f ³
11.	Flute Principal	8th'
12.	Darling Covered	8th'
13.	Quintatön	8th'
14th	Salicional	8th'
15th	Aeoline	8th'
16.	Voix celeste	8th'
17th	Travers flute	4 ′
18th	Dolce	4 ′

Pedals C – d ¹
19th	Covered bass	16 ′
20th	Sub bass	16 ′
21st	Violon bass	16 ′
22nd	Principal bass	16 ′
23.	Octavbass	8th'

Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P

literature

Alois Kölbl, Wiltraud Resch: Paths to God. The churches and synagogue of Graz. 2nd, expanded and supplemented edition. Styria, Graz 2004, ISBN 3-222-13105-8 , pp. 148-151.

Others

The church can be entered through 3 iron entrance gates from Annenstrasse and from the west through two doors from a corridor of the convent building of the Brothers of Mercy , to which their pharmacy is attached to the west. To the north and east are the buildings and the cloister garden of the convent and hospital of the Brothers of Mercy. An approximately 7 m high, large three-dimensional mural, originally oriented to the west, was removed in 2003-2010 from the former operating theater, which was demolished in the course of a renovation and expansion of the hospital, and placed on a base on a north wall north of the church and Pharmacy reassembled outdoors.

A windowless Loreto chapel with (today) dark, unplastered walls is built on the southeast corner to the east and is only accessible through a wall opening as a passage over the nave . Its closed south wall is aligned with the church front, also on Annenstrasse.

Individual evidence

↑ Styrian Catholic Church: Monastery in Graz. Merciful Brothers , accessed June 3, 2018.
↑ Sacred buildings in Austria: Monastery Church of the Annunciation (Barmherzigenkirche) - Graz , accessed on June 3, 2018.
↑ Merciful Brothers: History: Developments Since 1950 , accessed June 3, 2018.
↑ Merciful Brothers: History: The Developments from 1900 to 1950 , accessed June 3, 2018.
↑ 400 years in the service of hospitality , accessed on June 3, 2018 (PDF).
↑ Roman Catholic Military chaplaincy WE. Special edition 2016, p. 8 ( online , accessed June 3, 2018).
↑ The Styrian NCO. 4/2016, p. 18: 50 Years Garrison Church Graz , accessed on June 3, 2018.
^ Written information from the press and public relations work of the Brothers of Mercy from June 5, 2018.
↑ Reinhard Stradner: The TEGETTHOFF bell in the garrison church . In: Board letter of the marine comradeship TEGETTHOFF. XIV, 01/2011, p. 8 f., Graz, June 2011, accessed January 6, 2016. - PDF, 24 pages. History and picture of the bell, bell saying.
↑ Ingo Bauernfeind: Radioactive for all eternity - The fate of the Prinz Eugen . ES Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2011, ISBN 978-3-8132-0928-0 , p. 163 .
^ Commemoration of Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, memorial event on the occasion of 150 years of the Battle of Lissa, City of Graz, July 18, 2016 ( Memento from August 15, 2016 in the web archive archive.today ). - Photo report shows Tegetthoff bell, interior, information board.
^ Organ restoration Barmherzigenkirche Graz , organ workshop Christian Scheffler, Jacobsdorf, 2014, accessed January 5, 2016.