Enns-Lorch basilica

South view of the parish church and basilica of St. Laurentius

Basilica of St. Laurentius and the Karner

inside view

Roman foundation walls in the area of ​​the apse

The Enns-Lorch basilica is located in the Lorch district of the city of Enns in Upper Austria . It was originally a Romanesque pillar basilica , which has been converted into Gothic renovations and extensions since 1323. The Roman Catholic parish church and minor basilica of St. Laurentius belongs to the deanery Enns-Lorch in the diocese of Linz .

History of the basilica

Building history

The Basilica of St. Laurence rises above the wall remnants of previous Roman buildings that were uncovered during archaeological excavations between 1960 and 1966. The oldest building - an elegant Roman house - dates from the 2nd century AD. An early Christian church built in the 15th century. Further alterations and extensions followed, until around 1300 the still existing church was built in Gothic style. After the archaeological research was completed, the church was rebuilt in 1966–1968, making it one of the first churches in the country whose design was already shaped by the spirit of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965).

Historical meaning

Lauriacum / St. Laurenz is mainly attributed to the following:

• Workplace of St. Florian von Lorch and the Martyrs of Lorch († 304). The relics of the Martyrs of Lorch are buried in an ancient stone trough in the main altar of the basilica, which is now visible again.
• Place of activity of St. Severin von Noricum († 482), who, according to the testimony of Vita Sancti Severini (Eugippius), “in a basilica at Lauriacum” is said to have worked the miracle of increasing oil.
• Seat of the diocese of Lauricum : In the Vita Sancti Severini , a bishop of Lauriacum is also mentioned by name: Constantius of Lauriacum .
• Triduum of Charlemagne (791): Before the campaign against the Avars, Charlemagne and his army held a three-day fast in Lorch .

After the excavation work was completed in 1966, St. Laurenz quickly received new attention:

• renewed elevation to the parish church (1968).
• Elevation to the first titular archbishopric of Central Europe (1968): first titular archbishop of Lauriacum was Girolamo Prigione , former nuncio in Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico.
• Elevation to the papal basilica minor by Pope Paul VI. (1970).
• Visit of Pope John Paul II (1988), who celebrated a celebration of the Word of God with thousands of believers in the open air on today's Papstwiese.
• Elevation of St. Florian von Lorch to the state patron saint of Upper Austria (2004; Florian has been the diocesan saint of Linz since 1971, as has Severin since 1935).

Furnishing

Sacrament House (1480)

Among the numerous works of art in the basilica, the following should be mentioned in particular:

• Lorcher Madonna around 1330
• four Gothic window paintings from 1330
• Bust of a Man of Sorrows (Pietà?) Around 1330, which was found during renovation work in a wall niche.
• 14th century frescoes
• Lorcher Pietà from terra nigra (around 1430)
• Gothic tabernacle from 1480 and 1486
• Wood relief Bethlehemite child murder around 1520 (Lorcher Meister)
• Life-size corpus of the choir arch cross around 1530
• Life-size ecce homo group made of terracotta around 1690 with Pontius Pilate in the uniform of a Turkish grand vizier on the wall of the Karner.
• Large painting from the 18th century about the martyrdom of St. Laurentius , the patron saints of the city of Enns and the Lorch bishops (pilgrim forgery)
• Glass window by Rudolf Kolbitsch (1967)
• Bronze gates depicting the life of the local saints Florian and Severin as well as the Way of the Cross of Jesus with the encounter between the risen One and Thomas ( Peter Dimmel : 1970; 1971; 1985)
• Wrought iron star of hope (Wolfgang Pöttinger: 1999)

organ

Organ of the basilica

After the St. Laurenz Church had to be rebuilt as a parish church on January 1, 1968, an organ harmonium was initially made available by St. Florian Monastery . In the 1970s an organ with 25 registers and 1,758 pipes was purchased. This organ with a purely mechanical playing and stop action was set up at ground level and consecrated on December 11, 1976. Friedrich Goffitzer designed the organ front , the artistic painting was done by Fritz Fröhlich . The overall planning and execution was carried out by Upper Austria. Organ building institute St. Florian .

parish

After the parish rights were transferred to the former church of the Franciscan monastery in Enns in 1553 , it took more than 400 years until a new parish was established. Since 1968 St. Laurenz has been a parish church again. Since then, the parish has consciously been following a path of openness and encounter with the world in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. The organizational management of the parish has been in the hands of the married theologian Harald Prinz since 2010; The brothers of the Franciscan monastery in Enns stand by him and the parish priestly.

literature

• Lothar Eckhart : The parish church and cemetery church of St. Laurentius of Enns-Lorch-Lauriacum in Upper Austria. The archaeological excavations 1960-1966 . (= Research in Lauriacum 11 / 1–3), Linz 1981.
• Otto Winkler: St. Laurenz basilica in Enns-Lorch . Church leader, ed. V. Parish office St. Laurenz, Enns. Kunstverlag Hofstetter, Ried im Innkreis, 1990.
• Roman Igl: The St. Laurentius Basilica in Enns, Upper Austria. In: Contributions to Medieval Archeology in Austria 21, 2005, pp. 141–152.

Web links

Commons : St. Laurentius (Enns)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Homepage St. Laurenz

Individual evidence

1. ^ Maria Ebner: The organ inventory in the city of Enns. A contribution to the liturgy and Music history. In: New archive for the history of the Diocese of Linz. 2nd volume, issue 1, Linz 1982/83, pp. 63–68, online (PDF) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at.

Coordinates: 48 ° 13 ′ 7 "  N , 14 ° 28 ′ 1"  E