Frauenkirchen Basilica

Basilica of the Nativity of Mary. In the foreground the Marian column and on the left the attached Franciscan monastery

View of the basilica from Kalvarienberg , high nave with side chapels

The Basilica of the Birth of Mary is a Baroque , Roman Catholic pilgrimage church in the municipality of Frauenkirchen in the Neusiedl am See district in Burgenland . The pilgrimage church of the Birth of Mary made the place a well-known place of pilgrimage as early as the 14th century . The minor basilica belongs to the dean's office of Frauenkirchen in the Eisenstadt diocese . The church is a listed building .

history

During the first Turkish siege of Vienna (1529) the entire village was destroyed. The church building remained in ruins for more than 100 years. When the Esterházy family came into possession of the place in 1622, the church was rebuilt under their aegis in 1668/1669 and connected to a Franciscan monastery with a foundation (1669) with construction work until 1678. The church and the monastery were destroyed during the second Turkish siege of Vienna (1683).

In 1695 after the demolition of the church with the laying of the foundation stone as a foundation by Prince Paul Esterházy and the architect Francesco Martinelli, a new church was built and this current church was consecrated in 1702. The destroyed Franciscan monastery as a two-storey four-wing building on the north side of the church was restored in 1686/1687 and the east-facing garden wing was built from 1720 to 1733.

The church was renovated from 1874 to 1882, restored inside from 1953 to 1960 and outside from 1969 to 1970. The large square in front of the church has been converted into a green area.

In 1990 the church was elevated to a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II .

In the course of renovation and dismantling, 25 skeletons were discovered in the floor of the monastery fountain courtyard in March 2018, which are being uncovered and archaeologically examined. The restoration of the monastery was completed on July 31, 2018. Among other things, the cloister was renovated and the building services were renewed.

architecture

Church exterior

The mighty, uniform baroque building with a double tower facade . The length of the building and the height of the towers are each 53 m. Its interior is 18.5 m wide and 23 m high. The three-story towers have double-onion helmets with lanterns. The facade front has a slightly protruding two-storey gable risalit between the towers with a structure with flat stepped pilasters, Ionic on the ground floor and Corinthian on the upper floor. Above the west portal is a stone niche figure Madonna marked 1240. On the gable are the figures of the Archangel Michael between angels. The tall nave has attached side chapels. The retracted choir with a straight end is the same height as the nave.

Church interior

The uniformity of the structure and furnishings make the baroque church interior the most beautiful in Burgenland. Frescoes were exposed and the partial gilding of the stucco was renewed. Four nave bays above a broadly profiled main cornice have cross vaults on stilted pilaster capitals. The open arcades to the side chapels have round-arched openings to the continuous galleries. In the western front yoke of the central tower system is the organ loft under a barrel vault with stitch caps. The gallery parapet protruding in the middle stands on two Tuscan pillars and shows a pre-blinded balustrade. The belt arch to the nave shows 1702. The round arched triumphal arch shows the Esterházy coat of arms. The four-bay choir has a cross vault. The vaults in the nave, side chapels and choir show a rich stucco decoration with leaf and fruit wreaths and delicate tendrils, shells and mascarons by Pietro Antonio Conti (around 1700). The wall paintings in curly framed picture fields by Luca Antonio Colomba show scenes from the history of salvation.

Under the church are two tombs, one of which was used as a burial place for members of the order until 1870. In the other, members of the Count's line of the Esterházy family were buried.

Furnishing

High altar of the basilica

The high altar, which was gilded in 1873, is flanked by the statues of the two Hungarian kings, St. Stephen and St. Ladislaus . At the high altar is the statue of grace "Maria auf der Heide", carved from linden wood. The statue of grace is from the early Gothic period (1240). This Gothic statue of grace was made Baroque with a robe of the Mother of God, two golden crowns and a scepter. The statue of grace was carried personally from Forchtenstein Castle to Frauenkirchen by Paul Esterhazy. The silk stockings worn by the prince at that time are in the treasury of the Franciscan monastery. The original miraculous image, a "Maria Lactans" image (Breastfeeding Mother of God) is on the first side altar, on the pulpit side. It was already when the first church in Frauenkirchen was destroyed by the Turks in 1529. The statue of grace was kept in Vienna during the Second World War.

There are four side altars in white and gold on each side.

The pulpit from 1713 is rich in figural decorations, as are the baroque choir stalls with images of saints and landscapes and the organ gallery. The treasury is located in the former refectory with remarkable stucco decorations.

literature

• DEHIO manual. The art monuments of Austria: Burgenland. Frauenkirchen. Catholic parish and pilgrimage church Mariae Birth and Franciscan monastery. Bundesdenkmalamt (Ed.), Verlag Anton Schroll & Co, Vienna 1976, ISBN 3-7031-0401-5 , pp. 100-103.
• Sepp and Paul Gmasz: Chronicle Stadtgemeinde Frauenkirchen. Frauenkirchen 1988.
• Erika Brunner-Hammerl: The pilgrimage church and the calvary of Frauenkirchen. Diploma thesis, University of Vienna, 2007.

Web links

Commons : Basilica of the Nativity  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Neusiedlerwiki
• Website of the Esterhazys

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Frauenkirchen ( Memento of the original from September 13, 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. Pilgrimage basilica for the Birth of Mary in the municipality of Frauenkirchen, accessed on September 22, 2017 
2. ↑ Skeletons discovered in the monastery complex orf.at, April 2, 2018, accessed April 2, 2018.
3. ^ Franciscan monastery in new splendor. In: burgenland.orf.at. July 31, 2018, accessed November 19, 2018 . 

Coordinates: 47 ° 50 ′ 9.9 "  N , 16 ° 55 ′ 43.7"  E