Mariazell Basilica
The Roman Catholic basilica of Mariazell is the most important place of pilgrimage in Austria , one of the most important in Europe and the only one with the title of a national shrine (Catholic) in German-speaking countries. A wooden image of the Virgin Mary is venerated in the place of grace founded in the 12th century . The place of pilgrimage is still looked after by monks from St. Lambrecht Abbey , the current superior of Mariazell is Father Michael Staberl OSB, a native of Mariazell.
history
Around 1103 the area around Mariazell was taken over by Duke Heinrich III. (Carinthia) to the St. Lambrecht Abbey , whose monks built a cell there to evangelize the local population. According to legend, the foundation of the pilgrimage site goes back to December 21, 1157. Mariazell was first mentioned in a document in 1243, and a Marian altar was consecrated in 1266.
There are essentially three legends about the origin of the place of grace and its development. The founding legend says that in 1157 the St. Lambrecht monk Magnus was sent to the area of today's pilgrimage site as a pastor. When a rock blocked his way, he put down the figure of Mary he had brought with him, which split the rock and opened the way. On a nearby hill he sat down, placed the statue of Mary on a tree trunk and built a wooden cell over it, which served him as a chapel and living space.
The second legend tells of the Moravian margrave Heinrich and his wife, who, with the help of Our Lady of Mariazell, healed from severe gout out of gratitude, made a pilgrimage to this place and had a first stone church built there in 1200 instead of the wooden chapel. The third legend tells of the victory of the battle of the Hungarian king Ludwig I over a numerically superior Turkish army. In gratitude, he built the Gothic church and donated the “treasure chamber” that he had placed on his chest in a dream.
Pilgrimage
Pilgrims are said to have made their way to the Marian Shrine as early as the 12th century. There is documentary evidence of larger numbers of pilgrims around the year 1330. Some secular courts imposed a "cell trip" as atonement for crimes. In the following years, pilgrims came from neighboring countries. After the Counter-Reformation, Mariazell became a national shrine for the Habsburgs.
Emperor Joseph II dissolved all brotherhoods in Mariazell in 1783 and completely forbade pilgrimages in 1787. With the restrictions being lifted soon, around one million pilgrims visit the pilgrimage site every year. The Mariazellerbahn (formerly known as the “Lower Austrian-Styrian Alpine Railway”) was built between 1905 and 1907 to transport the enormous streams of pilgrims to Mariazell more easily. The railway quickly found great popularity.
In May 2004 the Central European Catholic Day took place in Mariazell. How popular Mariazell is can be seen, among other things, from the fact that the then Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer (SPÖ) made a pilgrimage to Mariazell in spring 2007 in fulfillment of one of his election promises. During the apostolic journey of Pope Benedict XVI. to Austria on the occasion of the 850th anniversary of the foundation of the pilgrimage site Mariazell in September 2007, the pilgrimage site was awarded the Golden Rose , a high papal distinction.
Building
A Gothic church with a pointed arch portal and a 90 m high tower, today's central tower, was built in the 14th century . In it hangs the largest bell in Styria from 1950 with a weight of 5702 kg. The Gothic main portal shows the third founding legend of Mariazell in the tympanum : the victory of King Ludwig I of Hungary over a superior Turkish army, and the king's votive offering to the Mother of God: the "treasury picture". In 1420 and 1474 the church was damaged by fires.
From 1644 to 1683 Domenico Sciassia extended the church building and made it Baroque . A baroque tower was built to the left and right of the Gothic tower. The nave was lengthened and widened; each with six side chapels in the north and south, their design and frescoes refer to the saints to whom the altar is consecrated. A dome room was added to the east. In front of the main portal are two life-size lead statues made by Balthasar Moll in 1757. On the left is the Hungarian King Ludwig I , on the right the Moravian Margrave Heinrich.
In 1907 the pilgrimage church was elevated to a minor basilica . It bears the ecclesiastical title of national shrine . From 1992 to 2007 it was completely renovated.
Furnishing
Altars
The high altar, consecrated to the Holy Trinity in 1704, was designed by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach .
In the twelve side chapels there are baroque altars made from red marble by Carlo Gianollo based on designs by Domenico Sciassia. On the north side from west to east, these are Saints Leopold and Ladislaus, St. Dedicated to Catherine, Saint Stephen, Emmerich of Hungary and James; on the south side of St. Antony , St. Family, the Holy Trinity, St. Barbara, St. Aegidius and St. Benedict . The baroque confessionals were built in the middle of the 18th century. Wrought iron lattices from around 1675 close off the chapels to the nave.
The sculptural ornamentation of the organ gallery and the organ case erected in 1737 comes from the Viennese sculptor Johann Wagner from 1740. Behind the Gnadenkapelle, in the baroque extension, there is a five-meter-high marble column with a stucco capital, an almost two-meter-high, late Gothic, from around 1520 Virgin Mary with child. The crowns are made of gilded copper; the gilded halo was added in 1709.
Chapel of Mercy
The Chapel of Grace, built in 1690 using older parts, still stands today on the site of the first “cell”. It contains the late Romanesque miraculous image , the Magna Mater Austriæ - also called the Bell Madonna - a 48 cm sculpture made of linden wood . The image of grace receives an elaborately designed grace dress every year. The more than 150 clothes can either be viewed in the treasury or are carefully preserved. Many clothes were given as votive gifts or by wealthy people. The design of a grace dress is still considered a great honor.
Organs
There are four organs in the basilica .
Viennese organ
The current case of the so-called Viennese organ on the west gallery, with the figural decorations by Johann Wagner, goes back to the Viennese organ builder Gottfried Sonnholz , who completed this instrument in 1739, while the old organ from 1689, which was made by Christoph Egedacher , came to Sankt Veit am Vogau , was erected there in 1753 and has been preserved. After renovations and new constructions in 1868, 1912, 1929 ( Dreher & Flamm ) and 1957, the Mathis company ( Näfels / CH) delivered a new movement with 54 stops on three manuals and a pedal in 2003 , which was installed in the case from 1739. In the course of this, the Rückpositiv , which had been removed during the renovation in 1868, was reconstructed.
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Pairing :
- Normal coupling: II / I, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P.
- Super octave coupling: III / P
- Sub-octave coupling: III / I
- Secondary register: Vogelgesang, Rossignol, Schauer, Glockenspiel (bowl bells, g 0 - g 2 ) Zimbelstern
Mariazell organ
The modern and asymmetrically designed choir organ ("Mariazeller Orgel") on the north wall of the dome room, completed in September 2000 (2 manuals, 29 registers), also came from Mathis.
When the main organ was rebuilt in 2003, a general console was also installed in the nave, which enables the organist to play both Mathis organs together.
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- Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P.
Konrad and Marien organ
Finally there are two small organs in two identical historical cases (Johann Georg Schnepfleithner 1752) in the side galleries, both were built by the Pflüger company (Feldkirch) in 2003. ("Konrad organ" I / P / 9, "Marien organ" I / 6)
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Peal
In the central tower built in the Gothic style, seven bells hang as the main bells in a mighty wooden belfry. It is the largest bell in Styria.
A small bell ("peace bell") originally came from the chapel on the Sigmundsberg, but it no longer exists today.
No. | Surname | Nominal | Weight (kg) |
Transit diameter (cm) |
Casting year |
Caster |
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1 | Christ the King Bell, Great Mariazellerin |
g 0 +0 | 5702 | 210 | 1950 | Upper Austrian bell and metal foundry |
2 | Ferdinand bell, Mariazeller bell, Marien bell |
h 0 +0 | 2800 | 167 | 1830 | FX Gugg d. Younger ones |
3 | Benedict bell | d 1 +0 | 1625 | 139 | 1950 | Upper Austrian bell and metal foundry |
4th | Florian bell | e 1 +0 | 1121 | 124 | ||
5 | Joseph Bell | g 1 +0 | 672 | 105 | ||
6th | Lambert bell | h 1 +0 | 297.9 | 80 | 1968 | Pounds |
7th | Rupert bell | d 2 +0 | 240.8 | 71 |
In November 2012, the great Mariazell's clapper broke . In February 2013, a new, lighter clapper from the Grassmayr bell foundry was installed.
Others
- Haydn devoted the Sanctuary in two cell Maria Mass settings : the Missa Cellensis in honorem Beatissimae Virginis Mariae Hob. XXII: 5 (1766-73) and the Missa Cellensis XXII:. 8 (1782).
- From 22 June 1957, brought Austrian Post to this design definitives in several printing techniques of the stamp series Austrian monuments of 1,00 Schilling out.
- The basilica was a model in the first snow globe , which Erwin Perzy had registered for a patent around 1908.
literature
- Ingeborg Schödl : Myth Mariazell - a search for traces, Leykam Verlag 2007
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Father Mag. Dr. Michael Staberl OSB. Retrieved June 28, 2019 .
- ^ Richard Pogatschnigg: The medieval Benedictine monastery St. Lambrecht. A cultural and power-political factor in the border area between Styria and Carinthia. ( academia.edu [accessed January 3, 2020]).
- ^ Kath.net : Austria: Gusenbauer makes a pilgrimage to Mariazell January 23, 2007.
- ↑ Pope brought "Goldene Rose" to Mariazell , accessed on November 22, 2014.
- ^ The bells of Mariazell , accessed on April 8, 2011
- ↑ "Große Mariazellerin": The bell rings again on ORF on February 27, 2013, accessed on February 27, 2013.
Coordinates: 47 ° 46 '22.2 " N , 15 ° 19' 7.2" E