Bavaria window
The Bayernfenster are a series of five windows in the south aisle of Cologne Cathedral . They show five scenes from the early days of Christianity , beginning with John the Baptist in the west and ending in the east with Stephen , the first Christian martyr .
history
The leaded glass windows are a gift from King Ludwig I of Bavaria . The first ideas and plans for this project came from Sulpiz Boisserée back in 1842 .
They were made in the years 1846 to 1848 according to designs by Heinrich Maria von Hess by the Munich painters Joseph Anton Fischer and Franz Hellweger under the direction of Max Emanuel Ainmiller (1807-1870) in the Royal Glass Painting Institute in Munich. Joseph Anton Fischer painted the cardboard boxes for the three central full windows, Franz Hellweger for the two outer half windows, Max Ainmüller was responsible for the architecture and ornaments.
For the 600th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone , they were opened on 14/15 Unveiled August 1848.
Art historical appreciation
The Bavarian windows have been subject to different assessments since their creation. At the time of creation, the artistic conflict between the Nazarenes , to which the Munich artists belonged, and the neo-Gothic played a role - the neo-Gothic preferred the medieval mosaic technique in glass painting "in the style of the old masters", while the painting of the Bavarian windows was more reminiscent of large oil paintings. This criticism of the windows is also related to the 19th century idea of a cathedral as a “complete work of art from the Middle Ages”, which was in tension with newer artistic ideas and techniques.
In 1879 the painter Karl Christian Andreae compared the windows with the older cycle opposite on the north side of the cathedral and came to a devastating result:
- “… Their technology proves to be far behind that of their old vis-à-vis. These older ones shine in a gem-like fire, while these new ones look like transparencies on oil paper. Although the old windows occupy the north side of the cathedral nave and the people of Munich occupy its south side, most of the light comes from the north side. "
Paul Clemen considers the appreciation that the windows enjoyed in the 19th century to be exaggerated ("overestimated in their time"), but describes the designs as the "most important achievements of cardboard art and monumental church glass painting from the middle of the 19th century " .
Under Willy Weyres as master builder for the cathedral (1944 to 1972) the windows enjoyed little appreciation. Only after they had already been damaged in bombing, the stained glass was relocated. In 1950 two of them came back to their original place - probably not out of conviction, but rather out of pragmatic considerations, since new windows could not be financed at that time. Weyres himself remarked disapprovingly:
- “With all due respect for the will of the founder and the artistic performance of the artists and despite the appreciation of these pieces as contemporary documents, it cannot be concealed that these windows are really foreign objects in the cathedral. This is true both in terms of their scale and in terms of their brutal colors. It is inconceivable that the whole wall of the south aisle should be closed again with these picture walls. [...] "
The Bavarian windows were not fully restored until 1975 to 1983 and reinstalled in their original location in 1980. Recent publications emphasize the prominent position of the windows among the stained glass of their era,
- “... based on the sovereign and independent examination of medieval monumental window cycles. In addition to the complicated content structure with a combination of several reading directions, the refined composition of the large pictures and the high quality of the technical execution, this also applies to the structuring of the three main windows [...] through highly original architectural frames. "
Details
| Western half window (Johannes window) | ||
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| overall view | John the Baptist preaches in the wilderness | from top left to bottom right: Flavia Iulia Helena Augusta , Constantine the Great ; Charlemagne , Friedrich I. Barbarossa ; Donor coat of arms and donor inscription of the Bavarian king |
| Western full window (worship window) | ||
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| overall view | Adoration by the Magi and the Shepherds | Four prophets : Isaiah , Jeremiah , Ezekiel and Daniel |
| Middle full window (lamentation window) | ||
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| overall view | The Descent from the Cross and the Lamentation of Jesus Christ | The four evangelists with their attributes: Matthew , Mark , Luke and John |
| Eastern full window (Pentecost window) | ||
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| overall view | The outpouring of the Holy Spirit | The four Church Fathers of the West: Augustine of Hippo , Hieronymus , Gregory I and Ambrose of Milan |
| Eastern half window (Stephanus window) | ||
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| overall view | The stoning of Stephen | from top left to bottom right: Maternus , Silvester I .; Apollinaris of Ravenna , Gregory of Spoleto ; Donor coat of arms and donor inscription of the Bavarian king |
literature
- Harald Friese: The Cologne Cathedral . Komet Verlag, Cologne 2003, ISBN 3-89836-268-X , pp. 230-232.
- Stephan Dahmen: The Bavaria Windows of Cologne Cathedral 1844–1848. Church furnishings between art, theology and politics. SH-Verlag, Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-89498-177-8 . (= Cologne writings on history and culture 29)
swell
- ↑ a b Stephan Dahmen: The Bavaria windows in Cologne Cathedral and the development of the architectural window in the royal glass painting establishment in Munich. In: Kölner Domblatt . Yearbook of the Central Cathedral Building Association. Edition 65, 2000, ISBN 3-922442-42-0 , pp. 201-214.
- ↑ Harald Friese: The Cologne Cathedral . Komet Verlag, Cologne 2003, ISBN 3-89836-268-X , pp. 230-232.
- ^ Hans-Georg Lippert: Studies on Cologne Cathedral. Volume 7: Historicism and Cultural Criticism. Cologne Cathedral 1920–1960. Cologne 2001, ISBN 3-922442-33-1 , p. 386 f.
- ^ Karl Christian Andreae: Thoughts, studies and experiences in the field of glass painting. Naumann, Leipzig 1879, DNB 579090175 .
- ↑ The art monuments of the Rhine Province. Volume 6, Section 3: The art monuments of the city of Cologne. Volume 1, Section 3: The Cologne Cathedral. 1937, DNB 580821757 , p. 201 f.
- ↑ quoted from: Hans-Georg Lippert: Studies on the Cologne Cathedral. Volume 7: Historicism and Cultural Criticism. Cologne Cathedral 1920–1960. Cologne 2001, p. 386.
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 27.7 " N , 6 ° 57 ′ 27.4" E