Teutonic Order Church Friesach
The Teutonic Order Church in Friesach is consecrated to St. Blaise . It stands outside the city wall in the south of Friesach . The appearance of the church looks like a Gothic , later Baroque-style building, but apart from the choir extension, it is essentially a Romanesque building.
history
In 1203 the Magdalenenhospital in the north of Friesach was handed over to the Teutonic Order by the Archbishop of Salzburg, Eberhard II . Before 1275, the order moved to its current location in the south of the city. The Romanesque hall church was built around a hundred years before it was taken over by the Teutonic Order - presumably by the Benedictine monks of the Admont Abbey , who had a branch in Friesach around 1167. In 1461 the church was destroyed by flames and in 1492, after the choir was lengthened, a sacristy and a new tower were built by the bishop of Lavant Erhard Paumgartner . Since the headquarters of the order was relocated from Venice to Marienburg in 1309 , after an economic climax, the order's settlement fell. In 1582 the church was destroyed again by fire and only rebuilt in 1612. After a general visit in 1719, it was converted to Baroque style. In 1809, at the time of the French occupation, the order was abolished and the church became increasingly neglected. 1859-1870 the monastery was used as barracks for various hussar regiments . From 1879 the church was renovated under Count Eduard Gaston von Pettenegg and consecrated again in 1880. The church owes most of its current furnishings to Pettenegg. After Austria was annexed to Germany, the order was dissolved and the church was handed over to the diocese of Gurk in 1939 . In 1942 it became the property of the Gau self-government. After the war, the church was returned to the Teutonic Order in 1946. Renovations took place in 1946, 1969 and 1977. The entire church inventory was restored in the workshops of the Federal Monuments Office in Vienna between 1971 and 1977.
Building
The retracted two-bay choir with a pointed arched ribbed vault and 5/8 end is supported by three-tiered buttresses on high plinths. The end of the choir is broken up by four high, two-part lancet windows with original tracery . In the end of the choir, a two-part sacrament niche with a rectangular vestibule is embedded on the north and south sides. In the eastern choir bay there are wall recesses on both sides with pointed arch canopies for seating niches. Two narrow Romanesque arched windows are embedded in the western choir bay, with the northern one opening into the sacristy . The end of the choir and the eastern yoke were built in the first half of the 15th century. In contrast, the western yoke, over which the choir tower once stood, and the walls of the single-nave, three-bay nave come from the Romanesque period. Around 1612 the nave was re-vaulted with a needle cap barrel. A late Gothic gallery is built into the western part of the nave above a three-part profiled pillar arcade . The walls in the nave are broken through by baroque, high-rectangular windows. The choir and nave are separated by a drawn-in, round-arched triumphal arch with a wide reveal. In the northern corner of the choir there is a Gothic sacristy, over which a barrel vault with stitch caps extends. A round arched portal connects the sacristy with the choir.
The tower with an open entrance hall is presented to the nave in the west and its core dates from the 15th century. It was redesigned in Baroque style in 1738 according to plans by Michael Robwalter. The three-storey tower is crowned with an onion helmet and is structured by pilasters and profiled cornices . On the west side, a blind stucco coat of arms adorns the tower in the middle. Above the baroque west portal is a Latin cross with stylized evangelist figures, which could have come from the Lombards , but whose authenticity is questioned. The ogival, chamfered Gothic south portal was acquired by the pilgrimage church Heiligengestade , which was demolished in 1891 , and today connects the nave with the monastery via a wing.
Murals
The frescoes in the first yoke of the choir were created around 1170–1180 and rediscovered and exposed in 1946. The miraculous multiplication of bread is depicted on the north wall , above it the foolish virgins . Opposite them are the wise virgins on the south wall . Underneath is a badly damaged picture on which the three wise men can be recognized. In the reveals of the south window the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah from the second quarter of the 13th century can be seen. A perspective meander frieze forms the upper end on both sides .
Stained glass window
The windows in the choir were donated by noble families at the end of the 19th century. In addition to coats of arms, Saints Francis and Juliana are depicted in the northwest window , Aloisius von Gonzaga and Francesca Komaner in the end of the choir window, Maximilian and Alexius in the southeast window . The saints Franz Xavier and Katharina , Alexander and Agnes are depicted in the southern glass window . The windows with coats of arms in the nave were made in a Munich studio in 1899. In the sacristy there is a renaissance disc with St. Catherine from 1520.
Facility
High altar
The high altar is a late Gothic winged altar that was acquired from the pilgrimage church Heiligengestade on Lake Ossiacher See in 1883 and renovated by Rochus Siess in the same year. The wings of the altar donated by Ossiach Abbot Wolfgang Gaispacher were made around 1512 in the workshop of Thomas von Villach . The resurrection of Christ and probably the Hortus conclusus is ascribed to the master of the Veronica Altar in Lazarin . In the center of the shrine stands Mary as Queen of Heaven. It is flanked by Saints Catherine and Magareta . The coronation of Mary is shown in the burst . Newer statues of Saints Anthony and Lawrence have been added to the side. The figure of St. Blaise stands above the coronation of Mary. In the left open wing the birth of Christ can be seen above and the miracle of Pentecost below , in the right wing above the adoration of the kings and below the death of Mary . On the left outer wing, the Annunciation to Mary is shown at the top, the Annunciation allegory of the Hortus conclusus at the bottom left, the circumcision of Christ at the top right , and the resurrection of Christ at the bottom . The neo-Gothic predella shows the Annunciation to Mary on the tabernacle door , to the right of it the Adoration by the Magi. Four candlestick angels stand above the predella. Next to the high altar hang two gold-embroidered velvet hangings that were purchased from a cardinal from Lyon and to which Count Pettenegg's coat of arms was added.
Frankfurt altar
This neo-Gothic winged altar from the 19th century is in a flat niche in the north choir wall. It was acquired by the Deutschordenskommende Sachsenhausen in Frankfurt am Main and put together again. The central figure in the shrine is Christ as the judge of the world , next to Mary and John the Baptist kneel . Under it, the Archangel Michael separates the righteous from the damned. The saints Barbara and Agatha are depicted on the inside as bas-reliefs on the wings of the altar, while the saints Katharina and Agnes are depicted as tempera paintings on the outside. The figures in the predella are late Gothic works from the Villach workshop and probably come from the high altar. They show the Saints Vitus (or Blasius), John the Evangelist , Maria Magdalena and Wolfgang . The neo-Gothic sculptures of the saints Georg , Wolfgang and Elisabeth stand in the middle . Originally a high-quality late Gothic carved sculpture of St. George on horseback from around 1500 stood on the site of the Frankfurt altar, which was transferred to the treasury of the Teutonic Order in Vienna in 1974.
Other equipment of the choir
A panel with Saints Dionysius , Vitus and Valentin hangs on the south wall of the choir . This picture is probably a wing of a Fourteen Holy Helper altar and is dated around 1520. The console figures of Saints Barbara and Catherine stand under canopies in the sloping choir. On the south wall of the choir stand the statues of Saints James the Elder and Saint John the Baptist on consoles . A sculpture of St. Sebastian from the end of the 15th century stands on the north wall of the choir.
The large-format picture above the triumphal arch was created around 1700 and shows Christ with the instruments of passion . This picture is said to come from St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna .
Square panels with the apostles Peter and Paul hang on the triumphal arch . They are attributed to the Tyrolean artist Friedrich Pacher and were created between 1485 and 1490.
Equipment of the nave
A late Gothic crucifixion group from around 1500 is attached above the triumphal arch . Like the high altar, it comes from Heiligengestade. On the north side of the triumphal arch hangs the altarpiece of the former high altar from 1748, it shows St. Blaise in front of the Madonna. Among them is a dated around 1420 Vesperbild in cast stone , probably the work of the Salzburg art circle. On the opposite wall of the triumphal arch is a baroque group of sculptures with Saint Cecilia, made around 1730 : a small floating angel holds a hand organ in front of the saint .
On the north wall of the nave there is a late Gothic Mother of God with a child and a bunch of grapes, as well as a Baroque Joseph and a child on consoles .
The stations of the cross on the two walls are a contemporary foundation of the former high and German master Archduke Wilhelm and were made in the Munich art studio Mayer.
Figures in the gallery area
There are nine statuettes on the gallery parapet. These are (from left to right): John the Baptist, Rochus , Katharina, Barbara, God the Father, Hemma , Ottilie and again John the Baptist and Rochus. Four figures are attached under the gallery parapet on the partition walls. These are (from left to right): Sebastian, Florian , Lucia and an unknown saint. In the room above the gallery are the saints Dorothea , Oswald , Ulrich , Nikolaus and an unknown martyr. On the north wall above the gallery stands the holy Scholastica on a console , opposite her sits Mary with child.
Others
As in all churches of the Teutonic Order, there are many death and oath shields of former members of the Teutonic Order on the walls. There are also some remarkable grave slabs, the oldest of Johannes Planitz, who died in 1241.
literature
- Dehio manual. The art monuments of Austria. Carinthia . Anton Schroll, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-7031-0712-X , pp. 164–166.
- Matthias Kapeller: Churches, monasteries and culture - meeting places in Carinthia . Verlag Carinthia, Klagenfurt 2001, ISBN 3-85378-539-5 , p. 195.
- Elisabeth Reichmann-Endres: Church of the Teutonic Order Friesach / Carinthia . Verlag Schnell & Steiner GmbH Regensburg 1979, ISBN 3-7954-4901-4
Coordinates: 46 ° 56 ′ 52.8 " N , 14 ° 24 ′ 38.3" E
Web links
- Teutonic monastery and church hl. Blasius (PDF file; 95 kB)