Wiener Neustadt Cathedral

Wiener Neustadt Cathedral

Southeast view of the cathedral

View from the central nave to the choir, due to the bend in the axis on Pentecost Sunday 1193 (May 16), the high altar is visible shifted to the right

Choir with high altar

The cathedral of Wiener Neustadt (also: Liebfrauendom ) is essentially a late Romanesque building in Wiener Neustadt in Lower Austria .

The Roman Catholic cathedral , then still a parish church , was built in 1279 in honor of St. Virgin Mary and St. Consecrated to Rupert . From 1468 to 1785 it was the cathedral of the Diocese of Wiener Neustadt .

When the city was founded, Wiener Neustadt belonged to the Duchy of Styria and thus belonged to the Duchy of Salzburg . Therefore this church was dedicated to St. Consecrated to Rupert.

Wiener Neustadt has been a titular bishopric since 1990 .

Building history

The location and orientation of the cathedral is part of medieval urban planning. Its axis (nave) cuts the north and west sides exactly in the middle and points to where the sun rose on Pentecost Sunday (May 24, 1192). This date corresponds to the day on which Duke Leopold V was replaced by Emperor Heinrich VI. has been enfeoffed with Styria . This event was immortalized in the city's plan. A year later, on Pentecost Sunday 1193 (May 16), the choir was also oriented towards the rising sun and the floor plan of the cathedral was marked out from portal point P. The position of the portal point was defined as the intersection of two straight lines, namely the axis of the nave with the connecting line between the stake out point of city A on the main square and the northwest corner of the city (Reckturm). The points A and P are now correctly identified by means of metal marks. The different orientation days explain the noticeable bend in the axis in the cathedral between the nave and the choir, which faces south. When the Gothic choir was built, it was adopted as the “sacred line” from the Romanesque building.

In 1207 the leading parish rights of the mother parish of the parish church Lanzenkirchen hl. Nikolaus in Lanzenkirchen was transferred to Wiener Neustadt. At around the same time, construction began on the parish church, which originally consisted of today's nave and the west towers. Instead of the Romanesque apse , a transept and a choir in the Gothic style were built in the 14th century . The sacristy was also added. At the end of the 15th century, the cathedral was equipped with life-size wooden statues of the 12 apostles by Lorenz Luchsperger . A remarkable model of this group of apostles is preserved in the parish church of Hausmannstätten .

From 1588 to 1630 Melchior Khlesl was administrator of the Diocese of Wiener Neustadt. He donated the early baroque pulpit. The late baroque high altar with the high altar painting by Gianbettino Cignaroli depicting the Assumption of Mary was inaugurated in 1776.

After several earthquakes, the 64 meter high towers fell into disrepair in the 19th century. In 1886 they were dismantled and rebuilt from 1892 to 1899 according to the old plans under the direction of the Viennese architect Richard Jordan .

From 1975 to 1999, the entire cathedral was completely renovated, first inside under Bishop Florian Kuntner , then outside under Dompropst Heinrich Hahn.

Fire 2012

On March 6, 2012, a fire broke out in a side chapel (former baptistery) by a 15-year-old, which completely destroyed an old prayer chair, the harvest crown placed in the chapel and a Christmas crib. The fire brigade managed to prevent the flames from spreading to the roof structure. The cathedral was badly affected by the heavy smoke development and the use of extinguishing water. The damage in the church amounted to more than one million euros, so, among other things, the entire cathedral organ had to be dismantled into the smallest individual parts and cleaned. The cathedral was closed for six months for the renovation work; the suburban church of St. Leopold served as a replacement during this time .

On April 20, 2012, it became known that the 15-year-old arsonist had been caught. At the trial, however, the defendant denied the arson. On November 21, 2012, the youth was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

organ

Organ of the Wiener Neustadt Cathedral

The organ of Wiener Neustädter Dom was built in 1989 by Gerhard Hradetzky . The slider chests -instrument has 41  registers on three manuals and pedal .

I main work C– Quintaton 16 ′ Principal 8th' Pointed flute 8th' Viol viola 8th' Octav 4 ′ flute 4 ′ Quint 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Great Octave 2 ′ third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ Mixture major IV-V 2 ′ Mixture minor II 1' Fagotto 8th' Tremulant

II Swell C– Bourdon 16 ′ Wooden flute 8th' Violon Principal 8th' Undamaris 8th' diapason 4 ′ Gemshorn 4 ′ Nasard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Disdiapason 2 ′ third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ Mixture IV-V 2 ′ Contrafagotto 16 ′ oboe 8th' Tremulant

III continuo piece C– Copel 8th' Wooden flute 4 ′ viola 4 ′ Flageolet 2 ′ Quint 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Acuta 4 ⁄ 5 ′ Cimbel III 1' Vox humana 8th' Tremulant

Pedals C– Profonda acustica 32 ′ Principal bass 16 ′ Sub-bass 16 ′ Octave bass 8th' Covered bass 8th' Choral bass 4 ′ Mixture IV 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Big trumpet 16 ′ trombone 8th'

• Coupling : II / I, III / I, I / P, II / P.

Tower museum in the cathedral

100 Schilling silver coin for the 700th anniversary (1979)

In the south tower of the cathedral, pictures, documents and objects relating to the construction history of the cathedral and the tasks of the fire station are shown. Registration at the City Museum is required for a visit.

literature

• Gertrud Gerhartl : The cathedral to Wiener Neustadt: 1279–1979. Böhlau Verlag, Vienna a. a. 1979, ISBN 3-205-07138-7 .
• Erwin Reidinger : Planning or coincidence. Wiener Neustadt 1192. 2nd edition. Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-205-99339-X (with supplement Wiener Neustadt 1192. Foundation survey ). (for orientation of the church)
• The art monuments of Austria. Dehio Lower Austria south of the Danube 2003 . Wiener Neustadt, sacred buildings, provost and main parish church of the Assumption, Liebfrauenkirche, former cathedral of the Diocese of Wiener Neustadt (1469–1785), pp. 2602–2614.
• Georg Niemetz: Cathedral Wiener Neustadt. Schnell & Steiner publishing house, Regensburg 2003.

Web links

Commons : Wiener Neustädter Dom  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of the cathedral and provost parish

Individual evidence

1. ^ Propstei- und Hauptpfarre Wiener Neustadt ( Memento from January 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) History in short version of the Wiener Neustadt Cathedral, accessed on January 27, 2016
2. ^ Erwin Reidinger: Planning or Chance - Wiener Neustadt 1192. Wiener Neustadt 1995 / Vienna 2001 (plan supplement), ISBN 3-900844-33-X / ISBN 3-205-99339-X , pp. 267–389; Erwin Reidinger: Urban planning in the high Middle Ages, Wiener Neustadt - Marchegg - Vienna. In: European cities in the Middle Ages, research and contributions to the history of Vienna. Volume 52, Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-7065-4856-4 , pp. 155-176.
3. ^ Propstei- und Hauptpfarre Wiener Neustadt ( Memento from March 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) The structure of the Wiener Neustadt cathedral, accessed on September 28, 2009
4. ↑ Dombrand clarified: 15-year-old ignited. noe.orf.at, accessed on April 20, 2012 . 
5. ^ Website of the cathedral and provost parish , accessed on March 24, 2012
6. ↑ Fire in Neustädter Dom: arsonist arrested. kurier.at, accessed on April 20, 2012 . 
7. ↑ Dombrand Trial: "It wasn't me". noe.orf.at, accessed on September 5, 2012 . 
8. ↑ 15-year-old convicted. Retrieved November 21, 2012 . 
9. ↑ Information on the organ ( Memento from May 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
10. ^ Tower museum in the cathedral of Wiener Neustadt
11. ↑ Museums - Tower Museum in the Cathedral

Coordinates: 47 ° 48 ′ 54 ″  N , 16 ° 14 ′ 33 ″  E