Adelboden village church
The late Gothic village church of Adelboden from the 15th century is located in the village center of Adelboden ( Canton Bern ; Switzerland ).
history
In the 15th century Adelboden already had 400 to 500 inhabitants who belonged to Frutigen under canon law , which was about four leagues away. Requests for a church of their own were rejected by the Interlaken Monastery and the Bishop of Lausanne . Twelve men from Adelboden then built a small church without permission. Legend has it that snow fell on a starry night, showing the ground plan of the church on the meadow.
The church was dedicated to St. Anthony. When the church was built in 1433, 56 housefathers vouched for the remuneration of a priest with 40 Rhenish guilders per year in a vow letter that has been preserved to this day with their belongings. A second documentary mention comes from 1439, when the council of Bern decided a dispute between the Adelbodners and the Interlaken monastery responsible for the Frutiger church. The Adelboden church is referred to as the Leutkirche and the daughter church of Frutigen. Tithes , interest and sacrifices go to the Adelboden church, minus an annual fee to the mother church in Frutigen. Seasons that Adelbodner had already donated to the Frutigen Church should continue to fall to this church, with new foundations the will of the donor applies. There are indications that the builder of the church was a Basler, a relative of Jakob Sarbach , who completed the Fischmarktbrunnen and the entrance gate at the Spalentor : Sarbach is an Adelboden family, and it was Basler who gave a loan for the church and those who did Vow letters sealed as witnesses. The architectural style also has northern features.
The new church building was gradually refurbished over the next few decades: the fresco depicting the Last Judgment in the arbor at the side entrance was created in 1471 . In 1485 the church received a bell and in 1488 the vaulted wooden ceiling was added.
The Reformation only came to Adelboden through the Oberland campaign of Niklaus Manuel . The Catholic priest fled over the Hahnenmoospass into the still Catholic Freiburg region and everything in the church that was considered "Catholic" was removed or whitewashed. The latticed sacrament house in the chancel is still preserved, in which there are two Gothic communion jugs, a consecration cross on the staircase to the gallery, an opening from the tower to the chancel through which the Sigrist could see when he had to ring the bell to change , and that Last Judgment fresco. The Gothic Holy Communion chalices were sold in the 19th century and are now in the Historical Museum in Bern.
In 1625 the church was renovated. In the 17th century the gallery was given a central section for the use of a trombone choir . In the 18th century the church was decorated with Baroque paintings by Stefan Allenbach, which have been preserved on the balustrades of the gallery.
During the Second World War, American and British soldiers interned in Adelboden built an entrance archway for the church area.
In 1973 the church was completely renovated.
description
The tower on the southern side of the valley is made of tuff stone blocks with a low shingle roof. It originally had a cheese bite roof , which can still be seen in the masonry. The tower is inclined slightly to the south.
The church built against the mountainside is whitewashed. The floor plan consists of a rectangular interior with a U-shaped gallery and a round choir on the east side.
Apart from the whitewashed outer walls, the interior is made entirely of wood, the ceiling is brown, decorated with ribbons with carved tendril patterns painted red. The pulpit is light blue and white, the gallery is painted in shades of gray. The gallery is supported by brown wooden pillars, the shape of which is reminiscent of Gothic stone pillars.
On the gallery there are biblical sayings that Adelboden painter Stephan Allenbach added in 1775. According to the seating arrangement at that time, the boys sat on the left gallery, the young girls on the right, and the verses of the Bible turn to the opposite side. For example, on the right:
- O young man, rejoice in your young days
- But in such a way that you don't have to hesitate in court. (Eccl. 11.9)
and left, in the field of vision of the girls' side
- All of you daughters adorn yourselves inside
- Then you please the bridegroom of souls (Ps. 45:14)
The Fräumbuch contains a detailed description of the church of a pastor from the 19th century, who expressly states that the church still has a special ornament that sets it apart from other churches: it is almost full every Sunday. Even today, every normal Sunday, all the rows of banks are occupied.
Church window
In 1629 choir windows with stained glass were installed, which were removed again in 1824 due to severe damage.
In 1937 the church received three stained glass windows by Augusto Giacometti . They represent the night of Gethsemane , where faith (purple), and love (red) and hope (green) grow tired of people and the faithfulness of God (blue) remains awake for people.
organ
Until 1856, the community singing was led by a trumpet choir . In 1856 the church received a room organ from Diemtigen , and in 1886 a new organ from Weigh, Basel. Today's organ with 17 registers was built by Orgelbau Kuhn (Männedorf) in 1953 and revised in 1990.
fresco
The fresco at the southern entrance from 1471 comes from an unknown artist. It represents the Last Judgment . In the middle, Christ is enthroned as judge of the world on the rainbow, flanked by Mary , John the Baptist and twelve apostles , all of whom raise their hands in intercession . Paradise is no longer recognizable. On the left the resurrection of the dead can be seen, on the right the imaginatively depicted hell, on the far right the limbo for the unbaptized children. In the upper right corner a priest while celebrating a Requiem Mass to see beside him an angel, the two apparently the purgatory snatched up souls contracts. The purgatory itself is no longer recognizable.
The part with the soul mass was, probably during the Reformation, whitewashed and painted over with a depiction of the clever and foolish virgins . In 1885 the original painting was exposed again. In 1965 the fresco was preserved.
Bells
The oldest bell dates from 1485. In 1963, three bells from the Aarau bell foundry were added to make a complete ring.
The bells have the following inscriptions:
- e: Blessed are those who hear God's word and keep it (1963)
- g: O rex gloriae xus [Christ] veni nobis cum pace maria ihs [Jesus Hominum Salvator] mcccclxxxv (1485)
- a: Watch and Pray (1963)
- c ': I will praise the Lord always (1963)
literature
- Alfred Gutknecht, Albert Schranz: 575 years of Adelboden Church. Reformed parish Adelboden, 2008, DNB 992298407 .
- The Frigesbuch. Local history for the Frutigen landscape. Bern 1977, DNB 202859169 .
- Karl Stettler: The Frutigland. 1887.
- Alfred Bärtschi: Adelboden. From the history of a mountain community. 1934.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Culture Guide Switzerland in Color 1982.
Coordinates: 46 ° 29 '34.2 " N , 7 ° 33' 32.3" E ; CH1903: 609 239 / 149 063