Church of the Redeemer (Mirbach)
The Erlöserkirche Mirbach is the Catholic church in the small Eifel town of Mirbach , a district of the Wiesbaum community . It was built in 1902 by Ernst Freiherr von Mirbach , the chamberlain and friend of Kaiser Wilhelm II . The church building is considered a “remarkable contribution to the neo-Romanesque building era in the Eifel” and is a prime example of Wilhelmine- Neo -Eastern historicism .
Founding family
The Mirbach family came from the Eifel without having any personal ties there in the 19th century. Like other nobles represented in the Prussian upper house (cf. Engelbert-Maria von Arenberg , to whom Wilhelm II personally arranged Nordkirchen Castle as a “befitting” residence), Mirbach looked for historical roots and left a pseudo-castle ruin on the neighboring hill and next to it rarely build the parish church in a beautiful position above the Hocheifel landscape.
The von Mirbach family was Protestant, but built here in a Catholic environment for a small Eifel community. Ernst von Mirbach was the chairman of the Evangelical Church Building Association in Berlin . The reason for the foundation was probably the death of a daughter, the reason for the chosen patronage was the completion of the Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem (1898).
Building history
The draft and plans were created according to Ernst von Mirbach's own ideas, the implementation was entrusted to the architect Max Spitta in Berlin, who died a year later on December 12, 1902. The new site manager was Franz Schwechten , the builder of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, who was primarily responsible for the interior design.
The construction was "graciously permitted by His Majesty the Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1898 and the plans of the very highest on March 8, 1899 were examined and approved". The building was expressly built in the "old German style". The company was financed by foundations from members of various Mirbacher lines, members of the Evangelical Church Aid Association and the Evangelical Church Building Association in Berlin. Most recently, the imperial couple "and other friendly donors" even took part. The Church of the Redeemer was made available to the Catholic Filial Community of Mirbach as the property of the von Mirbach evangelical family . It was actually more of a family monument than a place of worship, the congregation had neither the need for its own church building (and certainly not one that was so elaborate) nor the means to maintain it.
Construction began on April 9, 1902. The ordination as the Redeemer Chapel by the Trier Vicar General Reuss took place after a memorial stone at the portal on September 25, 1903.
v. Mirbach praised the building as " an art and masterpiece of the first order, in which you can see the love and care that has been put into it in every single place ". Ernst von Oidtman criticized in 1913: " The Eiffeldom , the Redeemer Chapel , makes the impression a disgusted Berliner, who got caught between Eifel children in her traditional costumes. ”Wilhelm II visited the chapel on October 20, 1906 and telegraphed enthusiastically to von Mirbach in Berlin:“ I was very happy about your chapel in Mirbach, I find it construction very well done and congratulate you to " . the visit was not without consequences, as the Savior chapel in Mirbach was the occasion for the construction of the Church of the Redeemer in Gerolstein ." the construction of the Redeemer chapel for the Catholics makes it so to speak to duty, even for the more needy Protestants to build a beautiful house of God. ”This was on the initiative of the emperor 1911 to 1913 in Gerolstein on the imperial Kr ongut Villa Sarabodis built. The model was the Mirbach Chapel; this also for the Evangelical Chapel in Madrid, which was also financed by Wilhelm II.
The post-war period brought problems. Mirbach was just a poor branch community. Ernst von Mirbach was also aware of this. The chapel and all the furnishings therefore remained the property of Baron von Mirbach. The far-sighted secured the costs for the future maintenance of the building from the interest of a building fund invested in securities. As a result of the war and the inflation that followed, such securities became worthless. The von Mirbach family also no longer had the necessary funds and was expressly not obliged to maintain ongoing maintenance. Since the parish or branch parish was left without funds, necessary repairs had to be postponed over and over again, permanent damage occurred and the chapel fell into disrepair. The builder's son donated the chapel to the Wiesbaum-Mirbach parish in 1956. The civil parish is responsible for the maintenance obligation by contract. With support from the district, state and diocese , the chapel was thoroughly renovated from 1956 to 1959 and again in 1974/75.
Furnishing
With the Erlöser Chapel , von Mirbach had a church built, which, like other churches, was called the Eifel Cathedral because of its imposing nature . The building quotes the historical, but was also a symbol of the new imperial era. The gable-crowned crossing tower resembles St. Peter in Sinzig . The transepts are private chapels of the donors, the Erlöserkapelle a palace chapel without a lock.
The splendid, technically exquisite mosaics come from August Oetken (1868–1951), the leading mosaicist of the time. Thanks to its high-ranking artists, the Mirbach Erlöserkapelle is on the same artistic level as numerous contemporary national and international buildings of historicism. In fact, the architects and the mosaic artist had already worked together with the Puhl & Wagner company from Berlin on the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. At the same time as the redeemer chapel was designed, August Oetken worked on the mosaic of the "Elisabeth Kemenate" (1902–1906) on the Wartburg in Thuringia, his most famous work to this day. Oetken had already worked with the architect Spitta in 1897/1898 when he created the first altar of the Maria Laach Abbey, the so-called "Kaiser Altar", richly decorated with mosaics. Also with Spitta, shortly before the Mirbach Chapel in 1900/1901, he created the so-called “Kaiserbrunnen” (today: “ German Fountain ” in Istanbul (Constantinople)). With the architect Franz Schwechten, who completed the Erlöserkapelle, Oetken also worked on the so-called “King Wilhelm Tower” (today: Grunewald Tower ). The Erlöserkirche in Gerolstein is stylistically and artistically connected to the same architect Schwechten as well as the fact that the local mosaic artist and “emperor painter” Friedrich Schwarting (1883–1918) like August Oetken is not only from Oldenburg, but also from the studio and the school of Hermann Schapers (1853–1911), the mosaicist a. a. of the Aachen Cathedral .
The same applies to the fine sculptures by Rudolf Bauer, an imperial showpiece and showpiece, in a sense moved from the Spree to the Kyll . The core of the mini-cathedral is a simple brick building. The apparently massive tufa is only a romanizing facing. But just like the massive oak portal of unusual quality, it signals to those entering the solidity of the Gottesburg.
On a side gallery stands the pedalless, six-register pipe organ, a gift from the court organ builder Wilhelm Sauer from Frankfurt (Oder). A rarity, as this organ builder was not otherwise active in the Eifel.
Sanctuary of the Mirbach Redeemer Chapel
Mirbach window in the chancel
Rich mosaic decoration of the church interior
Angel mosaics with the tools of suffering (designs: Prof. Geiges?) By August Oetken
Coat of arms window with the coat of arms of those of Mirbach on the west side
Evangelist Matthew - mosaic by August Oetken
literature
- Ernst Frhr. v. Mirbach: The Redeemer Chapel in Mirbach in the Eifel. Berlin 1903, DNB 366871706 .
- Herbert Wagner: Mirbach in the Eifel. (= Rheinische Kunststätten issue 246). Neuss 1980, ISBN 3-88094-343-5 (wrong p. 15: “Historienmaler A. Oetker, Berlin”).
- Festschrift 100 Years of the Erlöserkapelle Mirbach , oO 2003, 16 unpaginated pages.
- Gerold Schmidt: The church painter and mosaic artist of historicism Prof. August Oetken (1968–1951) - co-designer of the Melanchthon House in Bretten. In: Stefan Rhein, Gerhard Schwinge (ed.): The Melanchthon House Bretten. An example of the Reformation commemoration at the turn of the century. Regional culture publishing house, Ubstadt-Weiher 1997, ISBN 3-929366-63-0 , pp. 167-212.
- Ansgar Brockmann: "The rough climate of the Eifel is not favorable to the otherwise excellent tufa material". The renovation of the facade of the Erlöserkirche in Wiesbaum-Mirbach . In: Baudenkmäler in Rheinland-Pfalz 61/63, 2006/08 (2010), pp. 126–129.
Web links
- Database construction information
- Eifel Cathedral should shine again. Funding contract for the Church of the Redeemer in Wiesbaum-Mirbach. German Foundation for Monument Protection, August 8, 2007, archived from the original on October 10, 2007 ; accessed on March 17, 2014 .
- The Redeemer Chapel in Mirbach. Retrieved June 13, 2017 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Herbert Wagner: Mirbach in the Eifel. (= Rheinische Kunststätten Heft 246), p. 14. Neuss 1980, ISBN 3-88094-343-5
Coordinates: 50 ° 21 ′ 21 ″ N , 6 ° 40 ′ 42 ″ E