European Chapel (Schönberg)

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The European Chapel on the hill to the right of the motorway

The Europakapelle (also Europa-Kapelle ) at the Europabrücke of the Brenner-Autobahn is a church building, which is supposed to remind of the great historical importance of the Brenner for the traffic over the Alps and of Austria's commitment to the Autobahn and bridge. The chapel is dedicated to the two saints John Nepomuk , the patron saint of bridges, and Christophorus , the patron saint of motorists. The chapel is a listed building .

location

The European Chapel is located on the territory of the municipality of Schönberg in the Stubai Valley . It is located on a hill about 120 m north of the parking lot of the Europabrücke service station on the A 13, 55 m west of the motorway and about 40 m above its level. The hill is a prominent elevation of the ridge that separates the Sill valley from that of the Ruetz . A footpath leads from the parking lot to the chapel. Since 2007, the view of the chapel from the motorway has been partially obscured by a monumental advertising sign, which has met with criticism.

history

On February 9, 1960, shortly after the construction work on the bridge began, the Tyrolean state parliament decided to erect a monument near the bridge that would do justice to the importance of the route over the Brenner Pass and its access via a motorway. The chapel was completed in 1963 based on a design by the Innsbruck architect Hubert Prachensky (1916–2009). It was consecrated on November 16, 1963 by the abbot of Wilten Abbey , Alois Stöger (1921–1998). The chapel is dedicated as a memorial to the workers who died while building the motorway. The chapel was given its artistic design in 1964 by the South Tyrolean painter Karl Plattner (1919–1986), who designed a cycle of frescoes .

Building description

The European Chapel with the right boundary wall

The entire system has a rhombus-shaped base area with diagonals of 40 or 30 m. A staircase that widens upwards begins at a reception ramp and takes up the entire triangle half of the rhombus. The upper, initially flat triangle is lined by two walls that rise flat towards the rear tip. In the middle is a roof, under which the actual triangular chapel lies, the floor of which slopes down again. The boundary of the chapel facing the visitor is a retractable glass wall.

In the chapel there is a simple altar in front of a window set into the rear corner of the boundary walls, which offers a wonderful view of the Europe Bridge. The entire area of ​​the boundary walls in front of and in the chapel is covered with frescoes by Karl Plattner. They show motifs from bridge construction and the two chapel cartridges combined with real and fictional events from the history of Tyrol and Europe, such as the mythological Europe riding the bull .

Next to the lower end of the access stairs is a memorial plaque with the 22 names of the victims of the bridge construction. At the top of the stairs a free-standing bell tower made of metal struts rises and is visible from afar.

literature

  • P. Michael Böhles: Between Innsbruck and the Brenner Pass - European Chapel. Schnell and Steiner Regensburg 2011², ISBN 978-3-7954-6883-5
  • Paul von Naredi-Rainer: Hidden masterpiece over roaring traffic - the European chapel on the Tyrolean Brenner motorway . In: INSITU 2018/2, pp. 307–316.
  • Karl Plattner: The frescoes of the European Chapel on the Europabrücke near Innsbruck. Damnitz Publishing House, Munich 1965

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Tyrol - immovable and archaeological monuments under monument protection. ( Memento from June 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) . Federal Monuments Office , as of June 26, 2015 (PDF). (under Schönberg in the Stubaital)
  2. ↑ tirisMaps
  3. ↑ Naredi-Rainer, p. 315.
  4. ↑ Hans Gamper in the preface to Karl Plattner: The frescoes of the European Chapel on the Europabrücke near Innsbruck. (Verbatim quote see discussion page)
  5. ↑ The European Chapel Memorial. Retrieved September 9, 2018 .

Coordinates: 47 ° 11 '54.3 "  N , 11 ° 23' 53.4"  E