Branch church Altweitra
The Roman Catholic branch church Altweitra is a Romanesque hall church surrounded by a former cemetery and an originally defensive wall in the southwest of the Lower Austrian town of Altweitra . As a branch of the Weitra parish , it belongs to the Gmünd deanery . It is under the patronage of Saints Peter and Paul .
history
The parish Altweitra founded by Hadmar II von Kuenring was an original parish of the Waldviertel . It is mentioned in a document in 1197, but dates back to before 1182. After the establishment of Weitra at the beginning of the 13th century, however, the parish rights were transferred there. The church was probably built around 1220. The top floor is interpreted as a former pilgrim hostel that existed until the first half of the 13th century or as a defensive and escape floor .
Exterior construction
The church is a high, Romanesque hall building with a slightly drawn-in choir bay under a continuous gable roof and a low semicircular apse . The masonry consists of unplastered stone blocks. The simple, portal-free west facade with its chamfered rectangular windows was renewed in the upper part in 1863 and equipped with a sound arcade . The rectangular portal on the south side of the nave was probably built in the 17th century. To the left of this the round arch of the former Romanesque portal is still preserved. There are narrow arched windows with funnel walls throughout the building . Above that, there are two slotted windows on the nave and one on the choir above the vaults. These are the windows of the former fortified floor or the pilgrims' hostel. The nave is broken through on the north side by a rectangular window. The choir bay has a round arched window on the south side with inscribed oculi from the 13th century.
Interior
The unplastered ashlar masonry is also predominant inside. In the two square nave bays there are groin vaults with round keystones over round arched belt arches on Romanesque hanging irons with battlements. The recessed, round-arched triumphal arch also rests on a Romanesque warrior cornice . The groin vaulted choir square has a Gothic , chamfered rectangular portal in the north , which originally led to a sacristy . The apse has a Romanesque dome . The organ loft was made of wood in the 19th century. Above the vaults there is a double-storey room in the roof truss , originally created by a beamed ceiling, if a flat ceiling was previously available , which was probably designed as a defensive storey or pilgrim hostel. The beam holes above the slit windows are still preserved.
Facility
The rococo - high altar with marbled , uniaxial column unit was created in the third quarter of the 18th century. It has an altarpiece with a representation of the Transfiguration of Christ , side figures of Saints Barbara and Catherine, in the excerpt a figure of Maria Immaculata and above the side portals of the sacrifices portals of Saints Peter and Paul. The side altars from around 1620/30 are fitted with gabled frames. The crucifixion of Christ is depicted on the left altar panel and on the right Saint Mary with child as the queen of heaven . The pulpit with a five-sided basket on pillars with decorative pilasters is marked 1629. The parapet positive comes from 1710/20 , with pedal attachments by Joachim Pruckner from 1794. Additional features include carved figures of Mary with child from around 1330, a figure of St. Apollonia from around 1520 and a female saint in post-Gothic adaptation from 1620/30, a picture of the Transfiguration of Christ, which was probably painted in the 18th century, a Biedermeier wooden sacrificial box from the first half of the 19th century with an angel relief and a bell from 1411.
graveyard
To the east of the church, in the former cemetery, lies the family crypt of the Landgraves von Fürstenberg , built in 1843, with a Romanesque historical exedra made of brickwork with a pointed arch niche between pointed arcade arcades.
literature
- DEHIO Lower Austria north of the Danube . Berger, Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-85028-395-3 , p. 42f.
Web links
- Description of the church on the website of the community of Unserfrau-Altweitra.
- Description of the church on a private website about the Lainsitz valley.
Coordinates: 48 ° 43 ′ 17.8 " N , 14 ° 54 ′ 24.3" E