Cemetery chapel (Hagenbach)
The cemetery chapel in Bad Friedrichshall-Hagenbach in the district of Heilbronn in northern Baden-Württemberg , marks the original Hagenbach settlement core and is the oldest preserved building in the district. The chapel was the original church dedicated to St. Kilian and was built in the Romanesque period at the latest . Late Gothic wall paintings and a gallery from 1611 have been preserved inside. In the 18th century the larger Kilian's Church was built in the Bad Friedrichshaller district, after which the older church was only used as a cemetery chapel.
history
The chapel was the original Hagenbacher church, consecrated to Saint Kilian, and as such, according to the old gradient to the pastor's supply, probably a branch of the Kreuzkapelle in Duttenberg . As a stone church, the building was probably built in the Romanesque period , as indicated by the still-preserved choir window and a once-existing narrow arched portal. The founding of today's place Hagenbach and with it the emergence of the chapel go back to the strategically favorable location on the Hohen Straße , an old long-distance route along the watershed of Jagst and Kocher . In Roman times there was a villa rustica near the church, which, in addition to more recent archaeological findings, also indicates old field names referring to walls. Even in the wall of the chapel two Roman inscription stones were once walled up, of which the more extensively inscribed and still legible stone has now been taken to a museum, while on the church only an indistinguishable fragment of Roman inscription remained. Although the church is very small, it has already been rebuilt several times in ancient times. It lost its Romanesque character at the latest during the Renaissance , when the side windows of the church were redesigned. Larger parts of the painting were lost due to the renovation of the windows and the installation of the gallery in 1611. According to structural findings, the altar area was once separated from the rest of the church by a room-high wall. Various structural anomalies in the altar area, including the conspicuous, uneven niche on the east wall of the choir or the presence of two rectangular wall depressions interpreted as sacraments, can no longer be clearly explained or dated.
When the Hagenbach church was first mentioned in 1512, it had already become a subsidiary of Untergriesheim . The Heuchlinger Amtslagerbuch from 1686 confirms that a pastor from Untergriesheim performed the service in Hagenbach every 14 days and that the chapel was consecrated to Saint Kilian . As the place grew, the chapel became too small to hold all believers. Therefore, the Kilian's Church was built in 1753 as a replacement for the too small chapel, which has since been called the cemetery chapel or old church . Since the location of the Hagenbach settlement has shifted and expanded to the south over time, the chapel, which was once in the old town center, is now on the northern edge of Hagenbach.
In 1932, during renovation work by Albert Aich, the late Gothic paintings on the north wall of the church were uncovered, after which the church was classified as a monument. After the Second World War, the interior of the church was temporarily redesigned as a memorial for the fallen. In 1969 the historical paintings were restored on the occasion of a church renovation by Willy Eckert from Bad Mergentheim. The last renovation of the chapel took place from 1995 to 1999 under the direction of the Bad Friedrichshall architect Ludwig Herkle and according to the specifications of the State Monuments Office. The church was re-plastered inside and out, as moisture damage had set in over time, which was also combated with new gutters and improved drainage . The focus of the renovation was again on the restoration of the wall paintings.
Since a modern funeral hall, where the war memorials have been moved, and a free-standing bell tower for the cemetery bell cast by the Bachert bell foundry have now also been built in the cemetery of Bad Friedrichshall-Hagenbach , the cemetery chapel is only used occasionally.
description
The cemetery chapel is a rectangular, east-facing hall church building with a tent roof . The entrance is in the back of the southern side wall, on the western gable side a wooden gallery from 1611 has been inserted. The altar area is on the east gable side, which still has a Romanesque window in an unevenly formed niche. The church interior is covered by a relatively young, flat stucco ceiling . In the north wall, the beginnings of a separating wall between the church and the altar area can still be clearly seen below the ceiling, while in the south wall only shadowy traces can be made out under the plaster . The windows in the long walls were given their current rectangular shape in the Renaissance period, as some of the window reveals still have paintings from that time. The rectangular niche in the southern side wall is interpreted as an old sacrament niche . It was walled up for a long time and was only discovered and opened during one of the recent renovations. The rectangular, painted and profiled niche in the altar wall to the left of the window is interpreted as a younger sacrament niche. The church floor and altar table are from a recent renovation.
The late Gothic paintings on the north wall are significant in terms of art history . A total of ten image fields were exposed there, but these were severely affected by the renovation of the windows during the Renaissance and the installation of the gallery in 1611. Only a few of the scenes can still be clearly interpreted. At the top left, Christ is depicted as the judge of the world on a throne, above which the dove of the Holy Spirit hovers. Parts of an altar with a crucifix can still be seen in the top center of the image. Parts of a bed box are visible at the bottom left. The scenes on the far right are better preserved, but can no longer be interpreted. At the top right is a scene in which six men with swords fight each other around a round table, with some of the people about to go down. Other image fields in the right area also show scenes with many figures. The sequence of scenes is generally understood as Biblia pauperum (Poor Bible) with a special focus on the representation of worldly sins. There are also remains of consecration crosses on the walls.
According to the dating on the support post, the gallery dates from 1611. The stairs to the gallery still have Renaissance steps. The mastiffs (side parts) of the stalls date from the Baroque period.
In the interior of the chapel there was a late Gothic winged altar from around 1525 until 1969, which is now kept in the Bad Friedrichshaller church St. Barbara . The origin of the winged altar is unknown. It is assumed, however, that he was in Hagenbach early on, before he was temporarily brought to the nearby Heuchlinger chapel, returned to Hagenbach and was again kept in the cemetery chapel and later in the Kilian's church.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hartmut Gräf: Unterländer Altär , Heilbronn 1983, No. A1.
literature
- Bad Friedrichshall 1933–1983. City of Bad Friedrichshall, Bad Friedrichshall 1983
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 14 ′ 34.4 " N , 9 ° 13 ′ 33.8" E