Cemetery chapel (Riegel am Kaiserstuhl)
Coordinates: 48 ° 9 ′ 13 " N , 7 ° 44 ′ 47.9" E
history
planning
In 1901, the families of the brewery directors Adolf, Ernst and Eduard Meyer decided to own the brewery company. Meyer & Söhne AG in Riegel am Kaiserstuhl to donate a cemetery chapel on the occasion of the expansion of the cemetery of the municipality of Riegel, the crypt of which was to serve as the burial place of the Meyer family. In June 1901 Max Meckel submitted a design in the Gothic style, which was rejected by the client. At the end of 1902 / beginning of 1903, the architect Wilhelm Blaue, who was then employed in the brewery, made a second design that was worked out by Hermann Distel . This design was not implemented either, blue and thistle were called up for other building projects. On June 20, 1903, the architect Paul Meißner from Darmstadt agreed to take on the order. He was given the freedom to change the existing plans, but the builders attached great importance to maintaining the character of a simple village chapel. Meißner remained in his execution with blue measures. The portal facade was given a new, far more " baroque " look than in the case of Blaues draft. This modified design by Meißner was approved on August 15, 1903 and was implemented.
construction
The construction pit was dug on August 5th, and bricklaying of the outer walls began on October 27th. The roof was completed on September 15, 1904. Construction was completed in mid-October. The vault work was also finished. The completion of the interior work - stucco, windows and portal design and the further equipment - lasted until 1907. H. Raithel began working on the portal stones in mid-1905, then work on the crypt portals. The stucco work (based on Meißner's designs) on the vaults of the upper and lower church lasted until June 1906. The round windows come from the art workshop of Professor Fritz Geiges from Freiburg. The cost of the chapel was 125,000 gold marks . According to the notarial donation agreement of January 20, 1908, the chapel was given to the community of Riegel with an additional 4,000 marks for entertainment. The lower part was to serve exclusively as a burial place for the Meyer family. The cemetery chapel was consecrated on October 29, 1907 by the local chaplain, Ferdinand Gießler, authorized by Archbishop Nörber .
Redevelopment
The Riegel municipal administration decided in 1985 to renovate the outside area of the chapel. During the preliminary investigations, the civil engineer and carpenter Fritz Bühler found that the terrace was at risk of collapse when it was fully loaded. The iron girders were heavily rusted from penetrating moisture and no longer met the static requirements. He even suggested closing the terrace.
It was decided to carry out a professional renovation of the exterior. The sandstone slabs were removed and most of them were later used again. A new cover plate was concreted. The plaster, which was in poor condition, was completely removed and renewed. The painting work and sandstone treatment were carried out by the local artist Karl-Heinz Thiel. The galvanized sheet metal parts were replaced by copper sheets. The cost of the renovation amounted to 107,725 DM. The work was completed on September 1, 1986.
Monument protection
In March 2014, the Riegeler Friedhofskapelle was entered as a cultural monument of special importance in the monuments book of the state of Baden-Württemberg .
Building description
Exterior view
The chapel faces north-south; the entrance is on the south gable side. It is 8.8 meters wide and 15.5 meters long; The terrace with its beautiful baluster parapet leads to a single-nave, almost square hall church (6.5 m × 7.7 m). There are two outside niches (1.1 m deep) on the east and west sides. The flat apse shows round corners, the front wall is straight. The long sides are structured by three sandstone pilasters that reach down to the roof of the outer niches. The round windows are framed by a fairly wide and profiled stone frame. The rounded apse is also emphasized by pilasters. In the flat apse apse there is another, similarly worked round window. Below that, the rectangular window of the lower church becomes visible at ground level. There are two baroque stone vases on either side of the apse. The semicircular, simply incised outer niches accommodate tombs, including that of the parents of the donors. The plinth strip interrupt the rectangular windows in the transept and the crypt . There is a second door in the niche on the west side. The covered path leads to the newly built morgue from 1974.
The portal structure, above which the continued eaves cornice on the nave sides swings open in a semicircle, extends into the triangular gable. The portal itself arches into the terrace. It is framed by rusticated pillars and bordered on the sides by volutes and putti . A longitudinally oval bronze cartouche above the semicircular and double-leaf oak door bears the donor's inscription: DOM / To pray for the dearly departed / This church was given to their home community / by the families / Adolf, Ernst and Eduard / Meyer, brewery owner / Riegel im Breisgau AD1903 . Behind the volutes of the roof, which is to be understood as a split gable, stand stone vases on stone plinths that appear baroque on the outside to the right and left. They flank a volute-framed, profiled, semicircular niche in which a seated bronze angel of the court looks towards the bolt. The folded hands, with which he rests on his right knee, hold a Roman tuba . The upper portal structure is formed by a sandstone cartouche framed by auricles with the inscription: "Siste visitor / quidquid latet adparebitl nil inultum remanebit" (German: "While wanderers, what is hidden will appear open, nothing will remain unavenged.") Each door leaf is equipped with a bronze plate with the inscription: "Mors Janua Vitae" (Death is the gate of life.) The portal and the bronze figure are works by Augusto Varnesi from Darmstadt; the stone carving comes from Heinrich Raithel from Offenbach. The steep gable roof is almost flush with the south side and arches in a cone shape over the apse. On the east side the roof has two dormers . A large, round roof turret with eight semicircular sound openings sits on the roof ridge , covered by an onion helmet with a pommel and cross tip made of copper. The bell in the roof turret was cast by the bell foundry B. Grüninger (1906) and bore the inscription written by Meißner: “St. My name is Michael and I sound far out into the country. I remind the living of serious times, the dead I call to eternal joy. ” Unfortunately, the bell became a victim of the metal collections during World War II . Today the smallest bell from the parish church of St. Martin , which survived the war, hangs in the turret . The chapel is plastered with pure lime mortar and painted white. The architectural parts made of reddish flamed Main sandstone and the outer edges are emphasized by stone surrounds.
The interior
In the flat barrel vault, two stitch caps are cut over high-seated round windows on both sides. Three steps lead to the choir room. The triumphal arch , worked as a basket arch, is fluted. Three round windows "illuminate" the choir. Flat, semicircular niches are embedded in the wall under the two side windows. The chapel is painted white. The abundantly used stucco is partially covered with gold. White stucco, highlighted in red, frames the inside of the main portal; the same combination surrounds the name of Marias and the “Ora pro nobis” on the ceiling of the nave. The triumphal arch bears the inscription: “I am the resurrection and the life” in a stucco-molded cartouche, decorated with widely spreading foliage . A stucco relief is above the arch of the western niche. This represents God the Father in a halo, with a globe in his left hand and the right raised as a blessing. In the arched reveal , angel heads flank the inscription: “Beati, qui in Domino moriunt.” (Blessed are those who have fallen asleep in God). From the eastern niche, sandstone stairs lead to the lower church and the graves. The niche is framed by semicircular stucco with volutes and tendrils. The inscription reads: “In te Domine speravi ne confundar in aetemum. Requiescant in pace. ”(For you, Lord, I hoped that I would not perish forever. May you rest in peace.) Small stucco cartouches adorn the ceiling and stitch caps of the round windows in the chancel.
The round windows give the chapel its color inside. Black and white tendrils surround the colored middle fields. The virtues Caritas and Humilitas are shown in the southern axis; the coat of arms of the Meyer family - three medieval hats and a lion with lilies of the valley - can be seen in the north axis. The two round windows on the side of the choir depict Fides and Spes . In the middle window, the resurrection with Christ can be seen as a half-length figure. The altar, carved from walnut wood, stands on an oak parquet floor and has inlays made of different woods. The altar design comes from the architect Meißner. Varnesi built a model according to his plans, after which the pedestal , cafeteria and the middle altar structure will be made by Friedrich Zopf from Freiburg. The side reliefs were created by the Darmstadt artist Bernhard Pitro. The side sculptures show the Riegeler patrone, Saint Martin and the martyr Coelestin, who is wrongly identified as Pope. The life-size angel figures with wide wings over the side panels hold a wreath in their palm. The angel turned to the right carries a trumpet in the other hand, the second angel raises his hand in blessing.
The lower church
A winding, red sandstone staircase in the eastern niche leads to the burial place of the Meyer family, which is closed by a wrought iron grating. The inside of the sandstone portal is surrounded by a decorative frame with a light gold plating with a reddish background. In the frame, the letters A (alpha) and O (omega) in alternating order, lowered torches and a skull in the apex take up the theme of the crypt. The northern part of the lower room is illuminated through three windows by Fritz Geiges . Under the side windows - they show bulging garlands - there are sandstone urns with a lily of the valley decoration and an ornamental base frieze. Under the middle window - it shows the pierced Heart of Jesus - there is a stone altar supported by a console. Two urns with a classical cut complete the altar group. This room is also richly decorated with stucco. The ceiling shows putti, which are grouped around the "Hallelujah" . Pigeons "fly around" a well from which water gushes. Putti making music have gathered around the fountain; the framing inscription promises: "See, I tell you a secret / we will not all fall asleep / but will be changed / suddenly, in a moment / at the time of the last trumpet."
Opposite the stairs are two shell limestone sarcophagi behind a richly decorated, wrought-iron grille. Large candlesticks and the bronze holy water font on the coffins, as well as an epitaph on the back wall, complete the furnishings of this tomb. The actual entrance to the crypt is also richly decorated with sandstone volutes with gold plating and acanthus leaves in the corners. A white painted gate, made in perspective , leads to the burial niches. Below the entrance area of the upper church and the terrace, an empty room acts as a crossbar to close the crypt.
Opening of the cemetery chapel
The cemetery chapel with the crypt is essentially open to everyone on All Saints' Day (November 1st). Further visits are possible after consultation with the municipal administration.
literature
- History Association Riegel eV (Ed.): Riegeler Almanach 1995. A documentation by Karl-Heinz Thiel
- Folkhard Cremer: Paul Meißner's cemetery chapel in Riegel am Kaiserstuhl. In: Preservation of monuments in Baden-Württemberg. 43rd year 2014, issue 2, pp. 113–118. ( Digital edition )
Web links
proof
- ↑ Preservation of monuments in Baden-Württemberg . News of the state monument preservation. 43rd volume, issue 2/2014, p. 113 ( online edition )