Kirchheim Castle in Swabia

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View of the castle

The Schloss Kirchheim in Schwaben is a Renaissance castle in Kirchheim in Schwaben that of Jacob Eschay and Wendel Dietrich in the years 1578 to 1583 for Hans Fugger was built and since then in the possession of the house Fugger of the lily is.

history

Aerial view of the palace complex
Historical representation of the Fugger Castle in Kirchheim in Swabia in the 17th century
The castle church
Cedar Hall ceiling
Cedar Hall ceiling (detail)
Portal in the cedar hall

In 1551 Anton Fugger (1493–1560), the nephew and successor of Jakob Fugger the Rich (1449–1525), bought the rule of Kirchheim in Swabia from the von Hürnheim family for 137,000 guilders (at that time one guilder was roughly the weekly wage of one person) .

After Anton Fugger's death in 1560, Kirchheim was temporarily managed jointly by his three sons. In order to limit possible disputes, rule was passed to Hans Fugger (1533–1598) by means of “drawing lots” .

Between 1578 and 1582, Kirchheim Castle was built by the Augsburg city master builder Jakob Eschay . Since the four wings built around a square inner courtyard are astonishingly similar to the Escorial near Madrid , it is still called the Swabian Escorial to this day. The castle and parish church was also built by Jakob Eschay in 1580–1583. Some well-known artists such as Carlo Pallago , Hubert Gerhard and Wendel Dietrich worked on the construction of the palace .

In 1585 the famous cedar hall was established. The chimney was built and Wendel Dietrich installed the ceiling and the large portals.

The next major structural change took place in 1852. The demolition of the north wing and the north west wing changed the appearance of the castle considerably.

In 1878 Kirchheim fell to the Fugger von Glött family, and in 1886 it became their headquarters .

The castle is still inhabited by the Fugger family and is therefore not open to the public. Only the cedar hall can be visited.

Angela Fürstin Fugger von Glött received the Bavarian Order of Merit on June 20, 2001 for the complete repair and maintenance of the Fugger Castle in Kirchheim .

The cedar hall

The centerpiece is the unique coffered ceiling in the 360 ​​m² cedar hall. The cedar wood probably comes from Lebanon and forms the dark background of the ceiling. In addition, more than ten other types of wood (including linden , oak , yew , ash , maple , plum , nut and Swiss stone pine ) can be recognized.

The cedar hall comes from Wendel Dietrich , the most important "Kistlermeister" of the late 16th century. Many thousands of figures and ornaments are carved. The depth of the individual relief cassettes is approximately 1.80 m. The wooden ceiling is considered to be the most beautiful German carving of the Renaissance and is characterized by its unsurpassed acoustics . The Augsburg art blacksmith Michael Mezger attached the ceiling to the roof structure with an ingenious hanging structure with 400 construction hooks .

It is divided into three large, square and recessed cassette fields . Rich scrollwork ornamentation encompasses the cassettes, with satyr masks , rosettes, geometric shapes, floral decorations, fruit garlands and the Fugger lilies (the family coat of arms).

In 1582 the interior decoration began with the terracotta figures made of clay and then fired . Carlo Pallago and Hubert Gerhard made the twelve larger-than-life sculptures, for which both artists received a total fee of 1,000 guilders. In the same year, the wooden ceiling made by Wendel Dietrich and the portals were installed. The last to be added in 1587 was the chimney with the sculptures created by Hubert Gerhard. The six male figures from the staircase are probably: Cyrus II , the Great, Alexander the Great , Caesar , Augustus , Charlemagne , Charles V. The six female terracotta figures are probably: Judith , Lucretia , Empress Flavia Iulia Helena Augusta , Empress Adelheid of Burgundy , Elisabeth of Thuringia and Elisabeth of Portugal .

Music tradition in the cedar hall since 1957

Due to the concert tradition of over 40 years in the Zedernsaal, it was important for Princess Angela Fugger von Glött to continue the tradition of her husband Joseph-Ernst Fugger von Glött .

Great musical artists came and went in Kirchheim, including Carl Orff , Gustav Leonhardt , Paul Badura-Skoda , the Collegium Aureum with Franzjosef Maier , Hans-Martin Linde , the Koeckert Quartet , Deller Consort , Jörg Demus , Pro Cantione Antiqua, The Consort of Musicke with Emma Kirkby , the Tölzer Knabenchor with Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden , the Melos Quartet and many more.

Since then, the Kirchheim Music Summer has been held in the warm season to this day.

The Fugger Classics concert series included the following artists from 2003 to 2007: Alfredo Perl, Julia Fischer , Milana Chernyavska, Christoph Hammer, Martin Bruns, Münchner Klaviertrio, Arnulf von Arnim, Kurt Guntner, Rimskij-Korsakow Quartet, Casal Quartet , Dudi Mazmanishvilli, Arabella Steinbacher , Daniel Müller-Schott, Nicolas Koeckert , Julius Berger, Severin von Eckardstein , Georg Hörtnagel and others.

literature

  • Christl Karnehm: Hans Fugger's correspondence from 1566 to 1594. Regesta of the copy books from the Fugger archive. 2 volumes (3 parts). Commission for Bavarian State History, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-7696-9706-5 ( Sources on the recent history of Bavaria. 3: private correspondence 1–2).
  • Georg Lill: Hans Fugger (1531–1598) and art. A contribution to the late Renaissance in southern Germany. Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1908 ( Studies on the Fugger History 2, ISSN  0340-7195 ).
  • Georg Dehio : Handbook of the German art monuments . Bavaria. Volume 3: Bruno Bushart , Georg Paula : Swabia. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-422-03008-5 .
  • Franz A. Karg: Kirchheim Castle. 2nd revised edition. Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg 2001, ISBN 3-931820-76-9 .
  • Angela Fürstin Fugger von Glött: Schloß Kirchheim , Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg 1998

Web links

Commons : Kirchheim Castle in Swabia  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 48 ° 10 ′ 20 ″  N , 10 ° 28 ′ 28 ″  E