Secret pillars on the way to Maria Plain
The secret pillars on the way to Maria Plain , a series of 16 shrines that starting in the Austrian city of Salzburg located on the north of it, in the municipality of Bergheim lying Plainberg lead. They were laid out in 1705 by an unknown donor and form an unspecified, four-kilometer pilgrimage route to the Maria Plain church . The stone pillars I to XV are provided with oil paintings, which depict the 15 secrets of the rosary ; The series ends with a votive column with the history of its origins. The pillars of secrets had hardly been maintained over the years, some of the pictures had disappeared or were close to decay. Private rescue operations at the beginning of the 20th century and in the 1980s saved the row of columns from ruin.
history
Layout of the path of the baroque period
In the second half of the 17th century , a pilgrimage basilica and a calvary were built on the Plainberg, triggered by increasing pilgrimage traffic to the miraculous image of Maria Plain , which was erected in 1652 . Maria Plain subsequently became a place of pilgrimage known throughout the German-speaking region.
At the beginning of the 18th century, the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy was involved in the War of the Spanish Succession , in the course of which in 1704 hundreds of villages in neighboring Bavaria were plundered and burned using the " scorched earth " tactic . It was feared that Salzburg and the surrounding area would not be spared. Due to the warlike circumstances, especially the victory of the Austrians and their allies at the Battle of Höchstädt an der Donau on August 13, 1704, this fate was averted by the area.
As a thank you for this co-ordination, a godly Salzburg resident who deliberately wanted to remain unknown, presumably a merchant, donated a series of 15 stone wayside shrines in the following year 1705 on the basis of a vow with oil paintings bearing the 15 mysteries of the rosary as a motif. The pillars are therefore also called "secret pillars". The series is rounded off by a 16th stone column, which, as a votive column, bears a picture of Mary as well as a text on the history of its origins and the votive slogan of the builder. At that time it was not uncommon to have a wayside shrine laid out on pilgrimage routes for religious reasons and as a thank you, especially since such shrines were not only used for devotion, but also showed the way at night with their candles or oil lights.
The motivation of the founder is not only to be seen in the happy aversion to acts of war, but also in his piety. According to his statements, as a person living immorally, on December 26, 1686, he had a light appearance that converted him to the faith. The nature of this phenomenon is not clear. It is believed that it was a matter of the northern lights seldom seen in Salzburg or the appearance of Halley's comet . The latter, however, does not coincide with the calculations of the comet's orbit, so that today it is assumed that the unknown erroneously entered a wrong date.
Reconstruction of historicism
The builder had also left money to the city of Salzburg so that the columns could be looked after after his death. In the course of time, however, these became increasingly damaged. At the beginning of the 20th century, the columns themselves were still well preserved, but the pictures, which were painted on sheet metal, were in extremely poor condition. Philipp Strasser, a resident of Salzburg and a funeral director, started a fundraising campaign to renew the paintings in 1906, but this did not materialize in the end. He then decided to use his own resources for it. In the following years, the history painter Josef Gold gradually re-created the pictures in the style of the Nazarenes until 1914 .
In the following decades, however, signs of deterioration continued to be recorded. Again the pictures rusted or faded and the columns came down noticeably. Three wayside shrines disappeared in the course of construction work after 1945. A pillar was supposed to be restored by the city of Salzburg as early as 1932, but this was rejected for cost reasons (cost estimate: twice the monthly salary of an official). In the seventies and eighties, letters to the Salzburg mayors Heinrich Salfenauer and Josef Reschen meant that the sculptor Conrad Dorn was entrusted with an expert opinion on the restoration of the secret pillars. Actual actions did not take place, however, especially since it was assumed that the restoration would prove to be problematic for the municipality, since some of the wayside shrines are on private property.
Restoration work in 1986
Medical Councilor Herbert Dorn was able to initiate some private measures to restore individual columns in the years after 1980; But he achieved the ultimate success when he succeeded in getting local economic companies and the regional press interested in the matter. A public donation campaign, the “Action to save the Maria Plain statues” came about and subsequently brought in the necessary funds. This enabled the restoration and rebuilding work on the wayside shrines I-X, which are located in the municipality of the city of Salzburg. The three missing stone pillars were replaced and placed in new locations, and the pictures were restored by painter Ady Fuchs or stylistically redesigned to match the baroque pillars .
The five pillars XI – XV located in the municipality of Bergheim were provided with glass mosaics in 1986 by a Benedictine Father Roman. The effective mosaics, which did not harmonize with the baroque columns, were controversial and were ultimately replaced in February 2009 by the original oil panels, which Ady Fuchs had also redesigned at the same time as the others.
Protected position
The wayside shrines located in the Salzburg city area are now owned by the city of Salzburg, along with the three rebuilt columns. The preserved original substance has been a listed building since 1987. The Bergheim part of the row of columns is recorded in the protected Maria Plain complex .
The shrines
Secret pillars I to XV
The pillars are made of conglomerate stone ( Nagelfluh ) from the Salzburg Rainberg . Each one has a tabernacle-like box containing the respective picture. In the Austrian Art Topography of 1916, the tabernacle columns are described as "prismatic pillars with four horizontal joints above a cube base, and a rectangular tabernacle above the cornice, suspected to have a curved gable". On these gables, almost all of the columns have a metal plate with the inscription Praise be to Jesus Christ forever. Amen . On some wayside shrines there is also a small shield on the shaft of the column with the number of the column in Roman numerals in the order of the route.
The oil paintings in the boxes are painted on metal panels.
Those paintings in wayside shrines I – V show the Joyful Rosary in accordance with the 15-part picture program , while those in Pillars VI – X show the Sorrowful Rosary ; the pictures with the numbers XI – XV, which are all in Bergheim's area, have the Glorious Rosary as their motif. The path along the wayside shrines can be seen as a rosary path . The term “ Way of the Cross ”, which also applies to the Passion of Christ, is - although it ends in a Calvary - to be classified as wrong, as this would explicitly show the pictorial program of the Passion .
- Overview
- Columns shrine and motif sort which have participated in the 1980 reconstructed shrines painting to the end
- The building note column gives a link to the corresponding list of monuments
| Wayside shrine | station | Location | Construction note | Motif | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I. |
 (Original from 1705) |
Annunciation : "whom you, virgin, received from the Holy Spirit" |
Salzburg– Elisabeth-Vorstadt , Elisabethstrasse 1 | Originally free-standing on the Hirschenwiese , integrated into the house facade in the course of construction at the turn of the 20th century, picture restored |
.jpg) ( Josef Gold , around 1910) |
| II |
 (Original from 1705) |
Visitation of the Virgin Mary : "That you, O virgin, carried to Elisabeth" |
Salzburg– Elisabeth-Vorstadt , Elisabethstrasse 5 (Hotel zum Hirschen) | Restored column and picture |
.jpg) ( Josef Gold , around 1910) |
| III |
 (Original from 1705) |
Birth of Christ : "whom you, o virgin, gave birth in Bethlehem" |
Salzburg– Elisabeth-Vorstadt , Elisabethstrasse 21 | Already removed with the rubble during construction work, but originally rebuilt; Image redesigned |
.jpg) ( Ady Fuchs , around 1980) |
| IV | (Reconstruction) |
Jesus' sacrifice (presentation) : "whom you, o virgin, offered up in the temple" |
Salzburg– Elisabeth-Vorstadt , Elisabethstraße, Jahnstraße junction (at Haupt- / Pestalozzischule) | Column disappeared due to new buildings and rebuilt on the city's own grounds of the Plainschule; the restored picture of wayside shrine V inserted here → list |
.jpg) ( Josef Gold , around 1910) |
| V |
 (Reconstruction) |
Finding of the twelve-year-old Jesus : "whom you, o virgin, found again in the temple" |
Salzburg– Elisabeth-Vorstadt , Julius-Haagn-Strasse 32 | Column and picture redesigned → List |
 ( Ady Fuchs , around 1980) |
| VI |
 (Preservation unclear) |
The agony of Jesus on the Mount of Olives : "He who sweated blood for us" |
Salzburg– Itzling , Plainstrasse 115 | Pillar built into the house facade; Picture restored | ( Josef Gold , around 1910) |
| VII |
 (Reconstruction) |
Flagellation of Jesus : "Who was scourged for us" |
Salzburg– Itzling , Plainstrasse, crossing Erzherzog-Eugen-Strasse | Newly erected column; Image redesigned | ( Ady Fuchs , around 1980) |
| VIII |
 (Reconstruction) |
Jesus crowned with thorns : "He who was crowned with thorns for us" |
Salzburg– Itzling , Schillerstraße 35 | Newly erected column, image based on the original, which can no longer be restored | ( Ady Fuchs , around 1980) |
| IX |
 (Original from 1705) |
Christ carrying the cross : "He who carried the heavy cross for us" |
Salzburg– Itzling , Albert-Schweiger-Straße 1 (at the Plainbrücke ) | Column and picture restored → list |
( Josef Gold , around 1910) |
| X |
 (Original from 1705) |
Crucifixion of Jesus : "He who was crucified for us" |
Salzburg– Itzling , Plainbergweg 7–9 | Column restored, picture renovated and based on the original → list |
.jpg) ( Ady Fuchs , around 1980) |
| XI | (Original from 1705) |
Resurrection of Christ : "He who rose from the dead" |
Bergheim– Kemating , Plainbergweg 19 | Image renovated → list |
.jpg) ( Ady Fuchs , around 1980) |
| XII |
 (Reconstruction) |
Ascension of Christ : "He who ascended to heaven" |
Bergheim– Kemating , Plainbergweg 20 | Column and picture renovated → list |
( Ady Fuchs , around 1980) |
| XIII | (Original from 1705) |
Mission of the Holy Spirit : "He who sent us the Holy Spirit" |
Bergheim– Kemating , Plainbergweg 3 | Image renovated → list |
( Ady Fuchs , around 1980) |
| XIV |
 (Original from 1705) |
Assumption of Mary into heaven : " Who took you, O virgin, into heaven" |
Bergheim– Kemating , Plainbergweg 1 | Image renovated → list |
( Ady Fuchs , around 1980) |
| XV |
 (Original from 1705) |
Coronation of Mary : "Who has crowned you, O virgin, in heaven" |
Bergheim– Maria Plain , Plainbergweg 30 (Ghf. Plainlinde) | Image renovated → list |
( Ady Fuchs , around 1980) |
More wayside shrines
The Maria Trost zu Plain wayside shrine is located between pillars V and VI . It is designed differently from the others and is also older. Presumably it dates from 1594. It stands at the former Bayerischer Platzl , the site of an alleged extradition of those condemned to death and those who had fled to Salzburg territory to ambassadors of the Bavarian duke, and is alleged to be an ancient empire . It is believed that he was consciously integrated into the ensemble of 15 pillars of secrecy.
The end of the pilgrimage route is formed by a votive column made of the same stone as the 15 secret columns. The Austrian Art Topography (1916) describes it as "a larger conglomerate column: on a cube-shaped pedestal a man-high prismatic pillar with a profiled base and capital cornice, on top of which a rounded, closed tabernacle with the modern, renewed image of the Mother of God of Maria Plain". In addition to the image of the Virgin Mary, there is the story of the origin of the pilgrimage route and the votive saying of the founder: Mariae Sanctae Dei Genitrici Honor ('Glory to Holy Mary, Mother of God!') As well as the written indication that the row of columns was created from a vow is ("Ex Voto"). The column forms the connection of the pilgrimage route to the four chapels of the Maria Plainer Kalvarienberg, built between 1686 and 1692 .
In front of the superior building, which is located directly next to the Maria Plain Basilica, there is a modern wayside shrine based on the secret pillars with glass mosaics from the 1980s.
| Wayside shrine | Location | Motif | Construction note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 (Original from 1594) |
Maria Consolation to Plain | Salzburg- Itzling , Plainstrasse 83 | Legal historical monument from the late 16th century located on the former Bayerischer Platzl → list |
Image of the miraculous image of Maria Plain ( Ady Fuchs , around 1980) |
 (Reconstruction) |
Votive column ( Maria Trost ) | Bergheim- Maria Plain , Plainbergweg, diagonally across from the first Kalvarienberg chapel | Column and picture renovated → list |
Image of the miraculous image of Maria Plain ( Ady Fuchs , around 1980) |
 (around 1986) |
New wayside shrine | Bergheim- Maria Plain , in front of the Superioriat building |
→ list |
Mary with baby Jesus and others (P. Roman, around 1986) |
Pilgrimage and connected station routes
The path with the secret pillars begins in today's Elisabeth-Vorstadt district and originally followed an old path from the bishop's residence to the north from the city gate of the fortifications of the Neustadt , which led through the then still rural Itzling , another district of Salzburg today, to the Plainberg. This path has served as a local pilgrimage route to Maria Plain since the beginning of pilgrimage interest. Within the Salzburg city area, the route of the secret pillars now only partly runs a continuous street. In addition, in the district of Itzling on Plainstrasse, the stations of pillars VI and VII are interchanged. From wayside shrine IX (near Plainbrücke ) the path corresponds to the earlier and still common way to the Plainberg. After the final votive column, the pilgrimage basically continues in the Calvary complex and ends at the pilgrimage church itself.
Some other statues similar to the pillars of secrets lead from the west, namely from today's municipality of Wals-Siezenheim , to the beginning of the path in the Elisabeth suburb. It is therefore assumed that it is all about the course of an earlier pilgrimage route. There is a multi-cache for those interested in geocaching along the path from wayside shrine I.
literature
- Herbert Dorn: Secret pillars on the way to Maria Plain. A documentation about the campaign to save the statues , self-published, Salzburg 1990 (brochure without ISBN)
- Peter Putzer: The statues on the way to Maria Plain. In: Municipality of Bergheim (ed.): Bergheim. Past and present , self-published, Bergheim 2009 (without ISBN)
- Philipp Strasser: The pillars of secrets on the way to Maria Plain. In: Rupertikalender 1915 , Verlag St. Peter, Salzburg 1915, pp. 69–70
Web links
- The pillars of secrets on mariaplain.at
- Pictures of the secret pillars on bergheim.or.at ( Memento from July 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- Maria Plain near Salzburg: Way to the pilgrimage basilica - brief comments on the secret pillars on kirchen-fuehrer.info
- ↑ Putzer 2009
- ↑ a b Austrian Art Topography , ed. v. Art History Institute of the k. k. Central Commission for Monument Preservation, Volume XI, III. Part: Salzburg judicial district. Kunstverlag Anton Schroll, Vienna 1916, p. 379 (online: unedited transcript of a scan , accessed on March 6, 2012).
- ↑ Information according to Dorn 1990
- ↑ a b c Not noted in the list of monuments ( KG Salzburg ).
- ↑ a b c d Not noted in list of monuments ( Itzling ).
- ^ Herbert Dorn: Search for traces in Salzburg. Disappeared buildings and forgotten art treasures from eight centuries. Museum Carolino Augusteum, Salzburg 1996, ISBN 3-901014-49-7 .
Map with all coordinates: