Holy Church (Bockenheim an der Weinstrasse)
 The Holy Church in Bockenheim |
|
| Basic data | |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| place | Großbockenheim, Germany |
| diocese | Diocese of Speyer |
| Patronage | Peter |
| Building history | |
| start of building | 1741 |
| Building description | |
| Construction type | Rectangular room with an elaborate facade |
| 49 ° 36 '8 " N , 8 ° 10' 14.9" E | |
The Heiligenkirche is a field chapel with a baroque facade and a spring of grace west of Bockenheim an der Weinstrasse . It is one of the official pilgrimage sites of the Speyer diocese .
location
The chapel is located on the eastern slope of the Gerstenberg, about 1000 m west or above Bockenheim an der Weinstrasse. In the past, this section of the mountain was called Petersberg, after the patronage of the chapel.
A spring rises under the little church or today's altar, which is regarded as a source of grace and probably already had a cultic significance in pre-Christian times. It is currently drying up at times, but keeps reappearing. Just slightly northwest of the complex is a large limestone block, commonly known as the "Katzenstein" (also known as Götzenstein), which is said to have been a pagan altar.
Building stock
The chapel stands on the foundations of a larger, east-facing , probably Romanesque church from the 12th century, which had a trikonchos floor plan. These foundations were partially exposed in 1964/65, but are now covered again. A piece of a Romanesque ornamental frieze was also found, which can be dated to the assumed construction period. The spring emerged to the east under the choir of this church, where the current chapel is located.
Today's source chapel is rectangular, has a barrel vault and is built into the mountain slope or the foundations of the old church at the location of the source, facing west. In its current form, it dates from around 1740, but is likely to have older origins. The entrance to this lower church or source chapel is designed as a baroque arched portal with pilasters and takes up its entire facade. Above, where the main building used to be, it only bears a chapel-like dummy structure with a roof turret, which serves as a sacristy. It dates from 1930 , including a conche with a statue of Mary. Inside, the mostly closed church, which can be seen through a modern lattice gate, has an 18th century sandstone altar under which the spring rises and under the floor to the outside , is directed into a basin in front of the church. In the altar there is a round arch opening towards the source. In the middle of it stands a figure of Mary, above it hangs a crucifix. The facility is extremely sparse.
In front of the chapel there are old trees with sandstone benches. From the east a staircase leads up to the chapel forecourt.
history
middle Ages
The church has St. Peter as its patron, which together with the old building findings and the apparently pre-Christian cult site (source and sacrificial stone) suggests a great age. St. Peter was chosen with preference as patron of churches in formerly pagan sites. A notice board on the chapel dates the construction of the first building to around 730. Folk tradition connects St. Philip of Zell with its construction, who also converted a pagan place of worship into a Christian one in nearby Zell .
The location was first documented in 1287, through the field name "Am Heiligenborn" . The Großbockenheimer Weistum mentions a "mountain pfennig" to be paid around 1340 , which presumably means a levy for this church. In 1475 a chaplain Heinrich Kuntz is mentioned "uff dem Petersberg" , who leased a yard belonging to the chapel in the neighboring children's home .
Finally, the Worms Synod of 1496 follows , which describes the church as follows: “Outside the village, on a mountain, is the St. Peter's Chapel with three altars. The high altar is consecrated in honor of St. Peter, it has been confirmed as a benefice, with a house that was cremated during the war and is now administered by the commander. There on the right side the altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as a confirmed benefit it had a house, but it was burned. Ibid. On the left side the altar of St. Catherine, but it is only consecrated. ” The named commander was probably the small branch convent of the Otterberg monastery in Bockenheim . The Synodal does not report anything about the destruction of the church, only about the burned houses.
Early modern age
After the introduction of the Reformation, around 1563, the practice of Catholic religion was banned in Bockenheim, as in the entire County of Leiningen-Hardenburg. In 1565, Count Philipp I von Leiningen-Leiningen (1527–1597) issued a church ordinance in which it was strictly forbidden, according to point 9, with a penalty of 10 guilders, “to bring children to St. Petersbrunnen, to weigh them with fruit and so on to offer the determined amount of fruit to the idols as an offering " . Nevertheless, the source sanctuary appears to have continued to be visited. In a visitation report from 1597 it is reported that a newborn, weak child from Bobenheim am Berg was brought to the Bockenheimer Petersbrunnen. The Reformed pastor of Biedesheim , who had apparently also adhered to the old custom, was insulted in a complaint in 1587 as “godless people and milk sufferers uffm Petersberg” . When the Wadgasser monastery estates in Kleinbockenheim were sold to the Leininger in 1582, there were crutches, ankle bracelets and armbands in large numbers, which were left behind by "crooked and lame people after miraculous cures they had received as a symbol" ; Images of it (votive offerings) would have been in the Holy Church.
It was only when Elector Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz left Count Johann Friedrich von Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hardenburg (1661–1722) the slopes of the abolished Limburg Abbey to fiefdom that he granted the Catholics of his country free religious practice from 1700 onwards, with public services on the three churches from Pfeffingen , Großbockenheim and Bechtheim remained limited. The Catholic community in Großbockenheim wanted to restore the old chapel, which had been in ruins for almost 150 years. In 1727 her pastor applied to the responsible diocese of Worms to restore the pilgrimage chapel. In 1730 his successor reported to the ecclesiastical authority that the above-mentioned church was still standing in walls, was called Peter and Paul Church, but had been called “Heilkirche” from ancient times because of the “water that gushed out near the altar and was very healing in many diseases " .
18th century
From 1728 Count Karl Ludwig von Leiningen-Dagsburg-Emichsburg ruled and resided in Bockenheim . As a Lutheran, he complained in 1730 and 1732 about the renovation work on the chapel, which was funded by the Electoral Palatinate , which was now wealthy in Bockenheim .
In 1736 the count and his wife converted to the Catholic faith themselves, which means that the restrictions against Catholicism in their territory no longer existed. Rather, the sovereign now promoted its revival in his villages. In December 1736 in Bockenheim he returned cult objects to the Catholic parish that had been confiscated in Emichsburg for 140 years . Under the medieval Holy Church, he had the spring recessed and the barrel-vaulted chapel, which has been preserved to this day, with an altar and baroque facade, built as a lower church. In 1741 he demonstratively celebrated the Catholic service here. His new belief provoked violent protests from the Protestant clergy and residents and they complained. a. with the count's brother Friedrich Magnus, who in turn turned to King George II of England , who in 1741 sent a warning letter to Count Karl Ludwig. From this it emerges that the sovereign wanted to build a Capuchin monastery at the Bockenheimer chapel mentioned and had introduced the Catholic holidays as generally mandatory rest days in the county.
Count Karl Ludwig died in 1747 and Bockenheim fell back to his Protestant brother. With that, the restrictions against Catholicism came into force again. It took a long time before the church could be fully completed. It was not until 1776 that the Bockenheimer pastor reported to Worms that the Holy Church with the upper church and lower spring chapel was completely under the roof, plastered and whitewashed. The equipment included u. a. Shutters, a pulpit, five confessionals, a baptismal font and a communion bench. The last work had to be carried out under the protection of the Palatinate troops because of the angry villagers.
Decay and securing of the remains
In the course of the French Revolutionary Wars in the 1790s, the revolutionaries deliberately devastated castles and churches. Here the Bockenheimer Emichsburg went under and apparently also the renovated Holy Church. In 1825 it was described as “filled with rubbish, droppings and rubbish” . The Palatinate was now part of the Kingdom of Bavaria , whose government had the ruins auctioned off for demolition. At that time the 9 meter high walls of the upper church were still standing, without roofing, and the vaulted spring chapel underneath. The Protestant mayor at the time, Schlichting, made the local Catholic clergy aware of its historical value, which means that at least this lower church with its baroque facade and spring version was preserved. In 1859 the rescued building stock was secured by appropriate masonry work and in 1930 the barrel vault was given its current chapel-like structure with a roof turret (sacristy).
Today the church runs the official patronage “St. Peter and Paul and St. Mary on the steps ” . The addition "Mary to the steps" or "to the stones" (Latin "ad Gradus" ) came up in the 19th century, as an old mountain path from Bockenheim leads up to the church, which is called "Stiegelgasse" and dates back to the Middle Ages mentioned. Well-known churches with the patronage of St. Maria ad Gradus served as models here.
Every year on the solemn festival of St. Peter and Paul or on the Sunday before or after, a pilgrimage festival with procession has been taking place here since 1936, the so-called "Bockenheim Chapel Festival" . The "Bockenheimer Heiligenkirche" vineyard is named after this place.
literature
- State Office for the Preservation of Monuments: The Art Monuments of Bavaria , Administrative Region Palatinate, VIII. City and District Frankenthal, Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich, 1939, pages 228-229
- Friedrich Schlatter: The Holy Church of Bockenheim through the ages , Progressdruck Speyer, 1994, page 31-34
Web links
- Website for the Holy Church Bockenheim
- Website of the Diocese of Speyer about the pilgrimage to the Heiligenkirche Bockenheim
Individual evidence
- ↑ Website for the Katzenstein
- ^ Anton Faber: European State Cantzley , Register, Volume 7, Pages 412 and 413, Frankfurt am Main, 1752; (Digital scan)
- ^ Anton Faber: European State Cantzley , Volume 79, Pages 25-28, Frankfurt am Main, 1741; (Digital scan of the king's letter)
gallery
Colored engraving, 1869
View around 1910, without assembly
View around 1920, without assembly
The Katzenstein, with a history board
View from Katzenstein (left), down to the chapel (bottom right)
