Diocese building St. Pölten

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Right of St. Pölten Cathedral , left subsequently the diocese building (west wing of Kreuzganghofs)

The diocese building in St. Pölten , Austria , has been the seat of the St. Pölten diocese since 1785 . The current building complex essentially goes back to the construction of a monastery in the middle of the 17th century. Before St. Pölten became a bishopric in 1785, the building housed a monastery of the Augustinian canons .

The previous building at the same location was a monastery built in the 8th century, which is considered the historical center of the settlement, from which medieval St. Pölten developed. The name of the city comes from this Hippolytus monastery (St. Hippolyt → St. Polyt).

history

The new building of the St. Pölten Monastery, which essentially still exists today, shortly after its construction in 1653

Hippolytus Monastery

In the 8th century, a monastery was built on the site where the diocese building stands today, but only a few remains that were included in the later new building could be found. According to a legend, the monastery is said to have been founded as a Benedictine monastery as early as 791 by the Tegernsee monastery - namely by the brothers Adalbert and Ottokar. The actual date of the foundation of the monastery is still unclear. A founding 791 is excluded: this year the Awarenfeldzug began Charlemagne . The oldest mention of the monastery can be found in a certificate by Otto II. From 976, in which Passau secured his rights to the monastery.

Augustinian canons pen

From 1081 the monastery was an Augustinian canons monastery . This had a close connection to the well-known monastery in Nitra, Slovakia, which was also consecrated to St. Hippolytus . A new monastery was built on the site of the old monastery in the 17th century. Based on inscriptions, it is believed that construction lasted roughly from 1648 to 1650. The early baroque new building was depicted in a realistic representation in 1653 and has been preserved to this day. Only the new guest wing (today the bishop’s wing ), a portal system (the bishop’s gate ) and the garden pavilion were rebuilt under the provost Johann Michael Führer. In 1784 the monastery was closed.

Diocese building

The buildings of the former monastery have served as the diocese of the St. Pölten diocese, which was established in the course of the Josephine reforms and encompasses western Lower Austria , since 1785 . The first bishop was Johann Heinrich von Kerens until 1792 .

description

The Brunnenhof
The cloister courtyard with the cathedral in the background

The building complex has two floors and three courtyards. The stone-framed window openings, sills and roofs are arranged regularly. The buildings are roofed with steep hipped roofs with chimneys and a few dormer windows.

Cloister courtyard

In the middle of the southern square cloister courtyard is a baroque fountain house from 1728. It consists of a cistern well with stone surrounds and wrought-iron supports for the roof, which is made of tin in the form of a bell dome .

Brunnenhof

The rectangular Brunnenhof has three large, round arched passageways that lead to the Bischofsallee, the Binderhof and the Domplatz. In the middle is a fountain made of Wachau marble on a two-tier pedestal. In the middle is a stone pillar with four water-spouting angel heads. It was built between 1653 and 1672.

Binderhof

At the time of the monastery, the Binderhof was a farm yard. It gets its name from the bindery that was formerly located in its west wing . The north and south wings were used as granaries back then, when the diocese was founded, these parts of the building were converted into apartments for the canons. In the north wing there is a mezzanine that was formerly used as a drying floor and was converted into office space in 1987/88. In the southwest, the south wing is extended by a stacked building, the so-called Hofmeisterei.

Bischofsallee and Bischofstor

The Bischofsallee is surrounded by buildings, by walls and in the east by the Bishop's Gate. The bishop's gate was originally connected flush with the east facade of the house at Hofstatt 1, but was demolished in 1908 when the district administration building was erected next to the former monastery. In its current location, it was rebuilt true to style and with the original jewelry. It should have received its present appearance around 1739.

Bishop's wing and cathedral parish wing

The wing in the northwest of the Bischofsallee is now the bishop's residence. It differs architecturally from the other components of the building complex and is younger than them. It was probably built between 1735 and 1739 as a new guest wing based on designs by Joseph Munggenast .

Bishop's Garden

In the north of the complex is the former monastery garden and today's bishop 's garden . In the middle is the Neptune Fountain and to the west the garden pavilion . The monastery farm buildings were originally to the east of it, and the district administration has been located here since the beginning of the 20th century.

See also

literature

  • Thomas Karl among other things: The art monuments of the city of St. Pölten and its incorporated localities. Berger, Horn 1999, ISBN 3-85028-310-0 , pp. 54-76.

Web links

Commons : St. Pölten dome and St. Pölten abbey  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Edition of the document: The documents of the German kings and emperors. Volume 2.1: Otto II. (= Monumenta Germaniae Historica , Department III: Diplomata ). Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hannover 1888, p. 151 f., No. 135 ( online ).

Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 20.1 ″  N , 15 ° 37 ′ 36.5 ″  E