Jesuit College Amberg
The Jesuit College Amberg was a college of the Jesuits in Amberg , which existed from 1665 to 1774. Today (2020) the State Library (Provincial Library Amberg) and the Roman Catholic Parish Office St. Georg are housed in the listed building complex.
history
After the defeat of Elector Friedrich V in the Battle of the White Mountain near Prague on November 8, 1620, the Upper Palatinate fell to Bavaria and was re-Catholicized . The first Jesuits came to Amberg in 1621, accompanied by the Bavarian troops, where in 1624 they were assigned the parish of St. George's Church. In 1626 the Jesuits founded a grammar school . For this purpose, they were first given the rooms of the Cavinian pedagogy , which had been set up in the former Franciscan monastery in Amberg . At the opening on October 18, 1626, P. Christoph Pflaum was the first rector to be introduced. The return of the Franciscans made another move necessary in 1627 and the grammar school was established next to the Church of St. George in 1630 after further intermediate steps. From 1632 courses in logic and casuistry were also introduced, leading to a lyceum . The Lyceum, which served to train the local clergy, was not officially opened until October 29, 1726, after the building, which had been planned from 1722 onwards, had been completed. Drama in the form of Jesuit theater flourished among the Jesuits . On September 9, 1653, for example, the piece Philothea was performed in the presence of Duke Christian August von Sulzbach and received great praise. This oratorio is one of the few of which the music (by Father Johann Paul Silbermann) has survived.
The new building of the Jesuit College was built from 1665 near the St. George's Church by the builders Wolfgang Hirschstetter, Georg Hagn and Andreas Wels the Elder. The north wing was not built until 1684 by Georg Dientzenhofer , the west wing was raised by his brother Wolfgang Dientzenhofer in 1689. A high school building was built from 1672–74, the south-eastern extension wing from 1674–78. The college also served as a grammar school and a clerical seminary . From 1722 to 1865 a lyceum with a philosophical and a theological section was attached. The Jesuits looked after the church and college of St. George until the abolition of the Jesuit order in 1773. In the 18th century the grammar school was attended by over 300 high school students, 100 candidates of philosophy and theology were enrolled in the lyceum; It is therefore also clear that the catchment area of these institutions extended far beyond Amberg. The lessons were also free of charge. Around 30 religious worked in the monastery, and people were also assigned to overseas missions (Paraguay, Chile, Brazil). After the dissolution of the order, the entire property was handed over by Elector Karl Theodor to the Order of Knights of the Maltese , which he re-founded in December 1781, and they moved into the buildings on August 30, 1782. The Jesuit College was used by the Order of Malta until secularization , so the buildings of the Jesuit College are still referred to as the "Maltese building". In 1806 the complex came into state ownership and housed, among other things, today's Erasmus-Gymnasium Amberg until 1926 .
Building description
Jesuit College
The college forms a three-storey four-wing complex to the north with saddle roofs, decorative gables, drilled frames to the inner courtyard, the south wing with arcades on the ground floor and the high school in the north wing. A three-storey gable roof with window roofing, pilaster portals and corner building with gable and decorative gables extends to the south. This extension created a 160 m long building front, which seals the building from the city. The whole building consists of sparsely structured buildings, of which only the extension wing with stately portals, various window frames and volute gables on the floors is more richly designed. There is a bay window with a curved helmet on the courtyard side.
The first furnishing of the congregation hall in the extension wing was designed by Frater Johann Hörmann . The hall is completed by a coffered ceiling from the years 1676–1678 with an area of 585 m² and a representation of the Annunciation painted in oil in the round center field, which was donated by Preses Rapp. The pulpit with the representation of the Archangel Michael on the sound cover was built in 1693. The furnishings include an organ gallery and portals. Between the windows there are large paintings, including six depictions of the life of Mary by Johann Kaspar Sing , which were acquired in 1707. Around 1764/1766 the altar wall was redesigned in rich rococo shapes. A concave, six-column retable with an older altarpiece of the Assumption of Mary by Caspar de Crayer , which was acquired in 1672, as well as oratorios made by Leonhard Bacher with a version by Andreas Zellner (uncovered in 1953) were added. Five large figures of Maria Immaculata and Saints Anna , Joseph , Joachim and Johannes Evangelista were carved in silver by Heinrich Mannlich before 1698.
The library, which has been the Amberg Provincial Library since 1826 , is located in the east wing. The first library building from 1682 was enlarged in 1726/1727 and partially refurbished. The elongated, low room is closed off by a mirror ceiling with stitch caps and is decorated with stucco stucco work with foliage and bandwork with figural ingredients from the world of studies. The ceiling paintings by Johann and Otto Gebhard from 1726 show Adam and Eve on the tree of knowledge, Jesus among the scribes (signed) and the miracle of Pentecost . After repainting in 1903/1904, the condition of 1726 was restored in 1980–1990. The stucco work is attributed to Jacopo Appiani . The furnishings with cabinets with cartilage jewelry and fruit cords took place around 1680. The partly original book inventory, which was compiled from secularized monasteries in Upper Palatinate, is remarkable , partly still in the original classification system.
The dining room in the north wing has a coffered ceiling, portal, wall paneling and washbasin based on designs by Johann Hörmann from the years 1687/1688. A simpler coffered ceiling can be found in the recreation room above . A wooden figure of Our Lady on the crescent moon from around 1500 was redesigned in 1959.
St. George Church
From 1359 the high Gothic new building of St. Georg was built. The three-aisled basilica with a hipped gable roof, stair tower, side chapels and west tower with Welscher hood was built in the 17th and 18th centuries. Century, among others by Francesco Garbanini and Wolfgang Dientzenhofer, baroque and provided with extensions.
literature
- Georg Dehio: Handbook of the German art monuments. Bavaria V: Regensburg and the Upper Palatinate. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-422-03118-0 , pp. 29-30.
- Karl Hausberger: The monastery landscape of Amberg in the 17th and 18th centuries. In: Tobias Appl, Manfred Knedlik (Hrsg.): Upper Palatinate monastery landscape. The monasteries, monasteries and colleges of the Upper Palatinate. Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-7917-2759-2 , pp. 215-226.
Web links
- Jesuit College Amberg . Entry in the database of the Oberpfälzer Kulturbund (currently not available)
- List of monuments for Amberg (PDF) at the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation
Coordinates: 49 ° 26 ′ 39.2 ″ N , 11 ° 51 ′ 1.5 ″ E