Johanniterkapelle Rheinfelden
The Johanniterkapelle is a former Roman Catholic chapel in Rheinfelden in the canton of Aargau . It is located on Johannitergasse in the northeast corner of the old town, in the immediate vicinity of the Johanniterkommende . The chapel was built in the 1450s and is a cultural asset of national importance .
history
Originally located outside the city Coming of St. John had been completely destroyed in 1448 during a robbery. Commander Johann Loesel then had a new building built between 1451 and 1455 within the city walls . Because of the limited space, the chapel dedicated to John the Baptist was located on the opposite side of the Rheintorgässchen. It was built between 1456 and 1458, with the work being under the direction of the town foreman Herman. The interior arrangement with four altars was probably completed by the death of Lösel in 1460. Around 1500 the ship was extended to the west. After the canton abolished the Kommende in 1806, the chapel was profaned and used as a storage room from 1813. In 1962 it became the property of the local community and has been used as an exhibition room since 1996.
Building
The Gothic building is oriented to the north towards the Rhine . The steep gable roof is hipped over the choir , while it is bent on the west side and has the shape of a pent roof . The masonry consists of plastered quarry stone , while the frame and tracery of the pointed arch windows consist of red sandstone from Upper Rhine in various shades of red. A gold-plated cross is attached to the southern end of the gable. A walled-up doorway can be seen on the upper floor of the east facade. From there a bridge-like connection led across the Rhine gate to the commander. This connecting corridor, in which the conductors were housed, was demolished in 1820. A four-story tower rises in the middle of the western flank of the choir. Its shaft is set in embossed corner cuboids, but otherwise not structured.
Inside, a Latvian-like wall separates the choir from the lay nave. The triumphal arch , made of red sandstone , starts over profiled fighters . On the west wall of the choir there are two pointed arched doors to the tower; the lower one leads to the ground floor room with cross vaults , the upper one to the other tower floors. The polygonal altar house, raised by one step, has numerous sound pots in its masonry. Next to the western choir window there is a sacrament house made of red sandstone, the frame columns of which are decorated with coats of arms of the order and the commander Johannes Lösel.
In 1951 an early Baroque altar from 1699 was set up, which originally stood in the Margaret Chapel of the Rheinfeld infirmary. Its altarpiece depicts St. Margaretha in front of an urban backdrop. The entire chapel is decorated with wall paintings that were applied to a thin layer of lime using the secco technique . A depiction of the Last Judgment from around 1500 and attributed to a student of Martin Schongauer covers the upper half of the choir arch wall. The large-format Christophorus picture on the east wall of the choir is assigned to the same environment, the west wall of the choir shows a kneeling pair of angels with a coat of arms. In 1950, Felix Hoffmann made glass paintings with various figurative representations in the crown of the choir window.
literature
- Edith Hunziker, Peter Hoegger: The art monuments of the canton of Aargau . Ed .: Society for Swiss Art History . Volume IX, Rheinfelden district. Bern 2011, ISBN 978-3-906131-94-8 , pp. 131-136 .
