Chapel of St. Ursula (Kempraten)
The St. Ursula Chapel is a Roman Catholic church in Kempraten and Rapperswil , two districts of the Swiss municipality of Rapperswil-Jona in the canton of St. Gallen .
location
The church, which today serves as a cemetery chapel, is located outside the old town of Rapperswil on Kreuzstrasse out of town towards Kempraten . In the cemetery for the Roman Catholic residents of the districts of Kempraten and Rapperswil, remains of walls from the 2nd / 3rd centuries were found during archaeological excavations. Century of Gallo-Roman buildings of the Vicus Centum Prata , and in 1944 a Roman pottery furnace was uncovered during excavations.
history
The first church building, built on Roman foundations, could be a witness of late Roman Christianity in the Gallo-Roman settlement Centum Prata (Kempraten). According to a document from the 9th century kept in Fulda, Kempraten was a well-known place of pilgrimage . The building was first mentioned in a document in 835 in connection with the transfer of relics of the martyr Alexander : A deacon of the Fulda Abbey was warmly welcomed by a "beneficial priest" in Kempraten on his return from Italy. Relics of the saint given in gratitude founded the history of the pilgrimage site, where "a lot of people cried for healing in physical and spiritual distress," as the monk Rudolf von Fulda recorded. Legends written down around 847 tell of a pilgrimage basilica with a pastor in Kentibruto , which may mean the chapel of St. Ursula. Since the 13th century Kempraten served as a branch church of the parish Busskirch , in which travelers, pilgrims on the Way of St. James, needy and believers in the Lenggis − Kempraten area were looked after by a priest. The church set belonged to the Pfäfers monastery since the middle of the 12th century ; The Katharinen benefice of the parish of Rapperswil served for the services .
In the Reformation iconoclasm in 1531, the entire equipment of the chapel was destroyed, but despite the return to the "old faith", the church was consecrated 76 years later. In 1553, the endowment of the Junkers Adam von Rapperswil enabled a redesign. During the siege of Rapperswil (1656) the church building was looted and largely destroyed by the Zurich troops. The precious wall paintings were beaten with lance stitches, the bells stolen and the altar stones sunk in Lake Zurich . The recent ordination was in August 1667. From 23 to 25 September 1607 consecrated Bishop John Flugi of Chur in Rapperswil the Capuchin monastery, a church, two chapels and confirmands , and on 24 September the choir altar in honor of Ursula from Cologne . In 1609 the choir area was expanded. When the French revolutionary troops marched in in 1799, the chapel was again desecrated, and services were held again from 1813.
In 1905, Father Albert Kuhn had the church building redesigned in neo-Gothic style and put an inscription above the entrance:
“This pilgrimage chapel is consecrated to the fourteen Holy Helpers - was founded in 885 - came to the Pfäfers monastery as a branch from Busskirch around 1150 - was incorporated into St. Katharinenpfründe in Rapperswil in 1531 - rebuilt and endowed in 1553 by Adam Junker from Rapperswil - September 24th Inaugurated in 1607 by Bishop Johannes Flugi von Chur - and restored in 1905 by means of a generous donation. "
As a result of the rapid population growth at the end of the 19th century, there were disputes between the parish of Busskirch and that of the city of Rapperswil over the use of the branch church. With the dissolution of the parish Busskirch in 1945 it came to what was then the district of Kempraten, politically part of the municipality of Jona, but subordinated to the parish of Rapperswil. Since the St. Ursula Chapel with 120 seats for the Catholics of Kempraten became too small in the course of the second half of the 20th century, it was built in the years 1978 to 1979 on Fluhstrasse near Kempraten station according to the plans of the architect Walter M. Patron of the Church of St. Francis . Until the parish merger in 2007, the believers from Kempraten – Lenggis belonged to the Catholic parish of Rapperswil.
architecture
The main entrance is in the western gable front. The chapel has a rectangular nave and an almost square choir . The gable roof is set off over the choir. The ribbed vault , which was extended in 1609, has consoles with leaf tendrils and a round keystone .
With the redesign of 1905, the two side and three windows in each longitudinal wall of the ship were made in neo-Gothic tracery and an open roof turret covered with a pointed helmet with two bells was installed instead of the former onion hood . The church bell from 1761 comes from the Fluhkapelle in Kempraten, which was demolished in 1803, the other was cast in 1899. The inscription was covered with plaster on the occasion of the redesign of the abdication site.
A complete renovation took place in 1953, with a fragment of a Gothic wall painting uncovered on the northern outer wall of the choir - a representation of St. Christopher , created around 1400. In 1990 archaeological excavations inside the church did not provide any new information on the history of the building, but confirmed the documented construction phases of the church building.
Furnishing
Fresco from 1400 on the outer wall
Roof turret with two bells
Choir vault
Parts of the interior come from the former Fluh chapel , as well as its church property in 1813, together with a ceremony book. Claims by the hospital (presumably infirmary Fluh ) on Fluhstrasse, which had also been canceled , went to the Ursulakapelle, in favor of the city of Rapperswil, and not the parish of Busskirch. In 1905 the interior was provided with a flat wooden ceiling according to a Gothic pattern, decorative paintings and carved altars.
organ
The organ was built in 1992 by Späth Orgelbau AG from Rapperswil. The instrument has ten registers and two prints on two manuals and pedal .
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literature
- Peter Röllin: Rapperswil-Jona cultural building set: 36 museums without a roof. Rapperswil-Jona 2005, ISBN 3-033-00478-4 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Norbert Lehmann: Information brochure on the St. Ursula Chapel. Published by the Catholic Parish Rapperswil-Jona, as of September 2013.
- ↑ a b c d e Catholic parish Rapperswil-Jona, Chapel St. Ursula , accessed on April 24, 2013
- ↑ Linth-Zeitung (September 22, 2007): 400 years ago the Capuchin Church, its death chapel and St. Ursula were consecrated. (PDF; 453 kB) ( Memento from February 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ More information about the organ ( Memento from March 23, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
Coordinates: 47 ° 14 '8.4 " N , 8 ° 49' 10.8" E ; CH1903: 704570 / 232559