Kilian's Church (Bissingen)

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Kilian's Church in Bissingen an der Enz, southeast view

The Kilian's Church in Bissingen an der Enz is a Gothic west tower church. It is painted with a Biblia pauperum from the 17th century, which is rare in size and state of preservation .

Building history

The oldest are the base floors of the tower from the 13th century, which was designed as a massive defensive tower . Narrow early Gothic windows on the first floor of the tower indicate the construction time. The fact that the tower, unlike most of the village churches in the region, was oriented towards the west, is probably due to the fact that it was supposed to secure the village towards the west towards the open Enz valley against possible enemies. A small nave of the same width adjoined the tower, presumably to the east.

Coat of arms of the Grüninger Heilig-Geist-Spital with year 1518 and initials CS

Until the Reformation , the Bissing parish belonged to the Land Chapter Grüningen in the Archdiakonat Trinity of the Diocese of Speyer . After it had only come into the hands of Württemberg, the Kilian's Church became the property of the Grüninger Heilig-Geist-Spital in 1404 . Especially under the hospital master Johannes Betz, the hospital order tackled numerous building projects in the 16th century. In addition to the hospital in Markgröningen , the Bietigheimer Peterskirche and the Bissinger Kilianskirche also benefited from its “building frenzy” . Their ship was expanded equally in width to the north and south. A vaulted choir was added to the east and a sacristy to the south. The tower, which now formed an open vestibule, was given a late Gothic pointed arch entrance on both sides. Another portal was drawn into the north and south walls. The year 1520 in the keystone of the choir arch indicates that the construction of the hall was completed around this time. Above the central choir window there is another year, 1535, probably the year in which the choir was completed. At that time the tower probably had a half-timbered bell storey above the two stone storeys. At the beginning of the 17th century the tower was increased by two storeys, as can be seen from the year 1614 in a corner cuboid on the fourth tower storey. In it was now the bell chamber, presumably a pyramid roof above it. No lasting damage is known from the Thirty Years War , although the village population suffered severely. It was not until the end of the 17th century that it recovered from the epidemics and famines caused by looting and destruction by the war hordes passing through.

In the second half of the 17th century the Biblia pauperum was also created, the painting with biblical scenes from the Old and New Testament. In 1677 the pictures were taken that the visitor sees when entering from the west towards the choir. The pictures in the opposite direction as well as the large Jonas picture in the choir and the pictures on the west gallery are dated 1691. In the baroque period galleries were built in the church and the murals were painted over. Another storey was placed on top of the tower in a half-timbered construction as a new bell storey, above which the pointed tower hood was placed in artistic carpentry, with its transition from square to octagon.

During a major renovation shortly before the Second World War, these galleries, with the exception of the west gallery, were removed. The last major renovation finally took place in 1960–1961. The entire post-Reformation picture cycle was uncovered again, with the exception of a few pictures in the western part, where this was no longer possible due to renovations in the baroque era. The ramshackle plaster ceiling that gave rise to the renovation has been removed. When the plaster ceiling was broken open, it was discovered that the boards to which it was fixed were painted with angel heads and stars; they were themselves part of an older baroque wooden ceiling. Nevertheless, it was replaced by a simple wooden ceiling, because stylistically it was no longer an option in the restored church. In the new ceiling, the supporting beams were included as optically structuring elements. Part of the baroque wooden ceiling has been restored and installed as a ceiling on the second floor of the tower, above the staircase.

West view

architecture

The massive pointed arched entrances to the tower were originally open. The southern one still serves as the church entrance, while the northern one is covered by an outside toilet. On the floor above you can see the narrow early Gothic lancet windows , and on the two Renaissance floors above, rectangular windows. The window openings on the fourth floor, the former bell room, are provided with grooved guides for sound shutters. The half-timbered floor above is not recognizable as such, as it is plastered.

The side portal on the south side is covered by a vestibule. On the walled-up counterpart on the north side, the high-quality stonemasonry is clearly visible. The windows on the north and south sides are surrounded by a meandering cornice, which is also present on the Markgröningen hospital church - a specialty of the Markgröningen master builder. To the north of the choir there is a narrow spiral staircase leading to the roof. An old walled-in exit leads from the stairway to the ship, possibly the access to a former rood screen . Another walled exit led to the choir gallery, which was dismantled in the 1930s.

The high sacristy on the south side has a Renaissance portal.

The ornaments on the windows are finely worked examples of late Gothic tracery. Except for the sacristy windows , they are made from the basic shape of the fish bladder in the flamboyant style.

Interior

Interior view of the main nave and choir

Painting

The Kilian's Church has a historical painting that is unique in a wide area, which was almost completely exposed during restorations in 1938/39 and 1960/61. The greater part of the pictures is dated 1677, a smaller part is dated 1691.

Mural dated 1677

The cycle begins at the choir arch. The pictures there show

This is followed by seven pictures on the south wall:

The pictures on the north wall show:

In the choir there are the following pictures:

Mural dated 1691

Depiction of the Passion of Christ on the right on the west wall above the gallery
Images of saints on the gallery parapet with Judas without a halo

The pictures in the gallery area from the second painting show:

The large, rich picture above the choir arch is probably the most important of all. It also comes from the second painting and depicts the story of Jonah and the whale in several episodes.

Pictures on the gallery parapet

The pictures on the gallery parapet date from the 18th century and show the four evangelists and twelve apostles in an unusual order. Strangely enough, Peter is absent , just as unusual is the fact that one of the pictures is dedicated to Judas . This is probably due to the fact that the painter did not know the exact names of the apostles and inadvertently assigned the first name of Judas Thaddäus to the so-called traitor Judas. That the first of these pictures is labeled with Thaddaeus instead of Judas Thaddaeus suggests.

Other elements

In the south wall of the nave there is a niche in which the image of Saint Wolfgang is depicted. The congregation probably kept it because it was of the opinion that it was not Wolfgang, but Kilian , the namesake of the church.

The unadorned but finely crafted baptismal font is a very good stonemason work, supposedly from the 14th century. The foot stone, however - possibly a former millstone - was certainly not originally one of them.

organ

The organ was built in 1988 by the organ builder Peter Vier (Friesenheim). The instrument has 23 registers and 4 prints on two manuals and pedal . Three registers of the main work are on alternating loops and can be played in positive. The first manual is designed as a coupling manual. The playing and stop actions are mechanical.

II Hauptwerk C – g 3
1. Bourdon 16 ′
2. Principal 8th'
3. Pointed flute 8th'
4th octave 4 ′
5. Reed flute 4 ′
6th Super octave 2 ′
7th Fifth (from No. 8) 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
8th. Mixture IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
9. Cornett V 8th'
10. Trumpet 8th'
III Positive C-g 3
11. Bourdon (No. 1) 16 ′
12. Pointed Flute (No. 3) 8th'
13. Dumped 8th'
14th Principal 4 ′
15th Reed flute (No. 5) 4 ′
16. Nazard (from No. 17) 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
17th Sesquialter II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
18th Flageolet 2 ′
19th Sifflet (from No. 20) 1'
20th Sharp IV 1'
21st Cromorne 8th'
Tremulant
Pedals C – f 1
22nd Sub-bass 16 ′
23. Octave bass 8th'
24. Gemshorn 8th'
25th Choral bass (from No. 26) 4 ′
26th Rauschwerk V 4 ′
27. trombone 8th'

literature

  • Markus Otto: Evang. Kilianskirche Bissingen ad Enz. Schnell Art Guide No. 1602. Munich 1986: Verlag Schnell & Steiner GmbH & Co

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See also data on hospital history
  2. ^ Markus Otto: Post-Reformation paintings in the churches of the Ludwigsburg district . In: Ludwigsburger Geschichtsblätter XVI , 1964, pp. 30–56, here pp. 48–55.
  3. ↑ Bissingen Kilian's Church. Workshop for organ building Martin Vier, accessed on January 31, 2016 .

Web links

Commons : Kilian's Church  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 48 ° 56 '51.1 "  N , 9 ° 5' 45.5"  E