St. Fiden Church
The Church of St. Fiden is the Roman Catholic church in the St. Gall district of St. Fiden . It is a listed building and is located in the immediate vicinity of the old border with the city of St. Gallen.
history
The St. Fiden district, which was not incorporated into St. Gallen until 1918 as part of the Tablat community , owes its name to the church. The former common place name was Eichbohl (oak hill) or Farna .
According to the legend, the building of the church should go back to a divine commission, the Abbot Ulrich III. 1085 received. There is historical evidence that a St. Fides shrine was founded in the last quarter of the 11th century. Because Ulrich III. had a relic of St. Fides brought to St. Gallen at this time . The oldest surviving documentary mention is the annual foundation in 1225. Until the Reformation, however, it was a branch church of the monastery; The parish church of the parish was St. Laurenzen .
The communities of Tablat and Rotmonten signed a contract with the official P. Iso Walser on April 7, 1776, which included the construction of a new church. The priest was given "the complete supervision, direction and organization of this church and tower building", so he was the general contractor on behalf of the congregations. After submitting the construction plan, the construction chord was agreed with the builder Ferdinand Beer from the Au in the Bregenzerwald and the construction contract officially on June 14, 1776. The Johann Ferdinand Beer (1731-1789) initiated at that time the construction of the New Palatinate in St. Gallen. The master took over all masonry and carpentry work on his own account, while the official supervises the glazier, locksmith, stone carpentry and carpentry work. The slatted vaults and the clapboard and other items were also on the account of the official. The municipalities took over the labor and delivery of the material.
Although the church would have come to stand next to the old one - which meant that demolition was not absolutely necessary - it was given up on April 7, 1777. The foundation stone of the new church was laid on May 22nd, 1777. The topping-out could still be celebrated during the summer. On July 14, 1778, the tower was also completed. Antoni Dick from Insy was hired for the ceiling paintings; a total of ten large paintings were made by him in this church. Not all the pictures inside can be assigned to someone in particular. Peter Anton Moosbrugger was hired for the stucco work . Hexagonal honeycomb panes made of Kempter glass were installed. The high altar was made by Franz Anton Dürr from Überlingen. The first organ came from Joh. Michael Grass in Lommis in the canton of Thurgau . The consecration of the four side altars was carried out on October 5th by Abbot Beda Angehrn . The consecration of the main altar on May 24, 1779 was carried out by the auxiliary bishop of Konstanz, Baron von Hohenstein. The previous patron saint, Saint Fides, moved into second place. The title “z. E. of the Heart of Jesus ”, which led to the renaming to Church of the Heart of Jesus.
There were various renovations in the 19th century. During the renovation in 1894/95, the entire interior, with the exception of the altars, was renewed. A brick vestibule was also built, which replaced the old canopy on wooden supports.
The ship was lengthened 6.25 meters to the west in 1953. A new gallery was also built in. The church was also extensively renovated. This includes a new interior painting and exterior plastering. Restoration of the altars, ceiling paintings and stucco work. Removal of the eyelashes on the spire and the stained glass from 1895. The organ, the porch doors, the confessionals and the floor were newly installed.
Old Church of St. Fiden
The first building stood southwest of today's church on the edge of the cemetery, and touched the benefice house.
The building is shown on the top left of the tablat wedding disc , which was created around 1655 and is now in the Swiss National Museum in Zurich.
Today's Church to the Heart of Jesus
The current church was built northeast of the old church. The church faces east.
A transept to the east adjoins the rectangular nave, which is only 1.5 meters deep. This is followed by a three-sided closed choir with a slightly retracted arch from the nave
is separated. In the transept there is no real expansion of space, but rather the transept arms look more like niches. This arrangement creates a step in front of the choir, which is used for the special arrangement of the four side altars. The church tower is located on the eastern end wall of the choir, on the choir head in the church axis. The three-story sacristy is built on the north side of the choir.
The nave is encompassed by four rows of windows; before the extension in 1953 there were only three. The transept has two rows of windows. There is a row of windows on each of the three undeveloped sides of the choir. Each row of windows consists of a narrow arched window above which there is another similar window with a lower height. Under the easternmost row of windows of the ship there is a side entrance on both sides, the small protective roofs of which connect to the window sill.
Flat plasterboard ceilings lay over throats into which the stitch caps from the windows cut. There is no wall articulation by pilasters.
Ceiling painting
The four ceiling paintings have been preserved. The largest is on the ceiling of the transept, one on the choir ceiling and two on the ceiling of the nave. They are all designed from below, but enclosed in stucco frames. Following the Rococo style , they are not designed as an illusionistic continuation of the building into the infinite, but as a window into the transcendent. The westernmost picture is laid out in such a way that it has to be viewed from the “old” entrance, i.e. from the west, while the other three are laid out in such a way that they have to be viewed from the altar, i.e. from the east. The pictures are in no chronological order. This is probably because the main picture was placed in the transept. The pictures showed four excerpts from the Fides legend, namely:
- In the choir picture: Saint Fides professes her faith in Christ. She does this with a raised hand in front of the Roman governor Dacianus.
- In the transept: the beheading of the saints, Jesus enthroned in the clouds with a cross in his hand, opposite an angel with a martyr's wreath.
- in the eastern picture of the ship: The torture of the saints on the glowing grate.
- in the western picture of the ship: exaltation of the saints. Two angels soaring down carry a large crucifix. Before this the saint kneels with a flaming heart in her right hand.
Altars
The church still has the standard altar furnishings from 1784. All altars are set up facing the nave. The master for the main altar is documented, it is Franz Anton Dirr von Überlingen, who is also accepted as master of the side altars, because on all five altars there are comparable decorative elements. In the basic style, all are still in the Baroque style , but there are a few classicist echoes.
literature
- Erwin Poeschel: The City of St. Gallen: Part One. Volume 2 of the series The Art Monuments of the Canton of St. Gallen. Birkhäuser 1957, pp. 193-208.
- Daniel Studer (Ed.): Art and Culture Guide Canton St. Gallen. Thorbecke.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Joachim von Watt (Vadian): German historical writings. Volume IS 225, and I. v. Arx: History of the Canton of St. Gallen. Volume IS 288ff.
Remarks
- ↑ The addition Joh.
- ^ A nephew of Johann Michael Beer von Bildstein
- ↑ His inscription and signature can be found on the ceiling painting in the choir
- ↑ The name in the book The City of St. Gallen: Part One ... reads: Peter Antoni Mosbrugger
- ↑ The name in the book The City of St. Gallen: Part One ... reads: Franz Antoni Dürr