St. Wolfgang Church (Hünenberg)

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The Church of St. Wolfgang from the southwest

The Church of St. Wolfgang is a late Gothic church in the canton of Zug and one of the parish churches of the Roman Catholic parish Heilig Geist in Hünenberg . Due to its location on the steep slope that slopes down towards the Reuss , it is a landmark that can be seen from afar and at the same time gives its name to the St. Wolfgang settlement, its home community. The core of the St. Wolfgang settlement was an enclave of the municipality of Zug until 1934 ; the enclave included the church and four houses. The church was a local pilgrimage site well into the 19th century. Since the renovation in 1946–1949, it has been a federal monument .

history

The church set of Cham belonged to the construction of the church the Grossmünster in Zurich . The canons had the 1271 Cham church set by the Zurich Fraumünster get transferred. Initially, the church of St. Wolfgang was a branch church of the parish church of St. Jakob in Cham. The foundation stone was laid on Laurentius Day (August 10th) 1473. The church was consecrated on November 18, 1475 by Daniel Zehnder, Auxiliary Bishop of Constance . The auxiliary bishop set the festival to be the second Sunday after Easter . The oldest document from 1475 also mentions that it was built on a clearing in nemoribus ( Latin for "in the woods"). There are four founding legends for the construction of the church, although a previous chapel cannot be ruled out. Most likely the legend with the picture of Wolfgang, which was attached to a fir tree and became a pilgrimage destination. The builder of the church from 1475 was Hans Felder , the foreman at the time in Lucerne ; it is also his earliest known work. Although the church set still belonged to Zurich, the city of Zug acted as client .

The Zurich Canons' Monastery sold the church set to the city of Zug in 1477, which also included the right of appointment (the right to appoint the clergy). In the same year a silver monstrance was purchased. In 1486 a choir stalls were installed, which came from the workshop of master Ulrich Rosenstain . However, it is unclear whether the master built it himself or whether it was made by a fellow master. The sacrament house also most likely comes from the same workshop, as it is stylistically assigned to the same master. In addition to the original three altars, a soul altar was placed under the choir arch in 1496. The high altar was replaced in 1519. This was designed as a winged altar , was also replaced in 1818 and is now in the Museum Burg in Zug, although the shrine was stripped of its figures as early as 1820 and today only the wing structure is shown. The high altar from 1820, which was the high altar of the Zuger Liebfrauenkirche, which was broken off in 1818, was removed from the church in 1867/68. The side altars were replaced by neo-Gothic ones in 1867, but they were removed from the church in 1946/48. In place of the side altars, the two statues have been placed on consoles.

In the first decades of the 16th century, the church was a popular meeting place for conspiratorial travelers .

The pulpit was replaced in 1595 and 1636. The pulpit from 1636 is the last that Caspar Schell made. This pulpit was removed in 1867/68. In 1691 a new side altar was erected. Caspar Wolfgang's emergency panel was hung up in 1703. In 1652 a new tower clock made by Martin Utinger was installed. In 1738 the tower clock was replaced by a work by Johann Michael Landwing . This tower clock, signed JML 1738 with a Zug shield, is still in the tower of the church today. However, it was subsequently electrified and automated.

In place of the Gothic winged altar from 1519, the high altar of the Zuger Liebfrauenkapelle, built in 1699 and demolished in 1818, was replaced in 1820.

The tower clock was moved from the east to the north side of the tower in 1843. The sacrament house was illegally moved to Zug's Oswaldkirche in 1849. The Wolfgang Church was improperly restored between 1867 and 1869. The restorers, under the direction of Keller from Lucerne, removed the carved wooden ceiling and the tracery . Instead of the wooden ceiling, they used a vault-like ceiling structured with plaster. The mountain of cavaries protected by a pent roof with a sundial, which was painted on the outside of the south wall by the first windowless choir bay, was also removed.

In 1905 an exterior and interior renovation was carried out. Under the direction of Dagobert Keizer from Zug, the ceiling in the ship was replaced by a flat ceiling . The Gottfried Keller Foundation bought the choir stalls in 1904 and transferred them to the Swiss National Museum in Zurich. In 1909 a cycle of frescoes was uncovered, which was initially covered again. It was only finally exposed during the renovation from 1946 to 1948. In addition, the vestibule, built in 1905, was removed and replaced with a simple canopy, as it had been before. The sacristy that was added in 1867 was also demolished at that time. The ceiling from 1905 was replaced by a replica of the late Gothic ceiling, based on the ceiling of the Mettmenstetten church (created in 1521 by master Jakob Winkler ). At the same church one looked at the re-inserted tracery of the windows. The sacrament house was also brought back and a copy of the choir stalls exhibited in the state museum was installed. A gallery was also built in, but today's organ did not follow until 1971 and comes from Armagni & Mingot . In 1983 the floor was renewed and a clay slab floor was installed. Since then, the seating has consisted of individual chairs. The corner blocks, which were made visible in 1946, were flooded during the exterior renovation in 1988. The early baroque choir arch cross was bought in 1992. Its origin is unproven. According to the previous owner, it should come from a Graubünden or Tyrolean church. Stylistically, it can be classified in the 17th century.

building

Longitudinal section and floor plan through the church. The sacristy that was removed in 1948 is shown in red, the doors and windows that were closed in 1948 in blue.

The church has a single nave nave , which has two pointed arched windows on both sides and a side portal in between . The main portal is on the western front and a window above it. Today this window has the shape of a cross. It used to be a round window. The slightly retracted choir is two bays deep and has a three-eighth end with buttresses. North of the choir, built in the corner of the nave, is the square church tower. The tower sacristy is built into the tower below. Most of the spiral staircase is built into the corner of the tower or the partition wall between the choir and the nave and protrudes into the choir in a quarter circle. To the east of the tower and north of the choir, a two-storey sacristy was added in 1867 , which had an uneven floor plan. This sacristy had a previous building, which was added later in the first decades after the construction. The choir is raised one step towards the ship. The choir and the nave are covered with a gable roof with a constant ridge height. The church tower has a slightly curved gable roof at the end, with the same orientation as the church roof.

  • The choir ceiling

  • The tower staircase in the northwest corner of the choir

  • View of the Church of St. Wolfgang from the east

  • View of the church from the northeast

Interior

The interior, view from the entrance towards the choir
The interior, view from the choir towards the entrance

The flat ceiling of the ship is lower than the ceiling of the choir. The choir ceiling is designed as a symmetrical mesh vault located in the longitudinal axis. The intersections formed by the central ribs are flanked by two round keystones and three shields. The label on the end of the choir bears the maker's mark by Hans Felder. Then two more keystones follow. One shows a bishop's staff and miter on the other the Zug coat of arms . The two following labels each have a maker's mark, but they cannot be assigned. It is believed that these are the marks of the master stonemason and carpenter.

The interior has only a simple stone altar, raised by two steps, with no structure in the choir. Two statues adorn the nave on the choir wall. On the north wall of the choir arch there is a copy of the Madonna from Hünenberg, made around 1460. The original is on display in the National Museum in Zurich. In contrast to the original, the statue in the church is painted in a late Gothic style. The statue of St. Wolfgang on the southern wall of the choir is painted in the same way as the statue of the Madonna . The statue is shown with an ax, but without a bishop's hat and staff. The choir arch cross from the 17th century is placed in the choir arch. A true-to-original copy of the choir stalls from 1486, made in 1948, has been installed in the choir. The southern row has six seats and a side wall with a figure of the church patron. The northern one comprises three places. Behind the northern row of choir stalls at the former entrance to the sacristy is now the sacrament house again . It is made of sandstone and to the side of the niche are the statues of the Mother of God and Saint Wolfgang.

The glass windows in the choir, dominated by red and blue colors, were made by August Wanner in 1949. Thematically, the windows replace the original winged altar. The middle window shows the crucifixion, as well as the prodigal son, Emmaus, Jesus with the children and Jesus with Mary and Martha in two small fields. The southern window is dedicated to the patron saint, the northern to the life of Mary.

  • Southern row of choir stalls (copy)

  • The statue in the southern choir stalls (copy)

  • The northern row of the choir stalls (copy)

  • The high altar structure, the altar that was in the church between 1519 and 1818 (location: Museum Burg, Zug)

  • The Madonna statue (copy)

  • The 17th century choir arch cross, acquired in 1992

Choir stalls

See article: Choir stalls of the Church of St. Wolfgang

The choir stalls are the only ones in German-speaking Switzerland that are crowned with rich, openwork ornaments. The original was made in 1486 and has been in the National Museum in Zurich since 1905. There it is permanently installed in the lower chapel. A true-to-original copy has been in the church since 1946.

Sacrament House

See article: Sacrament House (St. Wolfgang)

The tabernacle is one of the most beautiful works of late Gothic sculpture in Switzerland. It was made at the end of the 15th century and was located in Zug's St. Oswald Church between 1849 and 1946.

Fresco cycle

See article: Fresco cycle of the Church of St. Wolfgang

The fresco cycle is on both sides of the nave, where it tells the life and work of Saint Wolfgang with twelve fields each . The cycle was created by an unknown master in the second quarter of the 17th century. It is in rather poor condition and has many defects. This is mainly because holes were made in the surface so that the plaster adhered better than the pictures were covered. These hook holes damaged some important parts of the cycle so that many additions had to be made during the restoration in 1946-48. It had to be extensively restored in 2009 because some mistakes were made during the restoration in 1949. So the crooked holes were filled with too coarse mortar and the retouching was done with non-reversible colors. It was also covered with a casein glaze at the end. However, this created a very high surface tension and thus tore off the original color from the substrate. The additions from 1949 have also been separated more clearly. The additions are based on the Wolfgang cycle from Düdingen .

  • The fresco cycle on the north wall

  • The fresco cycle on the south wall

Bells

The pilgrimage bell from 1477 in the churchyard

The church has a three-part bell. The big bell dates back to 1493, while the two smaller ones were re-cast by Rütschi in Aarau in 1949 . The old middle bell, the pilgrimage bell from 1477, is now placed in the open air in the churchyard. The smallest bell from 1480 is now in the Museum Burg in Zug.

  • Big bell: Gothic minuscule inscription; "O • rex • glory • xpe • veni • nobis • cvm • pace • anno dni • m • cccc • lxxxxii" as well as pictures of St. Wolfgang and Maria.
  • Middle bell (old): Gothic minus inscription; “Mr. sant wolfgang erhoer who har zv dir kvm. anno dni m.cccc.lxxvv “as well as pictures of St. Wolfgang and Badona, Zugerschild and Giesserzeichen of Füssli.
  • Small bell (old), diameter 54 cm: Gothic minuscule inscription; "Ave Maria. gracia plena. dominvs tecvm. m.cccc.lxxvv “Two almost unrecognizable pictures, St. Wolfgang with a church model and praying in front of a fir tree. There are also pilgrim signs on the bell, which is extremely rare. This bell is also attributed to the Füssli foundry family.

literature

  • Linus Birchler: The art monuments of the canton Zug 1st half volume. Introduction and the art monuments of Zug-Land. Birkhäuser 1934. Pages 348-362.
  • Josef Grünenfelder: Church of St. Wolfgang in Hünenberg. (Swiss Art Guide, Series 55, No. 544). 2nd revised edition. Ed. Society for Swiss Art History GSK. Bern 1993, ISBN 3-85782-544-8 .

Web links

Commons : Church of St. Wolfgang (Hünenberg)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.isos.ch/de/monat/ob_september_03.htm
  2. ↑ a b c d e The art monuments of the canton of Zug 1st half volume , introduction and the art monuments of Zug-Land. Birkhäuser 1934, history pp. 248–350
  3. ↑ Inscription in Eckstein
  4. ↑ a b c Josef Grünenfelder, St. Wolfgang Church in Hünenberg , 2nd revised edition 1993, ISBN 3-85782-544-8 . History page 5 + 6
  5. ^ Statement by Josef Grünenfelder. In: Church of St. Wolfgang in Hünenberg , 2nd revised edition 1993, ISBN 3-85782-544-8 . page 4
  6. ↑ Lucerne Schilling, Zentenausgabe 1932 by Robert Durrer , page 180 note 3.
  7. ^ A b Josef Grünenfelder, Church of St. Wolfgang in Hünenberg , 2nd revised edition 1993, ISBN 3-85782-544-8 . Tower page 17 + 18
  8. ^ A b Josef Grünenfelder, Church of St. Wolfgang in Hünenberg , 2nd revised edition 1993, ISBN 3-85782-544-8 . Wall painting page 11 + 12
  9. ↑ The Art Monuments of the Canton of Zug 1st Half Volume , Introduction and the Art Monuments of Zug-Land. Birkhäuser 1934, floor plan and exterior, pp. 350–352
  10. ↑ a b c Josef Grünenfelder, St. Wolfgang Church in Hünenberg , 2nd revised edition 1993, ISBN 3-85782-544-8 . Building description pages 7-10
  11. ^ Josef Grünenfelder, Church of St. Wolfgang in Hünenberg , 2nd revised edition 1993, ISBN 3-85782-544-8 . Glass painting page 15
  12. ^ Restoration of mural 2009; Gs no. 486, ace no. 184a restoration report; Tugium 25/2009 , pages 23-24 cited literature; KDM ZG NA. 2, 310-318
  13. ↑ a b c Linus Birchler, Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kanton Zug 1st half volume , Introduction and the Kunstdenkmäler von Zug-Land. Birkhäuser 1934. Bells page 359
  14. ↑ Interpretation by Linus Birchler
  15. ^ Museum of Zug Castle , 2002 Museum of Zug Castle ISBN 3-9520185-7-0 page 47

Coordinates: 47 ° 11 '14.6 "  N , 8 ° 25' 40.4"  E ; CH1903:  six hundred seventy-four thousand nine hundred and seventy-five  /  two hundred and twenty-six thousand seven hundred and forty-four