Church of the Fourteen Holy Helpers (Abertamy)
The Church of the Fourteen Holy Helpers ( Czech Kostel Čtrnácti svatých pomocníků ) is a Baroque church building in the center of the Czech town of Abertamy ( German Abertham ) in the Ore Mountains . It is the fourth church building in the history of the old mountain town .
history
Previous buildings
The first Aberthamer church was a wooden building of unknown year of construction a little south of the current location in the so-called "rose garden". It is said to have burned down at an unknown time. It was followed by two more church buildings, each of which was demolished due to disrepair. The first church book was created on August 15, 1544.
Current church building
The current building was erected from 1735 and was completed in 1738.
After the German-Bohemian population was expelled from Abertham, the church was initially no longer maintained. Nonetheless, on May 3, 1958, it was entered in the State Register of Cultural Monuments .
In 1973 the roof of the nave and tower were repaired. Since no further maintenance work was carried out afterwards, the condition of the building fabric deteriorated noticeably. Cracks formed in the masonry between the tower and the nave, which ultimately endangered the structure of the structure. This situation finally led to the tower being blocked by the responsible authorities in 1989.
As a result of the political upheavals in 1989, new opportunities arose for the preservation and renovation of the church building. In 1991, for example, Abertham citizens who were born in Czechoslovakia and who lived in Germany after the expulsion of the Germans, and supporters founded the “Abertham Group” with the aim of renovating the church. Until the summer of 1995, extensive work was carried out under the leadership of the group. So were u. a. the foundations of the church tower were reinforced and the structure was secured in its statics, the electrics were renewed, the church door restored, the clockwork and dials restored. The striking mechanism for the bell was also made functional again, so that in 1994 the bell could be rung again for the first time in a long time. The lead crystal windows were renewed, the interior walls of the nave were drained and the entire exterior plaster was renewed and painted weatherproof. In addition, a restoration of the protected coffered ceiling has started.
75 percent of the total cost of CZK 2,860,000 was covered by donations from former citizens and supporters, Catholic parishes from Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and the remainder by donations from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech state, the district administration, the municipality and the Diocese of Pilsen . The renovated church was consecrated on July 2, 1995.
In a second construction phase from May to September 2003 the church roof including the tower was renewed for 3,300,000 CZK. The old clapboard roofing was replaced by a plain tile roofing, for which a Swabian company donated 60 tons of roof tiles. The renovation was funded with CZK 900,000 from the German-Czech Future Fund in Prague.
Rectory
In 1990 the rectory, which had previously been used for other purposes, was returned to the church administration. In 2007 they wanted to finance the modernization of the rectory in Boží Dar by selling the building. After protests by former residents from Germany, negotiations with the city administration resulted in the purchase of the house. Efforts are being made to establish a youth club first and, in due course, to use the premises as a senior citizens' home.
architecture
Outside
The single-nave church building has a rectangular floor plan with a pentagonal choir in the east that is not detached . The nave is a hipped roof put on, the roofing is made of plain tiles . The protruding prismatic tower is built into the western main facade, it is crowned by a pyramid-shaped roof. On top of it is the prismatic bell tower, which in turn has a pyramid-shaped roof, which is closed with a gold-plated cross on the top. In the west wall of the tower is the rectangular main portal at ground level. In the axis above there is a semicircular window and above it a circular window. In the upper part of the tower there are rectangular, semicircular closed windows on three sides. The square fields of the tower clock are located above this.
The longitudinal walls of the nave and the side walls of the choir are pierced in the upper part with rectangular, semicircular closed windows. These are decorated with stained glass and have surrounding cleaning bottles . The outer walls of the church building are unstructured, smoothly plastered and painted, supplemented by a few plastering flasks around the entrance and windows of the tower and show suggested corner blocks .
The rectangular sacristy with beveled corners is attached to the northeast side of the nave. On top is a hipped roof covered with plain tiles. The outer walls are broken through by small, rectangular windows.
Inside
The nave and choir show a valuable wooden coffered ceiling , whereby the choir is not separated from the nave by a choir arch . In the west of the nave is the three-sided wooden gallery, supported by wooden columns with marbling and profiled capitals .
Furnishing
Altars
At the end of the choir is the portal-like main altar made in Kaaden . In the gilded frame in the middle of the white painted altar are wooden statuettes of the fourteen helpers in need . Figures of saints are set up to the side of the scene. Winding columns support a cornice on which the altarpiece is placed. On both sides of the altar there are little wickets with a statuette of a saint as an attachment; they lead to the room behind the altar.
On the side walls of the choir there are two opposite side altars; on the left side in the direction of the main altar is the side altar of the Crucifixion, on the right the side altar of the Virgin Mary . On them there are carved late Gothic statues of Saints Nicholas and Sebastian or Anna Selbdritt , Barbara and another figure of saints.
organ
A first organ was installed in 1757, the builder of which is unknown. The organ, manufactured in 1885 by the Austrian organ building company Zachystal & Czapek in Krems on the Danube , could no longer be played due to a defect. The renovation should have cost around 80,000 euros, but this sum could not be raised.
As a replacement, German supporters from the Günzburg district bought a used electronic organ . The instrument was brought into playable condition, internally and externally overhauled and placed in the nave at the end of 2011.
Bells
In 1560 the first bell was hung in the tower. The largest bell dates from 1711 and was cast by G. Wild in Joachimsthal. During the First World War , the bell had to be given for war purposes. The composition of the current peal is unknown.
Other equipment
On the north side of the nave is the wooden pulpit , decorated with medallions with painted panels. There is also a baptismal font . There is also a statue of the Madonna with the baby Jesus in the nave. Four other valuable statues were transferred to the depot of the Pilsen diocese in 1999. A late Gothic statue of the Evangelist John has been missing since the 1970s. Pictorial representations of the Way of the Cross are attached to the parapet of the gallery .
After a cross with a corpus was found in the attic of the church during roof work in 2006, it was renewed by a church restorer. In 2007 the cross could be consecrated again.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d A. Kreißl: The glove city of Abertham… In: Adolf Moder (ed.): Neudecker Heimatbrief . Episode 55. Hersbruck August 1, 1956, p. 5–6 ( digitized version ).
- ^ Ferdinand Günther: Abertham . In: Adolf Moder (ed.): Neudecker Heimatbrief . Episode 198, 1st issue of the 25th year. Nuremberg February 1, 1975, p. 8 ( digitized version ).
- ↑ kostel Čtrnácti sv. pomocník ÚSKP 45867 / 4-721 in the monument catalog pamatkovykatalog.cz (Czech).
- ↑ Aberthamer celebrate the anniversary and consecration of the renovated church . In: Roland Renftel (Ed.): Neudecker Heimatbrief . Episode 375, 3rd issue of the 47th year. Munich 1995, p. 8–9 ( digitized version ).
- ↑ Nicole Reuss: A new home for 14 emergency helpers. In: Swabian Post . Bernhard Theiss, Ulrich Theiss, June 24, 2004, archived from the original on January 27, 2016 ; accessed on January 21, 2016 .
- ↑ Renovation of the church roof in Abertamy (Abertham) (DTZF project). In: BBKULT.NET • CENTRUM BAVARIA BOHEMIA (CeBB). Bavaria Bohemia eV, 2014, accessed on January 21, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Renovation of the Church of the 14 Holy Helpers and preservation of the rectory in Abertham / Abertamy. In: sudetendeutsche-heimatpflege.de. Retrieved January 21, 2016 .
- ^ A b Štěpán Svoboda: Varhany a varhanáři v České republice - ABERTAMY (ABERTHAM) kostel Čtrnácti sv. Pomocníků. Retrieved January 20, 2016 (Czech).
- ↑ New organ for the old homeland. In: Augsburger Allgemeine . November 17, 2011, accessed January 14, 2016 .
Coordinates: 50 ° 22 ′ 7.4 ″ N , 12 ° 49 ′ 6.8 ″ E