Monastery Church of the Assumption of Mary (Dillingen an der Donau)
The monastery church of the Assumption of Mary is the church of the mother house of the Dillingen Franciscan Sisters in Dillingen an der Donau in the Bavarian administrative district of Swabia and belongs to the diocese of Augsburg . It was built in the 18th century according to plans by Johann Georg Fischer in the early Rococo style.
history
In the 16th century the chapel of the Franciscan convent founded in the 13th century was enlarged and raised. This was consecrated in 1594 . The church suffered damage during the Thirty Years War , which was removed again in 1658. In 1731 a new building was planned. The master of the convent , Maria Aloisia Erlacherin, commissioned the Marktoberdorf master builder Johann Georg Fischer (1673–1747), the plasterer Ignaz Finsterwalder (1708–1772) from Wessobrunn and the Asam student Christoph Thomas Scheffler (1699–1756) with the designs. After Bishop Alexander Sigismund of the Palatinate granted the building permit in 1736 , the demolition of the old church began. In the same year Franz Xaver Kleinhans (1699–1776), Fischer's Palier , moved with his journeymen to Dillingen and took over the construction management. On May 28, the city caretaker Josef Baron von Westernach laid the foundation stone for the new church on behalf of the bishop . On September 11, 1740, the church was consecrated by Auxiliary Bishop Johann Jakob von Mair from Dillingen to the Assumption of Mary. The last renovation took place in 2009.
architecture
Exterior construction
The church connects at right angles to the parish church of St. Peter and forms the eastern end of the church forecourt. The church is not east, the choir is on the south side. The north and east facades face the monastery area and are not accessible. A roof turret with an eight-sided dome rises above the windowless south facade . The outer wall is structured by buttresses , two niches and kidney-shaped glare fields. The entrance is on the west side, which is also designed with buttresses and glare fields and into which a round arched window, two oval and two kidney-shaped windows are cut. Three fields are decorated with frescoes under the roof . On the left fresco, St. Francis of Assisi is shown, who after his encounter with the crucified Christ himself bears the wounds in the form of a seraph . The right fresco depicts St. Elisabeth , the patron saint of the regulated Third Order of the Franciscans . The middle fresco shows Count Hartmann IV. Von Dillingen and his son Hartmann V , Bishop of Augsburg , the founders of the monastery.
inner space
The interior has a single nave and forms a rectangle 21.6 meters long and 10.8 meters wide. There are two galleries on top of each other on the north wall . The lower gallery is equipped with choir stalls and serves as a nun's choir , the organ is housed on the upper gallery . In the south, the nave opens into a rectangular choir.
Frescoes
The central theme of the large ceiling fresco of the nave is the Trinity surrounded by Mary and personalities of the Franciscan order such as Francis of Assisi (with the stigmata ), Clara of Assisi (with monstrance ), Antonius of Padua (with a lily), Elisabeth of Thuringia (with Crown), Margaret of Cortona (with the skull), Bonaventure (with the cardinal's hat ) and Bernardine of Siena (with the Christ monogram IHS ). The side scenes of the fresco depict important events in the history of the monastery. On the west side, the foundation is commemorated by Count Hartmann IV and his son Hartmann V in 1241. On the north side a fire commemorates the fire in the monastery in 1438 and the east side shows the reconstruction of the monastery and church by Cardinal Peter von Schaumberg in 1464. St. Michael with cross and scales in his right hand and the coat of arms of the monastery, the cross and the instruments of suffering in his left. On the south side, which opens to the choir, the inauguration of the Holy of Holies by Cardinal Otto Truchseß von Waldburg in 1550 is shown. Two female figures, allegorical representations of faith (with chalice and host, book and cross) and hope (with anchor and laurel branch), frame a cartouche with the inscription SOLI DEO HONOR ET GLORIA (God alone is due honor and glory).
The six smaller frescoes in the height of the window zone depict scenes from the life of Mary: Annunciation of the birth of Mary to Joachim and Anna by an angel, the birth of Mary, Mary's temple passage, the Annunciation, the Visitation of Mary and the presentation of Jesus in the temple.
The fresco on the chancel dome depicts the mission of the Holy Spirit , who floats down in tongues of fire on Mary and the apostles . The scene is surrounded by allegorical representations of prudence (with mirror and snake), justice (with scales and sword), fortitude (with armor and tower) and moderation (with jug and mug).
Furnishing
The three altars were created in 1737 by the Gögginger carpenter Josef Einsle, with the gilding the Dillingen painter Matthias Wolker was entrusted with. The altar paintings are by Christoph Thomas Scheffler, who also did the frescoing of the church. The main altarpiece is dedicated to the patronage of the church and depicts Mary who, accompanied by angels, soars up to heaven, towards the Holy Trinity , which is depicted on the oval excerpt. The left side altar is consecrated to the founder of the order Francis of Assisi and shows the Portiuncula chapel , in which he died in 1226. The extract represents St. Elisabeth of Thuringia. The right side altar is dedicated to St. Dedicated to Anthony of Padua and the legend according to which, in Toulouse, to convert an Albigensian, he held the holy of holies in front of a donkey that knelt in front of it. The extract shows St. Margaret of Cortona, canonized in 1728 .
In a niche on the west wall there is a sculpture of Johannes Nepomuk , who was canonized in 1729 and was created around 1737 by Peter Heel (1696–1767) from Pfronten . The Rococo pulpit by Franz Xaver Kleinhans is integrated in the opposite wall pillars on the east side .
The larger than life cross on the east wall stands at the transition from Gothic to Renaissance . It is dated around 1520/30 and was donated to the monastery church at the end of the 17th century. The right sculpture under the cross with a skull and an ointment vessel is called St. Margaret of Cortona interpreted. It was carved from linden wood around 1670. The figure on the left dates from 1750 and represents Peter . The rooster at his feet indicates his denial of Jesus.
literature
- Sr. M. Adelgart Gartenmeier (OSF): Monastery church of the Franciscan Sisters in Dillingen on the Danube . Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-89870-578-3 .
Web links
- Monastery Church of the Assumption
- Photos of church furnishings, in the Warburg Institute Iconographic Database .
Coordinates: 48 ° 34 ′ 39 " N , 10 ° 29 ′ 37.3" E