Church of Exaltation of the Cross (Knowledge)
The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross to Wissen is the Catholic parish church of the parish of Wissen in the pastoral care area Obere Sieg of the Archdiocese of Cologne . The church, which originally dates back to around the year 1000, was destroyed by a fire in 1788, rebuilt in 1804 and received its current appearance through an extension in 1912.
history
prehistory
Before the Christianization of the area of knowledge, the location of the church was probably a pagan place of worship. After Christianization around 700, there was probably a wooden church on the site of today's Church of the Exaltation of the Cross.
Romanesque building
According to the foundation stone, the so-called "ANNO DVSNT" stone, which is now located in the western outer wall of the tower, a stone church can allegedly be proven from the year 1000 onwards. The documents that are supposed to prove the authenticity of the stone were destroyed in the great city fire in 1788. It is questionable whether this stone was actually set in the year 1000. Margot Bitterauf-Remy doubted the authenticity in 1935, since the written form corresponds to the 17th century.
In 1707, Pastor Hausmann described the church as a three-aisled Romanesque pillar basilica to which an ossuary was built. Restorations of the church took place in 1472, 1602 and 1706. The foundation stone, the tower with the tower chapel and the baptismal font are still preserved from the Romanesque period. The church was completely destroyed by the fire in 1788 and rebuilt in 1804. In the years 1912 to 1914 the church was expanded. The church was given its current appearance through renovations carried out between 1963 and 1973.
New building
The great fire in the city of Wissen in 1788 destroyed not only a large part of the city, but also the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross. Until the beginning of the new building in 1804, the church was only partially usable. The new building was based strongly on the Luther Church in Kirchen (Sieg) , today it is still preserved in its nave section.
After the new building was completed, new inventory was required, which, however, was not bought new due to lack of money, but was auctioned at low cost due to the secularization of various monasteries.
Between 1729 and 1742, the builder Michael Spanner built the new Grafschaft monastery in the baroque style. In the years 1738 to 1743 he also built the new monastery church; it received new fittings in the years 1744 to 1757, including a main altar and the cross altar as a side altar as well as four other side altars. After the secularization of the monastery in 1811, the parish of Wissen bought the cross altar and made it the main altar of the Church of Exaltation of the Cross.
The side altars dedicated to St. Mary and St. Joseph were consecrated by the parish of Wissen after the abbey of Marienthal was abolished in 1827. They were created between 1758 and 1765 by two unknown monks from the Marienthal monastery.
The pulpit also comes from Marienthal and was created by the same artists in the same period as the altars.
Also from Marienthal are probably two valuable baroque wooden sculptures of St. Catherine and St. Nicholas.
The organ of the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross was built in 1793 by organ builder Johann Christian Klein for the church of the Franciscan monastery in Attendorn and bought by the parish of Wissen in 1829. However, since the organ did not fill the room, it was expanded in 1848 by a rood screen organ from the Wetzlar Cathedral , which dates from 1758.
The baptismal font is the oldest inventory item in the church and is covered by a lid, which stylistically matches the other inventory.
Church expansion
In the years 1912 to 1914 an expansion of the existing church became necessary due to a strong population growth due to the industrial revolution. Architect Mathar gave the church its cruciform floor plan. Aware of the baroque inventory, he designed the interior bright and spacious. The dome above the crossing is held in place by an iron structure. The choir is separated from the transept by a triumphal arch . On the south side of the choir is the royal box of the von Hatzfeldt family .
In the outer area, Mathar had the tower raised above the bell chamber. The tower closes with a French dome with a gallery. There is an onion dome above the gallery.
The frescoes in the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross were worked out by the fresco painter Peter Hecker between 1928 and 1931 and are today to be regarded as his most extensive and complete work. Conceptually, Hecker stuck to Mathar's architecture and painted scenes from Genesis on the flat ceiling in the nave, scenes from the Passion of Christ on the inside of the dome and scenes of the glorification of God on the round vault of the choir.
post war period
During the Second World War , the church windows and the roof were destroyed. After the war, the damage was repaired as far as possible, with the emergency windows not being replaced until 1971. Peter Hecker restored the damaged frescoes himself in 1953. Between 1963 and 1973 the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross was extensively restored. Since 1999 the "ANNO DVSNT" stone has been protected from further weathering by a plexiglass box. Another renovation will take place from mid-2014 to probably the end of 2015.
Patronage
The oldest seal that depicts the patronage of the Holy Cross is from May 25, 1436. The choice of the patronage depends on the ecclesiastical supervision of the Bonn Cassius Foundation over the Catholic community in knowledge. The local veneration of St. Helena, who according to tradition is said to have found the remains of the cross of Christ, could have influenced the choice of the patronage at that time. Due to their patronage, fragments of the Holy Cross are in the possession of the community. It cannot be assumed that the congregation in Knowledge has ever had another patronage.
The Exaltation of the Cross falls on September 14th
literature
- Christian Ebach: The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross to Knowledge (= Knowledge Contributions to History and Regional Studies 8). Knowledge 1973.
Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 58.5 ″ N , 7 ° 44 ′ 7.1 ″ E
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pastoral care area Obere Sieg. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on August 12, 2014 ; accessed on August 8, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
