Loreto Chapel (Muri Monastery)

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Muri Monastery, view from the west

The Loreto Chapel is part of the former Muri Monastery in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland . It is located in the north wing of the cloister of this former Benedictine abbey and, like many European Loreto chapels, is used to worship Mary, the Mother of God. Since 1970 it has housed a burial place of the House of Habsburg-Lothringen , which serves as a family crypt for the descendants of the last Austro-Hungarian ruling couple.

Building history

View into the Loreto Chapel in the north wing of the cloister
Altar of the Loreto Chapel. The grid marks the division of the Holy House into the “living room” and the “kitchen” behind the altar.

The Loreto Chapel in Muri is located at the entrance to the cloister that adjoins the monastery church to the south . This has Gothic tracery windows with an extremely valuable and well-preserved cycle of stained glass from the second half of the 16th century (see stained glass of the Muri monastery ).

The Loreto Chapel was built at the end of the 17th century by order of Abbot Plazidus Zurlauben . When the 11th century Romanesque monastery church was converted into a baroque octagon between 1694 and 1697, most of the north wing of the cloister had to be demolished. A Loreto chapel was set up in the three remaining yokes , based on the Italian pilgrimage site of Loreto . On May 19, 1698 Abbot Plazidus made the consecration .

The small chapel room, which is now quite simple in its artistic furnishings, contains a blue altar porch, the ribbed vault is also painted blue with the representation of the firmament. The keystones are carved with the coats of arms of the abbot and the monastery. The altar has a low cartouche top . Like many other Loreto chapels, the structure of the Loreto Chapel in the Muri Monastery reflects the traditional division of the Holy House into a “living room” and a “kitchen”. The "kitchen" is behind the altar grille and has a wall niche integrated into the back wall of the chapel, which is intended to represent the "fireplace" of the Holy House. Here is a wooden statue of Our Lady flanked by four angels, the work of the Zug sculptor Johann Baptist Wickart .

Habsburg family crypt

The Muri monastery was founded in 1027 by Radbot von Habsburg and his wife Ita von Lorraine , whose seat was Habsburg Castle, around 30 km from the monastery . The donors later found their final resting place inside the monastery church . According to them, the monastery church served as a burial place for around five generations until 1260 . The ties between the monastery and the founding family came to an end in 1415, after the end of Habsburg rule in Switzerland , and in the course of the Aargau monastery dispute , the Muri Benedictine monastery was dissolved in January 1841. The monks found a new home in Bozen in 1845 , where they founded the Muri-Gries Abbey .

In 1970 the Habsburg-Lothringen family signed a contract with the Catholic parish and the residents of Muri about a family crypt for the descendants of the last Austrian emperor, Charles I. After the end of the monarchy in 1918, the family was expelled from the Republic of Austria , and also The descendants of Emperor Charles I were denied access to traditional burial sites such as the Capuchin Crypt in Vienna for decades. The family therefore looked for a new burial site for their members and finally found it in Switzerland.

The contract for the construction of a Habsburg family crypt in the Loreto Chapel was sealed in March 1970 in the monastery hospice during a ceremony. Paragraph III of the contract, handwritten on parchment like a medieval document, provides that “the right to burial is restricted to the wife of the deceased Emperor Karl I of Austria, to her direct descendants and to their children”, namely “to unlimited time ». The crypt room required for this had to be completely rebuilt, as there had been no cellar below the Loreto Chapel. Archduke Rudolph († 2010) signed the contract for the Habsburg family, and its then President and later National Councilor Dr. Leo Weber . Present as witnesses were Count Paul Forni from Bozen, Mayor Arthur Christen and Karl Kron from the local newspaper Freischütz as a press representative and photographer. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs approved the crypt treaty with reservations of neutrality .

Access to the crypt

The crypt under the Loreto chapel with space for a total of fourteen burials was inaugurated that same year. The entrance is formed by a trap door in the form of an iron grille, into which the imperial double-headed eagle with the Austrian shield is incorporated at the top and the representation of a soaring lion from the coat of arms of the Habsburg family at the bottom. In front of this grille there are removable floor panels with rings that facilitate access to the stairs below. The deceased rest in the level crypt below in wooden coffins with metal inner coffins.

In 1971 the first burials took place in the Loreto Chapel. The heart urn of the former Emperor Charles I, who died in exile on the island of Madeira in 1922 , was placed behind the altar grille, where it was buried in a brick stele in the former “fireplace” of the Holy House on the back wall of the chapel. The crypt received the remains of his daughter-in-law Xenia, who died in a car accident in Belgium in 1968 and has now been transferred from Bruges to Muri. Two years later, Maria Theresa Countess von Korff, known as Schmising-Kerssenbrock , the long-time nanny of the imperial family, was buried. In 1975, Johannes, Xenia's son, who died early, also found his final resting place here.

Since its establishment, the crypt has been regularly visited by members of the Habsburg-Lothringen family, who also celebrate a memorial service in the crypt every year. Archduke Rudolph, for example, organized a family reunion in Muri every May, which, in addition to the memorial mass, also included a visit to the rectory. The former Empress Zita visited the burial place annually on April 1st - the anniversary of her husband's death - to pray at the coffins. In September she attended a service to commemorate the death of her husband.

Stele in the former “chimney” of the Holy House on the back wall of the chapel with the heart urns of the imperial couple Karl I († 1922) and Zita († 1989) of Austria

After Zita's death on March 14, 1989, her body was laid out in the Loreto Chapel for around half a month and finally buried on April 1, 1989 in the Capuchin Crypt in Vienna, where burials of members of the former ruling house of Austria-Hungary were now permitted . Zita's heart, however, was buried next to her husband's on December 17, 1989 in Muri. The two silver urns with the hearts of the last Austrian imperial couple are located in a brick stele in the former “chimney” of the Holy House on the back wall of the chapel, where they can be seen through a wrought iron grille: Above the heart cup of Charles I, below the one Zitas. Both have inscriptions with chronograms written by Karl Wolfsgruber . On the heart urn of Charles I is written " C ARO LI A V STR I AE IM PERATOR I S A C H V NGAR I AE REG I S C OR I N D EO Q VJ ESCAT" . The heart urn Zitas bears the inscription "Z I TAE A V STR I AE IM PERATR ICI S H V NGAR I AE REG I NAE C OR I NSEPERAB I L I TER C ON IV G I S C ORD I IV NGAT V R" .

A plaque near the altar reads: “Plus pour vous que pour moi - behind this altar now rests in God's holy peace the long-suffering heart of Her Majesty the Empress and Queen Zita, Princess of Bourbon and Parma, née. in Pianore on May 9th, 1892, passed away blissfully in the Lord on March 14th, 1989 in Johannesstift zu Zizers, after 67 years of separation united with the heart of her husband, Emperor Karl I von, who returned to his creator in Madeira on April 1st, 1922 Austria, apostolic king of Hungary, king of Bohemia, Croatia, Galicia, Dalmatia etc. etc. » On the walls of the chapel there are other metal plaques with inscriptions reminding of the family members buried here.

In the cloister in front of the entrance to the Loreto Chapel there is a bronze bust of Charles I, who was beatified in 2004. The cost of the larger than life bust was shared by the parish of Muri and the association “Friends of the Monastery Church”. The «St. Martins Foundation ”(now“ Murikultur Foundation ”) paid for the transport, so that the bust could be unveiled on February 20, 2010.

Archduke Felix, who died on September 6, 2011 in Mexico City , was the last family member to be buried in the crypt. In addition to the body, his coffin also contains the heart urn of his wife Anna Eugenie, born in 1997, who died in 1997. Duchess of Arenberg.

Burials

Stele on the back wall of the chapel:

Family crypt under the chapel:

  • Archduchess Xenia (born Countess Czernichew-Besobrasow, 1929–1968), first wife of Archduke Rudolph († 2010). Died in a traffic accident in Belgium, transferred from Bruges to the Muri crypt in 1971.
  • Countess Maria Theresia Sidonia von Korff, known as Schmising-Kerssenbrock (1888–1973). Long-time nanny of the imperial family, buried here as thanks for her loyalty (cf. the grave of Countess Fuchs in the Capuchin crypt ).
  • Archduke Johannes (Johannes Carl Ludwig Clemens Maria Joseph Marcus d'Aviano Leopold; born December 11, 1962 in Brussels, † June 29, 1975 there), son of Archduke Rudolph († 2010) and Xenia († 1968) who died prematurely .
  • Archduke Robert (1915–1996), 3rd child of Karl I and Zita.
  • Archduchess Anna Eugenie (born Duchess von Arenberg , 1925–1997), wife of Archduke Felix († 2011).
  • Archduke Rudolph (1919–2010), 6th child of Karl I and Zita, husband of Xenia († 1973) and father of Johannes († 1975).
  • Archduke Felix (1916–2011), 4th child of Karl I and Zita, husband of Anna Eugenie († 1997).

See also

literature

  • Georg Germann: The art monuments of the canton Aargau . Ed .: Society for Swiss Art History . Volume V, Muri District. Birkhäuser, Basel 1967.
  • Peter Felder: The Muri Monastery . Ed .: Society for Swiss Art History. Swiss art guide, volume 692 . Bern 2001, ISBN 3-85782-692-4 .
  • Stefan von Bergen: Nine places are still available . The family crypt of the House of Habsburg in the Muri monastery . in: Die Presse , Spectrum - Zeichen der Zeit (May 26, 2001), p. 3.
  • Christian Breitschmid: Aargauer Underground . Heavenly peace can be felt in the Loreto Chapel . in: Aargauer Zeitung (July 31, 2018), online .

Web links

Commons : Loreto Chapel  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fields: The Muri Monastery. P. 25.
  2. ↑ Fields: The Muri Monastery. Pp. 22-25.
  3. ^ Germann: Art monuments of the canton Aargau, district Muri. P. 335.
  4. ^ Germann: Art monuments of the canton Aargau, district Muri. Pp. 356-357.
  5. ↑ The oldest burial place of the House of Habsburg and the donor monument in the octagon of the Muri monastery church. (PDF; 368 kB) (No longer available online.) Murikultur Foundation, archived from the original on July 26, 2014 ; Retrieved August 22, 2012 . 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.murikultur.ch
  6. ↑ The youngest burial place of the House of Habsburg in the Loreto chapel of the Muri monastery. (PDF; 514 kB) (No longer available online.) Murikultur Foundation, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; Retrieved August 22, 2012 . 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.murikultur.ch
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g von Bergen: Nine places are still available (2001).
  8. ↑ How the Habsburgs came to their final resting place in the Muri monastery. In: Der Freischütz, June 15, 2010.
  9. ↑ Murikultur Foundation, communication dated July 1, 2018.
  10. ↑ How the Habsburgs came to their final resting place in the Muri monastery. Der Freischütz, Muri Community News, June 15, 2010, accessed on August 22, 2011 .
  11. ↑ a b c d e f Brief overview of the Habsburgs and the Muri monastery. (PDF; 27 kB) (No longer available online.) Murikultur Foundation, archived from the original on January 23, 2015 ; Retrieved August 22, 2012 . 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.murikultur.ch
  12. ^ Taken from Zita's heart. Report on Vorarlberg Online, July 18, 2011 (accessed on September 6, 2012)
  13. ^ Taken from Zita's heart. Vorarlberg Online, July 18, 2011, accessed on September 6, 2012.
  14. ↑ Illustration of the heart urn stele in the Loreto Chapel (1) , accessed on August 10, 2015
  15. ↑ Illustration of the heart urn stele in the Loreto Chapel (2) , accessed on August 10, 2015
  16. ↑ a b Jan Mikrut (Ed.): Emperor Karl I. (IV.) As a Christian, statesman, husband and family father , Volume 1 of publications of the International Research Institute for the Promotion of Church History in Central Europe , Cathedral, 2004, ISBN 3-85351- 188-0 , p. 197; or:
    Josef Gelmi: The last Emperor: Karl I. (1887-1922) and Tirol , Tyrolia, 2004, ISBN 3-7022-2619-2 , pp. 97-98
  17. ↑ Empress Zita. Planet Vienna, accessed July 25, 2011 .
  18. ↑ Emperor Karl I moves Muri - still. Aargauer Zeitung, April 3, 2010, accessed on July 25, 2011 .

Coordinates: 47 ° 16 '30.8 "  N , 8 ° 20' 16.3"  E ; CH1903:  668 041  /  236425