Birth of Mary (Höchberg)
The parish church of the Birth of Mary is a Catholic pilgrimage church in Höchberg ( Lower Franconia ). The church was given its current appearance in the course of the last renovation and expansion measures in 1909. The neo-Gothic church, visible from afar, characterizes the appearance of the old town of Höchberg.
history
The origins of the parish church and parish cannot be precisely proven due to the lack of documents. Höchberg was probably raised to a parish between 1363 and 1372, as the Höchberg church is expressly referred to as a branch church in the oldest fief book by St. Burkhard .
Höchberg's affiliation to the parish of St. Burkhard is first documented in 1355. Pope Innocent VI confirmed these possessions to the Abbot of St. Burkhard, Johannes Bloach. Until 1803 the monks and the later canons were responsible for pastoral care and official acts. The believers from Waldbüttelbrunn belonged to the parish of Höchberg until 1858.
In 1907, the cathedral vicar Glögger published a brochure on Marian pilgrimage sites in Franconia, naming Höchberg as the oldest Marian pilgrimage site. It refers in particular to an entry in the matriculation book newly created in 1647 by Pastor Hess . He wrote at the time that the Virgin Mary's birth became famous through miracles and was opened because of the influx of citizens of Franconia. However, since there are no references to significant Marian relics or to early indulgences , such an early pilgrimage with a high level of awareness cannot be assumed. It is more likely that the pilgrimage between St. Burkhard and Höchberg, which has been common since 1613, or an indulgence advertised jointly for both places was decisive.
Already the Würzburg hymn book Alte und Newe Geistliche Catholische Extralesene Gesäng from 1630 contains a song of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Höchberg.
In the 17th century, the pilgrimage experienced a great boom, especially thanks to the support of the Prince-Bishops Johann Gottfried von Aschhausen (1617–1622) and Philipp Adolf von Ehrenberg (1623–1631). The Dettelbach image was carried to Höchberg in 1648 in a solemn procession in which Prince-Bishop Johann Philipp von Schönborn , the cathedral chapter and the citizenship took part. This unique and well-preserved votive picture shows the healing of a blind girl in 1704. The pilgrimage was most popular in the 18th century. At that time, the faithful flocked to Höchberg in many processions, mainly from the surrounding parishes.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, pilgrimages fell sharply. Only the parishes of St. Cross and St. Elisabeth in Zellerau regularly make pilgrimages to Höchberg on Prayer Sundays.
Exterior construction
The importance of the church is underlined by the prominent location. The original late Gothic polygonal choir traditionally faces east, which is why the façade of the neo-Gothic extension from 1909 is to the west.
The show facade impresses with its reduced design language and the simple structure. Two buttresses placed across the corner , which the pointed gable towers above, frame the dominant, smooth and pale yellow plastered wall surface. A Gothic coffin cornice with a water hammer divides the wall horizontally into two zones. The projecting portal, framed in red sandstone tone, dominates the center axis of the lower facade zone, flanked by two grooved tracery windows , the upper end of which describes a segmental arch. Two pilasters with faded spiral decoration and volutes carry the final segment arch, the arch field of which adorns the high relief with the depiction of the sacrificial lamb lying on the book with the seven seals . On an axis with the portal, a high, three-part tracery window with an ogival finish dominates the upper wall surface above the coffin cornice. A loosening of the gable is achieved in the central axis through a small pointed arch window. Despite some minor variations, the south side is largely the same as the north side.
Dating from the same era, the access to the gallery still looks like an extension. Its stair tower with a conical tip, which sets an accent on the south side, stands out from the otherwise Gothic design language of the nave.
Side portal
tower
Front and side views
The entrance to the gallery with the eye-catching turret.
inner space
Whoever enters the church through the main portal in the west is greeted by a harmonious spatial image. The late baroque interior of the church is optimally integrated into the late Gothic choir and the neo-Gothic formal language of the nave, thus reinforcing the feeling of a closed unit.
The flat ceiling of the main nave forms a unit with the flat ceiling of the choir. It counteracts the rising impulse of movement of the pointed arches and gives the main nave a slightly box-like impression. Nevertheless, the viewer perceives the structure as light and wide.
The structure of the nave is reflected in the structure of the ceiling. Stuccoed moldings divide the area into a narrow rectangular field and two main rectangular fields. The western one bears the IHS monogram in the center, surrounded by a halo. On the side two oval frames enclose the depiction of the sacrificial lamb on the book with the seven seals and the chalice.
The eastern field lively frames the ceiling fresco of the nave. The fresco shows the Assumption and the coronation of Mary. It reminds the viewer that he is in a church dedicated to Our Lady. The painter Eulogius Böhler , who lived in Würzburg from 1883 until his death in 1943, painted the picture in Baroque style in 1908. He equipped numerous churches in Franconia, so he supplemented and edited z. B. the frescoes of the monastery church in Oberzell. Based on the late Baroque interior of the nave, Böhler chose the very popular and often extremely heightened representation in the form of the Hypäthar picture (Greek for: under the open sky) for the Ascension. From the right point of view, it appears to the viewer that he can look through the ceiling into the open sky at what is happening. This effect is created through perspective painting. The apostles are grouped around the empty coffin of Mary, who look into the sky in amazement or in amazement. Mary floats off into heaven and, kneeling on clouds, is accompanied by a crowd of angels and putti . Two putti hover over her and put the crown on her head. The upward movement culminates in the dove of the Holy Spirit, which, shimmering with light, announces the divine glory into which Mary is received.
Ceiling fresco in the nave
organ
Choir room
The seven falls
If you follow the old Höchberger Straße from Würzburger Zellerau, you will come across seven stations of the cross made of sandstone, the so-called Seven Falls . The series begins at the Hofbräuhaus in Würzburg and continues along the road to the center of the village of Höchberg. After climbing to the church from the center of the village, at the end of this shortened Way of the Cross you will reach the Kreuzkapelle. This was added to the east side of the church building as part of the new nave construction.
Of the "Höchberger" seven cases, three are in Würzburg and four in Höchberger district. As the dates show, they were made between 1626 and 1627. According to tradition, they are related to the widespread persecution of witches at the time . In Würzburg, under the reign of the Prince-Bishop of Ehrenberg, a total of 219 alleged witches and wizards fell victim, and the name of the Höchberg district Hexenbruch still reminds of the place where the pyre burned. It has been handed down that the brotherhood of the prince-bishop-Würzburg court under its chairman, the kitchen master Konrad Bauer, had the shrines erected as evidence of their "right faith". In addition to numerous Würzburg citizens, the cathedral chapter also contributed one hundred guilders. The prince-bishop finally had the crucifixion chapel built for two hundred thalers.
According to tradition, several artists are said to have worked on the wayside shrines and the chapel: Balthasar Grohe , a student of Michael Kern, the Windsheim master Georg Brenk (1564–1635) and Michael Kern (1580–1649) himself.
The condition of the individual station pictures is partly very bad and made extensive restoration work necessary as early as the beginning of the 19th century. The fifth station was completely redesigned and replaced by a work by the Höchberg sculptor Herbert Spielmann. In 1992 the Höchberger Beautification Association had the sixth station renewed. The new wayside shrine was set up a few meters from the original that served as a template. The sculptors for the replica of the sixth station were Andrea Schimmer from Kleinrinderfeld (medallion) and Erwin Hauck from Estenfeld . In spite of some additions, the fourth station still offers a very good picture of the drama and narration of the representations.
The Kreuzkapelle itself impresses with its wealth of shapes. Half-columns with Corinthian capitals, which grow above high pedestals, are in front of the rectangular arched pillars . The architrave and frieze are not encircling and only designed as blocks . The tooth cut and the egg stick, on the other hand, are circumferential on the open sides. The massive cross, which bears the strongly shaped body, is framed by the somewhat static figures of Maria and Johannes. Mary Magdalene is shown kneeling under the cross, looking up in mourning.
Station of the Cross: Jesus falls for the third time.
Station of the Cross: Jesus falls for the fourth time.
Station of the Cross: Jesus falls for the fifth time.
Station of the Cross: Jesus falls for the sixth time.
Station of the Cross: Jesus falls for the seventh time.
Chapel of the Cross at the Birth of the Virgin Mary, also the last station on the Way of the Cross.
Furnishing
The organ is more recent: built in 1966 by the company Weise from Plattling with 42 stops on three manuals and pedal; The valuable baroque prospectus seems to come from the workshop of the Seuffert family, famous in Main Franconia. The widening of the wise organ in the form of a swell can be seen at the rear on both sides.
Web links
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 49 ° 46 ′ 51.6 " N , 9 ° 52 ′ 33.6" E