Assumption of Mary (Kaisheim)
The monastery church in Kaisheim ( Donau-Ries district , Bavaria) was the church of the Cistercian monastery in Kaisheim . It has served as the Catholic parish church of the Assumption of Mary since secularization and at the same time as the house of worship for the Kaisheim correctional facility , which has been housed in the monastery buildings since the 19th century. The high Gothic basilica has received little attention from academic art history.
Building history
The Cistercian monastery in Kaisheim was founded by Count Heinrich I von Lechsgemünd and his wife Liukardis. The new foundation was settled by twelve monks from Lützel in Upper Alsace. The first monastery church was built in Romanesque style in 1174 and was consecrated by the Bishop of Augsburg in 1183 .
Abbot Niblung (1340-1360) laid the foundation stone of the high Gothic new building on September 1st , 1352 ; under his successor Johann Zauer (1360-1380) the choir grew taller. In 1387 the entire building was completed and was consecrated by Bishop Burkart on November 13th.
In 1459, foreman Heinrich Feldkircher began the expansion of the crossing tower, which was damaged by lightning in 1545 and then restored. In 1602, lightning struck the tower roof again; another renovation took place in 1695.
Abbot Elias Götz (1681–1696) began to redesign the monastery complex in Baroque style , which was completed under Rogerius Röls (1698–1723). From 1719 to 1721 the builder Franz Beer laid a two-tower facade in front of the west building of the church. In 1872, however, the baroque façade was torn down again (original view in the local history museum in Donauwörth ).
The current tower was built between 1771 and 1783. After the secularization of the monastery, the convent buildings only served as a prison labor house from 1816, which was converted into a penitentiary in 1863 and is still used as a correctional facility today.
architecture
The three-aisled pillar basilica with an eastern transept and double choir is 80.5 m long and 27.7 m wide inside. The vaults of the central nave close at a height of 24 m, the side aisles are 9.5 m high (dimensions according to the inventory tape). The floor plan and elevation are derived from the scheme of classic French cathedrals, but the open strut system is hidden under the pent roofs of the side aisles. The exterior is soberly designed in the Cistercian style and dispenses with elaborate forms of decoration. The outer structure consists essentially only of the buttresses and the narrow pointed arched windows with their simple tracery . In its monumental grandeur, the church remained largely without successors. An (unfinished) "French" cathedral choir in Swabia is otherwise only owned by Augsburg Cathedral.
The monumentality is particularly emphasized by the "hiding" of the buttresses. The clients were aware of the decorative effect of open strut systems, which opposed the Cistercian demand for the monuments to be unadorned. There is no triforium inside either , the tall nave walls of the nave rise up as bare wall surfaces. In clear contrast to this, however, is the choir building with its richer interior structure. The double ambulatory creates a five-aisled “cathedral” room that has been disturbed by the huge high altar since the baroque era. The vaults are also designed as simple cross ribs , only in the ambulatory are richer figurations. The pillars and columns have no capitals . The example of the contemporary mendicant churches is particularly evident everywhere in the nave.
Furnishing
In addition to the simple, high-Gothic architecture, the high-baroque furnishings determine the appearance of the room.
Altars
The high altar (1673) fills almost the entire end of the choir. The strict architectural structure with the side columns and the large tabernacle is painted in black and gold. The altarpiece shows the Assumption of Mary with St. Bernard and other religious (Johann Pichler, 1672). To the side are two life-size wooden figures of St. John the Baptist and the Evangelist John.
The left side altar dates from 1708. The holy clan can be seen on the altar sheet (re. 1713). The bones of St. Claudius rest in a glass shrine.
The main picture of the right side altar (marked “1731”) is marked with “ IC WOLCKER , AUG. 1739 “and shows Mary with St. Nepomuk. The representation is flanked by three columns, in front of which there are life-size Saints Benedict and Bernhard. In the cafeteria there is a glass shrine that contains the body of St. Julianus.
In the ambulatory, Abbot Rogerius Röls (1698–1723) had eight more altars erected between 1705 and 1712.
On the back of the high altar is a black sacrament altar (1728, formerly with silver decoration) with the "Prague Jesus child" in the extract.
Central nave
The large baroque paintings of the twelve apostles on the high walls of the central nave are the work of Johann Gebhard fromprüfunging near Regensburg (1711). The pictures are each approx. 5 m high, 2.5 m wide and are framed by elaborately decorated acanthus frames.
The pulpit body (1699) has rich acanthus décor , twisted columns and angel heads. The mighty sound cover is also lavishly decorated, with Christ as "Salvator mundi" above.
The choir stalls (oak) from 1698 are now in the side aisles. The chair cheeks show rich, carved ornamental forms, as does the crown. Here are small oval pictures with depictions of the veneration of Mary by the monks. The lecterns are also richly carved. The confessionals were created at the same time and show similar styles.
The wrought-iron grating between the lay and monks' church was created in 1664 by the monastery brother Johann Haus and painted by Elias Riss, a Tyrolean. In the crown you can see the coats of arms of the monastery and the abbot Georg IV. Müller (1637–1667).
Tombs
In the central nave, in front of the dividing grille, stands the tomb of the founder, Heinrich I von Lechsgmünd (reconstructed). The cover plate (around 1434) was made for the 300th anniversary of the foundation, but perhaps repeats an older depiction. The bearded count holds the model of a single-nave choir in his left hand.
Among the numerous other grave monuments, the figural stones of the knight Georg von Wemding († 1551) and his wife Margarethe († 1549) next to the west portal catch the eye. The knight is shown in full armor , his wife in contemporary garb. The memorial stone of Abbot Dominikus Steichele (1589–1594) is also remarkable. The deceased is almost fully sculpted in an elaborate aedicule .
Other larger sculptural works from the beginning of the 15th century are three cover plates in the ambulatory , each formerly belonging to a tumba .
Others
Of the other, rich furnishings, the four Gothic stone sculptures should be mentioned, the most important of which is the “Madonna in the pillar niche” (before 1350).
In addition to the sacristy , a remnant of the medieval cloister (1393/94) survived the baroque transformation. The unusual spring vault with its three-beam ribs and plate-shaped keystones spans a memorial to the fallen of the two world wars.
The wings of the former high altar (around 1502) painted by Hans Holbein the Elder are now in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich (Kaisheimer Altar). The altar shrine is completely lost, the probably associated protective cloak Madonna Gregor Erhart burned in 1945 in the relocation depot in Berlin.
organ
The organ dates from 1677/78. It was built by Matthias Tretzscher (Kulmbach) and revised in 1792. In 1888 the organ was rebuilt by the Steinmeyer organ building company, reusing a large part of the historical pipe material. The baroque work originally had 30 registers . The cone store instrument today comprises 23 stops on two manuals and a pedal. The actions are mechanical.
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- Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
- annotation
- H = historical register from 1792
literature
- Adam Horn (editor): The art monuments of Bavaria, administrative region Swabia, III, administrative district Donauwörth . Munich 1951.
- Johann Lang: Former monastery church of the Cistercians in Kaisheim . Donauwörth 1979
- Johann Lang: Otto Kuchenbauer: 850 years of founding Kaisheim monastery 1134–1984 (Festschrift for the 850th anniversary). Kaisheim 1984
- Birgit Maier: Kaisheim Monastery . Augsburg 1999, ISBN 3-922518-25-7 .
Web links
- Kaisheim: Assumption website of the Diocese of Augsburg
- Historical lexicon of Bavaria - Lechsgemünd-Graisbach, Counts of
Individual evidence
- ^ Diocese of Augsburg
- ↑ More information about the organ. Retrieved May 4, 2019 .
Coordinates: 48 ° 46 '2.3 " N , 10 ° 47' 53.9" E