Maria Immaculata (Biburg)

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Parish Church of Maria Immaculata
Towers and east apses
South tower

The Roman Catholic parish church Maria Immaculata (also: Klosterkirche Biburg ) in Biburg near Abensberg , a municipality in the Lower Bavarian district of Kelheim , is one of the most important Romanesque architectural monuments in Old Bavaria and a former monastery church of the Benedictines , Jesuits and Maltese , who all over the years Biburg Monastery . With the consecration date in 1133 it is one of the oldest surviving churches in Bavaria. The historically significant church building is located on a hill above the Abens Valley on the northern foothills of the Hallertau . It is registered as a monument with the number D-2-73-119-5 at the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation .

history

After the Biburg Castle was handed over to Bishop Otto von Bamberg for the construction of a monastery by Count Heinrich I von Sittling , his wife, Blessed Bertha von Ratzenhofen, and her sons Konrad and Arbeo in 1125 , the construction of the church began immediately. In 1133 (other sources report from 1134/35) the work on the Romanesque pillar basilica was largely finished and the church could be provisionally consecrated. The actual consecration in honor of Our Lady was made in 1140 by the bishops Heinrich von Regensburg and Egilbert von Bamberg. Around the same time, the Benedictine monastery was elevated to an abbey under Abbot Eberhard von Sittling and Biburg . Eberhard was abbot of Biburg Abbey until 1147 and was then appointed Archbishop of Salzburg .

After Biburg was originally run as a double monastery , the women's convent burned down in 1278 and was not rebuilt. The monastery church and the men's convent were not harmed. During his tenure from 1394 to 1407, Abbot Heidenreich Starzhauser had the originally flat-roofed side aisles vaulted in Gothic style. Under Abbot Benedikt Collmann, who officiated from 1526 to 1550, the same thing happened with the main nave and transept, which had previously also been flat-roofed; The year 1532 can be read on a keystone , presumably the date of the vault. By 1555, the Benedictines had to leave their monastery as a result of the Reformation . In 1589 the monastery and all possessions were given to the Jesuit order as a donation for the University of Ingolstadt with the permission of Pope Sixtus V. He usually only occupied the monastery with a few fathers and brothers and used it mainly as a summer residence for the Ingolstadt college . This had the monastery church baroque and rebuilt the monastery building in a simple form after a fire in 1701; the Jesuits of Ingolstadt also sponsored the baroque renovation of the Allersdorf pilgrimage church , which was subordinate to the monastery. The baroque renovation of the monastery church, which was completed by 1687, included in particular the widening of the window openings so that more light came into the church, and a rich set of altars and figures, which were removed again in the 19th century. The interior was not frescoed or stuccoed .

After the abolition of the Jesuit order in 1773, the monastery came to the Order of Malta in 1781, which held it until secularization in 1803. As early as 1785, the monastery church was declared a parish church for Biburg and thus escaped demolition - a fate that befell the old Biburg parish church of St. Stephan instead. The baroque church furnishings were removed during a renovation between 1885 and 1887 and replaced by a neo-Romanesque interior, of which only the lead glass windows in the choir and the organ case on the small gallery in the south transept have been preserved. Parts of the neo-Romanesque furnishings were removed for the first time in 1960. In 1968 the grave monument of Blessed Bertha was moved from the Allersdorf pilgrimage church to the apse of the north aisle. In the course of the liturgical renewal after the Second Vatican Council , in 1983, on the occasion of the 850th anniversary of the consecration, the tabernacle altar and the pulpit were also removed, the last witnesses of the reromanization in the 19th century. Instead, the church was given modern furnishings by the artist Hans Wurmer from Hausen, with the people's altar , the ambo and the candlesticks .

architecture

Even if the original furnishings are no longer preserved, the architecture largely corresponds to the original Romanesque state. The church is an east-facing three-aisled pillar basilica , which was built over the plan of a Latin cross . The unplastered walls reveal the cuboid-shaped limestone and tufa stones.

Exterior construction

The two 36-meter-high towers rise above the side choirs and have no structure in the lower area. The two upper floors are pierced on all four sides by coupled sound arcades cut into arched panels. These are framed by rectangular glare fields on the top floor. The sound openings in the north tower no longer fulfill their function today, as all four bells hang in the south tower. The upper connection of the two towers, which are externally identical, form pyramid helmets with a ball and cross. The rest of the exterior is largely undivided apart from the arched window openings and the arched friezes on the three apses and on the west and east gables.

West portal

West portal

The west portal dates from the time the church was built. In the past, it was the only access to the interior of the church for people who did not belong to the monastery, today there is another entrance on the west side of the south transept. The weathering unprotected exposed Portal has a doubly stepped jamb , in the two three-quarter columns are set on both sides. The two inner archivolts are decorated with round bars , the outer archivolt has a toothed frieze . On the fighters , on which the outer arches rest, two scenes framed by circular fields can be seen on the left. They show the devil as a shooter with a bow and arrow , a typical representation in the Middle Ages that is also supposed to symbolize pride and arrogance, and two birds pecking at a grape as a symbol of greed. The third circle field shows only foliage . The fighters on the right are decorated with braided ribbon .

The capitals are carved with figurative representations. The siren on the left side of the portal, holding her two fish tails in her hands, is considered a symbol of lust; the two winged dragons in the middle, breathing fire in opposite directions, represent envy; a deformity with three bodies and a head on the left side inside, which has placed two claws on its middle stomach, symbolizes gluttony. The grimace on the inside of the right-hand side of the portal, which sticks out the tongue and holds the beard up in a flirtatious way, is interpreted as a symbol for anger (tongue) and vanity (beard); a crouching man (in the middle) with his hands on his lap represents indolence. The outer capital on the right is decorated with stylized leaves. The tympanum is decorated with a stone relief of Christ blessing .

  • Fighter and capitals on the left

  • Tympanum

  • Capitals on the right

inner space

inner space
North aisle

The six-bay nave consists of a central nave and two side aisles half as wide, which are also significantly lower in height. The naves are separated by arched arcades that rest on massive rectangular pillars . The six nave yokes are not the same length, the second and fifth yokes were made slightly narrower and therefore have narrower dividing arches . The two transept arms , which protrude only a little over the nave, have the same height as the central nave. The choir adjoining the crossing , which is the same width as the central nave, closes with a semicircular apse like the two side choirs that continue the side aisles .

In contrast to the Romanesque architecture, the Gothic vaults that were subsequently inserted instead of flat wooden ceilings. Around 1400, the side aisles received their groin vaults , with a significantly more elaborate star rib vaulting in the third yoke from the west , which was perhaps added later. Around 130 years later, the late Gothic reticulated vaults were drawn in in the central nave and transept.

Leaded glass window

The three leaded glass windows in the choir date from around 1885 and were part of the historicizing furnishings. The middle window shows a representation of Mary Immaculate, on the side are John the Baptist , who refers to the Lamb of God , and Saint Joseph with the baby Jesus.

  • John the Baptist

  • Maria Immaculate

  • Saint Joseph and boy Jesus

Furnishing

Baroque crucifix
Baptismal font, around 1200
  • A large part of today's church furnishings were created in 1983 for the 850th anniversary of the consecration by Hans Wurmer. In addition to the candlesticks, these are the people's altar and the ambo , all made of cast bronze and placed in the crossing. The altar and ambo contain numerous circular reliefs, which are supposed to be reminiscent of the round arches of the Romanesque. The Altarmensa shows twelve scenes from the cycle of the life of Mary , on the ambo the four evangelist symbols can be seen.
  • A baroque crucifix was also placed in the main choir for the anniversary of the consecration in 1983 .
  • The baptismal font made of limestone around 1200 is today the only evidence of the Romanesque style epoch. It originally comes from the demolished old parish church of St. Stephan and is now housed in the southern side choir. On a squat octagonal base rests a shell basin with a surrounding arcade frieze and a lily motif . The baroque group of sculptures depicting the baptism of Jesus can be seen on the flat wooden lid .
  • A late Gothic figure of St. Barbara from around 1510/20 is placed above the sacristy door in the northern side choir .
  • The carved relief of Anna selbdritt on the organ gallery in the south transept is a work from around 1510/20.
  • Two valuable panel paintings are likely to come from a late Gothic winged altar from around 1520/30; they show the Abbot Bishop Virgil, the builder of the Salzburg Cathedral , with a model of a church, perhaps also St. Wolfgang von Regensburg , who is considered to be the builder of the parish and pilgrimage church of St. Wolfgang in the Salzkammergut , and St. Nicholas with his attribute , the three golden ones Bullets.
  • The transverse oval painting depicting Ecce homo in the north transept is dated around 1600.
  • A figure of the church patroness Maria Immaculata in the south aisle is also worth mentioning.

  • Saint Barbara

  • Anna herself the third

  • Panel paintings of a winged altar

  • Ecce homo

Tombs and Epitaphs

In the rear area of ​​the nave, as well as on the churchyard wall, numerous grave monuments from the 15th to 19th centuries can be seen. The red marble epitaphs for the Benedictine abbots are particularly beautiful .

  • The tomb for Berta von Biburg (called Bertha von Ratzenhofen), mother of the monastery donors, is housed in the southern side choir. The narrow limestone slab with the bas-relief of the deceased was created in the late 12th century and was formerly the cover plate of a tumba . The hand of blessing in the upper right corner presumably refers to her beatification. Another tombstone from the middle of the 14th century commemorates Berta von Biburg, on which a schematic incised drawing also depicts the deceased in full figure.
  • In the western part of the church, four red marble slabs with full-length relief representations commemorate the abbots Friedrich Starzhauser († 1474), Johannes Machtersdorfer († 1493), Wolfgang Pfeffenhauser († 1505) and Leonhard Aichstetter († 1526).
  • More red marble slabs were created in memory of Margaretha Leuttenpeck († 1400), Leonhard von Pfeffenhausen († 1527) and his father Wilhelm († 1477).
  • The limestone epitaph for the abbot Benedikt Collmann († 1550) is provided with a relief above the inscription showing the abbot kneeling in front of the crucifix. Opposite him is John the Baptist, who refers to the Lamb of God.

  • Grave slab of Blessed Bertha († 1151)

  • Epitaph for Benedikt Collmann († 1550)

  • Red marble slab for an abbot

  • Red marble slab for an abbot

Surroundings

To the north of the church are the former monastery buildings, south of the former monastery and village cemetery , which is no longer used as such today. The soul chapel is still there, a saddle roof building from around 1600, which shows beautiful tracery windows on the eaves .

literature

  • Hans Bleibrunner: Church and monastery Biburg near Abensberg . Self-published, Abensberg 1990.
  • Georg Dehio (edited by Michael Brix): Handbook of German Art Monuments. Bavaria II: Lower Bavaria . 2nd revised and supplemented edition, Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-422-03122-7 , pp. 60–64.
  • Sixtus Lampl : Biburg. Parish church Maria Immaculata, former Benedictine abbey church . Schlossverlag Valley, Valley 2006.

Web links

Commons : Maria Immaculata (Biburg)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ List of monuments for Biburg (PDF) at the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation, monument number D-2-73-119-5

Coordinates: 48 ° 47 '31.4 "  N , 11 ° 51' 23.8"  E