Mariagrüner Church

Maria Grün with church around 1830, Lith. Institution JF Kaiser, Graz

Mariagrüner Church

Portal of the Church

The Roman Catholic Mariagrün Church , also known as the Pilgrimage Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary or Stationskaplanei Graz-Mariagrün, is the center of Mariagrün , a small district of Graz , in the Mariatrost district . It is considered the most important ecclesiastical foundation of a citizen of the city of Graz.

The church can be reached in about 15 minutes from Mariatroster-Straße via Mariagrüner-Straße. Located next to the Mariagrün elementary school, it is a popular destination in the middle of Graz's local recreation center, the Mariagrün Forest.

This church is not a separate parish, but only a station chaplain and belongs to the parish Graz St. Leonhard in the dean's office Graz-Ost of the city ​​church Graz . The deacon Rudolf Prattes, who lives here, also conducts services in the Mariatrost pilgrimage church .

history

The church site was acquired around 1650 by the councilor Hanns Friz , who used this area as a vineyard. Even then, the area was popular as a destination for excursions, so Hanns Friz left a place to the Capuchin Fathers Deodat and Irenäus, who built a small chapel there in 1663.

In 1667, Bishop Max Gandolf von Kuenburg granted a license to read the mass, but only the Capuchins were allowed to hold it in the extremely simple chapel.

According to tradition, the location was determined by the first healthy born son of Hanns Friz by throwing a small stone. On the occasion of the difficult birth of this son in 1668, he had a church built there with the name of St. Maria in der Grien (today: Mariagrün). In the same year, Bishop Johann IV. Markus von Aldringen is said to have given oral permission to celebrate, the Capuchin Guardian Father Angelus read the first mass on July 2, 1669 and baptized the site “Our Lady in the Grien”. Since then the parish fair has been celebrated annually on the 1st Sunday of July.

In 1700 the existing building was extended with a four-storey north tower including an onion dome and by adapting the sacristy to create a choir. In 1852 a neo-Romanesque facade with a triangular gable and the western extension followed. The church has had the status of a station chaplain since 1808 and is a popular, idyllic place of pilgrimage; especially the sparing of Mariagrün in the plague year 1680 increased the veneration.

description

Despite the changes, the building still clearly shows the original structure - a central room in the shape of a Greek cross with a lantern-topped dome - in the corresponding chapels in the central axis (with curved gables) and in the crossing with bell roof. The sandstone figures of Saints Joseph and Florian made by Jakob Gschiel (created in 1875) are located in the tracery-decorated round arch niches of the neo-Romanesque south facade ; The profiled round arch stone gate is adorned with remarkable wrought iron lattice wings and skylight grilles from around 1670. The single-nave, two-bay nave, like the retracted two-bay choir, has a barrel vault , the crossing a monastery vault, the chapels are cross barrel vaulted , the single- bay gallery has a flat ceiling. The glass paintings in the choir date from 1892 and 1899.

Maria Coronation Chapel

The high altar made at the beginning of the 18th century with a column structure bears an altarpiece of Mary with Child Jesus and St. John (1st half of the 18th century, original replaced) and a late Baroque image of God the Father. The side figures represent the saints Leopold and Sebastian (around 1670). The tabernacle in the late historical old German style was created in the last quarter of the 19th century. The side altar from the 2nd half of the 18th century with a column structure has the altar sheet Mother of Mercy painted by Joseph Alexander Wonsidler in 1844, a donation from Alois Freiherr von Königsbrunn. The right side altar from the last quarter of the 18th century has a classical column structure, the altar panel shows the baby Jesus stepping on the dragon, the side figures the Saints Joseph and James the Elder. Ä. (around 1670); The wooden figures of Saints Barbara , Katharina , Agnes and Margaretha in the stucco-decorated niches on the round-arched triumphal arch and in the side chapels also date from that time or from the 1st quarter of the 18th century . The crucifix under the gallery is a work from the 2nd quarter of the 18th century; On the balustrade of the gallery there are also portraits of the church donor Hans Friz and his wife Rosina (3rd quarter of the 18th century). In the sacristy there is a remarkable marble lavabo by Carlo Gianollo (dated 1670).

On the western edge of the church square is the Mariä-Krönung-Chapel, a small square baroque building with curved gables, built around 1680. The front side shows vertical gables and pilasters, the profiled arched gate is secured with wrought iron lattice wings. The barrel-vaulted interior houses a columnar altar in cartilage style, the altar panel shows the coronation of Mary, the upper image shows St. Francis. The sandstone figure of Maria Immaculata to the west of the tower cross , a work by Veit Koenig  (1760), previously stood in front of the front of the Münzgraben or Fatima Church.

Monument to the origins of the church

Ludwig Bonaparte , ex-king of Holland and brother of Emperor Napoleon I, stayed in Graz between 1810 and 1814 and always visited the Mariagrün church on his walks. To the south of the church is the late Biedermeier monument, which thematizes the development of the church, with verses by Ludwig Bonaparte, brother of Emperor Napoleon I, by Ignaz Franz Castelli and by Anastasius Grün .

Above the church was the hermitage, which was inhabited until 1782; it was then adapted as a school house. The little church of Mariagrün was not only a popular excursion destination for the people of Graz, the hermit chapters of Styria also took place here to elect their head, the so-called grandfather.

On May 13, 1873, the Styrian writer Peter Rosegger married his first wife Anna Pichler in the Mariagrüner Church. It is also thanks to him that the area around the church (Mariagrüner Wald) was not built over for a long time. The church is now largely surrounded by new types of residential buildings.

Already popular as a “wedding church” in the 19th century, the Mariagrün church is still very popular with the population of Graz as a wedding and baptismal church.

literature

• Alois Kölbl, Wiltraud Resch: Paths to God. The churches and synagogue of Graz. 2nd, expanded and supplemented edition. Styria, Graz 2004, ISBN 3-222-13105-8 , pp. 193f.

Web links

Commons : Mariagrüner Kirche  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The indication of branch church , which can be found in the literature, is not precise, as a chaplaincy is a legally independent organization

Coordinates: 47 ° 5 ′ 56.4 "  N , 15 ° 27 ′ 4.5"  E