Marian column (Wernstein am Inn)
The Marian column in Wernstein am Inn is a statue consecrated to Mary on a column. It was made by Emperor Ferdinand III. Donated in gratitude for saving the city of Vienna from a Swedish army in 1645 towards the end of the Thirty Years' War and erected in 1646 by the master stonemason and sculptor Johann Jacob Pock . It was originally set up in Vienna Am Hof in 1647 opposite the Jesuit Church , but in 1667 at the instigation of Emperor Leopold I and Count Georg Ludwig von Sinzendorf it was moved to Wernstein am Inn, where it has since stood on the banks of the Inn below the Wernstein Castle. A bronze copy was made in Vienna (see Vienna Marian Column ).
description
The type of statues or images of the Virgin Mary, the mulier amicta sole - the woman clothed with the sun ( Rev 12.1 EU ) - changed into the veneration of the immaculata conceptio , the " Immaculate Received ", the serpent of unbelief and heresy Head crushes. Although the Munich Marian column , where the depiction of the miraculous image of Loreto is still on the column, was expressly intended as a model, the Counter-Reformation depiction of the Immaculata Conceptio was chosen for Vienna . Johann Jacob Pock's statue of the Virgin Mary is moving, has regular facial features with a gaze directed into the distance. The right foot as a free leg is slightly raised, the kneecap is pressed through the fabric of the robe. The lines of the coat, as if blown by the wind, give the slight right turn of the figure the stronger impulse.
In older research there is always talk of a "Marian column made of marble ". In fact, Ferdinand III. the erection of a column “made of marble” was praised. This has often been accepted uncritically by historians, but in reality, even then, sandstone and granite were used as far cheaper building materials for the construction.
The column is 17 meters high and stands on the banks of the Inn in front of Wernstein Castle , which was built around 1200 . The column stands on a pedestal , surrounded by four fighting hero putti , which are about two meters tall. In the middle of the putti there is now a pedestal with inscriptions in its recessed areas. This is followed by the actual column, about six meters high, made from one piece and richly decorated with laurel ornament. Finally, the statue of the Virgin Mary stands on a composite capital.
history
Military situation
On March 6, 1645, the imperial army was defeated in the battle of Jankau , about 60 km southeast of Prague. The way to Vienna was clear for the victorious Swedish army under Lennart Torstensson, which was seriously underestimated by the imperial side . While the Swedes were marching on Vienna, Emperor Ferdinand III vowed. on March 29, 1645 as part of a procession to erect a Marian column on a public square, so that Our Lady may protect Vienna from the Swedes. In fact, the capture of Vienna failed and the Swedish army withdrew again in October 1645. The Viennese Jesuits were given the task of creating the pillar, but they were paid for entirely from the imperial court chamber . The brothers Tobias Pock and Johann Jacob Pock received the order, the first being based on the model of the Munich Marian column and the second being responsible for the execution of the column.
In the spring of 1647 Johann Jacob Pock had finally completed the column, on May 18th it was opened in the presence of Emperor Ferdinand III. and his family, the papal nuncio and the entire nobility with clerical and secular authorities.
Relocation to Upper Austria
Ten years after the inauguration, in 1657, died Ferdinand III., Donated by him column should stop another ten years at the court until 1667, his son and successor, Emperor Leopold I to Count Georg Ludwig von Sinzendorf was handed over as a gift . He had the column transported up the Danube and Inn river to Wernstein am Inn and erected on the banks of the Inn. Furthermore, he had inscriptions attached to the column, which describe the development of the column up to the installation in Wernstein, whereby he did not fail to mention that for him this was " sumptuosis impensis statuit ", so "associated with high costs". In the meantime, Emperor Leopold I had Balthasar Herold put up a bronze copy of the column in Vienna , which is still in existence today (see Vienna Marian Column ).
Ownership, further history
Georg Ludwig von Sinzendorf, who was also president of the imperial court chamber , subsequently fell out of favor for embezzling large sums of money and was relieved of all his offices. The county of Neuburg, on which the Marian column was now located, subsequently fell to the imperial court chamber. In 1698, Count Jakob von Hamilton acquired the county and sold it in 1719 to Count Lamberg, who in turn sold it to the Principality of Passau . After the secularization of the monastery in the course of the reforms of Emperor Joseph II , the Marian column again fell into imperial possession. However, since there was no imperial administration in Wernstein to which the supervision of the monument could be entrusted, but the municipality of Wernstein showed a great bond and a special religious interest in the Marian column, the government handed over the column to the municipality of Wernstein on October 8, 1841 Property.
In 1989/90 a complete restoration was carried out by a working group consisting of the restorer Franz Gyolcs and the sculptor Klaus Wedenig. This restoration has been documented in detail.
literature
- Ernst Weber: 350 years of the Marian column in Wernstein. In: New archive for the history of the Diocese of Linz. 1998, pp. 89-94 ( online (PDF) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at).
- Walter F. Kalina: The Marian Columns in Wernstein am Inn (1645/47), Vienna (1664/66), Munich (1637/38) and Prague (1650). In: Bundesdenkmalamt (Hrsg.): Austrian magazine for art and monument preservation. 58, 2004, issue 1, pp. 43-61.
- Elisabeth Lintschinger: Baroque Trinity and Marian columns in Upper Austria. Diploma thesis University of Vienna 1999, pp. 150–159.
- ARGE restoration: Franz Gyolcs, Klaus Wedenig (eds.): Documentation on the restoration of the Marian column in Wernstein am Inn. Vienna 1990.
Individual evidence
- ^ Walter F. Kalina: The Marian columns in Wernstein am Inn (1645/47), Vienna (1664/66), Munich (1637/38) and Prague (1650). in: Austrian Journal for Art and Monument Preservation 58 (2004), no. 1, p. 43.
- ↑ Rupert Feuchtmüller, Elisabeth Kovacs (ed.): Welt des Barock . Upper Austrian State Exhibition 1986, Linz 1986, text volume, p. 133
- ↑ JP Spielman: Leopold I. Not born to power, Graz 1981, p. 86
- ↑ ARGE restoration: F. Gyolcs, K. Wedenig (ed.): Documentation on the restoration of the Marian column in Wernstein am Inn, Vienna 1990.
Coordinates: 48 ° 30 ′ 20 ″ N , 13 ° 27 ′ 16 ″ E