Markus Church (Salzburg)

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Facade of the Markuskirche, from Ursulinenplatz, on the right Gstättengasse at the foot of the Mönchsberg, on the left Rudolfskai

The Markuskirche (popularly also: Ursulinenkirche ) is located in Gstättengasse on Ursulinenplatz in Salzburg's old town . The patronage is on St. Mark's Day ( April 25th ). Since it was the monastery church of the Ursulines until 1957 , it is popularly known as the Ursuline Church. The Baroque Roman Catholic Church was made available to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic community in 1999 .

The baroque building was built according to plans by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach . The former Ursuline Church and the Ursuline Monastery including the inner courtyard are under monument protection as archaeological finds, they are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Historic Center of the City of Salzburg .

history

As sovereign prince, social tasks were always important to Archbishop Johann Ernst von Thun . So in 1695 he called the Congregation of the Ursulines to Salzburg to improve the education of the female youth , which was initially housed outside the city in today's Arenberg Castle, but was soon to move to the Klausentor near the city.

In 1616, under Prince Archbishop Markus Sittikus, the construction of a chapel, consecrated to St. Mark, with a monastery and hospital, began and was consecrated on April 25, 1618, the feast day of St. Mark. The hospital was opened on April 28th. The hospital was founded by the Order of the Brothers of Mercy of St. John looked after by God .

In 1669, the great rock fall of 1669 destroyed the hospital chapel. In 1699 the foundation stone for the Ursuline monastery and the adjoining church was laid, in 1705 it was completed and handed over to the Ursulines. The monastery was occupied in 1720. As Fischer von Erlach's work, they are not directly documented in written documents, but his authorship of the building complex is also indisputable in terms of style.

In 1957 the Ursulines and their school, a private grammar school, moved to Glasenbach , and the St. Mark's Church was taken over as rectorate by the Archdiocese of Salzburg .

In 1999 it was made available to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic community in Austria ( Ordinarius : Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vienna ), where it represents the central church of the pastoral care center in Western Austria - as the pastoral care center of the central parish of St. Barbara in Vienna. Since then, services have been celebrated in the Byzantine rite . Occasionally there is an ecumenical evening prayer with chants from Taizé.

St. Markus Church (former Ursuline Church)

Markuskirche, nave, and cloister courtyard of the Ursulines, seen from Mönchsberg towards the north over the Salzach ( Elisabeth kai, Müllner Steg, new railway bridge, Lehener bridge)

Location and exterior view

In the narrow space between the high rock face of the Mönchsberg and the fortress wall facing the Salzach, the architect erected a church building with harmoniously swaying lines and baroque liveliness. The towers are set back to take advantage of the narrow space and provide space for a spacious vestibule.

The porch of the church has pilasters with capitals in the Ionic style and above the top with a cartouche-like giant window a triangular gable, which is framed by the figure of Saint Mark and crowned by Saints Augustine and Ursula. These figures were probably created by Bernhard Michael Mandl .

Vestibule and church hall

The vestibule is closed off by a wrought iron grille that was made in 1705. Four larger than life statues enliven the room. They represent Nikolaus , Gelasius, Fulgentius and Wilhelm, venerated as saints , and date from the time the church was built.

The interior, which impresses with its unexpectedly rich furnishings, is designed in a cross shape, the transverse arms are very short. The stucco covers the vault, the gallery parapet and its lower ceiling as well as the side walls of the choir, which frame the oratorios. The vault paintings were added in 1756 by Christoph Anton Mayr . The apotheosis of Ursula , venerated as a saint, is depicted in the dome and the four church fathers in the cartouche-like gusset . In the east there is the eye of God with YHWH - Tetragrammaton and adoring angels, in the West as a saint venerated Cecilia with angels playing. The text above St. Cecilia reads: sanCta CaeCILIa Casta Inter LILIa / Cantans organoe Da Choro / praesIDet. (1756) In the western field: Deo pLaCet MVsICa (1756). In the eastern field: psaLMoDIae ConCentVs (1754). The designs for these paintings were probably made by Fischer von Erlach. The closing grille of the church is kept simple. It was created in 1690 and still comes from the nearest Berglkirche, which was demolished soon after the Markuskirche was rebuilt.

Altars and pulpit

High altar: created 1766–68 by Wolfgang Hagenauer . The altarpiece shows Saint Mark in conversation with pagans. In the upper picture the Holy Trinity can be seen. The side figures represent John the Baptist with a shepherd's staff and lamb on the left, and John the Evangelist on the right with the eagle, the tabernacle is designed in the form of a tempietto.

Side altar on the left (east): Altar leaf with St. Augustine , in the upper picture his mother, St. Monika. The two statues represent St. Anthony and St. Vitalis . On the altar a shrine with the reliquary body of a St. Boniface.

Side altar on the right (west): altar panel with St. Ursula and the martyrdom of her 11,000 companions by Johann Martin Schaumberger . In the upper picture Archangel Gabriel with Tobias. The statues on the side are depictions of St. Catherine and St. Agnes .

The design of the pulpit is attributed to Fischer von Erlach. It is richly stuccoed and decorated with angel putti and leaf hangings. The relief medallions represent the three theological virtues faith (left), love (middle) and hope (right). The sound cover shows the allegorical figure of the Ekklesia held by angels .

organ

The originally white case, now in Rauris

The last larger organ was built by Hans Mauracher in 1886 and had 13 registers . In the course of the extensive renovation of the church in the 1970s, the responsible rectorate, rector P. Josef Strolz MSC († 1998), decided to have the organ removed in order to free the large north window. In 1996 the empty case was transported to Rauris , installed in the local parish church and the Lachmayr organ from Engelzell from 1892 housed in it. In addition, the formerly white housing was made to match the furnishings of the church.

Iconostasis

An iconostasis , as used in the Byzantine rite , has been in the church since 2000 . It was made to designs by Bohdan Turetsky from Lemberg, Ukraine. The carvings are made in solid oak, the icons in tempera on linden wood.

Renovation after 1970

The narrow strip of land between Mönchsberg and Salzach is less stable, alluvial sand disturbed by historical rockfalls. In the course of time there were serious structural damage, in 1973 the church had to be closed due to acute danger of collapse. The structure could be secured by extensive foundation work (construction costs 20 million  S ).

The Convent of the Ursulines

The former Ursuline monastery, today the house of nature .

The adjoining former monastery building of the Ursulines, who moved here in 1705, was built between 1713 and 1726. The trapezoidal wings between Franz-Josefs-Kai, Gstättengasse and today's Museumsplatz, with the narrow side of the Ursulinenkirche facing Ursulinenplatz, are arranged around a garden courtyard that is built today.

The former monastery rooms have been largely used by the natural history museum Haus der Natur Salzburg since 1959 . The dinosaur hall is located in the former monastery garden, the old segment arch portal to Gstättengasse is a side entrance (employee entrance). The Yoco youth center is on the Gstättengasse side. The museum square entrance area was redesigned in 2008.

literature

  • Lieselotte von Eltz-Hoffmann: The churches of Salzburg. Verlag Anton Pustet, Salzburg 1993, ISBN 3-7025-0308-0 .
  • Bernd Euler, Ronald Gobiet, Horst Huber: Dehio Salzburg - City and Country. Verlag Anton Schroll & Co., Vienna 1986, ISBN 3-7031-0599-2 .

Web links

Ecumenical evening prayer with chants by the Taizé Community and the Eastern Churches in St. Markus
Commons : Markuskirche  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Historical images:

swell

Remarks

  1. ↑ Personnel of the world and religious clergy of the Archdiocese of Salzburg for 1957 (Schematismus 1957), ed. from the Archbishop's Office of Salzburg 1957, p. 154.
  2. ↑ Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Western Austria
  3. ^ Ukrainian Greek-Catholic central parishes of St. Barbara
  4. ↑ ecumenical evening prayer , on members.aon.at

Coordinates: 47 ° 48 ′ 7.6 ″  N , 13 ° 2 ′ 18.9 ″  E