Matthias Tower

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Matthias Tower
The Matthias Tower with the striking pointed arched windows and the relief

The Matthias Tower with the striking pointed arched windows and the relief

Data
place Bautzen
Construction year 1483 to 1486
Coordinates 51 ° 11 '0 "  N , 14 ° 25' 15.9"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 11 '0 "  N , 14 ° 25' 15.9"  E

The Matthias Tower , in Upper Sorbian Maćijowa wěža , is a gate tower from the late 15th century on the northeast side of the Ortenburg in Bautzen . After the Peace of Olomouc (1479), through which Lusatia was awarded to the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus , the Ortenburg was rebuilt in late Gothic style by the governor between 1483 and 1486 on his behalf . The Matthias tower with the relief named after the king also dates from this time.

The castle was accessible from Schloßstraße through the Matthias Gate. In addition to the Matthias Tower, one of the striking parts of the defenses is the castle water tower. Originally there was a defensive tower at the southern end of the wall facing the city, but it collapsed in the 17th century and was not rebuilt. In 1649 the court judge's house in the northern part of the castle was completed.

Only the castle water tower, the Matthias tower and the wall remained of the medieval structure.

Before the castle wall for the new, current main gate was broken at the end of the 18th century, the Matthias Gate was the only public access to the fortress. There was a drawbridge in front of the gate, which led over the moat in front of it.

St. George's Chapel

Even before the Matthias Tower was built, a palace chapel was set up on the second floor of what was then the Matthias Gate. Outwardly, it is recognizable from the city side through the two elongated pointed arch windows in the Matthias Tower to the south-east. Inside, the chapel only has an area of ​​a few square meters and is protected by the inner battlement of the tower. There was an altar below the two pointed arch windows. Opposite the window side there is a box that can be reached via a narrow, dark staircase. On this staircase there is a parapet in the style of delicate Gothic tracery. Below the box there is a niche reaching to the floor, which was probably used to store sacred objects and vestments. The doors in the chapel were also heavily decorated. On the ceiling between the windows and on the opposite side there are two angels, each holding a shield.

The chapel was inaugurated in 1225 by the Meißen bishop Bruno II of Porstendorf . It was consecrated as patron saint to the knight Georg and was given the name St. George's Chapel. As a result, it was particularly richly endowed by the knights of the area . Numerous foundations were later set up in favor of the chapel.

The St. George Chapel was further developed by Arnold von Westfalen in the 15th century . In 1639 the castle chapel burned down during the Thirty Years' War and was not restored.

Gate relief

Matthias relief on the east side of the tower

On the city side of the tower there has been a monumental, nine meters high and four meters wide relief made of sandstone by Briccius Gauske , which depicts the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus , since 1486 . The image of the king is under a canopy and is flanked by two columns, foliage and two angels. The king rests his feet on a lying lion. Above the king are the coats of arms of Hungary and Bohemia . On the two sandstone panels on the side there are coats of arms of the Bohemian and Hungarian provinces of Croatia , Dalmatia , Austria , Silesia , Styria , Moravia and Lusatia .

This relief is considered to be one of the best artifacts of that time. According to tradition, Bailiff Georg von Stein is said to have traveled three times to see King Matthias Corvinus in Ofen in Hungary because of this portrait , as the first drafts were not sufficiently similar to the king.

The monument was renewed in 1925/26. In 1993, two coats of arms on the side that were missing at that time were added to the relief. Replicas of this original representation are in Budapest ( Hungary ), Szeged (Hungary) and Kráľova Lehota ( Slovakia ).

The prince's coat of arms of Sigismund Jagiello , governor of Upper Lusatia from 1504 to 1506 and later King of Poland, is also placed in the gateway . It was recovered from the castle grounds in 1925 and used in the Matthias Gate and is the only surviving monumental relief of Sigismund's prince's coat of arms.

literature

  • Kai Wenzel: The late Gothic new building of the Bautzener Ortenburg. In: Tomasz Torbus (Hrsg.): The art in the Markgraftum Oberlausitz during the Jagiellonian rule . Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2006, ISBN 978-3-7995-8403-6 , pp. 85-102.

Web links

Commons : Matthias Tower  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Walter von Boetticher : The castle chapel at Bautzen. In: Neues Lausitzisches Magazin , year 1894, pp. 25–47 ( online ). Also printed in Richard Reymann : History of the City of Bautzen . Printing and publishing house Gebrüder Müller, Bautzen 1902, p. 214ff.
  2. ^ Richard Reymann : History of the city of Bautzen . Printing and publishing house Gebrüder Müller, Bautzen 1902, p. 214.
  3. ↑ a b c d Richard Reymann: History of the city of Bautzen . Printing and publishing house Gebrüder Müller, Bautzen 1902, p. 211.
  4. ^ Kai Wenzel: A Polish prince in Upper Lusatia. The coat of arms of Sigismund Jagiello in the gate passage of the Bautzener Matthias tower. (pdf)