Mauritius Church (Wiesbaden)
The St. Mauritius consecrated Mauritius Church in Wiesbaden has been for centuries the most important religious and ecclesiastical center of the city. The Gothic church, built from 1488 to 1521, had a total of three predecessors in the same place, the first of which was built in the Carolingian period. On July 27, 1850, the building fell victim to a fire. Today only the street names Mauritiusplatz , Mauritiusstraße , Kirchgasse and Kleine Kirchgasse remind of the building.
history
First Mauritius Church: Carolingian hall building (around 780/90)
Little is known about the first construction of the Mauritius Church. Analyzes of the foundation walls after the destruction in 1850 showed that it was a 22.30 m long and 7.00 m wide hall church , which was built around 780/90. It consisted of a small anteroom and a main room about 5.20 m wide and probably had a flat beamed ceiling.
The first Mauritius church stood on the site that had been the center of a Roman settlement centuries before . However, it could not be proven that it originated in a Roman temple.
Second Mauritius Church: early Romanesque three-aisled basilica (around 965)
In the 10th century the building was replaced by a larger three-aisled basilica with a semicircular apse . The nave and aisles were separated by square pillars, remains of which have been found. The nave was probably higher than the aisles. It could not be proven whether it had a vault or a flat ceiling. Whether there was a tower is also unknown. However, since people at that time relied on the ringing of bells in order to be able to organize their lives better, it can be concluded that there was a ringing.
The first documented date associated with the Mauritius Church dates back to 965, when Emperor Otto the Great stayed in Wiesbaden for a few days. On April 16, 965, he issued two documents that contained donations to the Mauritius Monastery in Magdeburg , which he founded in 937 . It is obvious that Otto stayed at a place where there was a church dedicated to St. Mauritius. But it is also possible that the church was first awarded the Mauritian patronage on this occasion .
Nothing has been passed on about the further fate of this second church, nor about its furnishings or the festivals taking place there. What is certain is that Emperor Friedrich II from the Staufer family visited Wiesbaden on Whitsun in 1236. He had previously attended the elevation of the bones of St. Elisabeth of Thuringia in Marburg and was now passing through. To this end, he and his large entourage stopped in a tent city on the Schlossplatz and also took part in the Pentecost service in the Mauritius Church.
Third Mauritius Church: first new Gothic building (around 1320)
In the 14th century, a single-nave new building was built in Gothic shapes with a three-sided choir closure (3/8 end) and a tower. The church most likely had a pointed arch and glazed windows. In addition to the main altar, the church was equipped with five side altars. The builder was probably Count Gerlach , the son of King Adolf of Nassau . The reason for the new building was probably armed conflict: In 1242 Wiesbaden was taken over by Archbishop Siegfried III of Mainz . Largely destroyed by Eppstein , besieged in 1318 by Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian . Therefore, the building is dated to around 1320.
Fourth Mauritius Church: second new Gothic building (1488 to 1521)
In the 15th century the church gradually became too small. It also showed increasing structural damage. Efforts were made for a new building from 1465, but the foundation stone was not laid until February 14, 1488. The foundation stone was found after the fire of 1850. His inscription read:
"Uf Sanct Valentins Dag who first laughed at Steyn, I tell you that I was there, because one wrote fourteen hundred eighty and eight."
When construction threatened to stop in 1493 due to lack of money, Count Adolf III wrote. together with community representatives a letter of appeal that he had distributed in the county and in which he asked for alms for building the church.
The plans envisaged a three-aisled Gothic hall church with a large choir. The nave should be about twice as wide as the old one. An extension was not possible because of the cramped urban development. Due to the limited financial resources, however, the plans were changed when the choir had already been torn down and replaced by a new one and the old nave was still standing, as it was wanted to continue to be used for church services during the construction period. A yoke of the wider nave had also already been completed when it was decided to keep the old part. As a result, there was an unusual asymmetry: the axis of the choir was offset by approx. Two meters from the axis of the nave. The already completed broader yoke formed an originally unplanned transept.
The tower was rebuilt from 1509. Due to the death of Count Adolf III, who was buried in the church in 1511, the completion of the church was delayed by several years. It could not be consecrated until 1521.
After the Reformation , the Mauritius Church became Lutheran . On January 1, 1543, the first Protestant pastor was appointed. After the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, Nassau finally became Lutheran.
The church was surrounded by a cemetery, which was closed in 1690. Since then, the " Todtenhof an der Heidenmauer " , which has existed as a poor cemetery since 1573, in the area of today's Coulinstrasse has been used as a general burial site. Next to the Mauritius Church was the Michelskapelle , which was consecrated to St. Michael and the lower part of which served as an ossuary . It was destroyed in the city fire of 1547.
The end
In 1850 the church caught fire during sheet metal work on the spire and was destroyed except for the outer walls. Only the sarcophagus of Duchess Elisabeth could be saved. The church was not rebuilt. In its place is now Mauritiusplatz. A plaque there reminds of the former church. As a replacement, Carl Boos built the market church as Nassau State Cathedral from 1852–1862 .
particularities
In 1632 or 1650 the epitaphs of the Nassau counts and their relatives were dismantled in the church of the former Nassau house monastery Klarenthal, which has since become ruins, and placed in the Mauritius church. They were destroyed there in their great fire in 1850.
Web links
- Inscription catalog: City of Wiesbaden - Wiesbaden, former Mauritius Church ; accessed on December 29, 2018 (detailed description of the glass windows from the 16th century destroyed in 1804/1850)
Individual evidence
- ^ Article in the Wiesbadener Tagblatt on June 4, 2002 ( memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 11, 2010
- ↑ Article in the Wiesbadener Tagblatt on June 5, 2002 ( memento of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 11, 2010
- ↑ a b Article in the Wiesbadener Tagblatt on June 6, 2002 ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Article in the Wiesbadener Tagblatt from June 7, 2002 ( memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 11, 2010
- ↑ Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany , cultural monuments in Hesse, Wiesbaden I.1, page 326, historical pentagon, published by the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse, Dr. Sigrid Russ, Wiesbaden 2005, Theiss, ISBN 3-8062-2010-7
Coordinates: 50 ° 4 ′ 54 ″ N , 8 ° 14 ′ 19 ″ E