Ehrenhausen Mausoleum
The Ehrenhausen Mausoleum is located on an artificially created terrace on the Schlossberg in Ehrenhausen in Styria . Built with interruptions between 1609 and 1693 by order of Ruprecht von Eggenberg (1546–1611), and possibly planned by the imperial court artist Giovanni Pietro de Pomis , it is one of the main works of Mannerist architecture in Austria.
history
In 1543, Count Georg von Schaunberg had to sell the Ehrenhausen Palace and the Meierhof to Christoph von Eggenberg († 1553) from the Radkersburg line of the Eggenberg family . The builder of the mausoleum in Ehrenhausen, the imperial officer Ruprecht von Eggenberg (1546–1611), was a son of the aforementioned Christoph von Eggenberg († 1553) and Helene von Fieger. Ruprecht von Eggenberg was thus a great-grandson of that Hans Eggenberger, who died in 1481, whose grave monument can be seen in the parish church of Bad Radkersburg , a brother of that Bartholomäus von Eggenberg, whose epitaph is in the parish church of Ehrenhausen, and a cousin of that Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg , who had the Eggenberg Palace built near Graz.
On June 22, 1593, Habsburg troops under the three commanders Ruprecht von Eggenberg, Andreas von Auersperg and Toma Erdődy defeated a Turkish superiority under Telli Hassan Pascha in the battle of Sissek . In 1594 Eggenberg was given command of the Austrian troops on the Croatian military border and in 1595 captured the Turkish fortress of Petrinia . In 1596 he was appointed Feldobristen in Upper Hungary , in 1597 General-Feld-Obrist-Feldzeugmeister . Due to his merits, finally raised to the baron status with the entire Eggenberg family in 1598 , Ruprecht von Eggenberg quit the service in 1606 and retired to Graz, where he died in 1611. Ruprecht von Eggenberg's achievements formed an essential cornerstone for the family's further rise.
In his will of 1609 he had stipulated that he should be buried in a mausoleum on the Schlossberg in Ehrenhausen . According to Peter Stauder, Ruprecht von Eggenberg should have made the decision to build a burial place near his castle as early as 1595. Furthermore, he designated the mausoleum in Ehrenhausen in his will as a burial place for himself and all male descendants of his gender, provided they had served as officers in the rank of general or colonel and were of Catholic faith.
Master builder Johann Waldter started the mausoleum in 1610. Since the builder died in 1611, the construction was initially continued under his nephew and heir Wolf von Eggenberg (1580–1615), Colonel General on the Croatian border and son of Bartholomäus von Eggenberg and Justine von Breuner . Its early death, financial difficulties and the extinction of the Ehrenhausen line caused a long construction period until work was resumed in 1680 after a decade-long break.
In the meantime, Ehrenhausen was elevated to market status by Emperor Ferdinand II in 1624 , and the castle was also converted into a palace. After the Ehrenhausen line of the Eggenberg family expired in 1646, Markt and Ehrenhausen Palace were also owned by the Eggenberg family in Graz . Under Johann Christian von Eggenberg (1641–1710) from the Graz line of the family, the building was completed so that it could be consecrated in 1693. Accordingly, the completion of the mausoleum was shaped by artists with whom the Eggenberg had already had good experiences in Graz, including the sculptor Andreas Marx, the stonemason Johann Baptist Carlone, the plasterers Joseph and Alexander Serenio and the painter Hans Adam Weissenkircher.
On April 19, 1693, the inauguration of the mausoleum, which had been under construction since 1609, with interruptions. The designs for the building came from the Graz court architect Giovanni Pietro de Pomis , who was also responsible for the design of the mausoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II . In accordance with his last will, Ruprecht von Eggenberg found his final resting place there, as did his nephew and universal heir Wolf von Eggenberg .
After the Eggenberg family died out, there was a rapid change in ownership of Ehrenhausen Castle and the mausoleum next to it on the Schlossberg. At the turn of the century the castle was bought by the former Prince - Archbishop of Olomouc , Theodor Kohn (1845–1915). He owned Ehrenhausen Palace from 1904 to 1915. After he retired there, he was also buried in the mausoleum. While Ehrenhausen Castle remained in private ownership after his death, he bequeathed the mausoleum to the federal state of Styria , which has owned it since 1920. The facility is a listed building . Guided tours are possible by prior arrangement with the estate management of the castle.
Building description
Exterior construction
The baroque mausoleum, enclosed with stone balustrades, stands on the Schlossberg von Ehrenhausen on an artificially created terrace high above the wooded slope in the west. The basic shape of the mausoleum is a simple, barrel-vaulted rectangular building with side struts and an octagonal, bell-shaped domed central drum with a dainty lantern at the top, which is of course overloaded with baroque sculptural decorations on its front side. In particular, the west facade (valley side) of the complex is designed as a show side with two gigantic, 9 m high sculptures of ancient heroes as grave guards, the one in the north with shouldered club, who replaced the obelisks originally planned in the original plan.
Studies critical of style bring a connection to Giovanni Pietro de Pomis , the builder of the mausoleum for Emperor Ferdinand II in Graz. Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach is likely to be ruled out as the builder, since he only returned from his studies in Rome in 1686 and from 1689–1690 supplied the artists Alexander and Joseph Serenio with designs for stucco decorations.
The Mannerist design of the shop front of the mausoleum (1682-1688) with the two grave guardian figures in the form of ancient warrior (with lion skin, leg, bare legs) from Aflenzer sandstone and contemporary representation of a Renaissance - Condottiere is the work of Andreas Marx, an Eggenberg ' A great sculptor who came from the workshop of Fischer von Erlach's father. This is suggested by the type of helmets, armor details, the execution of the morning stars and swords. The figure of St. Rupert on the roof ridge also comes from Andreas Marx . The victories over the Turks on land and sea are depicted on the pedestals (a galley for the naval battle of Lepanto in 1571). Another reference to the Turkish wars are the male herms at the entrance who wear a "Turkish" headgear. And it should also be mentioned that the construction costs could be met from the Turkish booty.
Above the portal is the Eggenberg family coat of arms with the motto: "POST ONVS HONOS" (German: After the burden, the honor ). The coat of arms is framed by a laurel wreath. Two angels serve as shield holders, the angel on the right from the viewer holding a Bosnian flag in his hand behind the shield. This shows a heraldic shield, in it an arm holding a handshake (oriental saber).
After the burial of Prince-Archbishop Theodor Kohn in 1915, the exterior decoration of the mausoleum on the north side was supplemented by a mourning marble angel made in Paris with the coat of arms of the deceased. On the shield of the bishop's coat of arms rests a galero with 10 Fiocchi (tassels) each in four rows on both sides, next to it an infle and a crown, each set at an angle to the outside.
Interior construction
The interior of the mausoleum shows the purest baroque in its decoration with its lively shape. In the course of the execution of the interior design, four columns - entwined with vine leaves - were set in the rectangular barrel vault, which support the octagonal dome with a lantern.
The chapel itself is kept entirely in white and has a multi-part stucco decoration by Alexander and Joseph Serenio. Four larger seated full figures indicate the seriousness of the burial place and bear emblems of death: hourglass, skull, fuming and extinguished torch.
The altarpiece comes from Hans Adam Weissenkircher and is signed "1691" . It shows Mary and St. Rupert asking the Holy Trinity for the victory of the Christian armies in the fight against the Turks.
Two large baroque portraits (copies) depict Ruprecht and Wolf von Eggenberg in military equipment.
In the middle of the chapel room there is a trapdoor made of wrought iron in the chessboard-like floor , which closes the access to the crypt below.
Crypt room
The small vaulted cellar under the chapel area of the mausoleum offers space for three sarcophagi. On the northern wall is the stone sarcophagus of Ruprecht von Eggenberg with the inscription "MORS RAPVIT DVCES" (German: Death robbed the leaders ), on the southern wall that of his nephew and universal heir Wolf von Eggenberg with the inscription "DVCVM EST PVGNARE" (Eng .: leaders have to fight ). The corpse of Prince-Archbishop Theodor Kohn rests, with all the pontificals attached, in a triple sarcophagus made of glass, metal and marble.
Buried people
- Ruprecht von Eggenberg († 1611), imperial officer
- Wolf von Eggenberg († 1615), imperial officer
- Theodor Kohn († 1915), Prince-Archbishop of Olomouc
meaning
As a representative tribute to Ruprecht von Eggenberg's military and political achievements, the mausoleum is not only a personal grave monument, but also a programmatic symbol of the Catholic faith, for the Counter Reformation and the fight against Protestantism. According to Bernhard Peter, this programmatic objective also explains the independence of the mausoleum compared to the Eggenberg burial place in the parish church in Ehrenhausen. The Ehrenhausen line of the Eggenberg was Catholic, while the Graz line of the house was Protestant. The Graz line only converted to Catholicism under Prince Ulrich von Eggenberg.
The mausoleum for Ruprecht von Eggenberg, along with the mausoleum for Archduke Karl II in the Seckau basilica and the mausoleum for Emperor Ferdinand II in Graz, is one of the three large counter-reformation mausoleums in Styria.
literature
- Peter Stauder: Ehrenhausen. Ehrenhausen 1990
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Bernhard Peter: Gallery: Photos of beautiful old coats of arms No. 1661: Ehrenhausen (Styria, Austria): Eggenberg-Mausoleum ( online ), accessed January 12, 2015
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Peter Stauder: Historisches-Ehrenhausen: Das Mausoleum ( online ( Memento from April 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive )), accessed January 12, 2015
- ↑ Horst Schweigert : Das Mausoleum Kaiser Ferdinand II. ( Online ), accessed January 11, 2015