Nepomuk column (Toszek)

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The ring with the Nepomuk column
Back of the Nepomuk column

The Nepomuk Column by Toszek (Tost) is a free-standing baroque sandstone statue that was created by an unknown sculptor. The monument in honor of the Bohemian national saint John of Nepomuk was built in the 18th century. It's on the northwest side of the ring .

The column was included in the monument register of the Silesian Voivodeship .

History and description

Imperial Count Christoph Leopold von Colonna had the Nepomuk monument in Tost built in 1725. He commissioned an artist in Prague to produce the sandstone monument and then had the finished monument taken to Tost. The figure is said to have been completed as early as 1706. In 1729 Johannes von Nepomuk was taken over by Pope Benedict XIII. canonized.

The monument is about ten meters high, the Nepomuk figure stands on a column, at its feet there are clouds with three putti. The head of the Nepomuk figure turns to the northwest and is crowned with a wreath of five metal stars. John of Nepomuk is the only saint besides Mary who is represented with a wreath of stars (twelve stars in Mary). In the right arm the figure is holding a crucifix, one of his attributes. The pedestal contains a cavity in the middle that is closed with a grid. A traffic light once shone in it.

At the monument, the following Latin inscription is a chronogram of Latin numbers: ". SANCTO Ioanni nepoMVCeno per Conservato confessionis Sigillo e ponte pragensI praeCIpItato Laus et Gloria" Translated: The St John of Nepomuk, who for preservation of confession from Prague bridge has fallen down is, be praise and glory . Adding the I (1), V (5), L (50), C (100) and M (1000) together, the result is the number 1725, the year the Toster column was built.

In the great city fire in 1833 the column was also burned and the left arm and a fold of the dress broke off. The monument was later restored. Up until the first half of the 20th century, the column was enclosed with a metal fence.

To worship St. John of Nepomuk, the following St. John's song was sung by believers in the evening on St. John 's Day (the day of the birth of John the Baptist on June 24) and in the octave (the eighth day after a solemn festival):

  1. St. John of Nepomuk, an ornament of the Prague bridge, which you have to close your life in the Vltava river.
  2. The king wants it, you should tell him everything, you should tell him everything, recite from confession what the queen confesses.
  3. But you remained silent, your tongue does not want to speak, since you were born you conspired to always be mute.
  4. You are a rose-red, lovely always with God, when your eyes break, when I can't speak, then help us.
  5. Amen. It will be true that the tongue can forever tell where Johann is buried, in Prague near St. Vitus.

Nepomuk monuments are very widespread in Silesia, but in this form as a column with a large overall height, the monument in Toszek is an exception. The building has been a listed building since October 31, 1991.

The Nepomuk column is not the only monument to the saint in Toszek; there is another figure in the Katharinenkirche and one in the Nepomuk chapel.

literature

  • The Nepomuk monument in Tost in: Lookout from Tost Castle , Volume 3, Number 1, 1928
  • Wojewódzki Urząd Ochrony Zabytków: Rejestr zabytków województwa śląskiego. Gmina Toszek

Web links

Commons : Nepomuk column (Toszek)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 27 ′ 18.7 ″  N , 18 ° 31 ′ 4.1 ″  E