Notre-Dame de Guebwiller
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Notre-Dame de Guebwiller ("Our Lady of Guebwiller") is a Roman Catholic church in the Alsatian parish of Guebwiller . It is under monument protection as a monument historique .
history
Prince Abbot Kasimir Friedrich von Rathsamhausen arranged for the abbey seat of the Murbach Abbey to be relocated to Guebwiller in 1759 and converted the abbey into a noble collegiate monastery . Even before the Pope gave permission for translation, the capitulars were busy building the monastery and a church. In 1758 the engineer Querret was commissioned to design a site plan. A first floor plan of the church on the east side of the monastery area was also created. A south-facing nave with a short transept and a choir with a three-sided end was planned. But the following year the engineer was paid off and the architect Louis Beuque from Besançon was commissioned with the first drafts. In 1760 Beuque presented the first floor plans. But they were too “not very modern” for the chapter and Beuque had to make new ones.
The plans made in 1761 met with the approval of the capitular and they commissioned the first breaking of stones in the nearby Bergholtz pits . At the same time the abbey received a parcel from the Guebwiller parish. Since Beuque initially still lived in Besançon, he appointed a construction manager, but was apparently dissatisfied and took it over himself in 1763. The construction work was progressing well until 1764 and the walls were already more than nine meters high. In the same year, the building owners obtained permission to convert the abbey into a monastery and construction of the canons' houses began.
In 1765 the first conflicts between the canons and the architect seem to have arisen. One complained to the architect of the Bishop of Basel, but without much success, Beuque was allowed to continue building. However, the construction management was withdrawn from him in 1768 because of serious deficiencies in the execution of the canons' houses and transferred to Gabriel Ignaz Ritter . The list of shortcomings was long: poor working conditions in the quarry, wine cellars that were too small and insufficient construction work with repeated improvements. The cause of the complaints was probably Ritter, who wanted to take over the position from Beuque. The canons decided against the advice of the prince to depose Beuque site manager and to hand over the construction management to Ritter. Beuque protested but was turned away.
In 1768 the construction of the church had to be suspended because there was no more money in the abbey coffers. At the same time, the building of the church was inspected by two master builders from Strasbourg, who also recognized deficiencies here. The stones inside are said to have been cut wrongly. It was recommended that Beuque be dismissed as an architect. The chapter then dismissed Beuque as an architect and sued him before the royal court in Colmar. Experts found that the execution of the canons' houses in particular was far less dramatic than described in the chapter. Only the interior needs to be improved. The court then sentenced Beuque to have it repaired at its own expense. In addition, Beuque had to hand over the plans, which the latter had refused because he wanted a reward for them. Beuque did not want to give up without a fight and turned to the academy in Paris. But he lost. The academy also criticized the construction, made specifications for further construction and complained about the far too low calculated costs of the construction. Beuque had estimated 24,000 livres , meanwhile more than 32,800 livres had become necessary. Ritter also took over the office of architect and made several changes in the style of the Vorarlberg School , in particular on the upper floors still to be completed , which significantly changed the facade.
In 1770 the construction of the church could finally be continued. In 1773 the roof structure was erected and covered. In 1775 the canons' house, which had been started in 1766, was finished and a third was built. In 1777 the work stopped again. In the following year, work was mainly carried out on the façade of the nave and the towers continued to be built. In 1779 the interior work began and the vaults were built. The first jewelry followed and the windows were inserted in the lower area. The church was finally completed by 1785. The towers remained unfinished at the level of the main portal, as there was no longer any secured funding.
On July 27, 1789, in the course of the French Revolution, workers and peasants stormed the monastery and destroyed the furnishings of the canons' houses. The residents had previously fled. The church was largely spared. Two putti with the princely insignia above the main portal were chopped off, the statues of the two cartridges were destroyed and some crosses were taken down. With the abolition of the monastery, the church became the property of the city of Guebwiller. In 1792 the city of Guebwiller converted the church of St-Léger (St. Leodegar) into an auxiliary church and made Notre-Dame into a parish church. The following year, during the French Revolution, the church was looted and converted into a Temple of Reason . After a decree by the administration of Upper Alsace, the church was closed in 1798. At times it subsequently served as a military hospital.
It was not until 1803 that the city council dealt with Notre-Dame again. It was planned to build a parsonage and wanted to prepare the church for services again. The repair work was carried out by Ritter himself. In addition, the pulpit, two side altars and pews were brought from St-Léger to the Church of Our Lady. The rest of St. Leodegar's furniture was sold to pay for the repairs to Notre-Dame and to repair the bells in both churches. But the repair work was not enough. Water penetrated through the joints of the protruding parts of the building. All work could not be completed until 1838.
The high artistic quality of the church was repeatedly pointed out in correspondence to the church between the city and the department. In this way it became clear that the church was unfinished. In 1842 a commission was formed to promote the prefabricated construction of the towers. The chairmanship was taken over by the Bishop of Strasbourg Andreas Räß . An architectural competition was announced, in which the architects Frédéric from Strasbourg, Caillot from Colmar, Ritter and an unknown (probably Charles Ligibles) took part. participated. Caillot was awarded the contract, but the Conseil général des Bâtiments civils in Paris initially only allowed one tower to be completed. The second was not to be built until the church had raised the money. The construction work was put out to tender and awarded to the young Guebwillerer engineer Jacques Grün. Especially for the construction of the tower, Grün devised a pulley system with which the stones could be pulled from the ground over an inclined plane to the center of the tower substructure and then pulled vertically upwards with a crane. The north tower was completed in 1845. The southern tower, however, was no longer built because the city could not raise the construction costs.
architecture
Notre-Dame was built as a basilica on the plan of a Latin cross . The church was built with ashlars made of red Vosges sandstone . Walls, columns, pillars, beams and brick vaults are painted with a limestone milk in a similar sandstone red, so that the church shines in a homogeneous shade. A total of 42 windows illuminate the interior. A semicircular transept separates the three-aisled nave and the three-aisled choir. The floor plan of the crossing is square, a high, windowless pendentive dome vaults the crossing centrally. The apse of the choir closes in a semicircle. A transverse wing surrounds the apse and protrudes laterally as an extension of the end of the side choirs over the nave. The total external length, including the steps, is 71 meters; the maximum width, 41 meters. The interior is 60 meters long and 37 meters wide in the transept (width in the nave: 24 meters). The crossing dome has an inner diameter of 11 meters. The vault reaches a height of 28 meters.
The nave has five bays , the choir three. Four round columns of Corinthian order on plinths and high plinths separate the central nave and side aisles on both sides, in the choir there are two each. Four square crossing pillars with pilasters support the crossing and are significantly more massive than the columns. Opposite the columns, two-thirds columns are attached to the walls of the aisle. The side aisles of the choir end in a quarter column, at the opposite end the towers are slightly pushed into the foundation of the nave, leaving only space for pilasters. The apse of the choir and the semicircular ends of the transept are also preceded by four second-third columns, here with fluting . The columns and pillars carry a triple profiled architrave , which is cranked with the crossing pillars. It is followed by a wide frieze and a cantilevered cornice with a toothed frieze on consoles. Above that, an unadorned parapet connects the windows and beams. In the area of the transept and the choir apse, the architrave is shorter and adorned with circular acanthus tendrils. A balustrade is placed in front of the attic . The lower area of the choir apse, including columns and entablature, is marbled in red. The side aisles only reach about half the height of the central nave. They are covered flat. The architrave creates deep, square cassettes with round reliefs of the sun and foliage.
Belt arches divide the barrel vault of the central nave into yokes. The stitch caps of the upper cladding windows extend far into the yokes and are laid deep. They are adorned with oval relief fields that alternately show the initials of the patron saint and two turkeys holding their insignia. The half-calottes of the choir apse and the semicircular ends of the transept arms are almost hollowed out by the stitch caps of the windows except for the straps.
The windows in the lower area are higher than those in the area of the upper cladding, but they are all closed off with round arches and pushed outwards into the reveal. Seven window axes are embedded on the long sides of the aisles. The semicircular apses on the ground floor of the choir and transept have no windows.
The apse of the choir is richly decorated. It is marbled up to the upper windows. Four semicircular Corinthian columns support the entablature, which is decorated with scrollwork. The attic is covered by a mighty balustrade. The lower part between the pillars is designed in a simple manner, in the two outer wall sections there are figures on plinths. Above each is an oval medallion with biblical scenes, above and below golden festoons and foliage. In the central section of the wall there is an open coffin with a shroud above a multi-tiered base. Thick clouds rise from the coffin up to an enormous halo, in the center of which a round window shines with the eye of providence . Mary stands in the clouds, carried by angels and putti. The scene shows the Assumption of the Virgin Mary .
facade
A seven-step outside staircase takes up the entire width of the facade and leads to the three portals that correspond to the three naves. This one enters the church interior directly. The facade itself is set back slightly so that the towers protrude from the facade. Their floor plan is almost square. The actual facade between the towers is closed, five-axis and two-story. In front of the facade wall there are two orders of four Doric columns each . The lower ones, together with two pilasters on the side walls of the church tower, support a mighty architrave with triglyphs and a cantilevered cornice above it. Two pillars each sit on a common base between the portals. The entablature continues around the tower facades. The higher main portal has a rectangular gable field with an inscription on a white marble tablet: Opus namque grande est, neque enim homini praeparatur habitatio, sed Deo ( Eng .: The work is large, because it is not a man's dwelling, but the Lord's God, ( 1 Chr 29.1 EU )). Above it is an attachment on consoles, above which two putti hold the princely insignia. The portal lintel continues as a profiled cornice over the entire portal. The side portals are lower and crowned by triangular gables, which are raised from the frame by volutes. Between these sits a rectangular field. An oval medallion with an artichoke garland is attached above the cornice, which continues over the entire width, in the area above the side portals. Cantilevered cornices close off the respective floors of the main and tower facades.
On the second floor, four Ionic columns support an entablature with a triangular gable as a front spike above those on the ground floor . The entablature then recedes as a band and only emerges again in the area of the octagonal towers and is supported by four three-quarter-round corner columns of the Ionic order. On the second floor above the main portal there is a high rectangular window with a blind balustrade underneath. There are two arched windows in the towers. Above all three windows there is a gable field with a cloth garland. Figures stand between the pillars. On the first floor there are relief fields above the side portals. The walls between the columns are highlighted on the ground floor, otherwise sunk. Above the entablature on the second floor, balustrades connect the bases of the third tower floors. Originally, a clock with an eye-catching case was supposed to sit behind the triangular gable between the balustrade. A curved structure should end in two flat volutes on which there should be flame vases. In the center of the upward tapering field, the clock should sit above, two putti should sit left and right. As a conclusion, a ball with a cross should rest over the clock, around which a snake winds. The southern tower (left) breaks off here.
The north tower repeats the structure of the second floor. A tower clock is housed in the upright rectangular window. The entablature is closed here, however, by a tooth frieze. The fourth floor tapers slightly and is faced with a balustrade in the area of its base. Pilaster strips emphasize the corners. Sound arcades sit in the tall rectangular windows. The tower is rounded off by a small dome with reliefs on an attic.
Ritter's changes to Beuque's original plans
Beuque's plans were only slightly changed inside by Ritter. On the advice of the Paris Academy, Ritter reduced the height of the entablature and made the cornice less prominent. The vaulted windows were made a little smaller than Beuque had planned. Ritter also changed the area of the attic slightly. Beuque had planned a parapet above the architrave as a transition, Beuque had divided the parapet into individual, finely structured bases for belts and windows, which were defined by different heights. Ritter made the windows shorter so that they did not start below the vault, but just above it. The windows lacked connection to the attic and empty fields were created. In Beuque's design, the parapet was much less distinct and therefore lighter. It should form a softer transition between the vault and the framework. Otherwise, Ritter largely adopted Beuque's plans for the basic structure.
A gallery is missing in Beuque's designs; it can be assumed that Ritter planned this later. He placed the gallery on the entrance side in the central nave and let it step back slightly in the side aisle. The wall sections between the main and side portals are each preceded by two two-thirds pillars, in front of which pilasters sit again. In between sits the staircase to the gallery. Two smaller columns in the central nave support the gallery.
Ritter changed the interior of the building, especially in terms of decoration and furnishings. In the first drafts, Beuque primarily envisaged rococo-like decorations and garlands that were to surround the windows and dome. Later he changed himself: the garlands on the windows were missing, the upper windows should have rope-like strips. A band of circular elements should decorate the belt arches. Ritter changed these plans further. The belt arches received small cassettes with leaf decorations. The fluting of the columns in the transept apses goes back to Ritter.
Beuque's first drafts did not include choir stalls. In his revised plans, he then placed low stalls between the pillars of the first two yokes of the choir. The central nave of the choir was also to be separated from the aisles by bars. Together with Fidel Sporer, Ritter created significantly more magnificent seating. It is considerably higher than that planned by Beuque and takes up the three choir bays completely. Beuque's seating was to be completely subordinate to the architecture and only stand between the columns, in the variant executed by Ritter, the rear walls now cover the lower parts of the columns.
Ritter made radical changes to the facade. He exchanged the original pilasters in the facade of the side towers for Ionic columns, as they also appear in the main facade. Beuque's plans were much simpler here.
Furnishing
High altar
The high altar is kept simple. Stipes and cafeteria are made of marble. There are three-armed candlesticks on the left and right. In the center is a reredos , on top of which is a crucifix with two praying angels.
pulpit
The pulpit, the staircase and the sound cover are made of black and white marble with gold applications. It stands on one of the crossing pillars. In the center of the pulpit is a medallion depicting Christ.
Side altars
In the two side aisles of the choir there is a black and white retable with columns and vase decorations on a sarcophagus altar on the front wall . The focus is on paintings, one of St. Sebastian and one of St. Valentine. Above each is a medallion depicting the Mother of God. The themes of the simpler altars in the transept arms show a Lamentation of Christ and a Sacred Heart of Jesus as a sculptural top of the cafeteria.
organ
The mighty organ prospect almost reaches the height of the vault. It dates from around 1785 and was built by Ritter and Sporer. The first organ came from Joseph Rabiny . The current instrument was built by Charles Mutin and inaugurated in 1908. The organ was rebuilt and expanded several times in the 20th century.
organ
pulpit
Choir with choir stalls, altar and monumental ascension relief
"God's cloud" in the uppermost area of the Ascension relief
literature
- Jürg Davatz: The Church of Our Lady in Gebweiler. Building history - architecture - architects . (= European university publications, series XXVIII, volume 3), Herbert Lang, Peter Lang, Bern and Frankfurt am Main 1974
- Walter Hotz: Handbook of the art monuments in Alsace and Lorraine. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1976, p. 63
- Roger Lehni (translator Joseph Storck): Church of Our Lady in Gebweiler , SAEP Édition, Ingersheim near Colmar 1985
- Dominique Toursel-Harster, Jean-Pierre Beck, Guy Bronner: Dictionnaire des Monuments historiques d'Alsace . La Nuée Bleue, Strasbourg 1995, pp. 143f
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Entry no. In the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- ↑ a b c d Davatz (1974)
- ↑ A la d´couverte de l'Orgue ( Memento of the original from March 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Website on the organs of Alsace, accessed October 9, 2016
Coordinates: 47 ° 54 ′ 20.8 " N , 7 ° 12 ′ 52.5" E