Sixtus Chapel (Passau)

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Interior of the Sixtus Chapel (Ortenburg Chapel) with the high grave of Count Heinrich IV.

The Sixtus Chapel or St. Sixtus Chapel , usually called the Ortenburg Chapel because of the former burial place of the Counts of Ortenburg , is one of the four chapels in the courtyard of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Passau . It is located on the east side of the courtyard between the cathedral and the Andreas chapel (gentleman's chapel).

history

The chapel, first mentioned in 1155, was built in Gothic style around 1288 and is therefore the oldest on the former cathedral cloister .

The Ortenburg count family probably came into possession of this chapel due to their former position as bailiffs of the cathedral monastery. Since they had lost the bailiwick to the Bavarian dukes in the middle of the 13th century, the family must have taken possession of the chapel beforehand. On August 13, 1288, Count Rapoto IV designated the Sixtus Chapel as his burial place, since his father and grandfather were already buried there. Since then it has been the burial place of the count's house. Since 1453, the Ortenburg counts expanded and renovated the chapel, including the free space adjacent to the north arm of the cathedral transept.

Until the end of the 17th century the chapel was the burial place of the count's house. As more and more members of the house turned to the evangelical faith, no member of the family was buried in the crypt after Count Christian's death . Instead, the Protestant burial place built in 1573 in the Marktkirche in Ortenburg was increasingly used.

Depiction of Count Heinrich IV von Ortenburg on the cover plate

The count's crypt in the chapel was last opened in 1922 at the behest of Bishop Sigismund Felix von Ow-Felldorf . In the minutes of the cathedral vicar Dr. Ludwig Krick from his commission can read the following: Under the stone slabs of the floor of the chapel, a short staircase led to a small, low vault that only offers space for a few people and represents the rest of the formerly large crypt of the Counts of Ortenburg, the one in the middle the 17th century was thrown in because of dilapidation. At the end of the vault sits a well-dressed corpse on an upholstered armchair, which, however, along with its clothing, has already deteriorated and collapsed in a heap. On the left side of the crypt there is a wooden box full of skulls and bones. There are remains of rusted weapons, including a bi-handed sword and parts of rosaries made from asphalt from the holy land. There were also three plates with grave inscriptions. The one and completely intact plate refers to Katharina, born on October 4th, 1570, born von Degenberg and first wife of Count Ulrich III. from Ortenburg . Of the other two badly damaged plates, one plate concerns a von Kirchberg and Weißenhorn who was married to a Count von Ortenburg. The well-preserved velvet cloak with which the seated corpse was wrapped was taken from the crypt, the bihandler, the remains of two daggers and some items of clothing; all of this was given to the Cathedral Museum in Passau. The crypt was closed again on November 20, 1922.

After the Dommuseum was closed, the exhibits from the Sixtus Chapel were transferred to the Upper House Museum in Passau.

Epitaph of Provost Ulrich von Ortenburg

One of the two heavily damaged grave slabs is for Countess Ursula von Ortenburg, née von Kirchberg and Weißenhorn . She was the first wife of Count Joachim von Ortenburg , who died on September 7, 1570. The person sitting in the chair is Count Georg Reinhard , who was buried in the chapel on November 2, 1679. His body was left in his castle for 13 years due to the dispute over the type of burial (Catholic or Protestant) before he was buried in his chair in the crypt. For this purpose, the entrance to the crypt had to be expanded. The cost of this work of 12 workers and three days was 924 guilders and 48 kreuzers , according to an invoice from the Count's Archives in Tambach .

Building

The Sixtus Chapel is attached to the north transept of the cathedral. The buttresses of the cathedral nave divide the rectangular room into two niches. It is covered with three cross vaults.

The chapel is characterized by the numerous Gothic tombstones in the side walls. The focus is on the tumba of Count Heinrich IV von Ortenburg († 1395) and his wife Agnes von Hals . On the cover plate is the portrait figure (around 1430) in a soft style . Another important epitaph is that of Provost Ulrich I von Ortenburg († 1455), which is also embedded in a side wall. On the north wall there are more grave stones of the family from the 16th century.

But there are still more red marble epitaphs from the neighboring gentleman's chapel, which were brought into the Sixtus chapel after a redesign in 1961/62.

Proven burials

Web links

Commons : Sixtuskapelle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

literature

  • Bernhard, Günther: The Sixtus Chapel (Ortenburg Chapel) in Passau Cathedral , in: Ortenburg - Reichsgrafschaft and 450 Years of Reformation (1563–2013), pp. 411–420, Ortenburg 2013.
  • Hausmann, Friedrich : Seated burials in German lands. Legend and Reality , in: Festschrift Hermann Wiesflecker on his sixtieth birthday , pp. 49–64, Graz 1973.
  • Fuchs, Walter: The seat burial of Count Georg Reinhard , in: Evangelische Marktkirche Ortenburg 2006 , pp. 26–31, Ortenburg 2006.
  • Fuchs, Walter: Seated burial of an Ortenburg count - legend or truth? , in: Donau-Bote , p. 30ff, Vilshofen October 24, 1989.
  • Oswald, Josef: The Passau Cathedral - Schnell Art Guide No. 605 , 13th edition, Regensburg 1995.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Zinnhobler, Rudolf : The Passau diocese registers for the western official , Volume 1, Passau 1978, p. 167, note 25.
  2. ^ Dehio, Georg : Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler , Volume 3 Süddeutschland, Berlin 1908, p. 377.
  3. ↑  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / realschule.passau.de
  4. ^ Hausmann: Sitzverattungen in Deutschen Landen , p. 60 f.
  5. ↑ Lampl, Sixtus; Neu, Wilhelm; Petzet, Michael; Braasch, Otto: Niederbayern II from the series: Monuments in Bavaria , p. 25, Oldenbourg 1986, ISBN 3-486-52393-7 .

Coordinates: 48 ° 34 ′ 27.8 "  N , 13 ° 27 ′ 56.6"  E