Parity Church (Birmenstorf)
The former parity church of St. Leodegar is the first church in Birmenstorf in the canton of Aargau . It was probably built in the 12th century and largely demolished in 1937. Only the choir was left standing and converted into today's cemetery chapel.
The entire cemetery chapel is now a listed building, the frescoes inside are classified as worthy of national protection (highest of the three protection levels).
history
The first church in Birmenstorf was probably built in the 12th century. The patronage of St. Leodegar has been guaranteed since 1440 through his wall paintings . The church is believed to have been built in the 12th century.
Presumably the church was founded as a separate church by an early medieval landlord. Church rate and tithe subscription rights were linked to the lower court, so that like the Herrenhof (Meierhof) it came from the Lords of Leibegg via the Counts of Kyburg to Königsfelden .
After the peace of 1531 , the church was shared by Catholics and Protestants, i. H. used equally . In 1930 the Catholics of the Reformed parish bought their share, so that the church belonged only to the Catholic parish from that point on. The Catholics decided to tear it down and build a new building next to it. Because medieval paintings were discovered in the choir , it was decided not to break off the choir, but to use it to create the cemetery chapel. This chapel is also called the fresco chapel because of its frescoes .
The Reformed parish that had been paid out built the Reformed Church of Birmenstorf on the edge of the village , which was inaugurated on June 28, 1936.
Building
It is an east-facing church with a rectangular four-part nave . The northern long side had four windows, on the south side there was a door instead of the second easternmost window. The main portal was on the west end wall. The retracted rectangular choir with block altar was attached to the nave. The sacristy was built behind the choir and could be entered through a door covered by the altar. In front of the chancel arch in the nave was a platform on which the two side altars stood.
On the occasion of the archaeological investigations before and during the demolition in 1937, four construction phases were identified. The three front quarters of the ship belong to the oldest stage from the 12th century. Based on the missing foundations, it must be assumed that the first church was a normal rectangular building without extensions. The external dimensions were 9 meters wide and 15.5 meters long.
The second construction phase was the almost square choir with a side length of around 7 meters. It must have been built at the end of the 13th or beginning of the 14th century and was attached to the old plastered east wall of the first stage. Three clerical graves from the 17th century were found in front of the block altar . It is no longer possible to determine when the sacristy was built. In 1815 the front wall to the west was torn down and the nave was lengthened by 5.5 meters, with a gallery being built in this part. In 1837/38 the old sacristy behind the choir was torn down and replaced by a new building.
The sacristy and the nave were demolished in 1937, and the choir with the wall paintings was converted into a cemetery chapel (also known as a fresco chapel). The bells were reused and raised in the new Catholic Church.
Choir, today's cemetery chapel
In 1937 the choir was given a western front with a rectangular roofed portal . Inside, attempts were made to preserve the design features from around 1300. A plank beam ceiling was installed. An ogival window was built into the eastern front wall instead of the door to the sacristy. When the ship had already been torn down, old frescoes from 1440 were discovered in the choir room under thick plaster on May 17, 1937. Some of them were damaged and had flaws. Their existence was already mentioned in the chronicle of Pastor Fridolin Stamm.
The choir was secured with an emergency roof to save the frescoes. Linus Birchler was in charge of the scientific investigation. The additions to the frescoes that Karl Haaga had added in 1937 were largely undone during the renovation in 1995. The former choir was redesigned into today's cemetery chapel and the frescoes restored. The chapel has been under the protection of the Swiss Confederation since 1937.
literature
- Die Kunstdenkmäler der Schweiz , Volume 87 Kunstdenkmäler des Kanton Aargau - Volume 7 The District of Baden II. - 1995 ISBN 3-909164-44-7 Pages 13-19
- Patrick Zehnder: The three churches of Birmenstorf, Swiss art guide of the GSK, ISBN 978-3-85782-805-8
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ [1] ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Building and Use Regulations (BNO) of Birmensdorf (last page)
- ↑ Thanks to the chronicle written in the 18th century by Pastor Fridolin Stamm, many dates are known
Coordinates: 47 ° 27 '43.4 " N , 8 ° 14' 56" E ; CH1903: 661093 / 257124