Perger Kalvarienbergkirche

Kalvarienbergkirche in Perg (Upper Austria)

The Roman Catholic Kalvarienbergkirche is a branch church of the Perg parish and is a landmark of the town of Perg in the Perg district in Upper Austria .

It is located just under a kilometer from the main square of the town of Perg on a hill (about 290  m above sea level ) north of the city center and divides the Perger cemetery into two parts.

description

It is a baroque round building with an elliptical floor plan and a stately dome . The Kalvarienbergkirche is 12.5 meters long, 10.5 meters wide, 17 meters high and decorated with frescoes by the painter Pensel, including a dome fresco, which, like the furnishings, were purchased in 1754.

In addition to the high altar, it has two side altars. At the left side altar there is a picture with the parents of the Blessed Mother, Anna and Joachim, who teach their daughter to read. The image of a Pieta can be seen on the right side altar.

In the apse there is a crucifixion group, behind which is painted the sky and a view of the cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. His mother Mary, Mary Magdalene and John the Evangelist stand under the cross. The pulpit has Rococo ornaments. The two thieves were not nailed to the cross like Jesus, but tied.

history

Granite Station of the Cross, donated in 1837 by the coppersmith and Perger citizen Franz Paur

The church has its origins in a simple crucifix that Andreas Jakob Härtlmayr , pastor of Perg, had erected on the hill in 1727. The following year the two thieves joined them. This life-size carved crucifixion group was exposed to the rigors of the weather, so that in 1734 the council of the market Perg decided to build a chapel and secured its preservation by the citizens .

The work was slow due to lack of money and the church was not completed until 1754. It was given a rococo interior and was only consecrated to the Holy Savior years later, on June 23, 1765 .

Holy mass was read on Fridays and the consecration day was celebrated annually with a procession from the Perg up the mountain. During Lent there were sermons and litany in the Calvary Church.

The church had two bells from 1755, which were cast by Karl Potz in Linz . Lightning struck several times , and in 1807 one bell melted while the other remained intact. The replacement bell was again cast in Linz in 1807 by Johann Leopold Gammel , but had to be removed on January 22, 1917 and delivered for war purposes.

The Perger Kalvarienbergkirche was an affair of the Perger citizens from the beginning.

→ Main article : Market commune Perg

For example, the coppersmith and citizen of the market in Perg, Franz Paur, grandfather of the later Mayor of Perg, Johann Paur, had thirteen stations of the cross made of granite set up along the way to the Kalvarienbergkirche. These Stations of the Cross were thoroughly restored in 1977 and received pictures of the Way of the Cross carved in copper by the Steyr artist Eva Biesenberger.

The Perger Kalvarienbergkirche in the 20th and 21st centuries

The relocation of the cemetery to Calvary at the end of the 19th century changed the function of the church. Today it serves as an event room for suitable events and, in connection with the cemetery forecourt, which was redesigned in 2007 and 2008, offers the framework for farewells.

After several smaller renovations and replacement of the shingle roof with an Eternit slate roof, a general renovation was carried out from 1983 to 1986 by an association founded by Perger citizens called the “Committee for the Rescue of the Kalvarienbergkirche”. For 25 years, the chairman of the association was Anton Baumann, bookseller and long-time chairman of the Perger Heimatverein, which was replaced in 2007 by Leopold Pötscher, long-time vice mayor and honorary citizen of Perg. In 1986 the Kalvarienbergkirche was inaugurated again after the new roofing, the draining of the floor and the walls, the interior restoration and the repair of the outer facade.

In 2017, a routine inspection revealed major damage to the tower helmet. Many wooden parts of the roof structure were rotten and infected with woodworms. In the planning phase of the renovation, it was decided that after more than a hundred years, in 2020 the church should once again have a two-bell ring. In 2019, the population was also involved in finding names and dedicating the bells. Renovation and installation of the bells will take place in the course of 2020. The two bells were artistically implemented by Manfred Wakolbinger as a companion of the soul with two movements from the Canticle of the Sun of Francis of Assisi on the subject of creation and completion. The form of the sentences is ascending and ascending. The bells were made in the Rudolf Perner bell foundry .

literature

• Florian Eibensteiner, Konrad Eibensteiner: The home book of Perg, Upper Austria. Self-published, Linz 1933.
• Stadtgemeinde Perg (Hrsg.): Perg, Festschrift on the occasion of the city survey 1969. Self-published, Linz 1969.
• Eckhard Oberklammer : Perg district - art and history. Linz 2010, p. 161ff.
• Otto Ratgeb: From a simple wooden cross to a beautiful little church. In: Mühlviertler Bote. Volume 21, 1966.

Web links

Commons : Perger Kalvarienbergkirche  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Florian Oberchristl: Bells of the Diocese of Linz. Verlag R. Pirngruber, Linz 1941, p. 410.
2. ↑ Monika Trauner: Renovation of the Kalvarienbergkirche , in: Miteinander, Pfarrblatt der Stadtpfarre St. Jakob in Perg, 4/2017, p. 5
3. ↑ Christa Schabetsberger: Bells for the Kalvarienbergkirche , in: Mithaben , Pfarrblatt der Stadtpfarre St. Jakob in Perg, 1/2019, S 3
4. ↑ Elisabeth Leitner: No two bells are alike , bells have been artistically designed for centuries , in: Oö. Kulturbericht, Kulturmagazin des Landes Oberösterreich, 6/2020, S 21
5. ↑ Elisabeth Leitner: companions for the soul, artistic design of the bells for Perg and Rainbach shortly before completion , in: KirchenZeitung Diözese Linz , edition April 2nd, 2020, p. 28

Coordinates: 48 ° 15 ′ 8 ″  N , 14 ° 37 ′ 47.6 ″  E