Parish Church Baden-St. Stephan
The parish church of St. Stephan is a Roman Catholic church and is located on the eastern edge of the old town center (Pfarrplatz) of Baden in Lower Austria . The tower with the characteristic baroque onion helmet can be seen from afar and still shapes the cityscape today. The parish church is a listed building .
history
For centuries Baden belonged to the diocese of Passau . This long bond is reminiscent of the fact that the parish church of Baden dedicated to St. Stephen , the patron saint of Passau . Baden was originally a branch of the mother parish of St. Margareta zu Traiskirchen .
In 1220, a priest was first mentioned in Baden. What position he had - he could have been chaplain at Baden Castle - was not mentioned. When Traiskirchen and all of its branches were subordinated to Melk Abbey , Baden was separated from Melk in 1312. It now became an independent parish under the patronage of Melk Abbey. After long-lasting disputes between the bishops of Passau and the Melk Abbey, the Abbey ceded the patronage rights to Passau in 1693. When the diocese of Vienna, founded in 1469, was elevated to an archbishopric, the area south of Vienna, including Baden, which had previously belonged to Passau, was ceded in 1729. In 1784 Baden finally became a princely parish.
Several new parishes have emerged from the original parish of Baden : Sooss (from 1783 parish St. Anna), St. Christoph (Weikersdorf) ( raised to parish as St. Helena in 1783 ) and St. Josef (Leesdorf) (raised to parish in 1990 ). Today the parish is one of the largest parishes of the dean's office in Baden with around 6000 Catholics . In addition to the parish church, other churches and chapels also belong to the pastoral care area of the parish, including the Frauenkirche in Baden.
Exterior
The building history of the parish church before the new building at the end of the 15th century can only be assumed based on the structural elements that were still in existence. Mentioned in a document is only the existence of a charnel house (ossuary) in 1258. However, since before that time priests who worked in Baden and the castle Baden certainly a church or chapel disposal, one can assume that already at the end of the 12th In the 19th century a church was built on the present site.
The immediate predecessor building dates from the Romanesque period . This church was probably a three-aisled building with two low towers between which the chancel and the apse were. Around 1400, the construction of a Gothic presbytery and lower church began, which was built over the Romanesque apse and eventually replaced it. The nave of the church was built in the second half of the 15th century, including the Romanesque outer walls. During this time the main tower was erected over the two existing Romanesque towers . This work - probably necessary due to the partial destruction of the church during the Hungarian invasions - had to be interrupted again and again in these troubled times. The main tower was eventually not completed and only with a gable roof covered. It was not until 1697, after the tower was damaged in the Turkish wars , that the onion helmet that is so typical today was put on. The remnants of a "murder gallery" still present on the northern tower are reminiscent of the inclusion of the church in the city's defenses. The Gothicization is said to have been completed around 1480 . The tower in the west above the main portal poses a riddle. The so-called "shot down tower" once protruded far beyond the roof and, like the main tower, was badly damaged in the Turkish wars. It was not until 1827 that it got its current appearance. It is believed that this tower also dates from the Gothic period .
In the 67 meter high tower are the so-called parament chamber and the tower keeper's apartment , in which the sacristan lived until the 20th century . The bell house holds five bells . Two of them survived the world wars : the “Big Bell” (2000 kg, tone: H) from 1832 and the “Litaneiglocke” (950 kg, tone: e) from 1764. The three other bells were cast in 1949: the “ Marienglocke ”(tone: f sharp), the“ Josefsglocke ”(tone: g sharp) and the“ Urbaniglocke ”(tone: h).
Interior decoration
There are hardly any furnishings from the Romanesque and Gothic periods . Animal heads from the Romanesque can still be found, which are walled in under the vaults of the central nave. The baptismal font and several angel figures on the church walls and the south gate are particularly reminiscent of the Gothic. The period from 1480 to 1683 is dominated by the Turkish Wars and the Reformation , in which the Baden pastors eagerly participated. Therefore, only funerary monuments from the Renaissance period have survived, some of which are attached to the pillars of the church. A grave slab in the Josefskapelle for the Baden pastor Vinzenz Bauernfeind († 1517) is remarkable.
The Turkish wars of 1529 and 1683 caused severe damage. In addition to putting on the tower bulb, the interior of the church in particular had to be renewed in the baroque style . In the course of the 18th century, several side altars were erected in the nave of the church: at the beginning of each side aisle , the Marien altar with the pulpit , the Sebastian altar and the Antonius altar. The Joseph Chapel was also redesigned in Baroque style. Where the people's altar stands today, an altar was erected in honor of the Holy Cross , but in 1758 it was moved to the former sacristy room under the north tower (Kreuzkapelle). At the same time the construction of today's sacristy was completed. It is also worth mentioning that the Sebastian Altar was donated by the Baden citizens to commemorate the year of the plague in 1713. This is attested by a votive plaque that now hangs over the exit by the sacristy. In the presbytery, the windows were almost completely walled up and a baroque high altar was erected. The altarpiece depicting the stoning of St. Stephanus painted the famous baroque artist Paul Troger . The baroque has also left its mark on the sacristy : the altar in honor of St. Franz Xaver and the valuable baroque vestry cupboard from 1743.
Extensive regotization work began in 1880 . In 1893 the baroque high altar was replaced by the existing one. Only the high altar picture remained in the church and was given its current place above the exit by the sacristy. The walled-up windows in the presbytery were reopened. The neo-Gothic paneling and the choir stalls were also built. The altars in the side aisles as well as the Joseph Chapel and the Kreuzkapelle were regotified . It is painful that the original Gothic statue consoles on the walls were replaced by neo-Gothic ones. Only one has been preserved and can be admired in Baden's Schiestl-Hof. The reorganization of the parish church ended in 1913 with the redesign of the side entrances.
The major interior and exterior renovation of the church took place in the 1970s. Several rooms were added to the north gate as part of the installation of a district heating system. During the interior renovation, the people's altar and today's session were built. The neo-Gothic altars in the side aisles were removed, only the altar statues remained. The damaged baroque pews were also replaced with new ones. In 1989 the altar of the Kreuzkapelle was finally transferred to the rectory and a chapel was set up there.
organ
The organ of the parish church was originally built for the Dorotheerkirche in Vienna and was brought here in 1787. It is the work of the well-known organ builder Johann Hencke from 1744.
In a new building in 1987 ( organ builder Gerhard Hradetzky , Oberbergen in Lower Austria ), using the old case, the original keys, on which Mozart and probably Beethoven had already played , were partially reinstalled. The organ has 28 registers , divided into two manuals and a pedal .
Mozart , who had participated in the performance of several of his masses in Baden St. Stephan, was friends with the then choirmaster Anton Stoll and dedicated his famous Ave verum , KV 618, to him in 1791 , which was probably premiered on June 23, 1791 in the parish church.
It is arranged as follows :
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Dimensions
- Length 55 m
- Width 20 m
- Tower 67 m
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information on the organ on the website of the parish Baden-St. Stephan. Retrieved October 9, 2011 .
- ↑ Martin Melcher: The Hencke organ of the parish church of Baden St. Stephan ; accessed on January 5. 2020
Coordinates: 48 ° 0 ′ 35 ″ N , 16 ° 14 ′ 13 ″ E