Parish church of Hittisau
The Roman Catholic parish church of Hittisau is located in the Bregenzerwald community of Hittisau in the Austrian district of Bregenz in Vorarlberg .
It is consecrated to the Three Kings and is located in the deanery of Vorderwald-Kleinwalsertal in the diocese of Feldkirch . The building is under monument protection ( list entry ).
history
The origins of the village are several hundred meters east of today's church square in Heideggen . In the 14th century, the local population built a wayside shrine. In the second half of the 15th century they built the first chapel in the area of today's parish church, which was then called Greneggen . They consecrated these to St. Wolfgang. Since August 1, 1496, Hittisau was a chaplain of the Egg parish , which at that time belonged to the diocese of Constance . Shortly before 1510, a new church was built on the site of the former Wolfgang chapel, which may already have been consecrated to the Three Kings. In 1580 Hittisau was raised to an independent parish, whereby the pastor of Egg still had the right to propose the pastor. In 1600 the Lingenau court became independent and was administered by Vorderwälder Landammänner until the Bavarian takeover in 1805 . Some parcels, which until then belonged to the Lingenau parish , were added to the Hittisau parish over the years, as the church paths to Hittisau were shorter. The increase in population required an extension of the nave and an extension of the choir in 1688 and 1717. When completed, the church had a length of 50.2 meters and a width of 13.5 meters. The steeple was 16.2 meters high. The church stood parallel to today's street and an east tower. On April 17, 1777, the parish of Hittisau was enlarged by a further 17 hamlets, in 1839 again by four hamlets. Since Hittisau and the then independent parish Bolgenach , which was then part of the parish , had more and more believers, the church was again too small. The pastor of Hittisau, Josef Schnell (1780–1838), decreed in his will that his cash assets may be used to build a new church if construction began within five years of his death. The decision to build was made in autumn 1841. In 1842 the construction of the new church in the classical style began under master builder Johann Peter Bilgeri with the active help of the Hittisau population, who had to laboriously carry sand and gravel from the Bolgenach to the village square. The construction plans come from district engineer Martin von Kink , but were probably originally created by Heinrich Ladner from Hittisau, who also planned a similar church in Kaltbrunn , Switzerland. The shell of the church in Hittisau was completed in the summer of 1845. The construction costs amounted to around 60,000 guilders . On August 27, 1853, the Epiphany Church was inaugurated by Vicar General Auxiliary Bishop Georg Pünster . The church underwent an exterior renovation in 1974/1975 and an interior renovation in 1980/1981. Particular attention was paid to the preservation of the existing one, only the ceiling painting in the choir was repainted.
architecture
- Church exterior
The church is a single structure from the middle of the 19th century. The high altar and the church tower are not oriented to the east , as is usual in Catholic churches , but adapted to the terrain, to the south. The nave has a cubic design, the choir is slightly drawn in. With a length of 48.6 meters and a width of 20.6 meters, the nave is one of the largest sacred spaces in Vorarlberg. The sanctuary is 14.6 meters long. The wall height is 13 meters. The church tower is 54 meters high and is connected to the choir to the east. It has a square floor plan. The tower has an onion helmet and small, arched sound windows on the upper floor. The building has high, rounded, closed, narrow window openings throughout.
The west facade facing the street has a small triangular gable with sound windows and a clock above the simply profiled eaves. The underlying main portal is a classical portico with portico and sign in front in the form of a portico with Tuscan columns. This stands on a base with stairs. On the triangular gable is the inscription "DOMUS DEI + PORTA COELI" ( Latin : "House of God + Gate of Heaven"). On the west wall of the church are, corresponding to the columns, to the side of the main portal, Tuscan pilasters.
- Church interior
The church is a wide, light-flooded hall church with a flat barrel vault and stitch caps . It has five longhouse bays and a room area of around 1000 m². The church interior is consistently structured by giant pilasters. The triumphal arch is shaped like a basket arch. The church has delicately structured stucco cornices. The wooden gallery for the organ rests on Tuscan columns. Under the gallery are four small pilasters on the inner west side of the entrance portal.
The monumental ceiling painting in the nave was painted by Waldemar Kolmsperger (the younger) from Munich . It addresses the "apotheosis of Christ in heaven and representation of hell". The Last Judgment is depicted in a baroque style. People in local Bregenzerwald costume in front of the Bregenzerwald landscape experience the return of Christ on the clouds of heaven. Archangel Michael can be seen in the middle, separating the "good" from the "bad". In Hell, Kolmsperger depicted the seven vices of pride , avarice , envy , unchastity , intemperance , anger and indolence . On the edge of heaven and in hell, situations are depicted with reference to time. For example, the then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill with a money bag and the then Hittisau pastor Josef Meusburger are shown.
The ceiling painting in the choir, created in the summer of 1980, is entitled Vision of a Vorarlberg Saint before the Holy Trinity . It comes from the Feldkirch painter Kurt Scheel and represents the Holy Brother Klaus ' vision of the Trinity .
Most of the glass windows were donated by the people of Hittisau; they were produced by the Tyrolean glass painting and mosaic institute . The seven stained glass windows in the choir date from 1943. From left to right they depict “Heart of Jesus”, “Heart of Mary”, “Man of Sorrows”, “Christ the King”, “Christ as Shepherd” and the “Baptism in the Jordan”. On the left side of the nave, “Maria Immaculata” and Saints Agnes , Notburga and Anna are depicted from east to west . On the right side of the nave, the angels of God and the saints Sebastian , Wendelin and Josef are depicted from east to west . The windows are made in the Nazarene style.
Furnishing
Four altars are set up in the parish church of Hittisau. Of these, only the people's altar is still used for mass celebrations. The high altar, the side altars and the pulpit were built from stucco marble in neo-Romanesque style by the plasterer Fröwis according to the plans of the Feldkirch painter Josef Bucher .
The high altar is a gable-like crowned reredos flanked by pilasters above a simple cafeteria. The tabernacle on the high altar with gold-plated carving is a work by the artist Christian Moosbrugger from 1948. He designed it according to plans by Edmund Beckmann . The flanking angel figures were added in 1950 by Edmund Beckmann. The altarpiece was painted in 1852 by Josef Bucher and represents the "victim of the wise men from the East". In the picture, the image is centered baby Jesus with blond curly hair. It sits on the lap of his mother Mary . The two are surrounded by the Magi and their companions.
The folk altar, the table for the preparation of gifts and the ambo were made from fir wood in 1981 and optically match the choir stalls and the four confessionals in the nave. Choir stalls and confessionals date from the third quarter of the 19th century.
The two side altars are a little simpler than the high altar and are in the nave on the triumphal arch . On the altarpiece of the right side altar the "Saint Aloisius before the crucified " is shown. The altarpiece on the left side altar shows "Mary with the child who gives Dominic the rosary ". The pulpit is on the left wall of the nave. There are sculptures of the 4 evangelists on the basket . There is a representation of the " Good Shepherd " on the sound cover .
The 13 statues of the apostles (12 apostles and the apostle of the people, Paul ) stand above the cross of the apostles with candelabra. They were carved by Franz Schmalzl from Val Gardena around 1875. In 1943 they were painted white and in 1981 by Matthias Unterkirchner returned to their original color. They represent an extension of the high altar picture and are supposed to rise symbolically from the altar picture, according to Jesus' mandate "Go out into all the world ..."
The Way of the Cross from 1946 and 1947 was carved in wooden reliefs by Christian Moosbrugger from Egg . The chandelier in the nave is said to come from a boardroom in Frankfurt am Main . The then dean and pastor of Hittisau Barnabas Fink received it as a gift on the occasion of negotiations with the then business partner of Vorarlberger Elektrizitätswerke .
organ
The organ was in the years 1867 to 1869 according to plans of Rankweiler organ builder Alois Schoenach in sliderchest construction with 21 sounding registers , coupling II / I and coupling I / P and mechanical tracker action built.
This organ was rebuilt in 1943 by the Mayer brothers from Feldkirch and its disposition was changed. She received a pneumatic gaming table and a new wind chest for the enlarged positive movement. It also received a pneumatic performance and stop action mechanism for the old drawers used in the main and pedal mechanism.
In the 1970s the purchase of a new organ was considered due to the desolate condition of the old instrument. However, due to its importance as a sound monument and its suitability for romantic organ music, a new building was not planned. For this reason, the old organ was restored in 1980 and 1981 by Helmut Allgäuer from Theresienfeld and brought back to the state of the original Schönach organ. In 2003 the organ was again renovated by the Schwarzach organ building company Rieger .
The acoustically clearly identifiable high proportion of wood in the piping is particularly noticeable: eleven of the 21 registers are made entirely of fir and hardwood. Two further registers are partly made of wood, eight registers are made of different tin - lead alloys. The high proportion of wooden pipes results in an extraordinarily soft and full organ sound.
- Disposition of the organ
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- Coupling : II / I, II / P
Bells
The tower of the original church was statically so weak that it could not support bells. In order to be able to hang church bells, the new church tower was built with a deep and solid foundation. During the two world wars, the church bells had to be delivered as war supplies, most recently in 1941 as part of the metal donation of the German people . During the Second World War , four of the five church bells cast in St. Florian in 1922 had to be handed in. With the money for the bells to be delivered, the Alpe Mittlere Platte in the Lecknertal was bought instead of the subscription of war bonds and called the Alpe Glockenplatte ( location ). New bells were purchased shortly after the Second World War. The bells have been hanging in the tower in the current constellation since 1968, after one of the bells had to be exchanged and two more had to be cast. In their pitch A - c - e - g - a, the bells form a so-called " Salve Regina bell".
| volume | Weight in kg | Casting year | material | Caster | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warrior bell, peace bell | a | 4000 | 1956 | bronze | Upper Austrian bell and metal foundry in St. Florian |
| Kaspar-Melchior-Balthasar / Sunday bell | c | 2200 | 1968 | bronze | Upper Austrian bell and metal foundry in St. Florian |
| Maria | e | 1100 | 1949 | bronze | Grassmayr Innsbruck |
| Weekday bell | G | 650 | 1968 | bronze | Upper Austrian bell and metal foundry in St. Florian |
| Angel bell | a | 440 | 1922 | bronze | Upper Austrian bell and metal foundry in St. Florian |
literature
- Pfarramt Hittisau (editor), Michael Bartenstein (author): Catholic parish church of the Three Kings. Hittisau / Vorarlberg (= art guide. 1609). 2nd edition, Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-7954-5319-0 .
- DEHIO manual . The art monuments of Austria: Vorarlberg. Hittisau. Parish Church of the Three Kings. Bundesdenkmalamt (Ed.), Verlag Anton Schroll & Co, Vienna 1983, ISBN 3-7031-0585-2 , p. 242.
- Othmar Lässer: In the footsteps of the saint. The chapel paths of the clover-leaf communities Balderschwang, Hittisau, Riefensberg, Sibratsgfung. P. 4.
Web links
- Parish church of Hittisau. Catholic Church Vorarlberg, accessed on March 31, 2014 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Vorarlberg - immovable and archaeological monuments under monument protection. (PDF), ( CSV ). Federal Monuments Office , status: 23 January 2019.
- ↑ Pfarramt Hittisau (editor), Michael Bartenstein (author): Catholic parish church of the Three Kings. Hittisau / Vorarlberg. 2nd edition, Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2016, (Kunstführer 1609), ISBN 978-3-7954-5319-0 , p. 2 ff.
- ↑ DEHIO manual. The art monuments of Austria: Vorarlberg. Hittisau. Parish Church of the Three Kings. Bundesdenkmalamt (Ed.), Verlag Anton Schroll & Co, Vienna 1983, ISBN 3-7031-0585-2 , p. 242.
- ↑ Why Winston Churchill is stewing in the church in Hell in Hittisau Matthias Rauch: (VOL.AT) on August 16, 2015 06:55
- ↑ Pfarramt Hittisau (editor), Michael Bartenstein (author): Catholic parish church of the Three Kings. Hittisau / Vorarlberg. 2nd edition, Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2016, (Kunstführer 1609), ISBN 978-3-7954-5319-0 , p. 10 ff.
- ↑ a b Pfarramt Hittisau (publisher), Michael Bartenstein (author): Catholic parish church of the Three Kings. Hittisau / Vorarlberg. 2nd edition, Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2016, (Kunstführer 1609), ISBN 978-3-7954-5319-0 , p. 17 f.
- ↑ Pfarramt Hittisau (editor), Michael Bartenstein (author): Catholic parish church of the Three Kings. Hittisau / Vorarlberg. 2nd edition, Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2016, (Kunstführer 1609), ISBN 978-3-7954-5319-0 , p. 16 f.
Coordinates: 47 ° 27 '27 " N , 9 ° 57' 34.2" E