Litschau parish church

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Parish church hl. Michael in Litschau

The Roman Catholic parish church Litschau stands in the middle of the town square of the town of Litschau in the municipality of Litschau in Lower Austria . The parish church of St. Michael belongs to the deanery of Gmünd in the diocese of St. Pölten . The church is a listed building .

history

The parish, which can be verified from the 13th century, has been under the patronage of the sovereigns since the Middle Ages. The Litschau parish became Protestant in the course of the 16th century, and this process was encouraged by the respective owners of the rule. As a result, the ecclesiastical foundations were withdrawn, which - from the 13th century - were extensively preserved in Litschau. This process was already well advanced in Litschau in 1544, as in that year there was no longer any financial basis for maintaining the beneficiaries . The best-documented Protestant pastor in Litschau is Johann Gschweller, who was installed in Litschau in 1570 by the Protestant ruler Wenzel Morakschi and asked about his pastoral work in 1580 by Lucas Bacmeister's visit to Horn.

The measures of the Counter-Reformation began in the rule of Litschau in 1617. In 1621 the Litschauer church was closed to Protestant worship at the behest of the sovereign and remained closed for four years. Continuous Catholic pastoral care did not begin until the late 1620s. 1637 appointed Emperor Ferdinand III. the Eisgarner provost Heinrich Fastroyer to the pastor of Litschauer. In 1644 the parish was formally incorporated into the Eisgarn provost , which was to last until 1751. The height of the Counter Reformation in the Litschau rule was reached around the middle of the 17th century. The parish's baptismal, marriage and death log, for example, contains a compilation of the converts from 1651 to 1653 on the flyleaf. After the parish was incorporated, the Eisgarner provosts sent vicars to Litschau, who, however, provided the large parish with insufficient pastoral care led to dissatisfaction and complaints on the part of the subjects. As a result, part of the population began to practice evangelical piety again and eventually emigrated to Protestant territories in Franconia and Swabia . Only towards the end of the 17th century did the pastoral situation improve. From the 1680s onwards, the church was increasingly renovated. In 1691 the baroque refurbishment with a high altar and four side altars was completed so that the solemn consecration could be carried out.

The Brotherhood of Poor Souls at the Litschauer Parish Church (1706–1783)

One of the most important instruments of the Counter Reformation in the Litschau parish, albeit a little late in time, was the Brotherhood of Souls , which was founded in 1706 by Countess Anna Franziska von Kuefstein and had its seat at the Litschau Church. In 1709 Anna Franziska expanded her brotherhood foundation with the dedication of 400 guilders for four quarter masses and two requiems a year . When she died in 1722, her son Johann Anton von Kuefstein donated a further 200 guilders for an annual requiem for the mother. It was also decreed that the fraternity members had to come to the said commemorative mass with skirts, wands, cross and flag. A further stage in the development of the brotherhood was taken by Countess Maria Antonia von Kuefstein, who built her own chapel in the south aisle of the Litschauer Church around 1744. Maria Antonia also donated a stone altar for the chapel and expanded the foundation by a further 1000 guilders in 1747, with the requirement that a weekly mass be read there (every Wednesday). In 1752 the brotherhood book already had around 7,000 members. In 1771 the capital of the brotherhood treasury was an impressive 1700 guilders and 61 donated masses. Given these financial possibilities, the brotherhood was able to grant loans. The membership in the brotherhood offered even the simplest subject of the rule the possibility and the certainty of being able to organize their own burial with appropriate pomp in the style of the time. Finally, in the Litschauer case, it was a corresponding decree of Joseph II , which in 1783 sealed the end of the brotherhood of the poor and souls. The considerable endowment of 3500 guilders was transferred to the state treasury, the chapel under the church was closed and its entrance walled up. The stone altar was removed and transferred to a chapel in front of the upper city gate, where it is still preserved today (corner of Hörmannser Straße, opposite the New Middle School). The chapel itself should not be reopened until 1988/89. After the renovation, the former chapel of the Brotherhood of the Dead was re-consecrated in 1989 as the “Credo Chapel” and, after a break of over 200 years, it was used again as a prayer room.

Local clergymen (vicars) in the 17th / 18th centuries century

Since 1637/44 the parish of Litschau was incorporated into the Eisgarn provost ; the provost there sent vicars to Litschau. The area of ​​responsibility of a Vicar from Litschau was quite extensive. The contract between the provost Wilhelm Graf von Leslie zu Eisgarn and the vicar Norbert Glinz - a Premonstratensian order priest from the Pernegg monastery - from the year 1701 gives a detailed insight into the areas of responsibility. The pastor's area of ​​responsibility included the city of Litschau and twelve villages belonging to the parish. In addition to the general pastoral duties such as the dispensing of the sacraments, the moral supervision of the parishioners and the holding of funerals, Glinz was ordered to celebrate Holy Mass on every Sunday and public holiday. From Georgi to Michaeli (in the summer half-year) this service took place at eight o'clock, from Michaeli to Georgi (in the winter half-year) at nine o'clock. On all evenings that preceded a Sunday and public holiday, as well as on the evening of the Sunday and public holiday, a prayer with litany was to be held. A sermon and a teaching on children were also to be held on these days. Every week there were three perpetual masses for the family of the Counts of Puchheim (who appeared as generous donors to the Litschauer Church in the late Middle Ages and whose foundation was the only one that had survived the Reformation). The vicar also had an obligation to encourage the schoolmaster to serve in the church.

In return for the pastoral care provided, the vicar was entitled to substantial income. These were initially the amounts of money from the stol fees (which he was not allowed to increase on his own initiative), donations and allowances handed to him, as well as the income from church sentences imposed on adulterers and illegitimate children. A bucket of wine and a bucket of beer from the cellar of the Eisgarner Propstei were delivered to him as a drink every month . The allotted grocery delivery included grain, oats, cabbage, and peas. The vicar was also entitled to the Easter or fasting eggs of the parishioners. He was given thread and canvas for clothing; Wood should be delivered as needed. The vicar received additional financial income from the sale of agricultural products from the parish farms, two ponds, the gate meadows and the parish garden. Since the Litschauer vicar could handle the pastoral care of the large parish with time no longer alone, took place here in the course of the second half of the 18th century, increasing support by religious priests, namely the Paulaner from Neubistritz (Nová Bystřice) and the Franciscans from Neuhaus ( Jindřichův Hradec ). In Reingers and Hirschenschlag , the faithful were to be looked after by the Paulans. In addition, during the time of pastor Johann Karl Kreitner (from 1751 to 1777 Litschau was an independent parish and detached from Eisgarn) a chaplain also helped in the parish, which comprised 16 villages. A daily mass - that is, weekday mass - is only attested in Litschau for 1765, with the addition, however, that it only takes place if the clergy's state of health allows it.

Local clergy (vicars):

  • 1651–1653: Christophorus Augustin Erz ( Augustinian canon from the Dorotheerkloster in Vienna, originally from the Dießen Abbey on Lake Ammersee in Upper Bavaria)
  • 1654–1657: Alypius Heliodorus Caesar (buried on February 22, 1657 in Litschau; died a few days earlier at the age of 45)
  • 1657: M. Leopold Johannes Reipökh and Archangelus Ernest Brattes (Augustinian canon from the Dorotheerkloster in Vienna)
  • 1659: Adam Patritius Geltermayr (Augustinian canon from Waldhausen Abbey in Strudengau in Upper Austria)
  • 1660: Johannes Sebald Kierzendorfer (Augustinian canon)
  • 1667: Johannes Losser
  • 1672: Wilhelm Creizperger ( Premonstratensian from the Pernegg Monastery )
  • 1688/89: Gregor Theobald Koch (Augustinian canon from the Dorotheerkloster in Vienna)
  • 1689–1703: Norbert Glinz (Premonstratensian from the Pernegg Monastery)
  • 1704, 1707: Gregor Egger
  • 1708: Martin Sailler, Karl Maria Reiter, Nikolaus Jörger
  • 1712 / 13–1719: Peter Spornrath
  • 1720–1730: Markus Joseph Ringsmuth (died on September 12, 1730 at the age of 42, buried in Litschau; epitaph preserved in the church)
  • 1730–1742: Franz Anton Joseph Dimbter (died on March 31, 1742 at the age of 43)
  • 1742–1751: Leopold Anton Stindl

architecture

The west tower with massive walls from the 14th century was rebuilt in 1580 and renovated in 1684 and probably increased and has a baroque onion helmet . After leveling the square in 1881, the basement was secured with a quarry stone slope. The tower has ogival, originally two-lane tracery windows in the west and other baroque, round-arched sound windows .

The five-bay nave from the 15th century stands on a base leveling the terrain and shows buttresses and a surrounding coffin cornice , two- and three-lane tracery windows and has a profiled cantilever portal in the third bay to the north and a profiled pointed arch portal to the south . In the south there is a light column with 1514 PK In the west there is a Gothic stair tower and a relief “ Let the children come to me ” from the 19th century.

The two-bay choir - arose before 1380 - slightly wider than the width of the nave adjoins the nave of the nave and shows the five-eighth circuit buttresses and two-lane tracery windows. On the north side of the choir, the old sacristy is inserted between buttresses. The south-facing sacristy extension to the choir around 1800 shows a Romanesque tombstone with three crosses and two late Gothic and one baroque coat of arms tombstones on the east wall.

literature

  • Karl Bertl: Foundations for the Litschau parish church. In: The Waldviertel. New series 1 (1952) pp. 17-20.
  • Stephan Biedermann: On the history of the brotherhood of the poor and souls in Litschau . In: The Waldviertel . New series 10 (1961) p. 9f.
  • Federal Monuments Office (ed.): Dehio - manual. The art monuments of Austria. Topographical inventory of monuments. Lower Austria north of the Danube (Vienna 1990) p. 677f.
  • Stefan René Buzanich: The lifeworld of the village subjects of the Kuefstein rule Litschau as reflected in the legacy treatises of the 1st half of the 18th century (dissertation at the University of Vienna, 2020, 4 volumes).
  • Stefan René Buzanich: Reformation and Counter-Reformation and the importance of the brotherhood of the poor and souls in the rule Litschau. In: The Waldviertel . No. 4, 2017, New Series 66, pp. 432–439.
  • Alois Eggerth: Church and Parish Litschau. In: Kath. Pfarramt Litschau (ed.): 500 years of the Litschau St. Michael parish church (Litschau 1978) pp. 19–38.

Web links

Commons : Parish Church Litschau  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stefan René Buzanich: Reformation and Counter-Reformation and the meaning of the brotherhood of the poor and souls in the rule Litschau . In: The Waldviertel 4/2017 . S. 433-437 .
  2. ↑ Stefan René Buzanich: Reformation and Counter-Reformation and the meaning of the brotherhood of the poor and souls in the rule Litschau . In: The Waldviertel 4/2017 . S. 437-439 .
  3. ↑ Stefan René Buzanich: The lifeworld of the village subjects of the Kuefstein rule Litschau as reflected in the legacy treatises of the 1st half of the 18th century (dissertation at the University of Vienna, 2020, 4 volumes). S. 211 f .
  4. ↑ Stefan René Buzanich: The lifeworld of the village subjects of the Kuefstein rule Litschau as reflected in the legacy treatises of the 1st half of the 18th century (dissertation at the University of Vienna, 2020, 4 volumes). S. 212 .
  5. ↑ Baptism, marriage and death records 1651–1708, Litschau parish archives 01,2,3 / 01 . S. 1 and 16 (christening part) .
  6. ↑ Baptism, marriage and death records 1651–1708, Litschau parish archives 01,2,3 / 01 . S. 25 and 47 (christening part) .
  7. ↑ Baptism, marriage and death records 1651–1708, Litschau parish archives 01,2,3 / 01 . S. 15 (death part) .
  8. ↑ Baptism, marriage and death records 1651–1708, Litschau parish archives 01,2,3 / 01 . S. 49 and 50 (christening part) .
  9. ↑ Baptism, marriage and death records 1651–1708, Litschau parish archives 01,2,3 / 01 . S. 66 (christening part) .
  10. ↑ Baptism, marriage and death records 1651–1708, Litschau parish archives 01,2,3 / 01 . S. 80 (christening part) .
  11. ↑ Baptism, marriage and death records 1651–1708, Litschau parish archives 01,2,3 / 01 . S. 142 (baptismal part) .
  12. ↑ Baptismal register 1672–1724, Litschau parish archive 01/02 . S. Flyleaf .
  13. ↑ Baptismal register 1672–1724, Litschau parish archive 01/02 . S. 108 .
  14. ↑ Stefan René Buzanich: The lifeworld of the village subjects of the Kuefstein rule Litschau as reflected in the legacy treatises of the 1st half of the 18th century (dissertation at the University of Vienna, 2020, 4 volumes) . S. 302 .
  15. ↑ Stefan René Buzanich: The lifeworld of the village subjects of the Kuefstein rule Litschau as reflected in the legacy treatises of the 1st half of the 18th century (dissertation at the University of Vienna, 2020, 4 volumes) . S. 302 .
  16. ↑ Stefan René Buzanich: The lifeworld of the village subjects of the Kuefstein rule Litschau as reflected in the legacy treatises of the 1st half of the 18th century (dissertation at the University of Vienna, 2020, 4 volumes) . S. 302 .
  17. ↑ Stefan René Buzanich: The lifeworld of the village subjects of the Kuefstein rule Litschau as reflected in the legacy treatises of the 1st half of the 18th century (dissertation at the University of Vienna, 2020, 4 volumes) . S. 302 .
  18. ↑ Stefan René Buzanich: The lifeworld of the village subjects of the Kuefstein rule Litschau as reflected in the legacy treatises of the 1st half of the 18th century (dissertation at the University of Vienna, 2020, 4 volumes) . S. 302 .
  19. ↑ Stefan René Buzanich: The lifeworld of the village subjects of the Kuefstein rule Litschau as reflected in the legacy treatises of the 1st half of the 18th century (dissertation at the University of Vienna, 2020, 4 volumes) . S. 302 .
  20. ↑ Stefan René Buzanich: The lifeworld of the village subjects of the Kuefstein rule Litschau as reflected in the legacy treatises of the 1st half of the 18th century (dissertation at the University of Vienna, 2020, 4 volumes) . S. 302 .

Coordinates: 48 ° 56 ′ 39.7 ″  N , 15 ° 2 ′ 46 ″  E