Parish Church of the Birth of Mary (Sins)
The Parish Church of the Birth of the Virgin Mary is the Roman Catholic parish church of Sins in the canton of Aargau . The baroque building was built in the 1740s, with the base of the tower dating from the late 15th century. The church stands a little higher on a step north of the village center, next to the parish hall . In 1712 the church was the scene of the Battle of Sins during the Second Villmerger War .
history
The parish of Sins has existed since at least 1245, whereas the first mention of the patronage of Our Lady goes back to 1336. At the beginning, Kollator was owned by the Counts of Thierstein , and in 1422 it came to Engelberg Monastery . Monks from Engelberg looked after the parish from 1521 to 1849, they ceded the collature in 1866. In the first centuries the parish of Sins was significantly larger than it is today: Auw split off in 1638, Abtwil followed in 1748 and finally Mühlau in 1878 .
In 1493 a new building was built, of which the sacrament house has been preserved. In 1600 the church was rebuilt and enlarged. A master builder by the name of Rinderli raised the church tower by two stories in 1628 , and ten years later it had to be repaired after a lightning strike. During the Second Villmerger War , the Sins battle broke out on July 20, 1712 : Retreating troops from Reformed Bern withdrew behind the walls of the church hill and defended themselves against the Catholic Central Switzerland. Finally, numerous Bernese holed up in the church until they were overwhelmed. The battle claimed 100 dead on the Bernese side and 400 dead on the central Swiss side.
In the winter of 1744/45, the church members and Engelberg Monastery had different opinions as to whether the church was in disrepair, whereupon four different foremen issued reports. Three of them recommended a new building. Master mason Paul Rey from Muri was commissioned to build the nave , while Niklaus Hurschler from Engelberg was responsible for the choir . Construction work was completed in 1748, but the church was not consecrated until 1753. In 1795, builder Franz Joseph Rey from Muri extended the church by one yoke to the west. In 1829 the church received new altars and a new pulpit on the occasion of the relic of the catacomb saint Felix.
Interior renovations took place in 1869–1871 and 1906, and in 1907 a new high altar was inaugurated. Extensive exterior and interior renovations took place between 1964 and 1967; the sacristy was expanded and a new organ gallery was built. Another exterior renovation took place between 1997 and 1999.
Building
The baroque hall church has a nave five axes long under a gable roof . At the eastern end there is a small roof turret . The retracted choir shares the eaves line with the nave and not the ridge line as is usual. To the south of the choir is the sacristy with a pent roof . The main portal with its delicate frame profile is protected by a vestibule, the three groined vaults of which rest on four Tuscan columns and four pilasters . In the gable niche of the west facade there is a stone statue of Our Lady. Belt cornices divide the church tower on the north side of the choir into five floors; four arched windows with four-part masserk adorn the bell storey. Above that, four clock gables surround the eight-sided pointed helmet . In 1876 the Aarau foundry H. Rüetschi manufactured the six bells.
Inside, fluted Corinthian pairs of pilasters divide the hall into five bays ; the pilasters also support the flat barrel vault . There are five arched windows on both sides of the hall . The ceiling of the nave and choir are decorated with stucco by an unknown artist. The ceiling paintings come from Josef Anton Mesmer . They depict the adoration of the kings, the institution of the Lord's Supper and the adoration of the shepherds. The altars are made of black and gray stucco marble with gilding. The high altar, made by the brothers Michael and Jodok Huttle, is flanked by figures of the apostles Peter and Paul, who are considered to be the most important examples of classical altar sculpture in Freiamt . There are two side altars in the corners of the nave. The font is made of white marble.
literature
- Georg Germann: The art monuments of the canton Aargau . Ed .: Society for Swiss Art History . Volume V, Muri District. Birkhäuser, Basel 1967, p. 471-485 .
Web links
- Website of the parish of Sins
- Parish Church of the Birth of Mary (Sins) in the inventory of the canton Aargau
Individual evidence
- ^ Anton Wohler: Sins (AG). In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz ., Accessed on October 21, 2012.
- ^ Franz Xaver Rohner: Battle of Sins / July 20, 1712. (PDF; 986 kB) Sins parish, accessed on October 21, 2012 .
Coordinates: 47 ° 11 '40.4 " N , 8 ° 23' 43.4" E ; CH1903: 672503 / 227509