Parish church Matrei in East Tyrol
The Roman Catholic Church of St. Alban in Matrei , with its 86 meter high tower, the biggest church in Tyrol . It was consecrated to St. Alban of Mainz . Despite the overall baroque impression, the church is architecturally at the turn from late baroque to early classicism .
history
Early parish history
After the Slavic Carantania came to the Duchy of Bavaria in the 8th century , East Tyrol was settled by Bavarian colonists, which went hand in hand with Christianization of the region. The Patriarchate Aquileia probably founded the original parish of Virgen , from which the later land dean of Virgen emerged and to which Matrei belonged in addition to the Defereggental and Kals. However, due to the provisions of the Reichstag of Aachen in 811 , the Matreis area came under the diocesan area of the Archdiocese of Salzburg . Matrei was probably raised to its own parish at this time, as it was later considered the original parish of Salzburg, which in addition to today's parish also included Mitteldorf , Huben and the Defereggental with the exception of St. Jakob . The oldest parish church in Matreis is said to have stood on the site of today's wayside shrine on Kreuzbichl, a folk priest was first mentioned in a document in 1162. A Romanesque building originally stood on the site of today's parish church, but it burned down around 1326 .
The Gothic parish church
After the Romanesque parish church was destroyed, it was rebuilt in Gothic style and consecrated with three altars in 1334. In 1536, Balthasar von Kötschach carried out repair work on the church. From the original building only the lower part of the tower (brick tuff cuboid) is preserved, which is divided into floors by grooved cornices. The parish church, like the tower on the entrance side today, had a Salzburg peculiarity. This was followed in an easterly direction by a five-bay nave about 19 meters long and 12 meters wide . This was followed by the four-bay presbytery (14 meters long, 8 meters wide), which was raised by five steps, and the sacristy was added to the south. To the north was the Ursulakapelle with the adjoining mortuary chapel. A gallery was located above the main entrance, a second was built in 1663 for the organ in the middle of the north wall of the nave. In 1740 there were five consecrated and two non-consecrated altars in the church . After the church was rebuilt, some of these passed into private ownership or were taken over into smaller chapels. A Gothic representation of St. Alban can be found today in the subsidiary church of St. Nicholas , the diocesan saints Rupert and Virgil (early 16th century) are in the chapel of All Saints in Field and a statue of the Madonna from the middle of the 14th century in Widum (earlier Chapel in Berg / Seinitzen).
The construction of the new parish church
Since the rectory had become very dilapidated in the 18th century , it was demolished between 1737 and 1741 and replaced by a new building after the archpriest's judgment and with a permit from Salzburg. The Matreians had to wait even longer for the parish church to be rebuilt. At that time it was not dilapidated, but it was much too small. On feast days, about half of the faithful had to attend the mass outdoors. When the order finally came from Salzburg to send in plans and cost estimates for the new building of the church, the chief building expert of the Archdiocese, Wolfgang Hagenauer , also submitted a plan. This envisaged an extension of the church through wall openings and gable roofs to the north and south and should give the church a floor plan in the shape of a cross. In addition to the court chamber painter Josef Adam Mölck , the Lienz master builder Thomas Mayr also presented a plan that envisaged a completely new construction of the parish church as a hall church with double the floor area. Mölck planned an approx. 35 meter long church which, with its three chapels, resembled a cloverleaf floor plan and provided a large choir in the central building. Mölck's design, which included his own lavish paintings, appealed to spiritual and secular personalities in Matrei, but the Salzburg decision-makers preferred Mayr's plan. Since the planned building was considered too big, Mayr and Hagenauer were commissioned to come to an agreement on the size and proportions and Mayr should submit a new plan. Hagenauer suggested building the church according to his plan with Mayr as master builder, but the church construction was finally started according to the plan adapted by Mayr. The construction management was also in the hands of Mayr, while Pastor Eder and carer Wolf Adam Lasser took over the building supervision. In 1771 the logging began. 20,000 guilders were estimated for the construction. Since the 8,000 guilders deposited by Matrei in Salzburg had been used by the archbishopric for other purposes, the start of construction was delayed until the money was available again. In 1777 the new building was finally started. In order to be able to continue holding services, the north and south walls were first raised next to the existing church. The services were later moved to St. Nicholas. The shell was already completed in autumn 1779. Because of the approaching winter, the services have now been postponed. The church was completed in 1783, but was not officially consecrated until October 28, 1789. The construction of the high altar and the two side altars began in 1805 and completed in 1807.
Church organization
Matrei forms its own deanery, to which in addition to the parish Matrei with the chaplaincy Huben also the Virgental (parishes Virgen and Prägraten ), the Defereggental (parishes St. Jakob , St. Veit and Hopfgarten ) as well as the Kalsertal (parish Kals ) belong.
Structure and facility
Building structure
In his church, Thomas Mayr applied Salzburg classicism , as embodied by Wolfgang Hagenauer, in his own way, by combining classicist elements such as the nave with a dome room based on the Baroque era . Classicist elements are particularly evident on the outer facade, which is characterized by pilasters of the same design with Ionic half-capitals . The main entrance of the church is on the western side and leads through the tower into the nave, which is divided into three bays by massive pillars with double pilasters and passageways. In the vertical direction, galleries between the pillars and a toothed cornice separate the space into three floors. The room is vaulted by a barrel vault with stitch caps. After the front arch (vaulted arch between the chancel and the nave), there is a room that is given a transept-like appearance due to the lack of galleries. The middle, square yoke is surmounted by a fresco-decorated dome, followed by narrow yokes with barrel vaults on the sides.
Frescoes and stucco
Originally, in the spirit of the Enlightenment , the Matreiians were forbidden to decorate the church with frescoes and stucco . However, the Matreier ignored this ban and commissioned the Brixen court painter Franz Anton Zeiller with the execution of the frescoes and Franz Graßmayr from Innsbruck with the stucco work. The work, which was completed by 1783, was kept secret from the Prince Archbishop for the time being. In the vault of the nave, Zeiller created the “miracle of the multiplication of bread” and in the four cartouches on the side two scenes from the martyrdom of St. Alban. He also created the large dome fresco with the depiction of “Admission of St. Alban among the saints of heaven ”as well as the four doctors of the church in the cartouches and in the choir the“ adoration of the name of Jesus ”by the heavenly spirits. Later Zeiller also supplied an altar sheet and 15 station pictures that were later lost. The artist immortalized himself on the left edge of the picture of the multiplication of bread. In 1784, Graßmayr still created the stucco work on the pulpit, while the carvings were made by matreier Michael Hueber.
Altars
The sculptor Petrus Schmid was originally commissioned with the execution of the high altar . The native of Zillertal, resident in Mittersill, made some statues, but froze to death when crossing the Felber Tauern in May 1787. The statues that were already completed were integrated into the later high altar. Neither marble or stucco was approved for the design that was now to be newly designed , only wood was allowed to be used. The turmoil of the coalition wars had prevented a more expensive project. The Bolzano painter and varnisher Anton Simeth finally executed the altar and handed it over in 1805, while the altarpiece "Adoration of the Shepherds" and the essay "St. Alban ”by the last Salzburg court painter Andreas Nesselthaler in 1807. For the depiction of the adoring shepherds in front of the crib, Nesselthaler used the picture “Nativity of Christ” by Anton Raphael Mengs as a template. The side altars were mainly designed by Michael Hueber, as was the organ case, which was set in white and gold in 1805. The organ itself, made by Johann Götz (Toblach), was built in 1782.
Further design
In the parish church of St. Alban there are also numerous works by the sculptor Johann Paterer and his workshop. After his return from Italy he created the statue of St. Sebastian (1738). Furthermore, a guardian angel in suspension, St. Anthony of Padua with angels and St. Joseph with child come from him . For the high altar he created the statues of Saints Peter and Paul and for the pulpit roof four angels and the good shepherd.
See also
literature
- Michael Forcher (Red.): Matrei in Osttirol. A parish book for the 700th anniversary of the first mention as market 1280–1980. Matrei 1980, 1996.
- Meinrad Pizzinini: East Tyrol. The Lienz district. His works of art, historical forms of life and settlement. Verlag St. Peter, Salzburg 1974, ISBN 3-900173-17-6
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Meinrad Pizzinini: Osttirol, p. 234
Coordinates: 47 ° 0 '3.6 " N , 12 ° 32" 26.7 " E