Parish church of Sankt Erhard in the Breitenau

Catholic pilgrimage and parish church hl. Erhard in Sankt Erhard in the Breitenau

The inside view of the church

portal

Gallery

The Roman Catholic pilgrimage and parish church of Sankt Erhard in der Breitenau is in the town of Sankt Erhard in der Breitenau in the market town of Breitenau am Hochlantsch in the Bruck-Mürzzuschlag district in Styria . The parish church of St. Erhard belongs to the deanery of Bruck an der Mur in the diocese of Graz-Seckau . The church and the former cemetery are under monument protection .

history

After 1200 there was a small Romanesque church, parts of which have been preserved in the nave walls. At the end of the 13th century to the middle of the 14th century, a new Gothic building took place. A pilgrimage church was mentioned in documents in 1396. In the baroque era, the church was expanded with additions. The church was elevated to a parish church in 1760. The exterior was restored in 1952 and the interior was restored in 1961/1962.

architecture

The church is a high quality early and high Gothic church building. The three-bay nave was supplemented at the end of the 13th century with an additional north aisle - later the Erhardi Chapel - with two square bays and a five-eighth end. The vaulting of the church was carried out uniformly with ribbed vaults on pyramid brackets or round and bundle services on chalice capitals. The keystones are decorated, especially in the choir. On the north side of the choir there is a square two-storey sacristy with a ribbed vault, with massive masonry, because it was originally planned as a tower. The sculptor from western Styria is since 1994 under the superstructure of the sacristy or the Leonhardskapelle Alfred Schlosser created Erhardibründl from Salla - marble .

Furnishing

The church has a rich baroque interior. Philipp Jakob Straub (1744/1746) built the high altar with a swinging column structure and gallery portals . Jakob Peyer (1792) created the tabernacle. The high altar picture St. Erhard shows the signature HG 1646.

organ

The organ until 1964

The organ is a special feature of the furnishings of the St. Erhard pilgrimage church. The case can be dated to 1682 or even earlier, the builder is unknown. It is clear that due to its dimensions, the housing was not intended for this church room, but for a much larger one. It is obvious that this is the collegiate church of the Vorau Abbey, as the organ builder Andreas Schwarz, who came from Tyrol, built a new organ there in 1726, but removed and stored the old case in order to use it again later.

An inscription on the Hauptwerkswindlage attests to the new building in the old, rebuilt case in 1722. The organ, initially built with a manual and pedal, was expanded in 1782 by Franz Xaver Schwarz, the grandson of Andreas Schwarz, with a Rückpositiv. The game board, which was initially housed in the main housing, was abandoned and a new game table was attached to the Rückpositiv. This organ existed until 1964, but in the end it was already in a desolate condition. Until then, the organ had the following disposition:

I main work (1722) CDEFGA – c 3 1. Principal 8th' 2. flute 8th' 3. Copel 8th' 4th Octav 4 ′ 5. flute 4 ′ 6th Quint 3 ′ 7th Super octave 2 ′ 8th. Mixture III-IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 9. Cimbel II 1'

II Rückpositiv (1782 supplemented) CDEFGA – c 3 13. Copel 8th' 14th Whistle 4 ′ 15th Principal 2 ′

Pedal (1722) CDEFGA – a 0 10. Sub-bass II 16 ′ + 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 11. Octave bass II 8 ′ + 4 ′ 12. Octave II 4 ′ + 2 ′

• Coupling : II / I sliding coupling

The organ since 1964

In 1964 the organ was significantly rebuilt by the organ builders Krenn brothers (Graz). All metal pipes as well as the back positive drawer with attached gaming table have been removed and are not preserved. The four missing semitones of the lower octave of the main work were added, the Rückpositiv drawer with a new console attached. All metal pipes were renewed. These renovations made the organ one of the most important baroque organs of the time, as can be seen from two recordings and radio broadcasts from St. Erhard. The condition of the organ has deteriorated noticeably in recent years. In 2018 it was cleaned and technically repaired by a Slovenian organ builder.

I main work C – c 3 1. Principal 8th' 2. Dumped 8th' 3. Willow pipe 8th' 4th Octav 4 ′ 5. flute 4 ′ 6th Fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 7th Super octave 2 ′ 8th. Mixture III-IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 9. empty

II Rückpositiv C – c 3 10. Copula 8th' 11. Principal 4 ′ 12. Double flute 4 ′ 13. Octav 2 ′ 14th Zimbel III 1' 15th Krummhorn 8th'

Pedal C – d 1 16. Sub-bass 16 ′ 17th Principal bass 8th' 18th Intoxication III 4 ′ 19th Octave bass 4 ′ (Deduction from 18) 20th bassoon 16 ′

• Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P as steps
• Playing aids : Mixture on / off for Hauptwerk

literature

• The art monuments of Austria. Dehio Steiermark (excluding Graz) 1982 . St. Erhard in the Breitenau, municipality of Breitenau near Mixnitz, pilgrimage and parish church, pp. 421–423.

Web links

Commons : Parish Church of Sankt Erhard in der Breitenau  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gertrude Vanek: The West Styrian sculptor Alfred Schlosser. Notes on the iconography of a popular visual world of the present. Diploma thesis at the Institute for Folklore of the Karl-Franzens-University Graz 1998, pp. 55–58.
2. ↑ Information on the organ  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

Coordinates: 47 ° 23 '10.4 "  N , 15 ° 27' 16.8"  E