Parish Church Schwarzach (Vorarlberg)
The Roman Catholic parish church of Schwarzach is in the center of the community of Schwarzach in Vorarlberg . It is consecrated to Saint Sebastian and belongs to the Bregenz Dean's Office in the Feldkirch diocese . The building is a listed building . The patronage will be celebrated on January 20th.
The church is a classicist stone building in neo-Gothic style that is free-standing on all sides and dominates the center of Schwarzach far and wide. The choir is oriented to the northwest. The only tower is attached to the north of the nave / choir.
Location description
Schwarzach has long been located on the traffic route from Dornbirn or from Bregenz to the Bregenz Forest via Alberschwende and on Hofsteigstraße (L3). The settlement also benefited from this. In addition to the important infrastructure, such as B. inns and stacking places, also the imposing parish church made of the locally occurring natural sandstone is located. Originally there was only one chapel, which was expanded and led to the construction of today's parish church from 1901 to 1903.
history
The parish of Schwarzach originally belonged to the parish of Bregenz in pastoral care, was assigned to the Alberschwende parish in 1180 and to the Wolfurt parish in 1512, which was raised to a parish that year. For centuries the Schwarzach river formed the parish boundary. The side of the parish facing Wolfurt was largely cared for by the Wolfurt parish (Ingrüne and Obertellenmoos by the Bildstein parish), the side of the parish facing Dornbirn above the Schwarzach was cared for by the Dornbirn-Haselstauden parish .
In the 13th century there was a castle chapel in the residence of the “nobles of Schwarzach”, which was destroyed at the beginning of the 15th century in the course of the Appenzell Wars. From 1468 there was a chapel on today's cemetery area, which was consecrated to Saint Sebastian , Saint Roch and Saint Bartholomä , including chaplaincy (foundation deed of December 19, 1468 in the Vorarlberg State Archives ) with a size of around 4 × 2 meters.
The chapel was expanded in the 17th century and another enlarged chapel was built later. The chaplaincy, however, went under during the century. Towards the end of the 18th century there were strong efforts to establish a parish of our own in Schwarzach, but a pastoral chaplaincy with investiture was only set up in 1782. In 1802 the survey for expositur took place .
In 1803 the chapel was demolished and - largely in forced service - a parish church was built for around 200 believers measuring 16.5 × 10.5 meters and inaugurated on October 23, 1803 by the city pastor Steger from Bregenz . In 1821 an organ with eight registers was bought by Franz Fidel Haas from Möggers . In 1885 an organ by Anton Behmann was installed.
In 1821 a new parish elevation was sought, which was successful and was announced in October 1824. This also ended the pastoral division of the community into three parts. In 1876 a building fund was set up for the construction of a new parish church and on May 22, 1897, a citizens' meeting decided to build the new church opposite the old church on the so-called "Engelwirt property". In 1898 master builder Serfain Pümpel from Feldkirch was commissioned to draw up the first plans, in 1899 master builder Peter Huter from Innsbruck was commissioned to work out detailed plans. These provided for a church in the early Gothic style. Because of the high construction costs for this, master builder Josef Kröner from Feldkirch was commissioned to work out a more cost-effective variant, which was then also implemented.
The groundbreaking was on April 29, 1901, on June 23, 1901 the foundation stone was laid by Bishop Johann Zobl and on October 18, 1903, the benediction by Dean Georg Prutscher took place and the first service was held (church consecration festival). The inauguration took place on May 22, 1905 by Prince Bishop Josef Altweisel . The total construction costs amounted to 170,000 crowns (excluding the costs for the building site made available by the municipality).
In 1963/64 a new parsonage was built , and in 1968 a funeral chapel was built (has since been demolished again). In 1976/77 a major exterior renovation took place, during which the church received its present-day, unplastered appearance, in which the natural stones underneath were used as a design element. An extensive interior renovation took place from 1988 to 1990.
Christian Hiller (1880–1951), Austrian politician and clergyman, served as a parish assistant in Schwarzach in 1906 and 1907.
architecture
The neo-Gothic building at its current location was built by Josef Kröner according to a plan by Peter Huter. The nave of the church is 21.3 meters wide, 25 meters high and with the choir, the church is 47 meters long. The ground level is about 435 m above sea level. A. The vault span is 11 meters. There are 650 seats in the church .
The church itself is designed in the classical style as a nave with a steep pitched roof and large, dominating and distinctive pointed arched windows with colored glazing.
The choir was built structurally lower and attached to the nave and is architecturally clearly delimited by the pointed arched choir arch (with an emblem with the Easter lamb, cross flag and chalice at the apex ) (inscription: Mors tua vita nostra ). The symbols of the Seven Sacraments are depicted in the choir arch reveal.
Above the main portal made of sandstone to the south-east there is an Eye of Providence and above it a rosette window made of sandstone (3.5 m diameter) with ornaments and St. Cecilia . The access to the church is flanked by two stair towers with conical roofs.
In the south there is a cubic war memorial (about 434 m above sea level ) with a stylized cross by Emil Gehrer . The old war memorial ( obelisk ) by Albert Bechtold (1885–1965) was removed.
Choir
The choir is 11.5 meters long, 9 meters wide and 13 meters high and is flanked by side altars and separated from the nave by three sandstone steps . There used to be only one choir level. This was expanded during the renovation from 1988 to 1990 and now serves as one of the benches in the newly created lower church. This choir step was a particular pride of the craftsmen, " Schlifar ", and was ten meters long in one piece.
Since the renovation, the color of the floor of the choir hardly differs from that of the nave.
Lower church
A special feature of this church is the newly created lower church on the occasion of the renovation from 1988 to 1990 at the suggestion of master builder Walter Hauser, Alberschwende, which is accessible from the main room and is used for smaller services and prayer. The Way of the Cross of the lower church was created by Rudolf Zündel in 1986. The ten hand-colored etchings are arranged in a cross shape. Altar and ambo were made by Anton Moosbrugger from the regionally occurring Schwarzachtobler sandstone . The 15th century Madonna figure located here is a donation from Franzi Strobl, the depiction of Anna selbdritt (early 16th century) is a donation from Anna Simma. The painting Peace Christ is by Hans Strobl (unsigned).
Furnishing
The main altar and the side altars were installed in 1906, made by the German wood sculptor Moriz Schlachter (1852–1931) from Ravensburg or his school (as well as various figures). The neo-Gothic main altar inserted between the struts is divided into three main horizontal levels. On the lowest level there is a relief in the middle of the tabernacle , left and right. The left relief shows the youth of Naïn with the biblical story of the raising of the dead ( Luke Gospel ) and the right relief shows the washing of Christ's feet by Mary Magdalene . A white pelican is shown above the tabernacle as a symbol of Jesus Christ , feeding his young. Below the tabernacle, two angels hold tapes with the inscription: Ecce panis and Angelorum . In the middle level there is the patron saint of the church, St. Sebastian, to the left of St. Gebhard (patron saint of Vorarlberg) and on the right St. Martin . On the top level ( sprinkling ) there is a crucifix , on the left the Mother of God and on the right John and two angels.
Left and right in front of the choir arch are two side altars. The left side altar is St. Dedicated to Mary , the right one to St. Joseph . Both side altars are made in the same style as the main altar and are divided into three main horizontal levels. The left side altar shows a Pietà in the predella , the Mother of God with child in the middle level, and probably St. Anna or St. Clare and on the right St. Elisabeth. The predella of the Joseph altar on the right shows Jesus teaching, accompanied by his parents (Mary with distaff , Joseph doing carpentry work on a workbench ). The middle level shows the dying Joseph in the center, who, accompanied by Mary, receives the consecration of Christ. There are two angels to the left and right. The left carries a scroll with the inscription: St. Joseph ora pro nobis , the right the saint's attribute , the lily stem. In the center of the burst is St. Josef, this time with a model of the parish church in Schwarzach and his saint attribute. Two figures kneel to the left and right, representing the clerical (with tiara and coat of arms of Schwarzach) and the secular (with crown and sword).
The frescoes made in 1924 are by Anton Marte (1874–1929), Austrian church painter and restorer.
The pews come from a carpenter in Schwarzach and are simply made of fir wood. In the course of the renovation, the pews were adapted.
Pulpit, choir stalls and confessionals
The pulpit built by Alois Reich , the choir stalls, stations of the cross and the communion bench were installed in 1911. The neo-Gothic style is also retained in the pulpit, choir stalls, stations of the cross and confessionals. The reliefs of the pulpit show four scenes: the twelve year old Jesus in the temple , Christ and the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well , the Sermon on the Mount and Christ before the high priest . The left confessional has reliefs of Mary Magdalene, the right one of Simon Petrus .
Gallery and organ
On the occasion of the renovation from 1988 to 1990, the organ built in 1885 by Anton Behmann with eight registers was replaced by an organ from Rieger (inaugurated in 1995). The Behmann organ was already in use in the previous church. Wunibald Briem (1841-1912), music teacher at the Stella Matutina grammar school in Feldkirch and singing teacher at the kk grammar school, prepared a report on the newly built or renovated organs in Rankweil, Mehrerau, Tosters, Lauterach, Schwarzach, Thal, Braz, Eichenberg, Brand, Ludesch and Schellenberg (Principality of Liechtenstein).
There are seven coats of arms on the stone gallery: Bregenz , Schwarzach, the old Benedictine monastery Mehrerau , from Pope Pius XI. , Bishop Sigismund Waitz , the state of Vorarlberg and the community of Wolfurt .
Tower and bells
The square , three-storey tower attached to the north of the nave / choir is 64 meters high, the third highest in Vorarlberg, has a pointed gable helmet and has four pointed arch sound openings in Gothic style with tracery on the top floor. It is not open to the public.
Six new bronze bells were raised in the tower in 1904. These had to be given in during the First World War and were melted down for war purposes. Then steel bells from Böhler from Kapfenberg were raised.
graveyard
The cemetery is directly opposite the main portal of the parish church to the southeast with traditional earth graves and several urn walls. From 1868, the cemetery complex was significantly expanded and arcades were built. An expansion also took place in 1964 when the old rectory was demolished. At the entrance to the cemetery there was a relief by Emmerich Kerle (now removed). It was dated 1968 and showed St. George .
literature
- St. Sebastian - Schwarzach , Regensburg 2003, Schnell Art Guide No. 2539, Schnell + Steiner Verlag, ISBN 3-7954-6469-2
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Vorarlberg - immovable and archaeological monuments under monument protection. ( Memento from June 26, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) . Federal Monuments Office , as of June 21, 2016 (PDF)., ID: 18324
- ↑ St. Sebastian - Schwarzach , Schnell Kunstführer No. 2539, p. 4.
- ↑ Historical data from: Community of Schwarzach (ed.), " Heimat Schwarzach ", self-published by the community of Schwarzach, Schwarzach 1990, p. 94 ff. Cited.
- ↑ St. Sebastian - Schwarzach , Schnell Kunstführer No. 2539, p. 15.
- ↑ St. Sebastian - Schwarzach , Schnell Kunstführer No. 2539, p. 10.
- ↑ St. Sebastian - Schwarzach , Schnell Art Guide No. 2539, p. 11.
- ↑ St. Sebastian - Schwarzach , Schnell Art Guide No. 2539, p. 13.
- ↑ St. Sebastian - Schwarzach , Schnell Art Guide No. 2539, p. 14.
- ↑ St. Sebastian - Schwarzach , Schnell Kunstführer No. 2539, pp. 4 and 6.
Coordinates: 47 ° 26 ′ 42.6 " N , 9 ° 45 ′ 45.7" E