Parish Church of St. Leonhard (Wohlen)
The parish church of St. Leonhard is the Roman Catholic parish church in Wohlen in the Swiss canton of Aargau . It is located in the center of the village at the highest point of a moraine protruding into the plain . Due to its exposed location, it towers over many buildings in the area and is therefore a landmark of the place. The parish church is dedicated to Saint Leonard of Limoges and dates back to the 12th century. It was rebuilt in 1488, also in 1532 after a short reformatory phase. The building that exists today was built between 1804 and 1807. It is a hall church in the early classical style.
Parish history
Wohlen was already a major part of the population in the early Middle Ages. However, since no powerful supraregional landlord lived here, the village remained without its own church for centuries. Wohlen was divided between the parishes of Niederwil and Göslikon , a farmstead was subordinate to the parish of Villmergen . The Wohler Church did not come into being until the middle of the 12th century when the Lords of Wolen, ministerials of the Habsburgs , tried to secure their property. The first mention of this church, which was consecrated to Saint Stephen , was made in 1185 in a document from the Schänis monastery . The parish of Wohlen only included those farms that belonged to the Lords of Wolen and their heirs. Around 1400, the church set came into the possession of the Muri monastery .
In 1477 Leonhard von Limoges , the patron saint of cattle, was appointed patron of the church in place of Stephanus . Johannes Hagnauer , the abbot of Muri, had the dilapidated church torn down in 1488 and a new building built on the same site. The residents found it increasingly annoying that the most populous village of the Free Offices was divided into several parishes. In 1518, the households in Göslikon that were required to be parishioners sent a petition to Antonio Pucci , the papal nuncio . Through his mediation, a transfer to the parish of Wohlen was achieved for a small financial compensation. In the same year the collators of the parish Niederwil accepted a reallocation of the households under them under the same conditions.
From 1523 the Reformation found more and more supporters in the lower free offices. On May 23, 1529, the parish officially joined the new doctrine, the following day the church was badly affected by the iconoclasm . After the defeat of the Reformed towns in the Second Kappel War , Wohlen was forcibly re-Catholicized in 1531 under the conditions of the Second Kappel Peace . Abbot Laurentius von Heidegg let the deconsecrated church go down with the exception of the tower, a new building was built by October 1532. In 1613 the tower was given a new helmet , and in 1662 the high altar was renovated . In 1692/93 the choir was redesigned. The church tower received a new gable roof in 1756 and a clock in 1786/88 (replaced in 1828).
The fall of the old rulership structures at the end of the 18th century brought changes for Wohlen as well. A law passed in 1804 by the newly formed canton of Aargau enabled the parish to buy itself free from the obligation to tithe . The Muri monastery initially remained in the possession of the parsonage and barn, and it continued to provide the pastor and pay him. After the forced abolition of the monastery in January 1841, its rights and obligations fell to the canton. The property was administered by the state until 1906 and then paid out to the parish.
Building history
In December 1803 the parish decided unanimously to replace the too small church with a larger new building. For this purpose it set up a building commission. On February 29, 1804, the municipal assembly decided on that of the renowned architect Niklaus Purtschert from Lucerne from three submitted drafts . The nave was placed across the plan of the old church and was now facing south instead of east. The church tower from 1488 was preserved. The outdoor work was completed in November 1807, the inauguration took place on August 9, 1808.
In 1880 the tower was given its current shape when the gable roof was replaced by a lantern hood . In 1890 the interior was completely renovated; The organ from 1821 was also replaced by a new model from Orgelbau Kuhn AG from Männedorf . During the second extensive interior renovation in 1921, the room was decorated with neo-baroque elements, which were removed again in 1972. Also in 1972 a new organ was installed by Mathis Orgelbau AG from Näfels . Exterior renovations took place in 1958, 1972 and 1996/97, another interior renovation also in 1996/97.
Church building
The 53 meter long and 20.5 meter wide hall church is located on a terrace that is reinforced on its north and east side and surrounded by a balustrade . This results in a clear demarcation from the surrounding, lower-lying terrain. A semicircular outside staircase with 21 steps leading to the main entrance enhances the representative effect. The five-bay nave adjoins the short vestibule . Two flat round niches lead to the retracted choir. Narrow sacristies protrude on both sides of the choir . The nave is 13 meters high, and a ten-meter high, gently sloping gable roof spans over it .
Tuscan pilasters divide the south-facing main facade into three axes. A figurine niche with a larger than life statue of Salvator and a gilded Christogram in a walled-in oculus highlight the central axis. Above it is a triangular pediment structured with pilasters with a statue of the Virgin Mary in the square central field. Pilaster strips and arched windows structure the side facades. The church tower with a lantern dome attached to the end of the choir, the only remnant of the old church, is angled slightly to the east. At six meters wide and 42 meters high, it looks a bit narrow compared to the rest of the church.
The ceiling frescoes painted by Leonhard Isler show the church patron Leonhard in the nave, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit and the stoning of Stephen, in the choir the adoration of the Magi . The classicistic high altar , made by painter Felix Hediger and master carpenter Joseph Janser, consists of a two-story retable between two staggered pairs of Corinthian columns. The altarpiece by Xaver Hecht depicts a crucifixion scene, the gilded tabernacle is dome-shaped. The side figures of the high altar represent Saints Leonhard and Stephanus. The side altars are kept in the Louis-seize style; the one on the gospel page shows Our Lady, the one on the epistle page shows Saints Sebastian and Leonhard. The goblet-shaped font in the Empire style dates from 1844.
Next to the church is the rectory built in 1759 . The simple three-storey plastered building with a curved hipped roof received an extension on its west side in 1838. In 1961/62 the building was enlarged and renovated in keeping with the style. Corner pilaster strips and arched windows structure the symmetrical fronts.
literature
- Anne-Marie Dubler , Jean-Jacques Siegrist : Wohlen - History of law, economy and population of an early industrialized community in Aargau . In: Argovia, annual journal of the Historical Society of the Canton of Aargau . tape 86 . Verlag Sauerländer, Aarau 1975, ISBN 3-7941-1367-5 .
- Peter Felder: The art monuments of the canton of Aargau . Ed .: Society for Swiss Art History . Volume IV, Bremgarten district. Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel 1967, ISBN 3-906131-07-6 .
- Peter Felder: Wohlen. Parish Church of St. Leonhard. (Swiss Art Guide, No. 150). Ed. Society for Swiss Art History GSK. Bern 1974, ISBN 978-3-85782-150-9 .
Web links
- Roman Catholic parish of Wohlen
- Parish church St. Leonhard (Wohlen) in the monument protection inventory of the canton Aargau