Parish Church St. Martin (Schwyz)

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August 1st celebration in the main square
inside view
The parish church in the center of Schwyz
View from Herrengasse to the church portal

The Catholic parish church of St. Martin in Schwyz in the canton of Schwyz is a late baroque hall church. It is the seventh church building in the center and is a listed building.

history

The church patron of Schwyz is St. Martin of Tours . As such, he also became the patron saint of the state of Schwyz and adorned its seal of status and coins until the early modern era. His patronage on Martin's Day (November 11th) is a public holiday in the Schwyz community. In the first half of the 8th century, when the first church was built in Schwyz, Martin was the patron of the Franconian Empire .

The first church was followed by the second Ottonian church around 1000, which was possibly destroyed by an earthquake in 1117 . The third church in the same place was consecrated in 1122. It was a Romanesque building. A much larger fourth church followed in the 15th century.

The Gothic church was a three-aisled hall church. The substructure of the tower, which dates from 1481, still exists. In the village fire of 1642, the church and the neighboring town hall were destroyed and rebuilt in a similar form.

Vault painting

In 1762 the Hermit monastery builder Kaspar Braun noted that the church was dilapidated and too small. Jakob Singer and his younger brother Johann Anton Singer took over the new building after the client had signed a contract with them for 20,000 guilders in 1763. The new church, which was built between 1769 and 1774, has a monumental facade both towards the main square and at the main portal to the Herrengasse. The architecture is considered to be late baroque with classical elements.

A memorial stone on the southern church wall commemorates Landammann Alois von Reding (1765–1818).

"Kerchel"

The Kerchel (left) and the Heiligkreuzkapelle with the church in the background

On the former cemetery , which once stretched around the church in the church district, the ossuary , known as Kerchel (from Latin carcer for enclosure) in the Altes Land Schwyz , forms the north-eastern end. The walls of the church district no longer stand. The two-storey Schwyzer Kerchel was rebuilt from 1518 to 1520 over a somewhat smaller predecessor building. The late Gothic building had two functions: as a repository of human bones and as a mess chapel, consecrated to the Archangel Michael , the guardian of paradise, soul weigher and soul companion. The ossuary on the ground floor has three doors and could be passed through during processions . The chapel on the upper floor could be reached via two flights of stairs. It is around twice as large as the ossuary below.

Holy Cross Chapel

After the village fire on Easter Vigil in 1642, the smaller Heiliggeistkapelle was built in the cemetery. Witness Anastasius Kyd had it built in 1645. Inside there is a late Gothic crucifix that emerged unscathed from the fire. It is flanked by the assistant figures Maria and Johannes in baroque style. At the cross, Maria Magdalena kneels next to a box with a cross relic . In the 18th century, angels were added with the tools of passion .

literature

  • Markus Riek, Markus Bamert: Masterpieces in the Canton of Schwyz, Vol. 1: From the early days to the Counter Reformation , Benteli, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-7165-1354-7 .
  • Markus Riek, Markus Bamert: Masterpieces in the Canton of Schwyz, Vol. 2: From the Baroque to the Present , Benteli, Zurich 2006, ISBN 3-7165-1415-2 .

Web links

Commons : St. Martin (Schwyz)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Heiligkreuzkapelle  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A – Objects SZ 2018 . Swiss inventory of cultural assets of national importance. In: babs.admin.ch / kulturgueterschutz.ch. Federal Office for Civil Protection FOCP - Department of Cultural Property Protection, January 1, 2018, accessed on December 26, 2017 (PDF; 62 kB, 6 pages, updated annually, no changes for 2018).
  2. ↑ Erwin Horat: A martial saint with a sense of social responsibility. St. Martin auf Schwyzer Staatsaltertümern , in: Meisterwerke, Vol. 1 , pp. 192–195.
  3. ^ Erwin Horat: Schwyz (community). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . January 22, 2018 , accessed July 10, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b c St. Martin Parish Church - Schwyz , kirchgemeinde-schwyz.ch, accessed on April 15, 2017.
  5. ↑ Heinz Horat: The monument in the village. The parish church of St. Martin in Schwyz , in: Meisterwerke, vol. 2 , pp. 182-185.
  6. ↑ Heinz Horat: Architecture for the dead. The Kerchel in Schwyz and other ossuaries. In: Meisterwerke, Vol. 1 , pp. 100-103.
  7. ↑ Markus Bamert: The great Lord God of stones. The Gothic crucifixion group in the baroque chapel , in: Meisterwerke, vol. 1 , p. 108f.

Coordinates: 47 ° 1 '16.6 "  N , 8 ° 39' 12.7"  E ; CH1903:  six hundred ninety-two thousand three hundred and sixty  /  208517