Parish Church of St. Nikolaus (Waltenschwil)

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Parish Church of St. Nicholas

The parish church of St. Nikolaus is the Roman Catholic parish church of Waltenschwil in the canton of Aargau . The classicist- style building was built in the 1830s and replaced a chapel built in the early 16th century.

history

For centuries Waltenschwil was part of the Boswil parish , whose collator was the Muri monastery . In 1516, the Nikolauskapelle was built on the right bank of the Bünz . In 1670 Abbot Hieronymus Troger made a donation for the renovation of the chapel, in 1746 Prince Abbot Gerold Haimb consecrated a new altar. Due to the increasing lack of space, the chapel had to be expanded in 1778/79, the cost was almost 3000 guilders . Ten years later, the altar was replaced again for 869 guilders. 1800 Waltenschwil was separated from Boswil and raised to an independent parish, whereupon Ludwig von Roll made two side altars from theCastle chapel in Hilfikon .

The municipal council first had plans for a new church built in 1824. In 1835, a piece of land near the opposite Bünzufer was acquired for this purpose. Johann Keusch from Boswil, who was planning a baroque structure, was awarded the contract to build the church. The building commission of the canton of Aargau, which had been the new Kollator since 1825, preferred a building in the classical style and awarded the entire contract to Fidel Obrist from Rheinfelden . On June 6, 1839, the church was consecrated by Joseph Anton Salzmann , the Bishop of Basel . The Hermetschwil master builder Josef Messmer converted the no longer needed chapel into a school house.

Building

The east- facing hall church consists of a rectangular nave and an adjoining arched choir , which lie under a common ridge and are connected to one another by concave curves. Pilaster strips with fighters on narrow plinths frame the edges. The slender bell tower with a pointed helmet rises above the west facade , with the red clapboard forming a striking contrast to the white and gray walls. The four church bells were made in 1838 by the Aarau foundry H. Rüetschi . Three basket arches lead into the vestibule, above which there are three niches on the west facade, each with a figure from the late 17th century. They represent Nicholas of Myra , the Salvator and an unknown saint.

Slender Ionic pilasters divide the interior into five bays . They have a barrel vault with a flat middle section. Tuscan columns made of stucco marble support two galleries at the entrance yoke . The choir is not divided and has a flat roof, the sacristy is located behind the high altar. The choir windows are decorated with stucco . The altars, the baptismal font and the pulpit (accessible from the choir via a bridge) are made of gray and black stucco marble . Two figures flank the high altar, they represent the Saints Nicholas and Pancras .

literature

  • Georg Germann: The art monuments of the canton Aargau . Ed .: Society for Swiss Art History . Volume V, Muri District. Birkhäuser, Basel 1967, p. 508-514 .

Web links

Coordinates: 47 ° 20 '2.2 "  N , 8 ° 18' 7.9"  E ; CH1903:  six hundred and sixty-five thousand two hundred and seventy  /  242924