Prandtauerkirche
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The Prandtauerkirche is a Roman Catholic rectorate church in St. Pölten in Lower Austria. The church, consecrated to the patronage of Our Lady on Mount Carmel , belongs to the Deanery St. Pölten of the diocese of St. Pölten . The former monastery church of a Carmelite convent is a listed building .
history
The foundation of a monastery of Discalced Carmelites and the construction of an associated church is due to the charity of Maria Antonia Josepha Princess of Montecuccoli, b. Colloredo (1672–1738). She was widowed without children (after Leopold Philipp von Montecuccoli) and sealed the richly endowed foundation with a letter of April 8, 1707.
Construction began in 1707/1708 according to the plans of the Carmelite order architect, Martin Witwer. Probably at the intervention of the imperial family, a high-baroque revision of the plans was carried out with the sculptor and builder Matthias Steinl . The construction management was entrusted to the baroque master builder Jakob Prandtauer . On April 9, 1712, the first church, provisionally furnished with three wooden makeshift altars, was designated by the prelate of the St. Pölten Canons' Monastery. The next day the Carmelites entered the newly built monastery in a solemn procession. The completion of the church with the installation of a stone altar did not take place until the following years and it was not until June 10, 1725 that the church was inaugurated by the prince-bishop of Passau. In accordance with her will, the princess founder was buried in the crypt when she died in 1738.
In 1782 the monastery and church were abolished and in 1784 they were legally profaned . Some of the interior furnishings were brought to a Viennese depot, some were given away, some were auctioned, and some were given to poorer or newly founded Josephine parishes. The main altar came to the parish church of Tulln - St. Stephan, where it is still located today. The coffin of Princess Montecuccoli was transferred to the castle chapel of Walpersdorf. The monastery building served as a barracks until 1918, and since 1922 as the seat of various municipal offices. In 1934 the original condition of the church was restored with the architect Rudolf Wondracek and it was consecrated in 1935 . Since then she has been serving Catholic worship again. In 1964, ownership of the church building was also transferred to the diocese of St. Pölten, the former monastery building is still owned by the city today and houses the St. Polten city museum, among other things.
On the initiative of the church rectorate and the "Förderverein Kulturjuwel Prandtauerkirche", the coffin of Princess Montecuccoli was transferred back to the Prandtauerkirche from the Walpersdorf castle chapel and placed in a side niche on the right behind the main entrance in accordance with her will in 2017.
Between 2014 and 2020 the church received a new organ in stages.
architecture
The west-facing baroque church building has a strikingly curved east front, which characterizes the south-west corner of the town hall square . Above the window in the central axis are the coats of arms of the donor (Montecuccoli and Colloredo), which are held by two angels at the side, on the blasted segmented gable arch, towered over by the prince's hat and double-headed eagle. Above it is a floor with the statue of the church patron Mary of Mount Carmel. The church is divided into an entrance bay (with the organ gallery rebuilt in 1934), a two-bay nave with rounded corners towards the choir and gallery and a square choir room. The vault is a barrel vault structured by belt arches that rests on powerfully dimensioned wall pillars. In 1936 the memorial of the Infantry Regiment No. 49 "Freiherr von Hess" domiciled in St. Pölten was applied to the north facade.
Furnishing
The high altar as a columnar retable, built with Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt (1712), was transferred here from Harrach Castle in Aschach (Upper Austria) in 1961. The altar panel with the crucifixion of Christ from the first half of the 17th century was probably painted by Giuseppe Ribera, the extract picture of God the Father with the Holy Spirit Dove was painted by Johann Georg Schmidt (1721). The inscription panel names Franciscus Antonius Harrach , Prince Archbishop of Salzburg. The neo-baroque pulpit bears parapet figures of the evangelists and apostles by M. Reitstätter-Bolldorf and Adolf Treberer-Treberpurg (1949). A statue of Maria Immaculata was made in the first half of the 18th century. Four baroque images of the apostles show the apostles Peter, Judas Thaddäus, Paul and Matthew.
Until 2007 there was a mural in the chancel by the artists Manfred Stader and Edgar Müller based on the baroque style, which depicts the secular and spiritual representatives of the time, Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß , Julius Raab and Bishop Michael Memelauer , out of gratitude for the return of the church in 1934. The representation of Dollfuss in particular caused heated discussions. Bishop Klaus Küng then had the picture removed. It was replaced by a new altar wall design in 2009. The new picture in fresco technique was made by Mag. Andreas Gamerith, it shows the Karmelskapulier. In addition, the altar wall was divided into stucco.
The interior of the church is shaped in its entirety by the structural breaks in its history, it lacks a closed harmony between architecture and furnishings. Decorations in the style of the years after 1934 are mixed with the preserved building design of the early Baroque. In particular, the high altar brought from the Aschach castle chapel is much smaller than the original high altar and no longer fills the presbytery in the original way. With acquisitions from the 1990s onwards, efforts were made to adapt more to the baroque architecture.
To this day, the church has no bells (any more), only an electronic bell system with carillon.
literature
- The art monuments of Austria. Dehio Lower Austria south of the Danube 2003 . St. Pölten, Prandtauerkirche zur Maria vom Berge Karmel and former Carmelite convent, pp. 1994–1995.
- GDR. Reinhard Knittel - Church Rectorate Prandtauerkirche, Rectorate Church of Our Lady of the Mountains Karmel (Prandtauerkirche), undated (approx. 2006)
Web links
- History of the Prandtauerkirche , website church rectorate ULF vom Mount Karmel
Individual evidence
- ^ Photo of the altarpiece at that time
- ^ Report ORF Lower Austria
- ^ Report of the diocese of St. Pölten
Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 15.8 " N , 15 ° 37 ′ 20.8" E