Preacher (Schwäbisch Gmünd)

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preacher
Choir of the former preacher's church with a war memorial and a memorial for the Gmünd victims of National Socialism
West and south facades of the former monastery church after the renovation in 2011
Fresco in the stairwell

When the preacher , the former is Dominican monastery (Monastery of the preacher monks) of Schwabisch Gmund referred to today as a cultural center , among others, with the museum in the preacher and the gallery on the preacher is used. It is centrally located in the city center, on Johannisplatz , opposite the Romanesque Johanniskirche .

History and building history

In 1294 the Gmünder Konvent was accepted into the religious association. The establishment probably took place in Esslingen in the same year . An orally transmitted legend says that the monastery was founded in a hunting lodge, which was founded by a noble lady as an act of repentance, which turned a place of sin into an inn for God. Therefore the church was consecrated to the penitent and church patroness Maria Magdalena . Historians assume that it was founded in a manor of the Rechbergers , as the successor to the Staufers in the Gmünder area or in a manor of the township as the successor to the Staufer city lords.

In the middle of the 14th century, a new Gothic church was built, which was completed around 1356, as the first masses were being read in the church at this time. Several relatives of the von Rechberg family are buried in the monastery church.

The monastery was rebuilt in the middle of the 18th century. Dominikus Zimmermann takes on the planning and, initially, the construction . The foundation stone was laid on July 2, 1724. The baroque renovation of the monastery church began in 1762 under the master builder Johann Michael Keller the Younger and was completed in 1764. At that time it was the second largest church in the imperial city after the Gmünder Münster .

In 1802, when the imperial city passed to Württemberg, the monastery was closed; on December 29, the monks had to leave the monastery and move to the Gmünder Franziskaner , where the members of the former monastery communities were allowed to live temporarily. Probably as a gesture of humiliation, the new master converted the monastery into a barracks, the magnificent monastery church first became a wooden warehouse, later a horse stable. There was also various demolition work, including the bell tower, which fell victim to the fact that it was "unnecessary" for the barracks. The bells were sold in favor of the war chest. In the following years the interior of the church was destroyed for the purpose of further renovation. The baroque ceiling painting by Johann Anwander in the monastery church (1763/64) was also completely destroyed during the 19th century. A design drawing is in the State Graphic Collection in Munich . Two reliefs from the church are said to have been transferred to the local St. Joseph's Chapel .

In 1919 the "old barracks" was taken over by the city. At that time, 30 emergency apartments were built. In 1938 Nazi agencies and cultural areas were set up. Immediately after the war, these offices were again converted into 200 emergency apartments. From 1947 to 1965 the use of the building was contested. In 1960 it was thought of demolishing the preacher in favor of a department store. However, a citizens' initiative that followed Walter Klein's idea was able to enforce the decision to rebuild in 1965. On March 23, 1973, the preacher was inaugurated as a cultural center. During the renovation, serious interventions were made in the remains of the preserved building fabric from the Middle Ages and Baroque.

Between 2010 and 2012, the Prediger cultural center will be extensively renovated and rebuilt inside and out for around nine million euros. The original appearance of the monastery complex is to be restored as far as possible.

There are two memorial plaques on the outside facade of the building: The Madonna at the top of the choir, designed by Jakob Wilhelm Fehrle , commemorates the more than 3,000 officers and soldiers of the infantry regiment stationed here between 1897 and 1919 who fell in World War I. A second plaque, which was originally attached to the top of the choir in May 1995 and was moved to the south side of the choir as part of the building renovation, commemorates the named victims of National Socialism in Schwäbisch Gmünd.

Todays use

The Preacher's Municipal Museum has been housed in the Preacher since 1973, and the Preacher's Gallery since 1994 , which regularly presents temporary exhibitions. In addition to the covered inner courtyard, a large and small hall in the area of ​​the former monastery church and the baroque room of the refectory with stucco from the 18th century are available for events.

Both the Gmünder Volkshochschule (until 2006) and the city library (today in Gmünder Spital ) were housed in the Prediger from 1973.

Museum and gallery in the Preacher

Museum in the preacher

The history of the city museum goes back to 1876, making it one of the oldest museums in Baden-Württemberg . The museum, which was initially founded as an association as a result of a citizens' initiative , has one of the most important collection stories in Baden-Württemberg. A big step in the early stages was the donation of the Erhard collection, the collection of the manufacturer Julius Erhard , in 1890, which expanded the museum's collection by over 1000 objects. The Gmünder Museumsverein still exists today as a circle of friends and sponsors. The collection amounts to around 13,000 works in the fields of art, jewelry and applied arts alone, making it one of the largest museums in the country. The collection includes works by Albrecht Dürer , Georg Strobel and Hans Baldung Grien , among others .

First as a model collection , then as a trade museum , in addition to fine art and object art, a special focus is also on the products of the local gold and silversmiths, which formed an important branch of trade and production in Schwäbisch Gmünd. This department also includes the church treasures of the lost monasteries, in addition to the preachers, the Augustinian , Franciscan , Capuchin , Dominican and Franciscan monasteries as well as the lost hospital church and, in particular, large parts of the most extensive church treasure in Baden-Württemberg, the minster treasure of Gmünder Münster . In addition to the liturgical utensils, figures and a panel painting from 1419 " Veronica's handkerchief " are exhibited in the museum.

Due to the location of the city on the Limes and the extensive excavation work, the museum can also have a collection of works from the Roman period. The museum's collection is regularly supplemented and expanded through inheritances, donations and, above all, acquisitions.

Gallery in the preacher

The gallery, which opened in 1994, is located on the ground floor of the former monastery church. In its modern design, the exhibition room nevertheless takes up the three-aisled structure of the monastery church, with plenty of daylight dominating the room through large windows . The gallery holds around five exhibitions a year, with the exhibition concept in the broadest sense linked to the themes of nature and landscape.

Exhibitions (selection)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Article on Predigerumbau on remszeitung.de
  2. ↑ Article about the renovation from 2010 on remszeitung.de
  3. ↑ Photograph of the memorial plaque with Madonna enthroned
  4. ^ Photograph of the plaque on Wikimedia Commons

literature

  • Richard Strobel, The Art Monuments of the City of Schwäbisch Gmünd . Vol. 2, Munich / Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-422-00569-2 , pp. 196–223 (basic)
  • Richard Strobel: The preacher in Schwäbisch Gmünd, inventory and monument preservation practice . In: Denkmalpflege in Baden-Württemberg , 23rd year 1994, issue 3, pp. 90–99. ( PDF )
  • Klaus Graf : Gmünd in the late Middle Ages . In: History of the City of Schwäbisch Gmünd. Stuttgart 1984, pp. 87-184, 564-590, here p. 162 doi : 10.6094 / UNIFR / 10310
  • Bodo Cichy: The rescue of the "Preacher" in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Ostalbkreis. The old lives from the new. In: Preservation of monuments in Baden-Württemberg , 2nd year 1973, issue 2, pp. 2–17 ( PDF )

Web links

Commons : Preacher  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 48 ° 47 ′ 59 "  N , 9 ° 47 ′ 45"  E