Propstei Zwettl
The Propstei Zwettl is a former collegiate monastery located on Propsteiberg south of the old town of Zwettl in Lower Austria . The complex consists of a Romanesque church and the adjoining Michaelskapelle, a cemetery with a Romanesque charnel house, the actual provost building and an earlier rectory - the so-called "box". Before the monumental complex is located at the end of the Via Crucis monumental Crucifixion of sandstone .
history
From the middle of the 11th century onwards, the Waldviertel was settled under the leadership of the Kuenringer ministerial family. Towards the end of the 11th or beginning of the 12th century they built a church on today's Propsteiberg - the first parish church in Zwettl. The first pastor is likely to have been the Kuenringer Pilgrim. In the bear skin there is also a report of a castle, the exact location of which is no longer known today. Various structural features indicate that the main system was located in the area of the Propsteig building. The castle was destroyed in 1230/1231 by the Babenbergs under the rule of Frederick the Arguable , but the church was preserved. This was demonstrably from 1132 the parish church of Zwettl. The parish itself should have existed some time earlier.
Only a few written sources are available for the period between 1231 and the founding of the provost's office around 1500. Architectural historical findings as well as documents from the 13th and 14th centuries indicate that an extensive rectory was built on the former castle grounds, which is most likely identical to the so-called "box" south of the church.
At the instigation of the pastor Andreas Königsteiner from Zwettler, the papal nuncio Bartholomäus de Mariachis founded the provost's office in 1483. This received through a deed of foundation from Emperor Friedrich III. 1487 the necessary economic basis. It was planned to set up a college with a dean and twelve canons under the leadership of a provost. During this time, numerous renovations and extensions were made. The first provost was Andreas Königsteiner. The parishes of Zwettl and Altpölla were incorporated into the provost's office. The provost remained the city pastor of Zwettl, but the actual parish church was named Marienkirche in the city. There the pastoral care was provided by a vicar . Despite the good economic prerequisites, the planned level of 14 clergy was never achieved. This was due, among other things, to the rise of Protestantism and high war taxes in the 16th century. From the second half of the 16th century, there was no longer a chapter on the provost's office. The provosts were usually proposed by the sovereign and appointed by the bishop. During the Thirty Years War , the provost's office was briefly occupied by Bohemian rebels under the leadership of Count von Thurn . In 1751, Empress Maria Theresa had the goods confiscated with the consent of the Pope and handed them over to the Theresian Military Academy . Since then, the title of Provost von Zwettl has only been awarded as a purely honorary title.
In a commemorative document from 1856, which is in the Zwettler city archive, it is reported that the church "in 1839 [...] both on the outside on its clapboard roof - and on the inside on its ceiling was close to complete decay". In 1840/1841 the Theresianum intended to demolish the church, the Karner and the Michaelskapelle and to close the cemetery. This could be prevented at the instigation of the pastor Joseph Schelnberger and through a historically based report by the dean Joseph Schmid from the Zwettl monastery. After all, the church was not only preserved, but was also extensively restored.
The entire facility has been owned by Sparkasse Zwettl since 1883 and is now managed by the Sparkasse Waldviertel-Mitte private foundation .
church
The provost church is under the patronage of John the Evangelist . To the west of it is the former Propsteigebuilding and east of the Karner. From 1483, the year the provost was founded, until it was abolished by Maria Theresa in 1751, it was used as a collegiate and provost church under the title “For the Holy Redeemer in Liechtental”. Early masses continued to be held in the summer months until 1783, after which the church served as a cemetery church, where masses were only read on All Souls' Day. From 1946 it was desecrated after war damage. Finally, in 1967, he was reconsecrated .
Building history
The Romanesque granite block structure was built at the end of the 11th or beginning of the 12th century and in the second half of the 13th century an early Gothic chapel was added to the southwest . In 1426/1427 the church was badly damaged by the Hussites . In 1463 it received a Gothic choir tower. In 1618/1619 there were looting by Bohemian troops. The choir tower was dismantled again in 1678 and the building was given a new roof over the nave and choir. In 1718, under Provost Konrad Ferdinand Albrecht von Albrechtsburg , the nave was vaulted. At the same time, large arched windows were broken out and the Romanesque slit windows walled up. The interior was redesigned in baroque style.
Exterior
The rectangular nave and the retracted choir square lie under a shared gable roof . The adjoining round apse is much lower. The contours of the former ridge line are still visible on the three-storey west facade. Above its baroque, flat-arched portal, there are three corbels and a walled-in arched opening, which probably originally served as a connection to the castle. It is crowned by a Romanesque gable tower under a bent gable helmet. Instead of the original, Romanesque twin windows, the tower now has baroque arched windows. The choir square also has arched windows and a Romanesque corbel in the southeast corner. There are three Romanesque arched windows in the funnel embrasure on the apse. Striking is a corner console with a sculpted arm that protrudes and carries a role that is interpreted as a legal symbol.
Interior
The nave is a two-bay hall with a stuccoed wooden needle cap barrel over double straps with a cranked cornice. A painted coat of arms of the Provost Konrad Ferdinand von Albrechtsburg can be seen above the round arched triumphal arch. The remarkable Romanesque west gallery has two floors, three bays and is open to the nave through wide arches. The slightly raised, Romanesque choir square with apse conche has a baroque groin vault over corner pilasters with cranked cornices.
Facility
Of the baroque furnishings, only the remarkable pulpit with ribbon decoration has been completely preserved. This was made around 1730. In addition to a new popular altar, there are two corresponding side altars. The left has a figure of John the Evangelist and the right has a figure of John the Baptist. Both portraits come from the former baroque high altar. Further furnishings include a bell by Simon Urndorfer from 1650.
Michael's Chapel
The Michaelskapelle at the southeast corner of the provost church was connected with this probably from 1678 until the restoration in the 1960s by a narrow corridor. It is first mentioned in a document in 1383, but was built in the second half of the 13th century. Originally laid out as an early Gothic burial chapel , it later also served as a sacristy . The rectangular building has a slightly drawn-in, three-sided apse with a narrow arched window in the funnel reveal. On the south side of the chapel you can see a baroque extended arched window.
The interior was originally flat. Today it has a two-bay cross ribbed vault from the last quarter of the 15th century with round keystones on consoles. The vault ribs and the window reveal are painted with joints. The apse has a ridge vault and is decorated with a wall painting of Christ enthroned with angels and evangelist symbols from around 1470/1480. In the nave there are seven early Gothic grave slabs with incised crosses, which were transferred here from the cemetery in 1967/1968.
Karner
The Karner in the eastern area of the cemetery is a late Romanesque and in the 18th century Baroque rotunda with a semicircular apse, which was used in 1383 as a chapel for St. John the Baptist was first mentioned in a document. The quarry stone building with an ossuary in the cellar vault is accessible on the west side through a Romanesque arched portal. Traces of the wall show that the portal must originally have had a canopy. The Karner has a Romanesque window in the funnel embrasure in the east and west as well as in the north and south a baroque extended arched window. The interior dome was decorated with a wall painting Last Judgment by Hans Neumüller in 1940 . In 1982 remains of figural frescoes from the 14th century were discovered in the apse.
Two light columns from around 1530 - late Gothic tabernacle pillars with twisted shafts - were originally in front of the Karner. They were later moved to the cemetery portal.
box
The two-storey "box" south of the church is a hall building from the second half of the 13th century. It has rectangular windows and a gable roof. Remains of Romanesque slit windows are partially visible on the north side. Some parts have corn masonry ( Opus spicatum ).
The box was mistakenly believed to be part of the former castle from around 1120. Archaeological investigations at the end of the 20th century could prove that it was actually built after the destruction of the Kuenringerburg, probably using parts of the demolition material from the same had been.
At the time when the provost church was still a parish church, the box was a part of or even the main building of the rectory and is therefore one of the oldest almost completely preserved rectory in Austria. The interior was divided in the 14th century by wide pointed arches and later changed by adding partitions and a stove. Further renovations took place in the 18th and 19th centuries. Century.
Former Propsteig building
The former Propsteigebuilding - a multi-wing, two-storey complex with farm buildings and two courtyards - was built in 1483 partly on the foundations of the former Kuenringerburg and at that time probably consisted of only a north wing and a short south wing, which were connected by a defensive wall of the castle. The complex was later rebuilt several times and baroque and expanded under Konrad von Albrechtsburg around 1710.
The in 16./17. The north wing, which was extended in the 19th century and redesigned in Baroque style around 1710, is essentially medieval. It has a round-arched entrance with groin vaults and on the courtyard side a baroque aedicula portal with the coat of arms of Konrad von Altenburg carried by Putti . The rooms on the ground floor are groin vaulted.
The in 16./17. The east wing, which was built in the 18th century using the medieval defensive wall, was extended to the west around 1710, provided with a uniform facade that included the south wing and at the same time was given a narrow arcade on the courtyard side. Inside you can see the remains of a late Gothic smoke kitchen. The rooms on the ground floor are vaulted by barrels with lancets, while the upper floor has flat ceilings with remnants of baroque stucco decor.
The south wing is probably the heavily rebuilt gate of the former castle. Its narrow and barrel-vaulted entrance is now in the basement. Above are stone-clad windows and coats of arms from the 16th century, which are now covered by the arcade added around 1710.
This building is now a Caritas dormitory .
Way of the Cross
The Way of the Cross, which begins at the foot of the Propsteiberg, ends not far north of the church. The formerly wooden stations of the cross were rebuilt in 1780 as simple niche picture blocks, which today are equipped with mosaics by the sculptor Carl Hermann from 1970 instead of the original pictures .
At the point where the Way of the Cross ends, a baroque sandstone crucifixion group has risen since the first half of the 18th century. The symmetrically arranged statues represent Christ on the cross and St. Mary, John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene. They are flanked on the left and right by the crosses of the two thieves.
The Crucifixion Group was badly damaged by a falling tree during a storm in 2003. On behalf of the landowner, the Sparkasse Waldviertel-Mitte private foundation, it was subsequently extensively restored by the sculptor Sebastian-Jan Bunia. At the same time, the municipality had the entire Way of the Cross rehabilitated.
literature
- DEHIO Lower Austria north of the Danube . Berger, Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-85028-395-3 , pp. 1339ff.
- Thomas Kühtreiber , Roman Zehetmayer: Zwettler Zeitzeichen. Volume 2: On the history of the Propsteiberg . City of Zwettl, Zwettl 1999.
Web links
- Zwettl - Propsteikirche (1120 to 1718) . In: gedaechtnisdeslandes.at
- Former parish, now provost church of St. John the Evangelist . In: Website of the University of Vienna, accessed on August 17, 2012
- Propsteikirche (Johanneskirche) . In: Website of the city of Zwettl, accessed on August 17, 2012
- Entry via Propsteiberg Zwettl on NÖ-Burgen online - Institute for Reality Studies of the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Era, University of Salzburg
Individual evidence
- ^ Friedel Moll: Propstei and Reformation. In: pfarre.zwettl.at. Archived from the original on September 23, 2007 ; accessed on September 15, 2019 .
- ^ Friedel Moll: Baroque period and Josephinism. In: pfarre.zwettl.at. Zwettl parish, 2008, accessed on August 17, 2012 .
- ↑ To the message to all future people . Commemorative letter on the occasion of the renovation of the provost church. In: Zwettl City Archives . Sign. 1/104. Zwettl July 12, 1856 ( PDF ).
- ^ Friedel Moll: 19th century: church tower construction. In: pfarre.zwettl.at. Zwettl parish, 2008, accessed on August 17, 2012 .
- ^ Friedel Moll: Baroque period and Josephinism. In: pfarre.zwettl.at. Zwettl parish, 2008, accessed on August 17, 2012 .
- ↑ Rundkarner. In: zwettl.at. City of Zwettl-Niederösterreich, accessed on August 18, 2012 .
- ↑ The box. In: zwettl.at. City of Zwettl-Niederösterreich, accessed on August 17, 2012 .
- ^ Thomas Kühtreiber, Roman Zehetmayer: Zwettler Zeitzeichen. Volume 2: On the history of the Propsteiberg . City of Zwettl, Zwettl 1999
- ↑ Way of the Cross with crucifixion group. In: zwettl.at. City of Zwettl-Niederösterreich, accessed on August 18, 2012 .
Coordinates: 48 ° 35 '59.9 " N , 15 ° 9' 54.5" E