Reformed Church Windisch

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The reformed church of Windisch (west view)

The Reformed Church of Windisch stands on the church hill in the Aargau community of Windisch in Switzerland . Today's church, built in Romanesque style , was built around 1300 and is a cantonal monument as a B object (middle of the three protection levels) .

history

There is evidence of a cathedral for Windisch around 400 , but it has not yet been found. There is evidence of a bishopric in the 6th century . A Bubulcus episcopus civitatis Vindoniensis took part in the Burgundian Imperial Council of 517. Bishop Grammatius is recorded for the Frankish church assemblies in the years 535, 541 and 549, where he represented Vindonissa and Aventicum , because in the 6th century the Helvetic tribal bishop's seat was temporarily in Vindonissa. According to the controversial St. Martin's inscription, a new building for St. Martin's Church was donated by a bishop Ursinus and a Detibaldius in the 8th or 9th century.

This contradicts the patronage at the end of the High Middle Ages, because the church was consecrated to Our Lady and not to St. Martin . During the excavations on the occasion of the renovation in 1964-67, no clear traces of previous churches were found under today's church, but only a few remains of Roman buildings that cannot be accurately dated. Presumably the foundations of the nave side walls come from the previous church, as the foundation protrudes.

In 1312 the monastery was granted patronage rights and in 1334 the church was incorporated into the Königsfelden monastery. After the dissolution of the monastery, the church treasure went to the canton of Bern and in 1803 to the canton of Aargau .

In addition to Windisch, the parish today only includes the towns of Habsburg , Mülligen and Hausen . The original parish was larger; so Brugg became independent no later than 1227. In 1526, Birr , Birrhard , Brunegg , Lupfig , Scherz and Schinznach-Bad were separated and together they formed the newly founded parish of Birr. The place Altenburg came with the parish merger in 1902 to the parish of Brugg.

Building history

Even if the location and size of the predecessor churches are unclear, it can be assumed that today's building was built in one step, because the nave, choir and tower are structurally connected. In the opinion of art historians, the new building of today's church took place around 1300. This meant that the doctrine had to be changed, which had previously assumed that the choir and tower were only built around 1400. The sacristy seems to have been added later in the 15th century, as ribs and door shapes suggest this time. At some point the nave was extended to the west. The tower was raised and baroque in 1642. For the year 1772 a “valuable reparation” has been proven. In the 18th century a flat plaster ceiling was put in place. In 1804 and 1897 extensive renovations were carried out, and in 1949 the exterior was renewed. A total renovation and archaeological research took place between 1964 and 1967; the pre-Gothic state was restored as much as possible. For this, the roof was lowered and the seven Romanesque window axes restored.

building

The ship is designed as a large, longitudinally rectangular hall and is not geosted because the longitudinal axis deviates to the northeast. This is followed by a retracted, almost square choir. North of the choir on the ship's wall is the church tower, which protrudes north of the ship's wall. The protruding sacristy is attached to the tower and the choir wall. The old sacristy was housed in the tower; both are connected to the choir by a door. The church is covered with a gable roof, whereby the roof of the choir is slightly lower than the roof of the nave.

Furnishing

The interior of the ship, seen from the choir

The Romanesque church was originally completely painted. As a result of the later alterations and whitewashing, many paintings in the ship were irretrievably lost. In the choir, however, most of the paintings remained under the plaster and were restored and secured in 1897.

Painting in the choir

Ceiling painting in the choir

The ceiling painting in the choir as well as the side paintings are dated to "around 1400". The ceiling painting shows the symbols of the four evangelists. The side paintings are only partially preserved because of the various fixtures that were later removed.

Painting in the ship

During the restoration from 1964-67, the original painting of the reveal of the bricked up late Romanesque windows was discovered. The reveal of all windows in the ship was repainted based on this model. The west wall appears to have been completely painted with a painting of the Last Judgment. The painting was found fragmentary in 1897. A scene from the Last Judgment was restored on the northern part of the wall in 1897.

pulpit

The pulpit , created in 1665, is the only thing that has been carried over from the baroque church furnishings . On the occasion of the renovation from 1964 to 1967, it was set lower and the wooden base and back wall were removed.

Choir window

The lead glass window in the choir was created in 1967 by Felix Hoffmann . The blue window is titled “Easter”.

organ

The organ built in after the restoration , built in 1966, was placed on the north wall of the ship, since no more gallery was to be built in. The mechanical instrument has 28 stops on two manuals and a pedal . The organ comes from the J. Neidhart company, its disposition was designed by Viktor Schlatter and Georges Lhôte.

literature

  • The Reformed Church in Windisch , published by the church administration to commemorate the renovation 1964–67, Buchdruckerei Effingerhof AG Brugg, 1968 with contributions by Oswald Lüdin, Ernst Bossert, Walter Müller, Paul Hintermann, Viktor Schlatter, Kurt Rohr, Felix Hoffmann

Web links

Commons : Reformierte Kirche Windisch  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Notitia Galliarum. In: Ed. Mommsen: Monumenta Germaniae historica, Auct. antiquiss. IX = chron. Min. I (1892), p. 552.
  2. ^ F. Staehlin: Switzerland in the Roman time. Edition 3, Basel 1948, p. 589
  3. ↑ as represented in the book Kunstdenkmäler des Kantons Aargau, Volume 2 from 1953


Coordinates: 47 ° 28 '55.4 "  N , 8 ° 13' 29.6"  E ; CH1903:  six hundred fifty-nine thousand two hundred and sixty-two  /  two hundred fifty-nine thousand three hundred twenty-eight