Saint Salvator Basilica (Prüm)

View of the main entrance to the basilica

Coat of arms of the prince abbey of Prüm

The Saint Salvator Basilica is in Prüm , a town in the West Eifel .

In 721 the Franconian noble Bertrada founded a monastery with monks from Echternach on her property on the Prüm . In 752 a second foundation was made by King Pippin , who had married a granddaughter of the first founder, with monks from Meaux near Paris, who lived according to the rule of St. Benedict .

In 1222 the monastery became the center of an independent principality , which was annexed by the Elector of Trier in 1576 . From now on the abbot administrator was the elector and archbishop of Trier . The abbey building was rebuilt in 1721. As part of the Napoleonic secularization , the abbey was finally abolished in 1802.

Prüm , which initially belonged to the original parish of Rommersheim , has received pastoral care from the Marienstift since the middle of the 15th century . The Marienstift was founded in 1016 by Abbot Urold from Prüm . The collegiate church became a parish church. In 1802 the parish church and the collegiate church were demolished in 1826.

history

It is said that the first church of the abbey stood in the area of ​​today's cemetery, where a chapel dedicated to St. Benedict still existed at the beginning of the 18th century. The later abbey church, which was referred to as "the Golden Church", was located north of the current baroque church. The current north tower was the south tower of the medieval church and dates from the first half of the 16th century. Little more was known about the appearance of the medieval church. In autumn 2017, during excavations on the square in front of the baroque abbey, the foundations of this church building were discovered for the first time. It turned out that the "Golden Church" apparently had a westwork , a sign of the great importance of the monastery in the Middle Ages.

In 1721, the monastery church was rebuilt using older components (north tower) by Johann Georg Judas on behalf of the Trier Elector Franz Ludwig von Pfalz-Neuburg . The construction work dragged on over a longer period of time, a uniform baroque interior was never created. From 1748 the new abbey building was built under Elector Franz Georg von Schönborn .

In 1794 the monastery was dissolved and the monks were expelled ( secularization ). In 1802 the abbey church became a parish church . In 1827 Prüm became the seat of a deanery.

In 1860, when the old high altar was dismantled, the remains of Emperor Lothar and the relics of the martyrs Primus and Felicianus were discovered . 1874 and 1875 a tomb with the financial support of Emperor was of the remains and relics Wilhelm I. erected. In 1891 the Prüm doctors and pharmacists donated a new reliquary for the relics of the Three Holy Doctors . In 1896 a new shrine altar for the sandals of Christ was erected, arranged and accompanied by the Aachen canon and art historian Franz Bock . In 1927 the church received a baroque altar from the Carmelite Church of St. Nikolaus in Bad Kreuznach .

From September 16, 1944, the city of Prüm was the target of American artillery fire. Especially since December 23, the bombing attacks have increased ( Battle of the Bulge ). The former abbey buildings were badly damaged, the church showed damage, especially in the roof area, but initially appeared to be relatively well preserved. On Christmas Eve 1945 shortly before Christmas mass , however, the vaults of the right aisle and the entire nave collapsed without anyone being injured. The choir vault and the vault of the left aisle were preserved, as were the towers.

In 1950 the reconstruction of the church, largely true to the original, was largely completed. On June 10, 1950, Pope Pius XII awarded the monastery church with the Apostolic Letter Veterum monasteriorum laudes the title Basilica minor .

Restoration work has been carried out on the church continuously since the end of the 1990s, in particular the parts of the roof dating from the 18th century had to be extensively renovated. The last step in 2018/19 was the renovation of the interior, the heating was completely renewed and a new sound system was installed so that the church can also be used for cultural events.

architecture

The church, built from 1721 to 1730, is a three-aisled complex in a simple baroque shape made of red sandstone from the Kylltal . The single-nave choir is extended by three bays. The building is approx. 64.50 meters long and approx. 28 meters wide, making it the largest church built in the Archdiocese of Trier during the 18th century . Two towers (62 m) crown the west side, in the north there are still remnants of the previous building. Between the towers there is a serrated gable with the figures of St. Benedict , the Salvator (Redeemer) and St. Scholastics . The middle floor of the west side contains a shell niche with a representation of the Madonna on clouds. The figure niches between the main portals contain the figures of King Pippin and Charlemagne . Originally, the facade was partially covered by a building in front of it, which was not taken into account in the planning. By demolishing this building, the original effect is no longer comprehensible. The interior of the three-nave basilica is post-Gothic due to its ribbed vaults .

Furnishing

Choir stalls on the left. Saint Salvator's Basilica Prüm

Reliquary of the Three Holy Doctors. Saint Salvator's Basilica Prüm

The interior was only gradually reassembled after the looting and sales after 1794 and war destruction in 1944/1945. Only a few pieces belong to the original equipment.

• Baroque high altar from 1727 (from St. Nikolaus (Bad Kreuznach) , installed in Prüm in 1926)
• Choir stalls from 1731 (original equipment)
• Stone pulpit (from the previous building)
• Tomb of Emperor Lothar I.
• Entombment group from the 18th century (from the Kalvarienberg chapel)
• Organ gallery from 1730 (original equipment)
• Reliquary of the Three Doctors (19th century, original equipment)
• Shrine altar for the sandals of Christ (19th century, original furnishings)
• Side altars (Marien and Josefs altars) from the 18th and 19th centuries (from Trier and Malberg , erected in Prüm after the Second World War)
• Late Gothic Passion Altar (renewed after 1949 - from the Kalvarienberg chapel)
• Grave slabs of Abbot Robert von Virneburg (1476–1513) and Mistress Franziska von Rodemachern (1423–1483)
• Organ case, made from 1782 (original equipment)

organ

View of the organ

The organ of the St. Salvator Basilica is a technical new construction of the organ manufacturer Klais from Bonn , in which the historical prospectus designed by the court architect Johannes Seiz from the Electorate of Trier and two wind chests of the main work that go back to Heinrich Wilhelm Breidenfeld have been preserved. On April 13, 1973 the organ was ceremoniously handed over to its destination. The arrangement of the instrument with 43  registers on three manuals and pedal , designed by cathedral organist Wolfgang Oehms , Cantor Josef Monter and Hans Gerd Klais, is as follows:

I positive C-g 3 Bourdon 8th' Quintad 8th' Principal 4 ′ Forest flute 4 ′ octave 2 ′ Fifth 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Sesquialtera II00 Scharff III – IV 1' Cromorne 8th'

II Hauptwerk C – g 3 Bourdon 16 ′ Principal (P)0 08th' Flute overture00 08th' Salicional 08th' Octave 04 ′ Reed flute 04 ′ Fifth 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Super octave 02 ′ Cornet 04 ′ Mixture IV 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Cymbel III 01 ⁄ 2 ′ Trumpet 08th'

III Swell C – g 3 Reed flute 08th' Gamba 08th' Beat 08th' Fugara 04 ′ Flutdacked 04 ′ Nasard 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Swiss pipe 0 02 ′ third 01 3 ⁄ 5  ′ Sifflet 01' Acuta V 02 ′ Basson 16 ′ Hautbois 08th'

Pedal C – f 1 Principal (P)0 16 ′ Sub bass 16 ′ Octave (P)0 08th' Wooden flute 08th' Octave 04 ′ Pointed flute 04 ′ Back set IV00 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ trombone 16 ′ Trumpet 08th' Clarine 04 ′

• Coupling : I / II, III / I, III / II, Sub III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
• Playing aids : typesetting system with a total of 4096 storage options (one free and three lockable blocks with 1024 storage options each), sequencer, floppy disk drive
• Slider chests, mechanical action mechanism, electrical stop action mechanism
• Remarks

(P) = in the prospectus

1. ↑ C – h goitre
2. ↑ Overblowing.

The Saint Salvator Basilica is the official seat of the regional cantor for the Westeifel region in the diocese of Trier ; Christoph Schömig has been organist here since 1996 .

Relics

• Particles of the sandals of Christ (gift from King Pippin III )
• Holy Three Doctors ( Marius , Audifax and Abacum )

Monument protection

The Saint Salvator Basilica is a protected cultural monument according to the Monument Protection Act (DSchG) and entered in the list of monuments of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate . It is located in Prüm in the monument zone of the Catholic Parish Church of St. Salvator and a former monastery .

Furthermore, it is a protected cultural asset according to the Hague Convention and marked with the blue and white trademark.

See also

• Prüm Abbey
• Sandals of Christ
• Prümer Urbar
• City of Prüm

literature

• History Association Prümer Land eV (Ed.): Around the church in the village. Prüm 2003, ISBN 3-931478-14-9 .
• Jens Fachbach: Johann Georg Judas (around 1655–1726). On the architecture of a clerical electorate on the Rhine and Moselle in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Regensburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-7954-2685-9 (pp. 331–362 Abbey Church of Prüm).

Web links

Commons : Saint Salvator's Basilica  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• St. Salvator Basilica Prüm

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Sankt Salvator Basilika Prüm: History , accessed on February 27, 2017.
2. ↑ https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rp/trier/pruem-archaeologen-finden-schluss-einer-kirche-aus-dem-mittelalter/-/id=1672/did=20522634/nid=1672/rd14f4 /index.html
3. ↑ Bernhard Peter: Die Fürabtei Prüm , accessed on February 27, 2017.
4. ↑ ^{a b} kirchbau.de_ kath. Basilica of St. Salvator (formerly Benedictine Abbey Church) , accessed on February 27, 2017.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Private Homepage: Prüm Abbey , accessed on February 27, 2017.
6. ^ Pius XII .: Litt. Apost. Veterum monasteriorum laudes , in: AAS 43 (1951), n.3, p. 106s.
7. ↑ https://www.pruem-aktuell.de/nextshopcms/show.asp?lang=de&e1=11&ssid=1&docid=2&newsid=28345
8. ^ General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Informational directory of cultural monuments - Eifelkreis Bitburg-Prüm. Mainz 2018, p. 100 (PDF; 4.4 MB).

Coordinates: 50 ° 12 ′ 23.5 "  N , 6 ° 25 ′ 32.1"  E