Sarolta Chapel
The Sarolta Chapel is a Catholic chapel in the park near the castle in Fränkisch-Crumbach . It was built in 1892 by Adolph von Gemmingen (1822-1902) as a mausoleum for his late wife Sarolta Batthyány von Németh-Ujvár (* January 18, 1822, † January 9, 1892). The upper floor of the listed chapel is used for Catholic services, weddings and baptisms. The client and his wife and two daughters are buried in the crypt in the basement, and memorial plaques commemorate the couple's children there.
history
When Adolph von Gemmingen was divided from his father's legacy, Sigmund von Gemmingen-Hornberg zu Treschklingen (1777–1843), he received property in Fränkisch-Crumbach. The Treschklingen line of the Barons von Gemmingen had large leases in Hungary since the late 18th century. A sister of the father, Maria Anna von Gemmingen (1765-1813), was married to Johann Graf von Batthyány zu Csakany. Adolph married Countess Sarolta Batthyány von Németh-Ujvár (1823-1892) at St. Gróth Castle near Steinamang , with whom he then lived in Franconian Crumbach. The family mostly spent the winter months in Italy, where the countess died on January 9, 1892 in San Remo . She was buried on January 17, 1892 in the back of the Gemmingen Park in Fränkisch-Crumbach. At the expense of the Baronesses Ernstine and Franziska as well as the barons Karl and Sigmund von Gemmingen, the chapel with crypt was built for her in the same year according to plans by the episcopal master builder Joseph Lukas from Mainz. The foundation stone was laid on April 18, 1892, and the consecration by Bishop Paulus Theodor von Mainz, accompanied by the Darmstadt Court Theater Choir, took place on October 15, 1892. The crypt not only housed the countess's sarcophagus, but also a memorial plaque for son Otto , who died of malaria in Cameroon in March 1892. The chapel was then used for Catholic services. In 1902 Adolph von Gemmingen was also buried in the crypt, later the daughters Ernestina (1841–1926) and Franziska (1860–1946). Over time, plaques were added for all of the couple's children.
After the construction of the St. Laurentius Church in Fränkisch-Crumbach in 1965, the Sarolta Chapel lost its importance. It was forgotten and began to deteriorate. The park was also in disarray. Since the year 2000, the Crumbacher DenkMal! eV committed to maintaining the structure. In 2001 the municipality and the Hessian State Office for Monument Preservation promised financial support for the renovation. The chapel was then extensively renovated and is now mainly used for weddings and baptisms. In front of the chapel, some Pope's benches from the Pope's visit in 2010 were put up.
description
The chapel is built into the slope so that access to the mausoleum is at ground level, while a curved path along the slope leads to the chapel on the upper floor. The building has a height of around 11 meters and is surrounded by a circumferential ditch that keeps the moisture from the slope away from the building. The area of the building is 45 square meters.
The chapel is a single-nave building with a choir - apse , which is illuminated by 29 high-lying Romanesque windows all around . The glass windows are painted with patterns. The masonry is designed with colored terracotta patterns. The choir and the edge areas of the floor are laid out with patterned tiles, while the floor is glazed towards the center of the room and offers a view of the mausoleum below.
The mausoleum is spanned by an eight-fold cap vault and is illuminated by the skylight from the chapel room above. The vault rests on pillars made of light green glazed majolica stones . In the niches between the pillars there are memorial plaques for the children of Adolph and Sarolta. In the middle is the sarcophagus.
The ceiling of the Countess' sarcophagus, made of white Carrara marble , rests on a black marble plinth and is supported by sixteen columns made of reddish Tyrolean marble. The sarcophagus is sculptured with an overlying cross with a wreath of flowers and a laurel and palm branch. The capitals of the corner pillars show pelicans, snakes, and children and women. The Gemmingen-Batthyány alliance coat of arms is attached at the foot of the building. At the head end an inscription names the deceased. The sarcophagus was made by the Aschaffenburg stonemason Eduard Steiger .
Individual evidence
literature
- Carl Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig Stocker : Family chronicle of the barons of Gemmingen. Heidelberg 1895, pp. 296–299 (with ill. On panel).
- Maria Heitland: Family chronicle of the barons of Gemmingen. Continuation of the chronicles from 1895 and 1925/26. Elztal 1991.
- State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen (Ed.): Odenwaldkreis. (= Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany , cultural monuments in Hesse .) Wiesbaden 1998, pp. 324–330.
Web links
- Restored Saroltakapelle is used a lot again , report by Kirsten Sundermann at echo-online.de, June 4, 2013
Coordinates: 49 ° 44 ′ 46.7 " N , 8 ° 51 ′ 40" E