Castle Chapel (Aschaffenburg)
The palace chapel is a sacred space in Aschaffenburg 's Johannisburg Palace . It is dedicated to John the Baptist .
history
Chapel of the medieval castle
The oldest written mention of a “new chapel” consecrated by the Archbishop of Mainz, Werner von Eppstein in the former castle on the present castle grounds, dates back to 1285 . Archbishop Werner stayed several times longer in his secondary residence in Aschaffenburg from July 18, 1283 until the day of his death, April 2, 1284. The consecration in honor of John the Baptist should therefore take place during this period.
Even after the castle was destroyed in the Markgräflerkrieg in 1552, the chapel continued to exist in the part that had been preserved.
In the renaissance castle
From 1605 until the year of inauguration in 1614, Archbishop Elector Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg had a new castle built and commissioned the Strasbourg master builder Georg Ridinger to do this .
The most extensive changes were made by Elector Archbishop Friedrich Karl Joseph von Erthal , who had fled to Aschaffenburg from advancing French troops in 1792. According to plans by his court architect Emanuel Herigoyen , the interior of the palace was redesigned in a classical style towards the end of the 18th century. The two galleries in the castle chapel were closed. Behind the altar the stairs and stone balustrade have been preserved, but the staircase was walled up. According to a design by the master builder Wolfgang Streiter , Herigoyen's successor, carpenter Andreas Kleber built a closed patronage box in the western gallery of the chapel in 1803 with a semicircular oriel protruding into the church. On the bay window, two putti hold the Erthal coat of arms in their hands.
Between 1800 and 1802, court carpenter A. Clemens Eckart made a sound cover decorated with relief scenes over the pulpit in Empire style . It is crowned by an eagle with spread wings and a flower tendril in its beak.
Destruction in World War II and reconstruction
After the State Collection of Paintings had already been relocated in September 1939, the Bavarian Palace Administration instructed the responsible agricultural department in Aschaffenburg on September 21, 1942 to take comprehensive security measures for the altar of the palace chapel due to the increasing danger from the air . According to the instructions, the 38 cm thick wall should be placed in such a way that it cannot be pushed inwards when exposed to air pressure and damage the work of art, and the pulpit should be treated the same way. The castle was spared from the first air raids in October / November 1944, but on November 21, 1944 (main attack on Aschaffenburg) it was hit by five full high explosive bombs. In the second heavy attack on Aschaffenburg on January 21, 1945, the castle was also badly hit. The ribbed vault of the castle chapel collapsed, but the protective wall held. On Good Friday, March 30, 1945, the approaching Americans received support from fighter-bombers, whose bombardment with phosphorus grenades caused the castle to collapse like a huge torch.
The extent of the damage to the altar could only be determined after the protective wall was torn down in September 1945. Burning parts had fallen into the space. The heads, arms, legs and angel wings were melted or blasted off due to the great heat development. “The parts were collected and placed in the guard at the castle. The covering of the altar was approved by the military government. ”. In 1951 the roof structure over the castle chapel began. Ten years later the reticulated vault was reconstructed . In 1962, the Ansbach sculptor Ingram Spengler began restoring the alabaster altar, which was temporarily completed in 1975. Only the existing parts were used, no additions were made. The cross remained without a corpus until 1985. A Würzburg master sculptor reconstructed the body, which was attached in 1989. In 1993, four alabaster heads from America, which an American GI had taken from the rubble as a souvenir , came back to Aschaffenburg and were reintegrated into the altar.
Since the movable furnishings and art treasures had been relocated during the war, they were preserved. They are shown in the parament chamber of the castle. Of all the important rooms in the castle, only the chapel was able to keep its original shape.
For the 400th anniversary of the castle in 2014, the altar was extensively restored. A 10-minute video installation shows the history of the altar in an impressive way and explains its meaning in detail. This demonstration runs three times an hour during the opening times of the castle.
The chapel can only be visited by visitors during a visit to the castle.
Architecture and equipment
portal
The portal to the palace chapel is a joint effort by the palace builder Georg Ridinger and the sculptor Hans Juncker. The portal, lighter in proportions than the palace architecture, forms the triumphal arch-like frame for the figures. On both sides of the entrance, between fluted pairs of pillars, are the two Johns, patrons of the castle and the church: John the Baptist on the left, in a fur robe with a lamb, and John the Evangelist on the right, with an eagle at his feet. Above the portal there is a relief depicting the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan; in the gable a crowned figure of Mary and the boy Jesus on the arm. The portal is made of red Main sandstone and the figures are made of trachyte - tuff .
inner space
The church is located in the western half of the north wing, attached to the keep of the medieval castle. The rectangular room with five bays extends over the ground floor and the first floor of the facility. The vault is a barrel with stitch caps , figured with ribs in a diamond shape; the ribs rest on Renaissance consoles. On the east side there is a gallery above the gate entrance, on the west side there is an oratory (private gallery for the courtyard). The three-bay under vault opens up towards the nave with round arched arcades, the front shows Renaissance decor. The windows are designed with a straight lintel, central mullion and double cross in stone. A ridge turret with a small bell, belonging to the castle church, stands on the roof of the northern wing of the castle. Two posts support an octagonal domed roof with a console cornice. A high point rises above the dome.
altar
The altar is a masterpiece by Johannes (Hans) Juncker. In black and agate-colored marble, it extends to the top of the vault. The 150 figures and the ornaments are made of alabaster . In the middle section, above the agate-colored marble tabernacle , flanked by angels, stands a large crucifixion group : Jesus , Maria , Johannes , Maria Magdalena and the two thieves , in the background soldiers. Two angels hold a cartouche with Christ's monogram above the group . On both sides of the crucifixion group there are five reliefs with depictions of the Passion , in the extract there is a relief of the resurrection of Christ, flanked by two angels with a cross and a scourge column; outside the two Johannes. Two angels sit in the broken gable, the center is the coat of arms of Archbishop Johann Schweickhard.
The side parts of the altar are separated from the central field by Corinthian columns and framed by smaller columns on the sides. In the shell niche stands the Mainz diocese and Aschaffenburg city patron St. Martin von Tours as a Roman soldier who shares his coat with a beggar. On the right is the builder of the castle, Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg with the model of the castle in his hand. Putti, vases and flower tendrils complement the altar decorations.
The altar, begun in 1609, was finished by the year of inauguration 1614. Juncker then worked at the pulpit for another four years.
pulpit
The pulpit was completed by Hans Juncker in 1618. A somewhat narrower pillar rises on a broad base, in whose niches Moses , David and Solomon stand. The pulpit, chiseled from gray tuff, is placed on a semicircular body. The figures are made of alabaster, the frieze of reddish marble. The four evangelists stand on the pilaster strips , with alabaster reliefs depicting the four Latin church fathers, Ambrosius , Hieronymus , Augustine and Gregory . At the transition to the staircase, Christ is shown as the ruler of the world, blessing and holding the globe, between the princes of the apostles Peter and Paul . On the staircase parapet in the substructure is a putto with acanthus tendrils, on the parapet there is an angel's head with tendrils.
Sound cover from 1802 Empire style (Erthal period).
use
The castle chapel belongs to the parish of Our Lady (Aschaffenburg) in the parish community of St. Martin.
Sunday 11:00 a.m. Mass celebration in Croatian
The palace chapel can be rented from the palace and garden administration for baptisms and weddings, as well as for concerts and musical performances or readings in a stylish setting.
Two rows of benches separated by a central aisle with a total of 22 benches offer space for around 160 people.
literature
- Alois Grimm: Aschaffenburger Häuserbuch II, ed. Hans-Bernd Spies and Peter Fleck, Geschichts- und Kunstverein Aschaffenburg e. V., Aschaffenburg 1991, ISBN 3-87965-053-5
- Aschaffenburg Palace, Official Guide, edited by Burkard von Roda and Werner Helmberger, Bavarian Administration of State Palaces, Gardens and Lakes, Munich 1997
- Bernd Pattloch: Johannisburg Castle in Aschaffenburg, destruction and reconstruction 1944 to 1999, published by Geschichts- und Kunstverein Aschaffenburg e. V., Aschaffenburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-87965-108-5
- Thomas Richter (ed.): The sculptor Hans Juncker - child prodigy between late Renaissance and Baroque , Aschaffenburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-7774-2227-5 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gudenus, Cod. Diplom I p. 816
- ↑ Hans-Bernd Spies: When was the chapel in the old Aschaffenburg Castle consecrated ?, in: Mitteilungen aus der Stadt- und Stiftsarchiv Aschaffenburg, Vol. 2, Issue 1, March 1987
- ↑ Communication from Jakob Heinrich von Hefner-Alteneck to the art historian Adolf von Oechelhäuser in communications on the history of Heidelberg Castle II p. 231 v. A. Oechelhäuser
- ↑ Alois Stadtmüller - Aschaffenburg in World War II - bombing raids, siege, handover of publications by the History and Art Association Aschaffenburg iK Paul Pattloch Verlag Aschaffenburg 1970
- ↑ Bernd Pattloch Johannisburg Castle in Aschaffenburg - destruction and reconstruction 1944 to 1999 Aschaffenburg History and Art Association 2007 p. 15
- ↑ Construction of the Landbauamt (State Building Authority) Aschaffenburg
- ↑ Bayer. Administration of State Palaces, Gardens and Lakes
- ↑ Main-Echo of May 24, 2013
- ^ The sculptor Hans Juncker - child prodigy between late renaissance and baroque ed. by Thomas Richter, Aschaffenburg 2014
- ↑ Castle building invoice 1618/19
- ^ Aschaffenburg Castle, Official Guide, edited by Burkard von Roda and Werner Helmberger, Bavarian Administration of State Palaces, Gardens and Lakes, Munich 1997
