Bayreuth Castle Church

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Bayreuth Castle Church

The Bayreuth Castle Church in the building ensemble of the Old Castle in Bayreuth is a hall church in the Bayreuth Rococo style . It was from 1753 to 1758 on behalf of the Margrave couple Wilhelmine and Friedrich III. built as a Lutheran castle and grave church. The plans come from the court architect Joseph Saint-Pierre , the ornate ceiling stucco by Giovanni Battista Pedrozzi . The castle church has been a Catholic parish church with the patronage of Our Lady since 1813 .

prehistory

As early as 1528, eleven years after the beginning of the Reformation , the rulers of the Franconian margravial territories joined the Lutheran creed. According to the principle of “ Cuius regio, eius religio ”, all residents of Bayreuth had to accept the faith of their prince. The Franciscan monastery , which was only founded in 1514 on the nearby Oschenberg , was dissolved again in 1529. It was not until the 18th century that the Enlightenment brought more tolerance towards people of different faiths.

In the course of the construction projects of the margraves, especially Wilhelmine von Brandenburg-Bayreuths (1709–1758), Italian and French architects and artists of the Catholic faith came to the city. Margrave Georg Wilhelm (1678–1726) allowed them in 1722 to celebrate their sacraments outside the city walls and in camera. They celebrated their services in various private rooms. In 1743 they wanted to acquire the academy building on Paradeplatz (today's "Postei" on Jean-Paul-Platz), but Bamberg's Bishop Friedrich Karl von Schönborn prevented this. Two years later, Margrave Friedrich III. Not far from that point a building site (today: Hofgebäude Friedrichstraße 17) with the stipulation that the building on the street should not be recognizable as a church and should only have small windows. In 1747, the court architect Joseph Saint-Pierre submitted a draft, and the oratory was consecrated on January 7, 1749 .

On the courtyard side, the French Saint-Pierre did not adhere to the window sizes and had to divide the already completed high windows horizontally with sandstone bars. In addition, the opponents were looking for reasons to revoke the concession . They appointed an inspector to oversee the Catholic religious retreat and to report to the margrave and the government. Playing the organ, which the Catholics were strictly forbidden, occasionally led to small riots. At that time, the city's Catholic community consisted of around 500 people. Their children had to attend Lutheran schools, where the Lutheran catechism was taught and consulted. Children of mixed religious parents were to be brought up in the Protestant faith. Weddings took place according to the evangelical rite, "after-wedding ceremonies" were quietly carried out by the Catholic clergyman .

The Bayreuth Catholics celebrated their services in the oratory until 1813, from then on they could use the castle church. In 1819 they sold the building and the adjacent rectory.

history

Information sign at the castle church
Grave place for Wilhelmine von Bayreuth, Friedrich III. and Elisabeth Friederike von Brandenburg-Bayreuth

The old castle, which was built in the Renaissance style in the 16th and early 17th centuries , was largely destroyed in a fire in 1753 and replaced as a residence by the new castle in the following years . However, it was largely rebuilt, with partially changed use. Instead of the north wing, two representative houses of high margravial officials were built.

A palace chapel had been located in the east wing for a long time. In 1665 a new (and probably larger) castle church was built under Margrave Christian Ernst after the relocation of the stables.

When the construction of a new residence was considered after the fire in 1753, it was decided to rebuild the court church on the old site. It should also serve as a burial place for the margrave couple. The church was inaugurated at Easter 1758. In October of the same year Wilhelmine von Bayreuth, the eldest sister of Frederick the Great , who also worked as a writer and composer, died and was buried in the church's crypt above ground . In 1763 she was followed by Friedrich III. When the first ring was rung, the bell in the castle tower burst with a loud bang. In 1780 the only daughter of the two, Elisabeth Friederike , was buried there.

After the last Margrave Karl Alexander renounced the principalities of Ansbach and Bayreuth in December 1791, its areas became a Prussian province . With the end of the margravate, the church lost its function and temporarily became a weapons store .

After Bayreuth, which was occupied by the French from 1806 , was sold to the Kingdom of Bavaria by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1810 , Maximilian I, with a decree of March 3, 1812, designated the now functionless castle church to be the parish church for the more than 1200 Catholics who moved in the course of the 18th century in the Lutheran Bayreuth. In exchange, the Protestants received a Catholic church in Bamberg . The handover of the castle church to the new parish did not take place until the end of April 1813.

Around 1864, as part of a first renovation, the rococo ceiling painting created by Ernst-Wilhelm Wunder was whitewashed. 30 years later the church was given a historicist interior . On August 4, 1886, the Requiem for Franz Liszt took place in the castle church , with Anton Bruckner playing the organ.

In 1957 there was another renovation, during which the church lost its continuous gallery and the altar was moved to the rear. The Madonna in the tabernacle , perceived as "sweet" , was replaced by a new figure. On April 16, 2018, the church was closed for extensive renovation over a period of nine months. The work included energetic and static as well as creative measures. For example, the stucco by Giovanni Battista Pedrozzi was complemented by a ceiling painting in the Baroque style. The reopening took place on April 13, 2019.

Architecture and equipment

overview

Castle tower of the town church seen from

The church, rather inconspicuous from the outside with its round arched clear glass windows and sparse wall structures, shows itself inside as a luminous ballroom. The defining colors are the white of the wall surfaces and the surrounding column-supported galleries , as well as the sparingly distributed gold accents. The aedicula of the original pulpit altar has been occupied by a crescent Madonna and tabernacle since the rededication . The lavishly stuccoed ceiling is counted among the outstanding works of its kind.

tower

The route of the castle tower runs in a spiral around the spiral staircase in its core.

The castle tower with the bells, built in 1565–1567 according to plans by Caspar Vischer , belongs to the church. It is a mighty octagon with a round arched gallery on the upper floor. Former structural parts are embedded in the foundation. Inside there is a central spiral staircase in two concentric ascents in opposite directions, as well as a wide, stepless staircase for vehicles. The tower , which has changed several times in the course of history, has been a bell tower since 1812 , as can be seen in the tower's parlor . It did not become a church tower until 1960, and it has been wearing the widely visible gilded paw cross since 1964. The pastor Dean Schley had it installed on the top of the tower without the permission of the building committee, which caused irritation in the city ​​council . The tower can be climbed by visitors since 1987.

Equipment for the time of the margrave

Continuous gallery, original Madonna and old tabernacle (around 1900)

On the narrow north side of the church is the pulpit altar typical of a Protestant church of that time . The pulpit was above the altar. Gilded statues of Peter and Paul flanked the pulpit. Two gilded angels floated above it. The organ stood on the gallery behind it.

At the other end of the church, i.e. on the south side, there was the royal box on the gallery instead of the present organ . On the white ceiling panels there were three paintings by the Bayreuth court painter Wilhelm Ernst Wunder . They showed the birth of Christ, the ascension of Christ and the four evangelists. These paintings were removed in the mid-19th century.

Pedrozzi stucco work focuses on cornices and frames. Among other things, there is a group of putti with the attributes of Christian virtues (cross for faith, anchor for hope and ring for love).

At the south end of the church, opposite the altar, is the crypt, built around 1758, with the three sarcophagi of the margrave family, designed by Carl von Gontard .

State in the 21st century

Interior view (June 2014)

In 2018, the interior of the church was extensively renovated. The original colored ceiling fields were renewed according to historical templates. The ceiling painting has been reinterpreted.

organ

View of the organ

An organ built by the Schuke company, Berlin organ building workshop , has been in operation since 1991 . It has 47 stops on three manual works and a pedal and replaces a Steinmeyer organ from 1958. The playing and stop actions are mechanical.

I Hauptwerk C – g 3
1. Drone 16 ′
2. Principal 8th'
3. Wooden dacked 8th'
4th Viola da gamba 8th'
5. octave 4 ′
6th recorder 4 ′
7th Rauschpfeife II 2 1 ⁄ 3  ′
8th. Forest flute 2 ′
9. Solo ore 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
10. Mixture IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
11. Cymbel III 1 ⁄ 2 ′
12. Trumpet 8th'
13. Vox humana 8th'
Tremulant
II Positive C-g 3
14th Reed flute 8th'
15th Quintatön 8th'
16. Principal 4 ′
17th Pointed flute 4 ′
18th Sesquialtera 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
19th octave 2 ′
20th Gemshorn 2 ′
21st Fifth 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
22nd Scharff IV 1'
23. musette 16 ′
24. Cromorne 8th'
Tremulant
III Swell C – g 3
25th Flauto 8th'
26th Salicional 8th'
27. Vox coelestis 8th'
28. Dolkan 4 ′
29 Flute octaviante 4 ′
30th Nasard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
31. Flageolet 2 ′
32. Tierce 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
33. Fittings IV 2 ′
34. Basson 16 ′
35. Trompette harmonique 8th'
36. Hautbois 8th'
37. Clairon 4 ′
Tremulant
Pedals C – f 1
38. Principal 16 ′
39. Sub-bass 16 ′
40. Octave bass 8th'
41. Drone 8th'
42. Chorale bass 4 ′
43. Pipe whistle 2 ′
44. Rauschpfeife IV 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
45. trombone 16 ′
46. Trumpet 8th'
47. Schalmey 4 ′
  • Coupling: II / I, III / I, III / II I / P, II / P, III / P

literature

  • Karl Specht: 175 years of the parish “Our Lady” - Bayreuth Castle Church . Editor of the Parish Council of Our Lady Bayreuth, Bayreuth 1986

Web links

Commons : Bayreuth Castle Church  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Church foundation "Our Lady"> The castle church as a Catholic parish church. Retrieved March 14, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Karl Müssel: Bayreuth in eight centuries . 1st edition. Gondrom, Bindlach 1993, ISBN 3-8112-0809-8 , p. 51 ff .
  3. ^ A b c Eva-Maria Bast, Heike Thissen: Bayreuth secrets . 1st edition. Bast Medien Service, Überlingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-9816796-1-8 , p. 34 ff .
  4. ↑ a b c d The Pope, the theft and the sandwich in: Nordbayerischer Kurier from 23./24. March 2019, p. 16.
  5. ↑ Karl Müssel: Bayreuth in eight centuries , S. 139th
  6. ↑ Covered exchange in: Nordbayerischer Kurier of April 22, 2016, p. 24.
  7. ↑ a b case of renovation with aha effect in: Nordbayerischer Kurier from 14./15. April 2018, p. 11.
  8. ↑ Memorial plaque on the church
  9. ↑ a b c Five steps to heaven in: Nordbayerischer Kurier from April 15, 2019, p. 7
  10. ↑ a b Ludwig Liebst: History of the Castle Tower (pdf); accessed on May 27, 2019.
  11. ↑ Eva-Maria Bast, Heike Thissen: Bayreuth Secrets . 1st edition. Bast Medien Service, Überlingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-9816796-1-8 , p. 21st ff .
  12. ↑ castle tower on schlosskirche-bayreuth; accessed on May 27, 2019.
  13. ↑ Karl Specht: 175 years of the parish “Our Lady” , cf. Literature; Pp. 53-54.
  14. ↑ Hermann Fischer u. Theodor Wohnhaas: On the history of organ building in Bayreuth . In: Archive for the history of Upper Franconia , 81st volume, Bayreuth 2001; Pp. 185-218.
  15. ↑ Information about the organ on the website of the community music

Coordinates: 49 ° 56 ′ 39.2 "  N , 11 ° 34 ′ 38.7"  E