Castle Church Ellingen
The castle church of the Teutonic Order Castle in Ellingen , a town in the Middle Franconian district of Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen ( Bavaria ), was built in the 13th century in the high Gothic style. In the 18th century it was redesigned in baroque style under the direction of the master builder and plasterer Franz Joseph Roth . The Church of the Assumption of Mary and St. Ulrich is the only remaining part of the Ellingen Castle from the Middle Ages, along with the remains of a tower.
history
After a no longer extant inscription in the choir , the Ellinger Castle Church from 1274 was the Komturen the German Order coming Ellingen built. The construction work was completed by 1330 at the latest. This sandstone block , known as the “Pohrkirche” (poor church) and corresponding to the type of a mendicant order church , fell victim to the pillage by Albrecht II Alcibiades of Brandenburg-Kulmbach in 1552 during the Second Margrave War and only the surrounding walls remained. In 1573 the nave was given a new vault with stucco ribs, the beginnings of which have been preserved above the current vault. Under the provincial commander of Karl Heinrich von Hornstein , the church was re-vaulted in 1717/18 and redesigned in Baroque style. Franz Joseph Roth, who was also the site manager, was responsible for the decoration with rain stucco , while the ceiling paintings were frescoed by Johann Anton Pinck. In 1746, under the Landkomtur Franz Sigismund Friedrich Graf von Satzenhofen, the gothic choir was sheathed, which has now been adapted to the converted nave. The renovations were completed under the master builder Matthias Binder and today's tower was built.
In April 1945, members of the Third US Army discovered a warehouse in the church that might contain Nazi-looted art .
architecture
Exterior construction
The south facade of the church is structured by large windows with stucco frames. In the middle stands out a prominently protruding portal risalit , which is separated by pilasters on the sides and broken through by two high windows and two doors. In the niche between the two windows there is a sculpture of Maria Immaculata from 1748 by the sculptor Johann Wagner, from whom the large coat of arms of the high and German master Clemens August comes from at the top of the gable. A cartouche with a chronogram with the year 1748 is attached underneath the Madonna sculpture : “A V E REG I NA PO LI PATRONA OR DI N I S TE U TON ICI S I S NOB I S A UXILI ATR IX POTENT I SS IM A “(Greetings, Queen of Heaven, patron saint of the Teutonic Order; be a powerful helper to us).
The figures of St. George and St. Elisabeth on both sides of the portal were executed by Johann Friedrich Maucher like the coat of arms of Landkomtur Franz Sigismund Friedrich Graf von Satzenhofen on the cornice . The five sculptures on the spire by Leonhard Meyer represent Salvator Mundi and the four evangelists .
inner space
The nave is divided into two yokes by a wide belt arch resting on pilasters made of gray-yellow stucco marble . The pillars are decorated with Corinthian capitals and carry the stucco figures of the four Latin church fathers . The western end of the nave is formed by a two-story organ gallery , the lower parapet of which is decorated with three stucco reliefs. The gallery rests on stone pillars that were built in 1756 instead of wooden pillars.
The choir closes with a five-eighth ending . Its three bays are covered by ribbed vaults, which are covered with a rich rainbow decoration of ribbon work, diamond lattice, putti and floral motifs. The stucco pilaster strip to the choir walls created of the Wessobrunner school belonging Franz Xaver Feuchtmayer . Above the choir arch, the coat of arms of the high and German master Franz Ludwig von Pfalz-Neuburg is emblazoned under a coat of arms tent with canopy and putti.
Ceiling paintings
The ceiling paintings were probably executed by Johann Anton Pinck in 1717/18. The two large paintings in the nave depict the apparition of the cross by Emperor Constantine in the battle of the Milvian Bridge and the adoration of the cross by Empress Helena . The corner medallions depict the virtues and saints. The ceiling paintings in the choir are dedicated to the Trinity and its three divine persons.
Ribbed vault and ceiling painting in the choir
Coat of arms of the high and German master Franz Ludwig von Pfalz-Neuburg on the choir arch
Apparition on the cross of Emperor Constantine
Adoration of the Cross by Empress Helena
Corner medallion, St. George
Corner medallion, allegory of faith
Furnishing
- The high altar made of gray and red stucco marble was created in 1748 by Franz Xaver Feuchtmayer based on a design by Franz Joseph Roth. The altar panel depicts the Assumption of the Virgin and bears the signature of the Würzburg court painter Oswald Onghers . It is marked with the year 1684.
- The high altar is crowned by an open top with a figure of a bishop surrounded by a halo, presumably representing St. Ulrich , the second patron saint of the church. Above it is the coat of arms of the high and German master Clemens August .
- The side altars are carved from wood and were made between 1761 and 1764. They are signed by Franz Anton Anwander from Landsberg am Lech and the year 1763 is provided. The crucifixion of Christ is depicted on the left and St. Sebastian on the right . The coat of arms of Landkomtur Friedrich Carl Freiherr von Eyb, who worked here from 1749 to 1764, is emblazoned on both altars .
- The pulpit dates from 1748.
- The oratorios in the choir have rococo grids in gray and gold.
- The pews were created in 1718 by the carpenter Veit Biber and the sculptor Johann Friedrich Maucher.
Choir and high altar
Side altar with the coat of arms of Friedrich Carl Freiherr von Eyb
Oratorio box in the choir
organ
The organ probably comes from the workshop of the organ builder Johann Georg Allgeyer the Elder. Ä. from Hofen . The organ prospectus was designed by Franz Joseph Roth and executed in 1718.
Pillars under the organ gallery
Relief on the organ gallery
Relief on the organ gallery
Epitaphs
The church contains numerous epitaphs of the Teutonic Knights from the 17th and 18th centuries. The four oldest epitaphs date from around 1600. They were subsequently made for land commander who had died several decades earlier. Relief representations of a knight kneeling in front of a crucifix can be seen on all four epitaphs, the coats of arms are shown on the top.
On the south wall of the nave are the epitaphs of:
- Konrad Christoph von Lehrbach († 1767)
- Franz Joseph Claudius Freiherr von Reinach († 1717)
- Marsilius Heustein von Eisenheim († 1702)
- Johann Franz Damian von Brietzke († 1703)
- Johann Christoph von Fechenbach († 1691)
- Wolfgang Ferdinand Freiherr von Lammingen on albums († 1682)
- Volpert von Schwalbach († 1602)
- Franz Adam Zobel von Giebelstadt († 1734)
- Franz Joseph Reichlin von Meldegg († 1764)
- Joseph Casimir Wilhelm Freiherr von Reinach auf Hirzbach († 1795)
On the north wall of the nave are the epitaphs of:
- Franz Sigismund Friedrich Graf von Satzenhofen on Pertolzhofen and Bettendorf († 1748)
- Franz Sigismund Adalbert von Lehrbach († 1787)
- Johann Konrad Schutzbar called Milchling († 1612)
- Karl Freiherr zu Wolkenstein , Lord of Trostburg († 1626)
- Johann Konrad von Lichtenstein († 1656)
- Georg Wilhelm Klüppel von Elkershausen († 1654)
- Johann Adolf Loesch von Hilkerthausen († 1663)
- Johann Wilhelm von Zocha († 1690)
- Adam Maximilian Freiherr von Ow auf Hierlingen and Sternegg († 1702)
- Wilhelm von Neuhausen († 1537, incorrectly on the epitaph 1437), subsequently (around 1600) made epitaph
- Wolfgang von Eisenhofen († 1516), subsequently made (around 1600) epitaph
- Wilhelm Lochinger († 1558), subsequently (around 1600) made epitaph
- Johann Valentin von Trohn († 1558), subsequently (around 1600) made epitaph
- Joseph Georg Bero Baron of Ulm († 1781)
- Anton Christoph Erdmann von Reisach († 1785)
literature
- Georg Dehio : Handbook of German Art Monuments - Bavaria I - Franconia (arrangement: Tilman Breuer, Friedrich Oswald, Friedrich Piel, Wilhelm Schwemmer u. A.) . Deutscher Kunstverlag , Munich 1979, p. 255 .
- Christoph Graf Pfeil: Residence Ellingen. Official leader . 8th revised and redesigned edition. Bavarian Palace Administration , Munich 2005, ISBN 3-932982-59-2 .
- Katholisches Pfarramt St. Georg (Ed.): The churches of the parish Ellingen . Without year and without ISBN, p. 15f.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ National Archives of the USA , Dorothea Hülsmeier: Who Owns the Schwabing Art Treasure? and Ingeborg Ruthe: henchmen of the Nazis , both in the Frankfurter Rundschau on November 4, 2013
- ^ The Allgeyer family of organ builders in Hofen and Wasseralfingen . In: Aalen Yearbook 1986
Coordinates: 49 ° 3 ′ 40.7 ″ N , 10 ° 57 ′ 56.6 ″ E