Hospital and hospital church in Weil der Stadt
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The ensemble of hospital and hospital church in Weil der Stadt is a listed complex made up of several buildings from different eras.
hospital
The former hospital is a cultural monument in accordance with Section 28 of the Monument Protection Act . The building is a testimony to the history of Weil der Stadt that shapes the cityscape .
history
In a document from 1358, the foundation for the “future hospital in Weil” is mentioned for the first time. Like most medieval hospitals, the one in Weil der Stadt is located on the city wall . The water from the Wurm river was needed for hygienic reasons. The hospital has the Mother of God as its patron saint . Typically for medieval hospitals, strangers as well as the poor, the elderly and orphans were accommodated, and the sick were cared for. At the hospital, citizens could buy their way through a foundation for care in old age; they did not eat with the poor, because their food was of better quality. For contagious diseases, the hospital had its own infirmary outside the city wall . Attending Holy Mass in the hospital chapel was compulsory, anyone who deliberately missed it was punished with deprivation of food. The hospital was spared in the great city fire in 1648. The hospital fulfilled its functions until 1953, when the new community home on Heinrichsberg began operations.
Building description
The two-storey hospital building in the corner has a bricked, plastered ground floor and an unplastered, slightly overhanging upper floor in half-timbered construction . The two levels of the top floor under a gable roof are provided with dormers . According to dendrochronological dating, the current building was rebuilt in 1477. This part of the building still has so-called Alemannic framework. In 1588, the building complex was expanded to include new buildings to the northwest. This also includes the barn in the north of the complex, which was renovated in the 20th century. The large eastern half-timbered building also belongs to this period. Later centuries left the hospital complex largely untouched. In 1995, a building fire destroyed the entire roof structure including the gable . In 1999 it was rebuilt and repaired.
Hospital chapel
At the southeast corner of the mighty hospital complex around a large courtyard is the chapel “To Our Lady”, a cultural monument in accordance with Section 28 of the Monument Protection Act. Together with the furnishings, it is an outstanding testimony to the history of Weil der Stadt and shapes the cityscape at the eastern entrance to the city.
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history
The original building together with three altars and the parish cemetery was at Saint Gall in 1364 by the auxiliary bishop of Speyer inaugurated. It was changed many times later. A renewal took place in the second half of the 15th century. Subsequent renovations did not change much in the building itself, only the window glazing, interior fittings and painting of the walls were renewed, most recently extensively in 1977/78. After the fire in the attached hospital building in 1995, the roof structure was renovated in 1996 .
Building description
The hall church has a rectangular floor plan and is solidly bricked. The outer walls are plastered. At the top, the three attic levels are covered with a gable roof, to the east it is hipped . It is crowned with a roof turret . Only two pointed arch and two rectangular windows facing Stuttgarter Strasse and the massive masonry of the chapel are entirely original. In 1747/48 the baroque portal with the oval window above was created. The east wall was previously integrated into the city wall , it remained windowless. It was only when the city no longer needed to be fortified that it received simple windows. The windows of the choir were destroyed in 1945 when the Spitalbrücke was blown up; they were glazed with colored glass according to a design by Karl Josef Huber .
The chapel was remodeled again in 1826. The interior coffered ceiling was only added in 1953, when the old stucco ceiling showed irreparable damage.
Furnishing
The oldest surviving piece is the Arma Christi fresco from the 14th century, rediscovered in 1977, on the north wall of the nave . The late Gothic high altar comes from the end of the 15th century . His shrine contains the family of Mary. Maria is enthroned in the center . Originally it was a winged altar . The previously existing side wings were lost.
In 1747/48 the chapel was redesigned in baroque style. The altar was also given a baroque finish. In 1953/54 the original condition of the altar was largely restored.
The two side altars to the left and right of the choir arch were created on the occasion of the renovation in 1747/48.
On the left altar there are figures of the apostles and evangelists, on the right the fourteen helpers in need .
An organ with 8 registers has been located behind the baroque organ front since 1983 .
Web links
literature
- Felix Hammer: Spitalkapelle "To our dear lady" because of the city (Schnell, art guide No. 1537). Regensburg 1998
Coordinates: 48 ° 45 ' N , 8 ° 53' E