Hospital Church of the Holy Spirit (Cham)
The Spitalkirche Hl. Geist is a Catholic hospital church in the town of Cham in the Upper Palatinate . It is Cham's oldest church.
history
The oldest hospital in the city of Cham was in Siechen, which today (2017) is a district of Cham. It is located in the east of the city at the foot of the 451 meter high Galgenberg. In the tax tables of the 19th century, a leper house in Siechen is mentioned.
In the 13th century, the Cham Spital was relocated to the northeastern entrance to the city of Cham between Cham and Brunnendorf. There is a document from the year 1285 about the Cham hospital. In it, Bishop Heinrich II, Count von Rotteneck, allowed the citizens of Cham to renew the hospital. The obligations contained in this document show that the hospital church and a cemetery belonging to it already existed at this time.
In 1330 the hospital foundation came into being as a result of the recommendation of a diocesan synod . This foundation developed into one of the richest charitable institutions in the Regensburg diocese .
In a city fire in 1512, the existing hospital church burned down. In 1514 a new hospital church was built in Gothic style.
When the Pandur Franz Freiherr von der Trenck set fire to the city of Cham in 1742, the nave of the hospital church also fell victim to this fire. A new, wider nave was added to the preserved choir in the 18th century. The preserved Gothic portal was integrated into the south wall.
In the second half of the 18th century the hospital church received a baroque interior. The hospital church was also a cemetery church for several centuries. The cemetery that used to be behind the church no longer exists, but several old grave slabs have been set into the walls inside the church. The 19th century brought some minor changes.
The city gate that led to the hospital church was called the hospital gate. The whole area around the Spitalkirche was called the Spitaltorviertel. It was one of the four districts into which Cham was divided (Spitaltorviertel, Fleischtorviertel, Biertorviertel, Sandtorviertel). Five properties belonged to the hospital: the hospital building, the hospital church, the Spitalmesnerhaus, the Spitalhirtenhaus and the Spitalbräuhaus. The Spitalmesnerhaus and three other smaller buildings next to the hospital church were demolished in 1913, so that the church building now stands alone. In this year the porch of the portal, the gallery and the external staircase to the gallery were also built.
From 1984 to 1986 the hospital church was renovated under architect Josef Berthold.
Architecture and equipment
The Gothic south portal is decorated with 14 unevenly distributed spheres. Its carved oak door dates from the 18th century.
The interior is baroque , 18th century. The Cham painters Anton Sollfleisch and Wolfgang Hennevogl painted the high altar picture and the ceiling fresco . The Cham sculptor Fidelis Ittelsperger designed the high altar with the figures of St. Augustine , St. Nicholas and St. Elisabeth .
Originally the hospital church was to be consecrated to St. Nicholas. However, as is common for hospital churches, it then became a Holy Spirit Church .
To the left and right of the high altar are two side altars, which thematically deal with the topic of illness and death.
There is a baroque pulpit on the north wall of the church .
In the far south corner under a large crucifix stands a Mother of Sorrows designed as a dressing-up figure. The sculptor Tobias Bader created a statue of the Virgin Mary for the Duke Hospital in Munich in 1651 . The Chamber of Sorrows is a replica of this sculpture. Originally it was probably set up in the Chamer Franciscan Church and only came to the hospital church after 1800. Numerous votive offerings testify to the popularity of this figure among the faithful.
proof
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k http://www.pfarrei-cham.de/kirchen-und-kapellen/
- ↑ Historical Atlas of Bavaria: Altbayern Series I, Issue 8: The Cham District Court, p. 64
- ↑ a b Josef Oswald, Kurt von Ingersleben: Herold. Guide through Germany. Volume 6. Vereinigte Herold Verlage München, 1970, p. 365
- ↑ http://www.cham.de/Stadt-Bürger/Die-Stadt/Srachtheiten/Kirchen/Spitalkirche
- ↑ Historical Atlas of Bavaria: Altbayern Series I, Issue 8: The Cham district court, pp. 62–64
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 13 ′ 9.5 ″ N , 12 ° 40 ′ 1.7 ″ E