St. Andreas Church (Weißenburg)
| St. Andrew's Church | |
|---|---|
 The St. Andrew's Church seen from the forecourt |
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| Data | |
| place | Weißenburg in Bavaria |
| Construction year | 1294 to 1327 |
| height | 65 m |
| Coordinates | 49 ° 1 '54 " N , 10 ° 58' 13" E |
| particularities | |
| Evangelical church in Weißenburg and the tallest building in the city | |
The St. Andreas Church is the Protestant town church of Weißenburg in Bavaria , a major district town in the Weissenburg-Gunzenhausen district in Central Franconia . It is the largest church in the city and is located in the Evangelical Lutheran deanery in Weißenburg . The building is registered under the monument number D-5-77-177-280 as an architectural monument in the Bavarian monument list. The underground components as well as the previous building are also registered as a ground monument (number: D-5-6931-0401). The address of the building is Martin-Luther-Platz 11. Church patronage is St. Andreas .
location
As the city church of the large district town of Weißenburg in Bavaria , the basilica is located on Martin-Luther-Platz within the listed old town of Weißenburg , in direct proximity to the city wall, the Ellinger Tor , the Gothic Weißenburg town hall with Schweppermannsbrunnen and the Am Hof square . Opposite the church are the Old Latin School , the Roman Museum and the Imperial City Museum with the Kaden House. Rosenstrasse begins on the east side of the church . The church tower is visible with 65 meters height the tallest structure in the city. The church stands at a height of 421 meters above sea level .
history
On November 15, 1530, 454 Weißenburg citizens voted in St. Andrew's Church whether they wanted to accept the Confessio Augustana and thereby become Protestant. 447 voted for the Protestant faith, seven against, making the church and the imperial city of Weißenburg Protestant. The seven Catholic citizens left the city soon after. The Martinskirche, which was built around 700, was profaned in 1534 , demolished in 1863 and replaced by a new building according to plans by the architect Eduard Bürklein in a historicizing form (today's Schranne ).
In 1850 a large part of the church's valuable furnishings were sold. During the renovation in 1958, the church was restored to its original Gothic appearance. In 1994 the old sacristy , a former bell room in the basement of the tower, was converted into a treasury with a glass wall, where preserved church treasures have been exhibited since 1995.
During the restoration of the church in 1999, the choir windows were provided with external protective glazing to preserve and preserve the stained glass.
Previous construction
In 1182, the first Romanesque church was probably built on the foundation walls of a chapel , which was east-facing and had a recessed choir with a presumably round apse . The previous church was consecrated between 1182 and 1189 by Eichstätt Bishop Otto . She belonged to the royal court. This church was demolished in 1290. The pillars of the current nave stand on their foundations .
Building history
The church, begun in 1294, was consecrated in 1327 and at that time comprised the three-aisled nave and the north tower. As early as 1329, the St. Andrew's Church was designated as the city parish church, which proves that the older original parish of Martinskirche was replaced as the city's main church . In 1400 work was again carried out on a new building based on the St. Sebald Church in Nuremberg as a model. However, the city wall limited the space. From 1425 to 1465 the hall choir was built with the associated baptistery . Due to a lack of money, the nave of the previous building was connected to the newly built choir. The longitudinal axis of the church was shifted to the south . The four lower floors of the east tower were built from 1459 to 1481, and its top floor was added in 1520. A neo-Gothic basilica was built in 1891 by raising the central nave and making further modifications . From 1507 the Weißenburg council library was located in or near the church .
Building description
Longhouse
The oldest part of the church is the three-aisled nave, which is structured by simply stepped buttresses and a surrounding coffin cornice at the level of the step. The former relay hall was expanded into a basilica in the 19th century . The nave to six Jochen is by ogival arcades separated from the two aisles. It had a barrel vault until 1891 . Today the three ships have flat ceilings made of wood.
Hall choir
The bright, light-flooded hall choir is relatively high and is considered an outstanding work of the southern German late Gothic. The hall choir is offset by around 12 degrees compared to the older nave and extends over the full width of the nave, integrates the old church tower in the north and connects to the nave wall at a slightly smaller angle in the south. The vault rests on seven 12 meter high round pillars . 49 colored keystones with partly Christian symbols summarize the vaulted ribs of the gallery and the choir. A technical feature is the originally preserved roof with its elevated collar beam construction and double-standing chair.
Chapels
Michael's Chapel
At the same time as the hall choir was built, the two-storey St. Michael's Chapel was built on its south side. The bridal portal with a vaulted vestibule fills the western area on the ground floor . The bridal portal from 1425 is on the south side of the church. It shows statues of St. James the Elder (recognizable by the scallop on his hat) and an unidentified apostle . The two statues stand on consoles: the console of Jacob represents a praying woman with a rosary, the console of the unknown figure is a grimace with plenty of foliage.
The tympanum shows the coronation and death of Mary . Above the stepped portal there is a pointed gable studded with crabs and flanked by slender pinnacles . In the tympanum is Kreuzigungsgruppe shown.
The Michaelskapelle can only be reached by a double spiral staircase in the stair tower west of the bride portal. The two stairs are so twisted into one another that one can get into the chapel from the outside as well as from the inside without meeting each other. The staircase, accessible from the outside, was used by the congregation, the one leading into the church was used by the clergy.
Baptistery
Today's baptistery, which was only built during the renovation between 1957 and 1960, forms a structural unit with the Michael's chapel and the bridal portal above. Before that, the room, which originally had an independent worship service, was separated from the choir by a wall. In the middle of the room is the baptismal font decorated with tracery .
Towers
Andreasturm
The 65-meter high Andreasturm is the east tower of the church and was added to the choir in several stages between 1459 and 1520. The slightly smaller north tower is older. The Andreasturm houses four bells: the prayer bell, the measuring bell, the 12 o'clock bell and the storm bell. Until 1925, the tower's apartment was housed on the top floor at a height of 52 meters . The Türmerstube can be reached via a spiral staircase .
The two square basement floors extend to the choir roof, the two middle floors have an octagonal floor plan. The fifth floor, completed in 1520, has a smaller footprint than the remaining floors. The spire with an open dome lantern was added in the Baroque period .
North tower
The 7 mx 8 m north tower has five floors and was built from stone in the 14th century, with cornices between the floors. The ogival masonry windows are remarkable. The crucifixion group of the church, which was created between 1928 and 1935 by the sculptor Karl Hemmeter from Weißenburg, is located on the lower floor, which is open to the church interior .
inventory
Altars
High altar
The high altar , called Andreas Altar , probably comes from Michael Wohlgemut from Nuremberg, the time of creation was around 1500. It was originally in the northern choir chapel and was only put in its current place after 1931. In the middle part of the wing altar, which is about 6 meters wide, there is a sculpture of the seated Apostle Andrew . The flanking panels depict apostles, v. l. No. Judas Thaddäus , Johannes Evangelista and Peter (left), Paulus , James the Elder and Simon Zelotes (right). The predella - originally not part of the altar - shows half-length portraits of St. Andrew and St. John Evangelista. In front of the Andreas altar in the middle of the east choir has been the modern folk altar by Hermann Sturm since 2000 .
Sebaldus Altar
In the northern ambulatory is the so-called Sebaldus Altar, a late Gothic winged altar from 1496, which is attributed to either Veit Stoss or local Weißenburg artists. With the wings open, in the center of the shrine is the figure of Mary with child on the crescent moon , flanked on the left by a monk without an attribute (St. Benedict ?), On the right by St. Sebald . In the bas-reliefs , St. Antonius Abbas is depicted on the wings on the left and St. Sebastian on the right . The 14 holy helpers appear as painted half-figures on the predella . The predella dates from the same period as the altar, but was not originally part of it.
Mary Altar
In addition, there is the Marien Altar, created around 1500, in the form of a box altar that is characteristic of the Nuremberg area . The figure of the Madonna and Child on the crescent moon stands in front of a painted halo, which is surrounded by angels making music. On its outer sides (not visible) an Annunciation is depicted. When the wings are open, the upper part of the box forms a canopy over the figure of Mary. A similar box altar made in 1477, which is said to come from St. Andreas, is now in the Bavarian National Museum in Munich.
Denominational image
The denomination image of Wolf Eisenmann was by the three white burgers on January 18, 1606 Christoph Koler , Hans Roth and Christoph Münderlein and the Austrian exiles Balthasar Cristalnig donated. The four Weißenburgers were included in the picture together with their wives. It is located on the north side wall of the nave. The 7.2 meter long and 2 meter high oil painting shows various spiritual acts in the Protestant church, namely the Lord's Supper , baptism , confession , Christian doctrine , sermons , weddings and making music in the choir school. In the middle of the picture a cross with Jesus Christ divides the picture. The denomination picture was drawn in memory of the Confessio Augustana . In the lower left image field, probably as an allusion to Emperor Charles V , who presumably received confession books from Johann von Sachsen , the rescue of the people of Israel from the Pharaoh on the Red Sea is shown. The upper left side picture shows the Passover of the Jews before the exodus from Egypt , the theological counterpart to the Last Supper of Jesus shown in the upper right side picture . The number of participants in the Lord's Supper is surprising, namely 14. The apostle Paul was included in the circle of the 12 disciples in an anachronistic manner. Representatives of the cities of Weißenburg and Nuremberg are also shown on the picture.
Treasury
In the treasury, which was established in 1995 in the old sacristy in the basement of the tower, other remarkable art treasures of the church are kept:
- The bronze Romanesque altar and processional cross was created in the Swabian region between 1185 and 1189 and comes from the previous church. The statue of Jesus on the cross wears a royal crown and is surrounded by rock crystals .
- The eight enthroned clay apostles (15th century) belong to a group of Christ with the 12 apostles and were created in Franconia . They were rediscovered in 1930 in a board cladding in the canteen of the main altar.
- Also rediscovered in 1930 were two textile head reliquaries (approx. 1504), in which relics of male and female saints were put together in the shape of a head.
- A silver altar (around 1480) in the form of a triptych probably originally served as a reliquary altar . The silver reliefs on the front show a mercy seat flanked by an Annunciation.
- A double altar was put together from two private altars (approx. 1500). In the lower part, a group of St. George made of alabaster is flanked by panel paintings of the apostles Peter and Andreas, in the upper part an alabaster mercy seat with the pictures of St. Apollonia and Ottilia.
- Also noteworthy are two mounted chandelier angels (16th century) whose wings have been lost.
organ
In 1719, the Hofener organ builder Johann Georg Allgeyer d. Ä. an organ with 19 stops for the church. Since this would have required considerable renovation work, it was decided instead to repair the existing organ. Only a decade later, after Allgeyer's death, a new organ was installed by Caspar König from Ingolstadt , which, however, was designed with a completely different prospect.
The Steinmeyer organ, inaugurated in 1963 and renovated in 2007 by the Jann organ building company, is located on the gallery on the west side of the church. During the last renovation, an auxiliary was added to the organ . It has 40 sounding registers on three manuals . The disposition of the listed organ is as follows:
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- Coupling : II / I, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
- Playing aids : 6 typesetting combinations
Others
The foundation stone of the church is set into the west wall of the choir. The Latin inscription 1327 dedicatum est hoc templum was added to the stone .
The glass paintings of the neo-Gothic hall choir windows were added later in 1890 and show the adoration of the Magi , Jesus and the children, the crucifixion of Christ and Jesus and the Samaritan woman.
A bronze statue of Martin Luther by the sculptor Martin Mayer stands in front of the west front of the church . A crucifixion group is located in the basement of the north tower and was created by Karl Hemmeter from 1928 to 1935.
For centuries, the town's cemetery was located around the church . In 1558 it was moved southwest of the city.
To commemorate the consecration of the church , the Weißenburger Kirchweih is celebrated, which was first mentioned in a document in 1455.
literature
- Gotthard Kießling: City of Weißenburg i. Bay. (= Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation [Hrsg.]: Monuments in Bavaria . Volume V.70 / 2 ). Karl M. Lipp Verlag, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-87490-582-9 .
- Ute Jäger: St. Andreas to Weissenburg . Weissenburg 2000
Web links
- Website of the community
- Location of St. Andreas Church in the Bavarian Atlas of the Bavarian State Government ( information )
Individual evidence
- ↑ pointoo.de . Description of the Church, accessed August 28, 2011 .
- ↑ a b Evang.-Luth. Stadtpfarrkirche St. Andreas in the monument list of the city of Weißenburg at the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation (pdf; accessed on January 9, 2016)
- ↑ Topographic maps , Bavarian Surveying Office ( BayernAtlas )
- ↑ Altmühltal Nature Park
- ↑ a b c The Church on qype. Retrieved August 29, 2011 .
- ^ Report from the Rothkegel company
- ^ History of the Andreas Church
- ↑ Description of the Andreasturm with the tower room
- ↑ Werner Dettelbacher, Stefan Fröhling, Andreas Reuss: Franconia - discovery trips between Spessart and Fichtelgebirge . DuMont Reiseverlag, 1999, ISBN 978-3-7701-4186-9 , p. 295 f.
- ↑ a b c Ute Jäger: Church leader St. Andreas zu Weißenburg , Weißenburg 2000
- ↑ The Andrew Altar
- ^ Report on Hermann Sturm
- ↑ Description of the church on weissenburg.info
- ↑ a b c d The denomination image on the parish's website. Retrieved September 3, 2019 .
- ↑ The Allgeyer family of organ builders in Hofen and Wasseralfingen , pp. 80–82 (PDF).
- ^ History of the Jann organ company
- ^ Organ Databank , accessed on September 3, 2019.
- ↑ From a special supplement to WZ on August 17, 2011