St. Nikolai Church (Brilon)

Grammar school Petrinum (old building) with Nikolaikirche (rear view)

The Nikolaikirche in Brilon , consecrated to St. Nicholas , is a single-nave, baroque monastery church . It was built between 1772 and 1782 and is one of the latest Baroque and Rococo buildings in Westphalia.

history

When the city of Brilon was founded by Archbishop Engelbert I of Cologne , the construction of the parish church began. An indication of this is that it is already in use in 1248. The flourishing city developed extensive trade relations and became a member of the Hanseatic League . In this context, it is not surprising that a chapel was built in honor of the patron saint of merchants and seafarers, St. Nicholas, in the 13th century. After a fire, the chapel was rebuilt in the same place in 1299. This chapel was a little below (to the east) of today's church.

In 1652 the Minorites founded a settlement in Brilon and from 1655 ran a Latin school . The Nikolaikapelle was left to them for worship. Over time the chapel became too small for the numerous visitors. Therefore, the construction of today's Nikolaikirche began in 1772. This was added to the monastery building above (west) the chapel. From 1782 the church could be used for church services, work on the equipment dragged on until 1798.

Although the church did not belong to the monastery and was not owned by the Minorites, the Landgrave Hessian Ministry ordered the closure of the monastery, Latin school and church on October 11, 1803 in the course of secularization .

Church floor plan

After a Progymnasium had been set up in the rooms of the Latin School in 1820 , the monastery buildings and the Nikolaikirche were assigned to the Progymnasium by royal cabinet order in 1821. In the years 1835 to 1854 the young evangelical community was allowed to use the church. Due to the use of church services for both the grammar school and the parish, a contract was concluded in 1861 between the magistrate, city council, grammar school board of trustees and the church council on the costs of church services and the maintenance of the church. This contract lasted until 1968. On March 15, 1968, the church became the property of the parish. Between 1976 and 1979 the church was completely restored.

West portal

Building description

The Nikolaikirche is, without the later added sacristy, a 48 m long and 16 m wide structure. The masonry consists of plastered rubble stones , which are architecturally structured with sandstones . Since the mendicant orders did without massive towers from the start, there is a high roof turret above the choir . The transformation bell is housed in it. The multiple structure is executed in baroque design. On the eight-sided main floor with the sound openings, a baroque, slated onion hood was placed on top, which is crowned by a cross and a cock. The western gable side is towering and enclosed by volutes in the area of the roof . In the middle there is a magnificent rococo portal, which is accessed via a four-step stone staircase. The frame towers over the niche above the cornice. There is a slender figure of the Immaculate above the entrance door . The portal and the facade clearly indicate a structural relationship with the Bredelaer monastery. The members of the order, Eleutherius and Seraphinus, who were entrusted with the construction of the church, did not have the appropriate training and probably got suggestions. According to tradition, the west facade almost collapsed during the construction period due to structural defects. Thereafter, Seraphinus Ellinger was withdrawn from the building, and Eleutherius, the more experienced of the two, completed the church. Iron anchors were drawn into the west wall for stabilization and the two high windows above the portal were walled up. To the right and left of the portal, the wall is divided by a niche each; whether there were figures in it is not known.

The church itself is divided into five bays with a 3/6 end in the east. The yokes are separated by pilasters placed in front , which are connected with belt arches . The light cross vaults of the yokes are made with curved oak rafters with inserted corrugation and are supported by the pilasters.

Below the choir is a crypt cellar with burial chambers. This was intended for the burial of the religious.

Furnishing

Choir of the Nikolaikirche

The furnishings from the last quarter of the 18th century harmonize very well with the baroque architecture of the church interior. The choir is closed off by the high altar . Its dominant element is the central oil painting by Anton Joseph Stratmann (* 1734, † 1807) above the tabernacle . It shows the adoration of Jesus by the three wise men. The picture is flanked by two figures depicting St. Francis of Assisi (left) and St. Bernard of Clairvaux . In the pediment of the high altar above the picture is a figure of the namesake of the church, St. Nicholas attached. The top ends with a heart wound with thorns, surrounded by clouds and a halo of rays. This ensemble is framed by two pillars in front of pilasters . The multi-cranked high structure is limited by volutes with putti and fruit pendants. To the right and left of the high altar are two rococo doors that are harmoniously integrated into the choir closure. Eight coffin chambers were set up in a cellar below the choir.

In the area of the east yoke, the choir stalls carved from oak are built in on both sides . It consists of two rows with 14 seats each. The wooden back walls are high and have a curved and decorated main cornice supported by leaf consoles . In the middle of the front parapet there is a rotating reading desk. The 28 seats do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the size of the convent; it should have been much smaller.

Left side altar

Right side altar

The identically constructed side altars were set up diagonally in front of the fourth nave pilaster. Next to the central figure niche, two columns, above the curved main cornice. The moving structure with volutes, putti and fruit pendants is completed by a monogram in clouds and a halo. Further figures are attached to the outside of the consoles and in the pediment.

On the left is the altar of Mary from 1780. In the central niche there is a non-original Madonna . On the left outside is St. Joseph with the Infant Jesus, on the right outside St. Johannes Nepomuk . In the center above the Madonna in the cornice is the coat of arms of the founder, the widow Konrad Herman Ulrich, above the year 1780. In the gable field a figure of St. Aloysius .

The right side altar is a donation from Vicar Johann Jodokus Albert Brandenburg (* 1720, † 1792) from 1785 and is designed as an Antonius altar. In the central niche there is a figure of St. Anthony with the infant Jesus. A stylized lily and the year 1779 are depicted in the cornice above. Another figure of the gifted preacher with the inscription "o lingua benedicta" ("o highly praised tongue") is attached to the gable . On the outer consoles there are figures of St. King Ludwig (left) and St. Bonaventure (right).

Originally the multi-curved and richly decorated communion bench separated the choir from the ship of the believers. The center piece of the communion bench has recently been moved to the chancel in front of the high altar, a concession to the liturgical reform after the Second Vatican Council.

On the right is the beautiful Rococo pulpit on the third nave pilaster, and a crucifixion group is attached to the opposite pilaster. These as well as the figures on the other pilasters, however, are from more recent times.

Confessional front left

The six confessionals in the nave are fine Rococo work. Four pilasters decorated with tendrils support the cornice and the superstructure on volute capitals. This is formed from pilasters on volutes with kneeling putti, in between there are reliefs with a reference to the sacrament of penance . The four front confessionals were bought from the Jesuits in Büren, they were built there in 1769 and became dispensable due to the abolition of the Jesuit order. The other two were made in the monastery workshop by the lay brother Hubertus Grünewald, following the example of the one from Büren. The confessionals are embedded in wall niches. They structure the walls of the otherwise unadorned interior.

The reliefs of the confessionals in oval frames show:

St. Peter , his gaze directed at a crowing rooster, on the table in front of Peter lie two keys (front left)
Maria Magdalena looking at the cross, next to it a skull (front right)
St. Jerome in the desert, a lion's head in front of him. From the clouds the ray of divine enlightenment. In front of him is a book and in hand a stone for self-torment (center left).
St. John Nepomuk , martyr of the confessional secret (center right)
St. Augustine holding a heart and contemplating the mystery of the Trinity (triangle with three tongues of fire) (back left).
King David in an ermine cloak, scepter and crown deposited over a book, poet of the penitential psalms (back right)

Almost all of the furnishings were made in the monastery workshop.

Source

Propsteigemeinde Brilon (Ed.): St. Nikolaikirche Brilon. 2nd Edition. 1993.

literature

Theodor Arens, Stanislaus Kandula, Roman Mensing: Baroque in the Archdiocese of Paderborn. Bonifatius Verlag, Paderborn 2001, ISBN 978-3-89710-495-2 .
Georg Dehio , under the scientific direction of Ursula Quednau: Handbuch der deutschen Kunstdenkmäler. North Rhine-Westphalia II Westphalia . Deutscher Kunstverlag , Berlin / Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-422-03114-2 .
Paul Michels, Nikolaus Rodenkirchen: District of Brilon . Ed .: Wilhelm Rave (= architectural and art monuments of Westphalia . Volume 45 ). Aschendorffsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Münster 1952, DNB 453372236 (historical introduction: Franz Herberhold).

Web links

Commons : St. Nikolai (Brilon) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Georg Dehio , under the scientific direction of Ursula Quednau: Handbuch der deutschen Kunstdenkmäler. North Rhine-Westphalia II Westphalia . Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin / Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-422-03114-2 , p. 194.
^ Heinrich Otten: The church building in the Archdiocese of Paderborn 1930 to 1975 . Bonifatius Verlag, Paderborn 2009, ISBN 978-3-89710-403-7 , p. 104.
↑ ^a ^b ^c Theodor Arens, Stanislaus Kandula, Roman Mensing: Baroque in the Archdiocese of Paderborn. Bonifatius Verlag, Paderborn 2001, ISBN 978-3-89710-495-2 , p. 107.
^ Gerhard Brökel: Past times, story from Brilon, Volume I, p. 45.
^ Theodor Arens, Stanislaus Kandula, Roman Mensing: Baroque in the Archdiocese of Paderborn. Bonifatius Verlag, Paderborn 2001, ISBN 978-3-89710-495-2 , pp. 107, 108.

51.396944444444 8.5688888888889Coordinates: 51 ° 23 ′ 49 ″ N , 8 ° 34 ′ 8 ″ E

[Dehio-194-1] Georg Dehio , under the scientific direction of Ursula Quednau: Handbuch der deutschen Kunstdenkmäler. North Rhine-Westphalia II Westphalia . Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin / Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-422-03114-2 , p. 194.

[2] Heinrich Otten: The church building in the Archdiocese of Paderborn 1930 to 1975 . Bonifatius Verlag, Paderborn 2009, ISBN 978-3-89710-403-7 , p. 104.

[Arens/Kandula/Mensing-107-3] Theodor Arens, Stanislaus Kandula, Roman Mensing: Baroque in the Archdiocese of Paderborn. Bonifatius Verlag, Paderborn 2001, ISBN 978-3-89710-495-2 , p. 107.

[4] Gerhard Brökel: Past times, story from Brilon, Volume I, p. 45.

[5] Theodor Arens, Stanislaus Kandula, Roman Mensing: Baroque in the Archdiocese of Paderborn. Bonifatius Verlag, Paderborn 2001, ISBN 978-3-89710-495-2 , pp. 107, 108.