St. Alban (Boetzingen)

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St. Alban , also called St. Alban's plague chapel , is a chapel in the Oberschaffhausen district of the municipality of Bötzingen on the eastern edge of the Kaiserstuhl . It belongs to the pastoral care unit March- Gottenheim in the deanery of Breisach-Neuenburg of the Archdiocese of Freiburg and is known for its medieval frescoes .

St. Alban from the mountain road seen

history

If the district of Bötzingen stretches along the main road in north-south direction on the eastern edge of the Kaiserstuhl, Oberschaffhausen extends along the Bergstrasse over 1 km west into the Kaiserstuhl. Bötzingen is mentioned for the first time in 769 in a document from the Lorsch monastery , Oberschaffhausen in 1143 in a confirmation from Pope Eugen III. owned by the St. Ulrich monastery in the Black Forest . In the 14th century, two Freiburg patrician families ruled the area, the Schnewlin and the Moser. The Moser share came to the margraves of Baden-Hachberg in the 15th century and became Protestant with the margraviate of Baden-Durlach in 1556. The portion of Schnewlin was under the Habsburgs and remained Roman Catholic. The monastery of St. Margarethen in Waldkirch , the commander of the Teutonic Order in Freiburg im Breisgau and other religious branches in the region owned land in the two villages . In 1838 the two villages merged to form today's political municipality of Bötzingen .

The Bötzingen parish church of St. Laurentius can be traced back to 1275. A priest is mentioned for Oberschaffhausen in 1286. The Albanskapelle goes back to an outbreak of the plague in Freiburg. In 1473 Oberschaffhausen and Bötzingen jointly asked the Bishop of Constance for permission to collect alms for a chapel, the construction of which they wanted to ask God to spare. In 1481 a benefice - "An Ewige fruemeß Pfrundt zue Schaffhausen, in Sankt Albans deß Hailligen marterers Capellen" - was donated to celebrate Holy Mass in the chapel, which was jointly awarded by the Waldkirch Monastery and the Teutonic Order Coming from Freiburg. All of the frescoes in the chapel also date from the construction period between 1473 and 1481.

The denomination of the residents after the Reformation led to difficulties. Today's main road and mountain road formed the border. The residents on the mountain side - west of the main road and north of the mountain road - belonged to the Catholic area, the residents of the opposite side of the street to the Protestant area. Since St. Laurentius and St. Alban were on “Catholic soil”, the Protestants had to wander to Eichstetten for worship . However, they were allowed to use St. Laurentius at funerals and baptisms. That was the case even after the construction of a Protestant church in Bötzingen in 1583 - the current building dates from 1848. It was not until negotiations between the margravial official Johann Georg Schlosser , Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's brother-in-law , with the government of Upper Austria that "the sometimes tangled confessional situation" was resolved. At the beginning of the 19th century efforts were prevented to have St. Alban demolished in favor of the school building right next to it. The frescoes were then whitewashed and the chapel was neglected. At the end of the 19th century it was poorly repaired. In 1929 the Freiburg theologian and monument conservator Joseph Sauer had the extensions of a transformer house and a fire hose tower removed. It was not until the local pastor Leonhard Kempf (1926–2006; pastor in Bötzingen from 1959 to 1968) that St. Alban was thoroughly renovated from 1961 to 1965, including a new roof structure and ridge and the exposure of the frescoes. He set up a foundation that paid out money for the first time in 2008 for work on the chapel.

  • Look at the choir

  • View to the west entrance

building

A staircase dating from 2004 leads north of Bergstrasse up to the chapel. The nave is a rectangular, flat-roofed hall with a rectangular entrance in the west gable side and a round-arched entrance in the south wall. It is illuminated by three large, two-lane tracery windows with pointed arches, one in the north and two in the south wall, plus a smaller two-lane window in the north wall. A richly profiled, pointed triumphal arch leads into the choir, which is closed on three sides of the octagon and whose star vault rests on wall services without capital . Its two two-lane windows have tracery similar to the large windows in the ship. A rectangular door leads through the north wall of the choir into the barrel-vaulted sacristy. Three consoles on each side in the western part of the chapel served as supports for a gallery.

  • West portal

  • Lintel of the west portal

  • Saint Alban above the west portal

Furnishing

West portal

The portal is framed by intersecting frameworks. A tympanum-like image plate rests on mask consoles . It represents the veil of Veronica , but according to Hermann Brommer "the grave cloth of Christ with the transfigured head of the Savior". Brommer continues: “This image plate has to be understood in two ways. It gives hope to the sick and afflicted that they can expect redemption after all pain. On the other hand, the Teutonic Order of Freiburg, the church mistress, has been leading the transfigured head of Christ with a cross nimbus in her seals since 1270. “Joseph Sauer has the striking design of the angels holding the cloth, whose oversized wings are unfolded and whose legs are covered with a closed shed dress , traced back to engravings by the master ES , such as his "Assumption of Mary Magdalene". In a niche above the portal stands St. Alban of Mainz , his severed head in his hands. According to legend, he was beheaded by the vandals around 406 on a mission trip to Mainz and carried his head to where he wanted to be buried. He is considered a patron saint against the plague, among other things. Two coats of arms at the foot of the niche have become illegible.

Choir and side altars

  • Choir

  • Plague cross

  • Jesus and the Evangelists

  • The lion of Mark and the man of Matthew

  • Coronation of Mary

The three Altarmensen come from the time it was built. On the high altar, behind the tabernacle dated 1666, stands the larger than life “plague cross” from the end of the 15th century. On the left side altar is a Madonna from around 1500, on the right side altar are Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Ivo . The ceiling frescoes show Jesus surrounded by the symbols of the four evangelists. While the “man” or “angel” of Matthew is only recognizable in outline, the “lion” of Mark , the “bull” of Luke and the “eagle” of John are also preserved in the surface color. A coronation of Mary is emblazoned on the north-eastern polygonal wall . Anton Wendling designed the windows in the choir for restoration from 1961 to 1965.

Mauritius
Sebastian cycle and beginning of the Albans cycle
Continuation of the Albanian cycle

Frescoes: Mauritius, Sebastian Cycle and Albans Cycle

The figure of St. Mauritius is immediately noticeable when entering the chapel because of its size; In contrast to the otherwise small-scene sequences, it takes up the entire wall between the two south-facing windows. According to his legend, Mauritius was the leader of the Thebaic Legion of the Roman army raised from Thebes in Egypt and suffered martyrdom with its soldiers in the 3rd century. He became the patron saint of the Teutonic Order and the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire . The knight in St. Alban, striding far in front of a delicate tendril background, wears a “pennant that presents the white Teutonic Order flag with a black cross” on the lance shaft. A black bird is tripping in each of the lower cross fields. Originally there were perhaps four birds that corresponded to the four black imperial eagles with which Mauritius is depicted on an altar wing from Weisweil in the Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe. According to a tradition in the southwest German, Swiss and Alsatian branches of the Teutonic Order, Mauritius is not a Moor , as usual , but white-skinned. In order to avoid confusion with St. George , the painter added "sanctus moricius". "The word 'mor' = Mohr is discreetly hidden in the form of the legendary imperial saint's name."

On the opposite north wall between the large and the small window in three rows of three square images each is shown the martyrdom of St. Sebastian , who, according to legend, was killed under the Roman emperors Diocletian and Maximian . “The individual fields <...> are set off from one another by wide red frame strips, the top and left edges of the picture are also emphasized by a fine, dark edge line; this gives the framing a three-dimensional effect. "The result shows:

  • Top left: Sebastian's baptism (as an adult).
  • Top line in the middle: Sebastian preaches on a pulpit raised by three steps.
  • Upper row right: Sebastian with his hands tied in front of the emperor carrying a sword.
  • Middle row on the right: Sebastian brings arrows to the emperor standing in an archway.
  • Middle line in the middle - the central scene -: Sebastian, tied to a tree, is shot at with arrows.
  • Middle row on the left: The surviving Sebastian is driven to the place of execution with clubs.
  • Bottom line on the left: Sebastian, tied to a tree, is killed with clubs.
  • Bottom line in the middle: the corpse will become the Cloaca Maxima .
  • Lower row on the right: Two Christian women recover the body to be buried in a catacomb on the Via Appia .

The arrows became Sebastian's permanent attribute. The hope that he would protect against the arrows of the plague made him the patron saint against the plague and one of the fourteen helpers in need .

The depiction of the martyrdom of St. Alban begins to the right of the large north window. The narrow room only leaves space for three scenes on top of each other. On the south wall above the side door, the story is continued in two rows of three pictures each, so that, like Sebastian, there are nine scenes. The images in the south are rectangular according to the available area. They are delimited by gray-black frame stripes, and each picture is also surrounded by a fine black line. The result shows:

  • North wall above: Alban, as always with a bishop's miter , listens to the enthroned Christ in a group of listeners. "Because of his enormous size, the clear halo and the special garment, only Christ can be meant."
  • North wall below: Alban stands in front of an enthroned ruler.
  • North wall below: Alban is being pursued by a man swinging a club.
  • South wall, top line on the left: Two soldiers approach Alban, who is stepping out of an archway.
  • South wall, upper line in the middle: The soldiers drag Alban with them.
  • South wall, top right: Alban with his hands tied in front of a ruler.
  • South wall lower line on the left: Only the outline of Alban with the miter can still be seen.
  • South wall lower line in the middle: Alban, naked except for a loincloth and tied to a cross post, is beaten with clubs.
  • South wall lower line on the right: The beheading. The ruler stands sideways. The executioner, sword still in hand, turns away.

In contrast, the six pictures on the south wall in 2014 were interpreted by the art historian Marina Obrecht as St. Blaise , who as one of the fourteen emergency helpers is also called upon to combat illness.

Frescoes of the choir arch wall

  • Arch wall on the left

  • Choir arch wall on the right

The upper left part of the choir arch wall is filled with a painting of St. Ursula of Cologne . According to her legend, she was killed on a pilgrimage up the Rhine, with the destination Rome, in Cologne with her companions by the Huns , i.e. in the 5th century. in St. Alban she sits in a ship, surrounded by her companions and accompanied by an angel. The Prince of the Huns, who had wooed them, may kneel on its edge. Ursula wears a crown on her long falling hair. The Huns are represented by the archers above and the two black-clad figures below.

On the right part of the choir arch wall, Saint Rochus of Montpellier , Mary with her child on her left arm and again Sebastian, with his hands over his head tied to a tree and pierced by an arrow, are shown below from left to right . The wall above is decorated with a large, figurative picture of St. Elisabeth of Thuringia . She founded a hospital for the poor and the sick in Marburg, where she died at the age of 24, and became a patroness of the Teutonic Order. “The young, slim figure in long robes stands tall and tall. The crown on her long, curly head with the benevolent eyes can only be partially seen. ”From her apron she hands out gifts to the supplicants, over which two angels are hovering. The couple below may refer to the founders of the painting.

  • Jesus on the Mount of Olives, beginning of the Sebastian cycle, Cosmas and Damian

  • Carrying the Cross

  • Crucifixion and Unknown Scenes

Frescoes in the western part

In the lower northern part of the west wall, a horned devil holds two people in its claws, possibly part of a Last Judgment , the counterpart of which, the admission of the blessed into heaven, similar to the composition in the west of the Breisach St. Stephen's Cathedral , would be missing. Some scenes in the west of the chapel could belong to the lives of the medical saints Cosmas and Damian .

Three pictures come from the Passion of Christ. The remains of a scene from the Mount of Olives can be seen at the bottom west of the north wall ( Mt 26,36-56  EU ). Jesus kneels, turned to the right. Behind him sit two apostles, presumably Peter and, given his youthful appearance, John. John looks at a small figure on the left, Judas with the purse. “The yellow of the robe, the color of falsehood and betrayal, which is probably deliberately chosen according to the medieval color symbolism, sets it apart from the original blue background, despite its smallness.” Opposite on the south wall, Jesus collapses under the weight of the cross. The middle picture on the west wall directly under the ceiling shows Jesus on the cross between Mary and John.

Bell jar

The history of the bells reflects the denominational history. The original bell of St. Alban was melted down during World War II. In 1947 the Protestants decided to give them their own bell from the then Oberschaffhausen St. Alban school as a permanent loan. This bell in turn came from the Protestant church from 1583 and came to the Oberschaffhausen school when it was rebuilt in 1848. It bears the inscription

"IN THE GLORY OF GOD I WAS CASTED IN FRONT OF THE MARGGRAPHIC COMMUNITY OF BÖTZINGEN 1755 <?> DA JO BERNHARD VETTERLIN PRIOR JOSEPH ENDERLIN VOGT MICHAEL BRODBECK STABH MICHAEL JACOB LEU JO GEORG STEELEN WAS BRUENNE.

The modalities of use were also agreed in 1947. Before Protestant church services, the bell rings for two minutes in a row, before Catholic church services for one minute twice with a break in between. "At the prayer times at 6, 11 and 7 o'clock, however, it calls all Christians the same - genuinely ecumenical, like the story of this little bell."

Web links

Commons : St. Alban  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

  • Hermann Brommer : Bötzingen am Kaiserstuhl - St. Alban's plague chapel and St. Laurentius Catholic parish church. Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg im Allgäu 2012, ISBN 978-3-89870-479-3 .
  • Arthur Dörflinger: 500 years of St. Albans Chapel in Bötzingen. In: Catholic parish of Bötzingen: St. Albankapelle zu Bötzingen anno 1481. Bötzingen 1981, pp. 4–5.
  • Franz Xaver Kraus : The art monuments of the Grand Duchy of Baden . Volume 6, 1 The art monuments of the districts of Breisach, Emmendingen, Ettenheim, Freiburg (Land), Neustadt, Staufen and Waldkirch (Freiburg Land district). Verlag JCB Mohr, Tübingen and Leipzig 1904, pp. 120-122 ( digitized version ).
  • St. Alban on the website of the pastoral care unit Gottenheim . Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  • State Monuments Office Baden-Württemberg and District Office Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald: District of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald. List of cultural monuments. I. The architectural and art monuments of the former Freiburg district. Freiburg im Breisgau 1974.
  • Gerd-Dieter Löhr: The bell of the St. Albanskapelle. In: Catholic parish of Bötzingen (ed.): St. Albankapelle zu Bötzingen anno 1481 . Bötzingen 1981, pp. 20-21.
  • Rolf Metten: A jewel of medieval art at the Kaiserstuhl. The painting and decor of the Albans Chapel. In: Catholic parish of Bötzingen: St. Alban's Chapel in Bötzingen anno 1481. Bötzingen 1981, pp. 10–19.
  • Joseph Sauer : The portal relief of the Albanskapelle in Oberschaffhausen and its iconographic significance. In: Schau-ins-Land 47–50, 1923, pp. 43–50 ( digitized version ).
  • Boetzingen . In: State archive administration Baden-Württemberg: Freiburg im Breisgau, city and district, official district description. Volume II, 1. Rombach, Freiburg im Breisgau 1974, pp. 69-87.
  • Dagmar Zimdars u. a. (Arrangement): Georg Dehio. Handbook of German Art Monuments, Baden-Württemberg II. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin / Munich 1997, ISBN 3-422-03030-1 , p. 504.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Landesdenkmalamt Baden-Württemberg and District Office Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald 1974, p. 17.
  2. ↑ a b Brommer 2012, p. 29.
  3. ↑ State Archives Administration Baden-Württemberg 1974, p. 80.
  4. ↑ Konrad M. Müller: The "Great Dying" in Freiburg. In: Alemannisches Jahrbuch 2005/2006, pp. 363–391.
  5. ↑ Dörflinger 1981.
  6. ↑ a b Löhr 1981.
  7. ↑ Donations for the preservation of the "Pestkapelle". In: Badische Zeitung. November 8, 2008, Retrieved April 19, 2014.
  8. ↑ Kraus 1904; Sauer 1923; Metten 1981; Zimdars 1997.
  9. ↑ Brommer 2012, pp. 14–15.
  10. ↑ Sauer 1923.
  11. ↑ Alban vom Mainz in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints . Retrieved April 19, 2014.
  12. ↑ Gottenheim pastoral care unit.
  13. ↑ Hermann Brommer: The "S. Moricius ”knight in the Bötzinger St. Albanskapelle and the German order. In: Schau-ins-Land 109, 1990, pp. 77-94.
  14. ↑ Brommer 2012, p. 24.
  15. ↑ Metten 1981, p. 12.
  16. ↑ Metten 1981, pp. 13-14.
  17. ↑ Manfred Frietsch: New Views on an Old Chapel , Badische Zeitung, June 24, 2015 online
  18. ↑ Metten 1981, p. 14.
  19. ↑ Brommer 2012, pp. 6-7.
  20. ↑ Metten 1981, p. 18.
  21. ↑ Manfred Frietsch: BELL SOUND: The "poor" reputation Glöckl one. In: Badische Zeitung . December 8, 2009. Retrieved April 18, 2014.

Coordinates: 48 ° 4 ′ 27.33 "  N , 7 ° 42 ′ 40.32"  E