St. Andreas (Altheim near Landshut)
The Roman Catholic Church of St. Andreas (also Andreaskirche or "Andreaskircherl" ) in Altheim , a district of the market town of Essenbach in the Lower Bavarian district of Landshut , essentially goes back to a Romanesque building from around 1200, which was later Gothic in 1490 to its current one Size has been expanded. This makes St. Andreas one of the oldest church buildings in the area. In addition to the parish church of St. Peter , it is the second church in the small town on Bundesstraße 15 . The church is dedicated to the apostle Andrew on November 30th.
history
The parish of Altheim is a so-called " original parish ". When it was first mentioned in a document in 883, there was at least one church in the place, probably a parish church . Around the year 1000, the curious situation required that Altheim (like the neighboring towns of Ergolding and Altdorf ) was exactly on the diocese border , two parish churches in the town: the Andreas Church in the Diocese of Regensburg and the Peterskirche in the Diocese of Freising . Only when the diocese border was moved to the Isar in 1157 this situation came to an end and the Peterskirche - now part of the diocese of Regensburg - was raised to the sole parish church. However, the St. Andrew's Church was preserved.
The present building is a Romanesque church back from around 1200, the nave is preserved in the core. The east choir and west tower are late Gothic and were built towards the end of the 15th century. The door on the tower is dated to 1490. The numerous wall paintings were also created at that time. Around the middle of the 18th century, the little church was redesigned in the Baroque style , during which the window openings were enlarged and rounded off . The large ceiling fresco in the nave was also created. In the 19th century, St. Andreas was regotified, which is still evident today in the neo-Gothic tracery windows . The neo-Gothic furnishings, on the other hand, were removed again in 1964. In addition, the artistically valuable, late Gothic wall frescoes were exposed again during the renovation . It was not until the renovation and drainage of the church in 1983 that it became apparent that the church must have been built in two phases (Romanesque, late Gothic). In 2018/19 the church was subjected to an extensive exterior renovation. Among other things, the roof was repaired and the foundation walls were provided with a 20-centimeter-thick “ clay chip ”. The latter is an ancient technique for draining walls. After completion of the latter measure, which should take around two years, an interior renovation is due.
architecture
Exterior construction
The east- facing church includes a four-bay nave , with the rear bay on the south side containing a walled-up, Romanesque portal that is still clearly visible. The Romanesque component rests on a hot lime foundation . The single-bay, retracted choir closes in three sides of the octagon. Except for the ogival tracery windows, which were created in the 19th century, the exterior is largely undivided. While the south facade is plastered , the north side and the tower have exposed brickwork.
Access to the interior of the church is via the square ground floor of the tower attached to the west. This room is equipped with a mesh vault on corner brackets that contains an octagonal keystone . It is set up as a small Lady Chapel and contains numerous votive tablets that date back to 1695. Above the four tower floors - the second and third are structured by pointed arches - a gable roof with a weather cross forms the upper end. The two bells from the 16th and 17th centuries can be recognized from the outside through the sound openings .
inner space
While the nave of the small hall church is equipped with a flat ceiling, the chancel is spanned by a reticulated vault with ribs that are partly simply bevelled and partly pear- shaped. This is supported by simple pointed brackets on beveled wall pillars and is structured by beveled, pointed shield arches. At the apex of the choir there is a small, rectangular window with a sloping reveal , which has probably survived unchanged over the centuries. The transition between the two structures (nave and choir) at different times is mediated by a pointed, pressed choir arch . In the rear nave yoke an organ gallery has been inserted, which rests on two wooden supports.
Furnishing
Wall and ceiling paintings
The wall paintings in the nave and chancel were made to inform the people who were ignorant of reading when the church was built. In terms of art history , these paintings are important insofar as they are assigned to the famous Landshut School and are the only examples of late Gothic wall painting in the vicinity. Scenes from the life and salvation history of Jesus are depicted in bright colors on the north wall of the nave , for example the engagement of Mary , the birth of Jesus , the baptism of Jesus , the last supper or the crucifixion . On the opposite wall there are depictions of angels and saints with banners, in the background late Gothic architecture. The frescos in the choir serve to glorify God and thus have a deeper theological meaning. When entering the house of God, the gaze falls directly on the enthroned Christ , who has raised his right hand in blessing and holds the globe in his left. The four evangelist symbols are shown around this representation . At the top of the vault you can see the veil of Veronica and the Lamb of God in two opposite fields . Finally, on the inside of the choir arch there is a rare depiction of Cain and Abel from the Old Testament .
The large, baroque ceiling fresco in the nave dates from around 1750. It shows the donors of the picture, led by their pastor , who give their passionate hearts to St. Leonhard , who, as mediator, passes this gift on to the Holy Trinity .
organ
The organ of St. Andrew's Church, a mechanical slider chest instrument , was created around 1800 and was originally housed in the St. Ottilia branch church in Salzdorf . It has only three registers on a manual without a pedal . The disposition is as follows:
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A purely mechanical slider chest instrument with eight registers on a manual and pedal, which the Landshut organ builder Johann Schweinacher had created for the Andreaskirche in 1776, was later sold to the Hans-Carossa-Gymnasium in Landshut. It was replaced by today's organ (see above).
Web links
- Internet presence of the parish community Altheim-Ahrain
- Church of St. Andreas in Altheim on kirchturm.net
Individual evidence
- ↑ Markt Essenbach: Churches and parish offices . Online at www.essenbach.de ; accessed on July 2, 2019.
- ↑ a b c d e f Parish community Altheim – Ahrain: Churches . Online at www.stpeter-altheim.de ; accessed on July 2, 2019.
- ↑ Landshuter Zeitung from 20./21. June 2019: With clay against wet walls - exterior renovation of St. Andreas in Altheim goes into the final spurt and history of St. Andreas - information from the church guide .
- ↑ a b c d Anton Eckardt (Ed.): Art monuments of the Kingdom of Bavaria - District Office Landshut. Oldenbourg, Munich 1914, pp. 41-43 ( digitized version ).
- ↑ a b Bavarian organ database online .
Coordinates: 48 ° 35 '51.4 " N , 12 ° 11' 48.9" E