St. Andreas (Schwalldorf)
The parish church of St. Andreas in Schwalldorf , today a district of Rottenburg am Neckar in the Tübingen district , is a Baroque building from 1733.
history
In 1353 a chapel was first named in a document in Schwalldorf. According to a document from 1437, this was consecrated to St. Andrew. The chapel was a branch church of the parish of Dettingen , and belonged with this to the Hemmendorf Johanniterkomturei .
When the parish was established in 1507, the chapel was elevated to a parish church. Due to the increasing number of inhabitants, this church became too small. Therefore a new building of the church was requested. This was approved by the Bishop of Constance in the spring of 1732 . Construction of the church was completed in 1733.
Due to the size of the Diocese of Constance , only an emergency ordination was carried out beforehand by the dean. It was not until 1747 that the church was consecrated to St. Andrew by the Constance Auxiliary Bishop Franz Graf von Fugger. St. Ursula became the secondary patroness of the church. The auxiliary bishop also consecrated the right side altar to Saints St. Nepomuk, St. Katharina and St. Barbara. Two bells from the earlier church were also consecrated. One of the bells was cast by Hans Wiesenhauer in Esslingen in 1627.
The church tower had to be almost completely renewed in 1803. In 1883 the interior of the church was repainted by the Rottenburg painter Clemens Schraivogel for 1500 RM. In 1894 the choir walls were redesigned. A sheet metal wall was attached to the gospel side to prevent moisture from entering. In addition, the Rottenburg painter August Schrayvogel redesigned the altars and pulpit. In 1930 the tower was renovated again. A new tower cross was put on. The old bricks were replaced by a cover made of sheet metal painted copper.
In 1936 the church was enlarged. A few weeks before construction began, two buildings east of the church were demolished to make the necessary space. The last mass was celebrated on August 16 of that year. The choir was then torn down. The nave was extended by twelve and a half meters to the east. This was followed by the new choir, which looks identical to the old choir from 1733. On September 21st the roof structure was erected over the choir and the extension. The interior work was completed in the summer of 1937. The cost of the expansion amounted to 22,000 marks.
Many craftsmen from Schwalldorf were involved in the construction. The plans for the renovation were drawn up by the architect Hans Lütkemeier from Rottenburg. The Rottenburg plasterer Alfred Bitzenberger sen. and his journeymen performed the stucco work in the style of 1733. The art and church painter Johannes Wohlfahrt, also from Rottenburg, painted the ceiling pictures. The cheeks of the pews were carved by the pastor Franz Egger and are still preserved today. On July 15, 1937, the church was consecrated by Bishop Sproll .
In the autumn of 1945, the damage to the tower caused by the French artillery bombardment on April 19 and 20 was repaired. The onion counted 150 bullets. In 1958 there was a new roofing with real copper sheet. The church underwent extensive renovations in 1963/64. In 1965 the high altar was adapted to the liturgical reform. Bishop Leiprecht consecrated the altar on January 20, 1966.
Due to the ingress of moisture, the tower and church roof had to be fundamentally renewed in 1985. The framework of the tower was rotten and had to be completely replaced. Measures for dehumidification have been taken inside as well as outside. Drainage was installed around the church to dehumidify the masonry . In 1990 and 91, five years later, the foundations had to be drained again. With this measure the church received new pews. However, care was taken to preserve the cheeks carved by Pastor Franz Egger.
Bells
The three bells from the old Schwalldorf church were reinstalled in the new building in 1733. The largest and oldest of the bells was cast by Hans Wiesenhauer in Esslingen in 1627 . It was the last remaining bell of the master and bore the inscription "Anno 1627 poured me through fire Hans Wüstenhauer in Eßlingen" . The middle bell was cast in 1682 and had the inscription “A fulgure, grandine et tempestate libera nos Domine Jesu Christe. 1682 “ (The Lord Jesus Christ deliver us from lightning, hail and storms. 1682) . The origin of the middle bell is not known. It is assumed, however, that it could have come from the Rottenburg foundry of the Rosier family from Lorraine. On the smallest bell there was neither a year of casting nor an inscription.
Before the end of the First World War, the medium and small bells had to be delivered on August 30, 1918. The community was allowed to keep the big bell from 1627. The bells came back on December 19, 1918. Mayor Lukas Jungel bought three new bells in 1930. The new bells came from the Stuttgart company Kurz. The old bells from 1627 and 1648 were sold to Bishop Sproll and he brought them to Sindelfingen . The third bell went to the Kurz company and was melted down.
The three new bells were consecrated on August 24, 1930 by Father Apolinaris from Weggental. They had the pitches of H, D and E. However, the two large bells had to be delivered during World War II and were melted down. The smallest bell was sold to the neighboring town of Frommenhausen in 1952 for DM 900 . Then a new four-part bell (a, c, d, f) was purchased from the Junker company in Brilon . For the new four bells a new steel bell cage had been made. In addition, it was now possible to ring electrically.
But as early as 1959 new bells had to be purchased again because the Junker bells had not passed the acceptance test. Despite that they had already been in service for seven years. In 1959 the bells were traded in at the Gebhard company in Kempten at their material value and four new bells were purchased for 6,700 DM, which have not yet had to be replaced.
The largest of the four bells weighs 424 kg and bears the inscription “Christ the King give peace, here below and over there.” On the second largest bell, weighing 248 kg, you can read “Honor to our dear women, it is always my desire to ring” . The third bell weighs 176 kg; It says: “Andreas, our patron saint, pray to God's throne for Schwalldorf.” The smallest of the four bells is the death knell with a weight of 103 kg. It bears the inscription: "What you sow in this time brings you an eternity."
Church building
The baroque village church from 1733 is a hall building with a gable roof and a flat ceiling in the interior. A polygonal choir adjoins it in the east. The nave has three windows each on the south and north sides. The choir has four windows. The 31 m high tower with onion dome rises on the west side. It stands on a square base and merges into the octagon above the roof ridge. On the octagonal part of the tower there is a dial and a sound opening for each direction. The onion was made from real copper sheet in 1958.
On the southern facade there is a picture of Saint Christopher carrying the baby Jesus on his shoulders across a river. Below the picture is written: "Saint Christopher carries the Lord of the world, you too will carry him your whole life, and if the world beats you for it, do not despair and do not be afraid."
Literature and Sources
- Dieter Manz: The Schwalldorf parish church of St. Andreas. Your story and your artwork . In: Karlheinz Geppert (Ed.): 700 years of Schwalldorf . 2004, ISBN 3-924123-51-9 , pp. 84-102 .
Web links
Coordinates: 48 ° 27 ′ 2 " N , 8 ° 52 ′ 46" E