St. Anna (Vorbach)

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The Roman Catholic Expositurkirche St. Anna in the Upper Palatinate municipality of Vorbach in the Neustadt an der Waldnaab district belongs to the Speinshart monastery parish. The church stands on a rock spur in the parish.

history

The name Vorbach (then Voawa ) appears for the first time in 1314 in a document from the Speinshart Monastery . At that time and until 1921 Vorbach belonged to the original parish of Mockersdorf , then the place came to the newly established Oberbibrach branch, thus becoming the responsibility of the re-established Speinshart Monastery. The right of patronage belonged to the Bishop of Regensburg , but in 1391 it passed to the Cathedral Chapter of Regensburg. In 1536 Count Palatine Ottheinrich and, in his successor, the Electors of Bavaria became the patrons of the church.

Components of the first Vorbach church are still present in today's village church; this is the eastern part of the nave . The church was built directly on the rocky ground without any foundation. It had the dimensions 11 m by 6 m, the sacristy attached to the north side is 6 m × 3.55 m in size. It is made of rubble from Benker sandstone built, also the original Romanesque entrance, visible today in the southern front of the church, is made of little carved stone segments. The architectural style refers to the Romanesque period and the period around 1200. The masonry has no visible joint, so it was at its current height of 5 m from the start. In the 14th or 15th century, the Gothic period , the Romanesque entrance was walled up and a slightly pointed arch was created; Likewise, the two windows on the long side of the church were redesigned in Gothic style (no longer visible from the outside today because they are under a layer of plaster). The church is mentioned in the Leuchtenburg loan book from 1499, in which the church master Friedrich Loth is mentioned, who received "the property that Hans Carl zu Forban procured to be painted church". The owner of this property had to pay two florins to the house of worship until the 19th century .

In the 16th century, Vorbach, like other places in the Upper Palatinate, took part in the multiple changes of religion. After the Reformation by Martin Luther , the population of individual places joined the new religion, with the conversion of Count Palatine Ottheinrich through his religious edict of June 22, 1542, all subjects had to convert to the Lutheran faith . This also applies to the parish of Mockersdorf, to which Vorbach belonged at the time. In 1554 the first Protestant pastor raised in Mockersdorf, in 1557 an Adreas Brenner was the first Lutheran pastor in Vorbach . The Upper Palatinate then, especially under the administrator of the Electoral Palatinate Johann Casimir, according to the principle Cuius regio, eius religio also became Calvinist . The people resisted Calvinist customs, so the Vorbachers were not ready to take broken bread instead of the wafers at the celebration of the Lord's Supper , but the people "ran there in droves (e.g. outside the country to Creußen ), also carried their children there, so that they may receive Lutheran baptism ”. During the years of Calvinism, the church also lost its medieval interior. The last Calvinist pastor in Vorbach resided here from 1616 to 1625, a Melchior Grosser as a Calvinist preacher . In the course of the Counter-Reformation , the inhabitants were "made Catholic" again from 1626 and the time of their own parish ended in Vorbach, Vorbach became a branch of Mockersdorf again.

There have been many complaints from around 1600 about the building of the church and the adjacent rectory. Since the government in Amberg does not want to assist the poor community, several pastors leave Vorbach disappointed after a short time. Only from 1709 do we know from an interrogation protocol (church bills are available, however) that the church was renewed. An extension of the church is only attested by an inscription on a medallion behind the altar from 1748 ( AEDIFIC 1748 ). The roof structure that was built back then still exists today. At that time the church was redesigned in baroque style, the nave was extended by six meters to the west and the chancel was delimited by a round arch; After the eastern gable wall was demolished, a three-sided chapel closure was added in the east. An octagonal ridge turret with an onion dome was added to the church . On the occasion, the saddle roof was carved and the sacristy was raised so that the stairs to the pulpit could be moved into it. The church received a new entrance on the west side, the Gothic entrance on the south side was bricked up.

In 1980/82 a second expansion of the church was made; the plans for this come from the architect Hans Bundscherer from Eschenbach . The church was lengthened 6.4 m to the west and received a new entrance. This building jumps out a good meter from the existing walls of the front church, so it is about 8.2 m wide. In this extension, two crypt graves were found in the center aisle of the oldest part of the church in the church floor. The graves are carved out of the rocky ground and vaulted with bricks. An archaeological finding has not taken place, based on a will it can be assumed that it is the grave of Johann Adam Gradl , who was temporarily owner of the Hofmark Vorbach . On this occasion the old rectory was demolished and a forecourt for the church was created in its place. Despite this renovation, there is currently renewed damage to the roof structure and the population is invited to donate.

In the 19th century there were several efforts to outsource Vorbach from the Mockersdorf parish. From 1859 there was a request to create an exposition here and to join the parish of Speinshart, which was rigorously rejected by the diocese. The reason given was the long way to Mockersdorf. On December 18, 1917, the church in Oberbibrach was raised to an expositur and the St. Anna church in Vorbach was also affiliated as a branch church . After the Speinshart Monastery was repopulated in 1921, Father Gereon Motyka took over the Oberbibrach branch with the branch church in Vorbach on January 30, 1924 . After the Second World War , the old school in Vorbach was acquired and converted into a rectory. During this time it was possible that the Speinshart Monastery sent priests to Vorbach. The first temporary priest to reside here was Martin Fitzthum . He was followed by Mauritius Brunner (1946–1954), to whom the image of Mary above the vestry entrance and the Holy Sepulcher in the church go back. The next priest living in Vorbach was Laurentius Czech (1954–1957) and he was followed by Alfons Monert (1957–1964). Vorbach has not had its own priests since 1964, but is looked after directly by the Speinshart Monastery.

Construction

This branch church is a hall church with a hipped roof . The choir is closed on three sides. The gable rider has an onion hood. After the additions in 1748 and 1980, the church is now 23.4 m long and 7 and 8.2 m wide. The height has not changed since the Middle Ages and is 5 meters.

Interior

The main altar of the church is attributed to the Rococo , the side altar comes from the earlier Baroque period. The altars were redesigned around 1748 by the Kemnath carpenter Ignaz Schricker and redesigned by the painter Martin Wild . The frescoes in the nave and in the choir are probably also by the Kemnath painter Martin Wild. The pulpit also comes from the Rococo, as do the images of the Way of the Cross . The founder of these pictures from 1796 was Margarete Gradlin , widow of the Hofmark owner Johann Adam Gradlin, who died in 1789 .

Around 1733 there was possibly water damage to the flat wooden ceiling, which had to be removed and replaced with a stucco mirrored ceiling. The artists who made the stucco and the paintings are not known; but it was most likely Martin Wild .

During the renovation in 1987, the marbling of the altars was repaired and partially covered with shellac . The pulpit was also newly gilded. The baroque version was reproduced for the figure of Mary on the side altar . The altar painting with a portrait of St. Anna has been restored. A new ambo and a prayer chair were also created. The old confessional was moved from the chancel to the extension, the baroque facade could be preserved. The interior renovation was completed in November 1987.

organ

The first organ was purchased before 1800, but in 1793 it was described by Pastor Rubenbauer from Mockersdorf as "a miserable work, because it often causes a lot of trouble during the parish church service". In 1903 a second instrument was purchased, which had to be replaced by a harmonium in 1960 . The new organ was made in 1987 by the organ builder Thomas Jann. The new organ has 10 registers, two manuals and a pedal. The organ has 534 pipes, the console is located behind the central part of the organ. On July 14th 1987 the organ was inaugurated by Father Wolfgang Bangert .

literature

  • Albert Biersack: Vorbach: (Voawa); a home book , news from the church history of Vorbach, pp. 135–159. Self-published, Amberg 1988.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Filialkirche St. Anna of the parish St. Johannes Evangelist Vorbach , accessed on February 23, 2020.
  2. ↑ Collect donations with songs of Mary , on Onetz from April 26, 2019, accessed on February 23, 2020.
  3. ^ Benefit concert in Vorbach for St. Anna Church , on Onetz from May 21, 2019, accessed on February 23, 2020.
  4. ^ Op. 130 for Vorbach , accessed on February 23, 2020.

Coordinates: 49 ° 49 ′ 17.5 "  N , 11 ° 44 ′ 35.8"  E