St. Augustin (Coburg)

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St. Augustin Coburg
Choir (2009)
Ferdinand's coffin and his parents' sarcophagi

The Roman Catholic parish church of St. Augustin is located in Coburg at the foot of the fortress mountain.

history

In 1353 Margrave Friedrich III inherited . von Meißen and thus the House of Wettin from the Henneberg Count Heinrich ruled Coburg ( care Coburg ). In the later land of the Ernestines , the Reformation was introduced in 1524 by pastor Balthasar Düring and in 1528 the last Catholic mass took place in the infirmary chapel .

Catholics moved back to the city no later than the 18th century, who celebrated the first service on March 25, 1802 in a room at 1 Ketschengasse . In 1806, Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha left the Nikolauskapelle to the small Roman Catholic community for use. In 1851, under the protection of Prince August von Sachsen-Coburg-Koháry , a committee began planning a separate church for the community, which had grown to around 600 members. In the first cost estimate, a construction cost of 31,678 guilders was determined. Construction work began in 1854, initially on a plot of land made available by Duke Ernst II in Allee 1. There, however, the building site turned out to be unsuitable because of the shallow groundwater, so after a long search a plot of land purchased for 2,333 guilders on Foot of the fortress mountain was chosen as the building site. The foundation stone was laid on September 13, 1855 . The estimated construction costs were 34,330 guilders. In honor of Prince August from the Catholic line of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , who financially supported the construction , St. Augustine was consecrated by the Archbishop of Bamberg, Michael von Deinlein , on the day of the death of the patron saint Augustine of Hippo , August 28, 1860 . The final construction cost was 83,791 guilders. Prince August and his family had donated 34,500 guilders, over 15,000 guilders came from the Ludwigs-Missionsverein and over 10,000 guilders contributed European royal houses.

Between 1960 and 1965, the interior was extensively renovated and redesigned in accordance with the requirements of the Second Vatican Council . Among other things, the old, neo-Gothic side altars and the main altar were removed. The Schweinfurt sculptor Heinrich Söller created a gilded crucifix above the cafeteria made of red and white marble as well as gilded, slender figures of the Mother of God with Child and St. Augustine above the two side altars.

Between 2014 and 2016, the municipality had a general renovation carried out with construction costs of 5.3 million euros. Among other things, a replacement extension with a weekday chapel was built and the interior of the church was redesigned. The striking figures by Söller were moved under the gallery. In 2015, the German Foundation for Monument Protection approved 50,000 euros for the restoration of the church's crypt.

architecture

At the request of the duke, the church was built in neo-Gothic style from 1855 to 1860 according to plans by the architect and ducal building councilor Vincenz Fischer-Birnbaum in the lower area of ​​the fortress hill, in an elevated position above the avenue. On the pillar hall building with the slightly drawn-in choir, there are two-story additions for oratorios and sacristy between the choir and nave. The church has a roof turret , a neo-Gothic outside staircase and a crypt , which was expanded in 1885 under the direction of Georg Konrad Rothbart .

The double-barreled, curved flight of stairs in front of the western gable is framed with neo-Gothic balustrades . There is a masonry rose and the roof turret above the keel arch portal. The portal is flanked by narrow, two-lane lancet windows . Buttresses with pinnacles close off the gable facade on both sides. The two side portals are equally structured.

A rib vault spans the church interior without pillars. The slightly retracted choir has three windows and oratorios on both sides , which are elaborately designed. The gallery protrudes, lying on two stone pillars, segment-arched and accommodates the organ prospect in a three-part pointed arch arcade.

Koháry tomb

In the crypt designed by Rothbart under the church, a three-aisled hall room with a centrally located chapel and rooms on both sides, is the burial place of the Catholic line of the Coburg ducal house, the so-called Koháry crypt. 15 members of the house are buried there. In sarcophagi in the right crypt Prince August and his wife resting Princess Clementine d'Orleans and his son Ferdinand , Bulgarian Tsar. In the left crypt lie the son Ludwig August with his wife Leopoldina and their sons Peter August , Joseph Ferdinand and August Leopold with his son August Clemens. In addition, Ferdinand Philipp and his son Leopold Clemens rest in the left crypt . Dorothea Marie , Ludwig Gaston and his second wife Maria Anna von und zu Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg rest under the left crypt . Maria Karolin, daughter of August Leopold, is also buried here.

organ

The first organ was built in 1860 by the Nuremberg organ builder Augustin Bittner with two manuals and 18 registers for 2100 guilders . In 1939 the organ was supplemented with ten new registers and a pneumatic membrane shutter with electrical control and redesigned. Further modifications were made in 1969 with a new free pipe prospectus and in 1981 with a new electric gaming table. In 2007 the organ building company Johannes Rohlf (Neubulach / Calw) built a new organ, which was expanded by two registers in 2016. The purely mechanical instrument has 23 registers on three manuals.

I substation C – g 3
1. Coupling flute 8th'
2. Salicional 8th'
3. flute 4 ′
4th Nasat 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
5. Hollow flute 2 ′
6th third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
7th Ripieno II 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
8th. Krummhorn 0 8th'
II Hauptwerk C – g 3
09. Drone 16 ′
10. Principal 08th'
11. Reed flute 08th'
12. Octave 04 ′
13. Wooden flute 04 ′
14th Octave 02 ′
15th Mixture III 02 ′
16. Trumpet 08th'
III bass section C-g 3
17th Sub-bass 16 ′
18th flute 08th'
19th Octave 04 ′
20th Forest flute 02 ′
21st bassoon 16 ′
Pedal C – f 1
22nd Double bass 16 ′
23. Covered bass 08th'
  • Pairing :
    • Manual coupling: I / II, III / II
    • Pedal coupling: I / P, II / P, III / P

Parish

In 1826 the parish was incorporated from the diocese of Würzburg into the archbishopric of Bamberg . After the Second World War, the number of parishioners increased sharply due to the influx of many refugees, so that in 1965 the north of Coburg, St. Marien, was given its own parish. In 2003 there were around 8,300 Catholics in the area of ​​the parish of St. Augustin, in 2015 there were around 6,500 believers. Today the parish church includes the branch churches St. Josef in Coburg, St. Elisabeth in Creidlitz and Christkönig in Untersiemau . St. Augustin is the mother church of the Coburg deanery.

literature

  • Peter Morsbach, Otto Titz: City of Coburg. Ensembles-Architectural Monuments-Archaeological Monuments. (= Monuments in Bavaria , Volume IV, 48.) Karl M. Lipp Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-87490-590-X .
  • Lothar Hofmann: Monuments Region Coburg - Neustadt - Sonneberg. Places of contemplation and prayer. Historical sacred buildings. A guide through the churches in the districts of Coburg and Sonneberg. Verlag Gerätemuseum des Coburger Land, Ahorn 2007, ISBN 3-930531-04-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Subsidy for Coburg crypt: Foundation for Monument Protection gives 50,000 euros
  2. ↑ Harald Sandner: Das Haus Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha 1826 to 2001. A documentation for the 175th anniversary of the parent company in words and pictures. Druck- und Verlagsanstalt Neue Presse, Coburg 2001, ISBN 3-00-008525-4 , pp. 317-320.
  3. ↑ Organ building Johannes Rohlf: Disposition of the Rohlf organ in Coburg / St. Augustin, op.168 / year 2007 (PDF; 61 kB)
  4. ↑ Catholic Church Foundation St. Augustin (ed.): Festschrift for the 150th anniversary of the parish church of St. Augustin in Coburg.

Web links

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

Coordinates: 50 ° 15 '37.51 "  N , 10 ° 58' 7.57"  O