St. Elisabeth (Nuremberg)
Coordinates: 49 ° 27 ′ 0.3 " N , 11 ° 4 ′ 10.8" E
The Elisabethkirche is a Catholic parish church in Nuremberg. It is located on Jakobsplatz, together with the Jakobskirche .
prehistory
In 1209 King Otto IV gave the Imperial Court in front of Nuremberg to the Teutonic Order . There the order founded a commander in the same year , which also included a hospital and a chapel. This house chapel was later consecrated to Elisabeth of Thuringia , who was canonized in 1235 . After the Reformation, the Elisabeth Church was the only Catholic church on the territory of the Protestant imperial city of Nuremberg . Thoroughly renewed in 1600 and 1601, a Marien and Thomas altar were added to it in 1675. After an organ was installed in 1675 , another altar was donated in 1679.
Since the small Gothic church was no longer sufficient for the number of people attending the service at the end of the 17th century , the Teutonic Order tried to expand it, but experienced resistance from the city council . Negotiations to build a new church lasted from 1718 to May 1780. The city magistrate finally agreed, but no bell tower was allowed to be built. In 1784 the old Elisabeth Church was demolished.
Building history
Franz Ignaz Michael Neumann , the son of the famous architect Balthasar Neumann , now drafted the plans for the new building, the foundation stone of which was laid on May 19, 1785. However, after Neumann died on September 29, 1789, the building was entrusted to the Mannheim Peter Anton von Verschaffelt , who immediately made several classicist plans. The enormous construction costs led to the fact that Verschaffelt resigned the building contract in 1789. In the same year, first the Eichstätt architect Maurizio Pedetti and then the Schwarzenberg architect Joseph Scholl were commissioned to work out cheaper building plans. However, since this did not meet with approval, the building contract went to Wilhelm Ferdinand Lipper from Münster in 1790 . He had the construction phases of his predecessors partially demolished again and again based on Verschaffelt's ideas. When Lipper died in 1800, the Mergentheimer Hofkammerrat took over the building and continued to run it. Finally, the topping-out ceremony was celebrated in 1802 and in 1803 the dome was crowned with the golden cross. But you didn't get much further because the Coming Party was secularized in 1806 .
After the Archdiocese of Bamberg had acquired the church building on January 27, 1885, the completion of the building according to the original plans began in 1899. The building of the church was completed in 1903, 118 years after the foundation stone was laid.
Church building
The classical church building is divided into three rooms. This is a square that is pulled apart in the middle and broken through by a round building. The entrance area and choir are spanned by a barrel vault. The round building, 17 meters in diameter, has a 50 meter high dome. There are 40 columns inside the church. Their arrangement means that each of the three church areas looks like an independent room.
The number of pillars and their red coloring are reminiscent of the Holy Spirit. And indeed, in the 18th century there was also the planning of an altarpiece with a Holy Spirit motif.
Entrance area
In the center of the entrance area there is a baptismal font from 1903. On the left wall there is a relief sculpture ( The Crown of St. Elizabeth ) by the American artist Kiki Smith .
Domed structure
In the drum of the dome twelve apostles statues are erected. There are large portals on both sides and between these and the entrance or choir entrance four altars, the Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph and Thomas altars. The latter was designed by Luis Rauschhuber . Each altar is decorated with a sculpture of the respective patron. In the middle, under the dome, is the celebration altar in white marble. Immediately in front of the altar there is a relic of St. Elisabeth set in the floor. The ambo is located in front of the entrance to the choir . The artist Peter König, who lives in Nuremberg, took part in the design of the pews.
Choir
The high altar at the head of the choir is surmounted by a stone crucifixion group, the cross of which is gilded. In the niches on the left and right there are two neoclassical confessionals. A portable altar, which has been in the choir since April 24, 2009, is made of plexiglass. It was co-designed by the artist Peter König.
Inner alignment
Baptismal font, altar, ambo and high altar stand on one line. The central arrangement of the altar particularly emphasizes the meal character of the Eucharistic celebration. At first sight, the believers are sitting around the altar. In fact, however, the side facing the choir of the church is a self-contained chancel and the place for everyone involved in the liturgy. Almost unnoticed, modern and classic structures have been combined there.
crypt
The crypt below the entrance area of the Elisabethkirche was originally a cellar room. The room is made entirely of reddish sandstone and has a barrel vault. To enter from the side, there is an open tabernacle at the front, in which a monstrance is exhibited all day. Above and below the tabernacle are sculptures by Heinrich Schreiber, above the prophet Elias, to whom an angel brings bread and water. Below the tabernacle, many hands stretch out for the 5 loaves and 2 fish of the multiplication of bread. Due to the semi-darkness and the barrel vault, the crypt has an almost mystical atmosphere. Since October 2009 there has been a protective cloak madonna made by Luis Rauschhuber in the crypt . Also by Rauschhuber comes the depiction of the Merciful Father , ink on elephant skin, on the stairs leading to the crypt, which the artist donated to the church.
organ
The organ of the Elisabethkirche, a "romantic organ", was created in 1903 by the Bittner company from Eichstätt and has not been changed since it was installed. After the Second World War , it was only cleaned and restored in 2010. As one of the few original and unchanged organs of this type, it is the oldest organ in Nuremberg and therefore an important instrument for the region. The monument office in Munich describes it as a first-class organ-historical cultural asset. The instrument has 38 stops on two manual works and a pedal (pneumatic cone chests). Some registers of the subsidiary work are swellable .
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- Coupling : Manual-Coppel II / I (also as sub-octave coupling ), I / P, II / P
- Playing aids: Fixed combinations (pp, p, mf, ff), register crescendo
- annotation
- (s) = swellable
Church services
Eucharistic celebration is on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 5:00 p.m., on Sunday at 11:15 a.m., on Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. The midday prayer of the church, the Sext, takes place in the choir of the Elisabethkirche from Monday to Friday. Vespers is celebrated on Tuesday and Thursday at 5:45 p.m. The crypt is open for worship every day, except on Sundays. The Nightfever service has been held regularly in the church since 2008 .
From 2008 to 2011 the parish was again looked after by a small convent of the Teutonic Order.
Personalities
- Johann Jakob von Hauck , pastor to St. Elisabeth, Archbishop of Bamberg
- Joseph Otto Kolb , pastor to St. Elisabeth, Archbishop of Bamberg
- Werner Radlayers , auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Bamberg
See also
Web links
- Parish of St. Elisabeth in the pastoral care area Catholic inner city church Nuremberg
- The Bittner organ of St. Elisabeth in the free organ database Organ index
Individual evidence
- ↑ Abendzeitung Germany: Local: Nuremberg's most beautiful organ is being revamped - Abendzeitung München. Retrieved January 23, 2020 .
- ↑ Information on the organ ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of the organ builder
- ↑ Further information about the organ at orgel-information.de (viewed on November 17, 2018)