St. Georg (Gronsdorf)
The Roman Catholic branch church St. Georg in the Gronsdorf district of Kelheim (Mühlenweg 29) belongs to the Kelheim city parish of the Assumption of Mary .
history
The church is located at the foot of the Michelsberg in a depression in the Altmühltal . There are two derivations for the name Gronsdorf , which has been in use since the late Middle Ages , one comes from the "gronen", which is still used today in the Bavarian dialect, meaning "grumble", the other from "gruone", which means "green" or "be juicy" means. Due to the situation in the middle of a meadow by the water, the second derivation seems more likely.
A founder of the church is not known, although the Georgspatrozinium points to a foundation by a knight (the Gothic wall painting also contains a donor's coat of arms, which has not been interpreted so far, see below); there is no evidence of a noble residence in the immediate vicinity. According to the architectural style, the church was built in the late 14th century. The church became famous for its rich painting, which can be dated to around 1400. It was first mentioned by a mass foundation from Kelheim citizens to this church, which at that time was consecrated to the ( "twelve messengers" ) and St. George. The establishment of a farm near Schambach and other goods ensured that regular services were provided. In 1595 a new high altar was donated, for which the windows of the interior were redesigned. In 1608 the church was again specially designed (carved Madonna, figures of Peter and Paul, baroque painting), none of which has survived. In the course of the Thirty Years' War , the church was partially devastated, in addition, the independence of the local benefit ended during this time and the church was subordinated to the parish of Kelheim. From 1654 to 1656, according to the church accounts, a repair was made, whereby the central choir windows were enlarged and the framing paintings were partially destroyed. According to the church bill, 71 fl. Was spent on painting, so it is likely that a baroque repainting was done. The devastation of the Swedes had made this repair work necessary. In the Rococo period these paintings, which no longer exist today, were covered with thick white whitewash.
In 1912, cooperator Josef Schmid discovered extensive Gothic wall paintings in the church's choir room and exposed them at great expense by the General Conservatory of the Bavarian Monument Authority .
Construction
The church is a hall church with a pitched roof , it has a strongly drawn-in choir closed on five sides. A shingled eight-sided tower above the west gable of the nave is provided with a blunt helmet, which is likely to have been built in this form in the 17th century. There are three brick buttresses on the west side. The building edges of the church are built in precise fair-faced stone blocks, the surfaces in between are plastered, underneath is quarry stone masonry. The church is divided by various windows; in the western part of the south wall there is a lancet window , the eastern pair of windows with double tracery comes from the late Gothic period. The windows on the long sides were probably used in the design of the new high altar around 1595, before the walls were closed. The entrance portal is located on the south side, at the apex of the arch of the portal a flat relief cross can be seen in a recessed rectangular field.
The outside of the choir is decorated with an eaves edge. The windows belong to different time phases. The window on the south wall of the choir is most elaborately designed with a tracery structure. A lancet window from the time the church was built has been broken out in the north and south sides.
The churchyard is walled and a small chapel with a gable roof and a segmental arched opening from the 18th century is set into the low wall on the east side. An arched gate in the enclosure wall leads to the entrance portal of the church.
Interior
A baroque impression dominates the church. This is caused by a collection of pictures and figures on the walls, the pulpit balcony, the gallery with the organ prospect and the two side altars. The church has had a flat ceiling in the interior since it was built. During the renovation in 1950, this was stuccoed with a circumferential chamfer and decorated with a modest stucco decoration.
The pulpit and both side altars date from the beginning of the 19th century. The image of Mary on the north side altar shows Mary dividing the coat. The figures on the altar represent St. Leonhard and St. Georg, both date from the middle of the 18th century. The southern side altar shows Christ as the Man of Sorrows . In the cafeteria there is a small figure scene with the Holy Trinity . Left and right are figures of Saints Peter and Paul . They were already at the high altar in 1630. The free-standing baptismal font was carved from limestone in the late 15th century. Next to this is a late Gothic offering box made of green sandstone.
The choir is separated from the nave by a prominent choir arch. The choir is divided into two bays and structured by a ribbed vault. Six ribs of the vault converge in the apse keystone; here the relief “hand of God” appears as a symbol for God the Father . The star decoration between the vault ribs indicates the vault of heaven. The baroque high altar is located in the choir. Its massive limestone substructure still comes from the Gothic altar. At the front there is a now unused sepulcrum , in which relics were previously kept. The reredos with the predella of the high altar were built in the 17th century. The altar wall forms a kind of archway with two columns and a wooden cornice. The altarpiece shows St. George as a dragon fighter. In the picture in the altar extract , a cleric is shown with a gesture of reference to a target outside the picture. Since there are no clear attributes, it cannot be determined iconographically.
The Gothic painting of the choir is divided into two picture zones by a white band that encompasses the entire room. The upper zone consists of the arched shields of the vault, the lower is a continuous surface that is broken through by window openings. In the arched shields the scene of the Mount of Olives from the Passion of Christ is shown, followed by the crucifixion with a branch cross typical of the Gothic , followed by two prophets, then the Vera icon , that is the true imprint of Christ's face on the handkerchief of Veronica , then come again two prophetic figures, the resurrection and then the Noli me tangere scene in the garden of Gethsemane . In the wall zone under the shield arches the farewell of the apostles or the sending out of the twelve apostles is shown; This is followed by a representation of the figure of the Archangel Michael , then the (unidentified) donor coat of arms. Other representations relate to the unbelieving Thomas , St. Erhard , the entry into Jerusalem and the birth of Christ .
Further items of equipment are a renaissance picture made of wood with the praise of Mary, an altar cross by Ignaz Günther as well as the already mentioned group of figures of the Trinity, presumably a design model made of wax for a larger object. In the pavement next to the high altar is the gravestone of a Swedish soldier from the Thirty Years' War with a standing lion as a coat of arms.
literature
- Friedrich Fuchs: St. Georg in Gronsdorf. City of Kelheim. Weltenburg Academy (series 6.4), Abensberg 1996.
Web links
Coordinates: 48 ° 55 '29.5 " N , 11 ° 51' 17.2" E