St. George and James

Isny Monastery in 1737.
St. Georg and Jakobus still served as a monastery church at that time

West facade of St. George and James

The former Benedictine monastery church of St. Georg and Jakobus in the Baden-Württemberg town of Isny im Allgäu , district of Ravensburg , has only been a Catholic parish church since 1803, as the monastery of St. George was abolished by secularization and then converted into a castle . Today's baroque parish church (Kirchplatz 2), with its rococo interior design, is a listed building in accordance with Section 28 of Baden-Württemberg's Monument Protection Act.

history

The first structural changes were made to the church, consecrated in 1042, around 1180. In 1269 a fire destroyed the high Romanesque church, in 1284 the monastery building and the rebuilt church fell victim to the devastating city fire. Generous donations made the construction of the late Romanesque church possible by Brother Heinrich von Brunow, which was consecrated in 1288. There is much to be said for a Gothic basilica with a wooden ceiling in the central nave. The two church towers were on either side of the choir on the east side. In 1513, Christoph Wohlgemut from Überlingen vaulted the western, two-story porch of the church. In 1548 Abbot Ulrich Todt had the choir completely renewed and expanded. The high altar, further side altars and the choir were renovated by 1617. Under Abbot Wolfgang Schmid, extensive construction work was carried out by 1630 (church, sacristy, chapter house, abbot's apartment, etc.). In 1631 the monastery burned down again in the great city fire.

Thanks to an inheritance, the monastery and church could be rebuilt in the baroque style (1650–1666). The Vorarlberg master builder Michael Beer built the "New Building" in 1656/57 and repaired part of the convent building. In 1660 there was a contract with the masters Giulio and Pietro Barbieri from Graubünden to renovate the monastery buildings and rebuild the church. On August 24, 1666, the consecration took place by the Constance Auxiliary Bishop Georg Sigismund Müller . The high baroque onion dome was not completed until 1709.

In 1757 Abbot Basilius Sinner commissioned the fresco artist Johann Michael Holzhey to paint the collegiate church. Johann Georg Gigl from Wessobrunn was contracted for the stucco work, and his stepbrother Matthäus (II.) Was also involved in installing the unique rococo stucco. The Wurzach sculptor Johann Jakob Willibald Ruez worked on the pulpit and altars, which were consecrated in 1760. The high altar sheet was painted by Johannes Heiss von Memmingen. The side altars contain relics artfully set in rocailles.

After the secularization of 1803, the convent building with the church passed into the possession of the count's family von Quadt Wikradt. In 1868 the owner family, who used the monastery building as their castle, donated the church to the town as a Catholic parish church. Only after the Second World War was the church renovated for the first time in 1946/47 and again in 1994–1996. The sculptor Helmut Ulrich from Augsburg-Friedberg designed a contemporary folk altar and the ambo for the anniversary year 1996. The roof and the tower were renovated in 2010-12.

architecture

Long nave of the baroque hall church

St George and James - Rococo Interior

The Catholic parish church of St. George and James stands next to the monastery that has been converted into a castle in the northeast of the historic city center. It is a solidly bricked and plastered, three-aisled hall church, which is attached to the former monastery building as a former monastery church. At the top, a gable roof closes off the three attic levels. The east tower next to the choir ends with an onion dome.

Exterior

The façades of the church are structured by pilasters and cornices in the gable triangle, otherwise the exterior is rather unadorned.

West facade of St. George and James
Portal to St. George and James
Onion dome of St. George and James
The towers in Isny - on the far right that of St. George and James

Interior

Richly decorated balcony

The interior of the former monastery church surprises with its splendid Rococo furnishings. Both the stucco and the frescoes and the other furnishings in the church are of high quality and testify to the performance of the Wessobrunn school. The hall church is structured by narrow pillars and richly decorated with stucco and frescoes. The side altars on the pillars in the front part of the hall church, which together with the large inclined side altars create the illusion of a choir, are striking. In addition, there are choir barriers to the slightly raised end of the hall and a gallery that conceals the eastern hall corners in such a way that the colonnaded high altar appears to be in a semicircular choir.

Stucco and fresco

The four large frescoes each occupy two yokes of the central part of the hall church, so the representation could become larger and thus reach the viewer more clearly.

Fresco under the organ gallery: expulsion of the traders - warning to those entering
Middle fresco, new building and salvation of the abbey
Choir arch fresco, handover of the cross particle
High altar fresco depicting the Eucharist

Middle fresco: This fresco depicts an abbot floating above the earthly area with a monastery plan, pointing to the new building from 1666. The abbot bears the facial features of Wolfgang Schmid, who as administrator and abbot saved the abbey from extinction at the beginning of the 17th century. Below him are the founders of the monastery, above him the patron saints with other saints, above him St. Benedict ascending to the Holy Trinity.
Fresco in front of the choir arch: the masterful stucco work by Holzhey is striking. The picture itself shows the handing over of the cross particles to the Abbot of Isny, who receives the Pope's messenger on steps. Saint Helena floats in heaven with the “True Cross” she has found. In the cavalier to the right of the abbot, Holzhey seems to have immortalized himself.
Choir area: This area is a festive and happy rococo ensemble with the colonnaded altar by the sculptor Ruez, the stucco work by Johann Georg Gigl and the frescoes by Johann Michael Holzhey. The altarpiece from 1690 has been adopted, a work by the Augsburg painter Johann Heiss.

Furnishing

Altars

Reliquary of a side altar

The high altar as a columnar altar in front of it forms, together with the large inclined side altars, a choir area, which creates the illusion of a semicircle, although the church space forms a rectangle. The smaller side altars on the pillars and the choir gallery help with this pretense. This area is probably a highlight of the Upper Swabian Rococo.

View through the central nave to the high altar
View to the main altar
Angled view of the high altar
Simulating a semicircular choir
Angled view of the high altar

pulpit

The pulpit is a particularly beautifully designed Rococo sculpture. It comes from Johann Jakob Willibald Ruez. The putti are striking, they seem to be made of marble; but everything that looks like the finest marble is made of wood.

Rococo pulpit
View over the pulpit to the organ
Putti at the pulpit

Memorial plaques

There is a memorial plaque on a pillar that is difficult to read. Old heraldic panels are attached to the choir wall.

Memorial plaque on a pillar
Heraldic tablets from the old church

organ

The Bihler organ prospectus from 1745 with modern organ work

In 1714, the organ builder Sebastian Ochsenreuther from Weiler built an organ with 12 registers for the church of the Benedictine monastery at the time for 454 guilders .

This instrument was replaced as early as 1745 by an instrument with 24 registers from the workshop of the Constance organ builder Johann Michael Bihler , which cost 1,300 guilders. Only the seven-part prospectus of this organ remains today .

In 1903 a new pneumatic organ from Gebr. Späth Orgelbau with 24 registers was installed in the old case . The instrument that was on the pocket shop was repaired in 1947 by the builder company and given a few new registers.

In 1976 the Späth organ was replaced by a work from the organ building company Johannes Karl from Aichstetten . The new organ with 32 registers, which are divided into three manuals and pedal , was again built into the Bihler case. The instrument has a mechanical performance and an electrical stop action . Today it has the following disposition :

I Hauptwerk C – g ³
1.	Bourdon	16 ′
2.	Principal	8th'
3.	Reed flute	8th'
4th	Octave	4 ′
5.	Small set	4 ′
6th	Sesquialter II
7th	Forest flute	2 ′
8th.	Mixture V	1 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′
9.	Bright trumpet	8th'

II Swell C – g ³
10.	Coupling flute	8th'
11.	Willow pipe	8th'
12.	Principal	4 ′
13.	recorder	4 ′
14th	Octave	2 ′
15th	Chamois fifth	1 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′
16.	Scharff III-IV	1'
17th	Shawl yoboe	8th'
	Tremulant

III Crown positive C – g ³
18th	Wood-covered	8th'
19th	Quintad	8th'
20th	Reed flute	4 ′
21st	Principal	2 ′
22nd	Nasard	2 ² ⁄ ₃  ′
23.	third	1 ³ ⁄ ₅  ′
24.	Seventh	1 ¹ ⁄ ₇  ′
25th	Cymbel III	² ⁄ ₃ ′
	Tremulant

Pedal C – f ¹
26th	Principal bass	16 ′
27.	Sub bass	16 ′
28.	Octave bass	8th'
29	Covered bass	8th'
30th	Choral bass	4 ′
31.	Rauschpfeife V
32.	Nursing trombone	16 ′

Coupling : II / I, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
Playing aids : two free combinations , tutti , individual tongue storage

Lady Chapel

From the choir of the former monastery church, a side entrance leads right into the Marienkapelle . In 1645 it was restored after the fire of 1631, the choir with its high-Gothic floor plan refers to the construction time around 1390. The wooden coffered ceiling, divided into rectangular fields, has embedded canvas oil paintings. The miraculous image in the altar structure, a seated Madonna with child, comes from the early 15th century, Konrad Hegenauer completed the high altar himself in 1773.

Part of the monks' former choir stalls are located in the chapel nave. Pictures of the 48 abbots of the Isny monastery hang above the choir stalls and on the wall of the gallery. The crypt of the Princely House of Quadt zu Wykradt and Isny is located under the chapel.

Marienkapelle, view of the Gothic choir
48 Abbot paintings in the Lady Chapel
Detail of the back of the stalls
Cross on the left wall
Detail from the ceiling
Right side altar
Left side altar
The miraculous image of Mary

Protected cultural monument

As a baroque building with its rococo decoration and furnishings, the church is an impressive testimony to popular piety and the will to create in the middle of the 17th century. There is a special public interest in its preservation for scientific and artistic reasons. The church building is therefore protected as a cultural monument in accordance with Section 28 of the Monument Protection Act of Baden-Württemberg.