St. Jakob (Regensburg)
The Benedictine monastery St. Jakob , also known as the Schottenkirche St. Jakob in Regensburg is considered a classic work of high Romanesque church architecture in southern Germany. Above all, the north portal of the church is known with its primeval and enigmatic sculptures, which give rise to various interpretations.
history
middle Ages
Towards the end of the 11th century, miseri peregrini , Benedictine wandering monks from Ireland, ushered in the second wave of Irish-Gaelic monasteries. Even before them around 1070, Marianus Scottus was the first to come to Regensburg and founded the small monastery of Weih St. Peter in the south in front of the Arnulfini city wall . After his death around 1080 so many Irish brothers had followed him that a large monastery and church had to be built. A building site in the west in front of the city wall was purchased and the foundation stone was laid around 1090 for a large monastery building, which was inaugurated in 1111 or 1120. The quality of the building was so poor that it began to fall into disrepair 30 years later and in the end only the towers and side apses remained. A new building under Abbot Gregor (1156–1185), the actual builder and client, was completed around 1180. Since the Irish monks were also popularly called Scots , the church and monastery are also called Scots Church and Scots Monastery.
Parallel to the construction of the monastery in Regensburg, the Irish Benedictines also spread from there to Germany and beyond: 1134 St. Jakob in Würzburg, 1137/38 in Erfurt, 1140 St. Aegid in Nuremberg and 1142 St. Jakob in Constance. In 1155 Heinrich Jasomirgott set up the Vienna Schottenkloster , and around 1160 that in Eichstätt . In 30 years there were eight Irish monasteries in Germany. The conclusion and climax of this development was the First General Chapter of all Irish Benedictines on German soil in 1216.
In 1278 the monastery buildings burned down. In the 15./16. In the 16th century, a Scottish merchants' brotherhood was formed around 1500 at St. Jakob, which donated an altar in honor of the Scottish national patron St. Andrew. In 1515 the monastery passed to the Scottish Benedictines.
Early modern age
Under Abbot Ninian Winzet , Maria Stuart's confessor , the monastery experienced a boom from 1577 onwards. Now it was used again for pastoral care, as a hostel for the Scottish community and the passing traders, the Rome pilgrims and the education of young Scots. Abbot Placidus Fleming (1672–1720) founded a missionary seminary for young Scots who were to return to their homeland. The missionary idea was not a priority, but scientists such as Abbot Bernard Stuart , mathematician, physicist and architect, and the physicist and paleontologist Ildephons Kennedy emerged.
Modern times
In 1803 the Schottenabbey escaped secularization with a few other German monasteries . It was not until 1862 that the monastery was dissolved by papal breve and the seminary was established by Bishop Senestréy . From 1866 to 1872 the buildings had to be rebuilt and partly rebuilt. Parts of the Romanesque east wing of the cloister were uncovered and the pillars were reused in the church. In 1874 the seminary church was consecrated. An extensive interior and exterior restoration with redesign of the altar island was completed in 1988. In 1999, for conservation reasons, a glass porch was built for the “Schottenportal” based on a design by the Böhm architects.
The so-called Schottenportal in the entrance area is one of the most important Romanesque architectural monuments in Germany . There are many interpretations about the meaning of the enigmatic picture cycles on the portal, none of which can be regarded as certain. It can only be said with certainty that the cycle deals with Last Judgment , heaven and hell . The twelve figures represent the outcasts who are denied admission to the kingdom of heaven. The figures represent people and trades despised and stigmatized by medieval society, such as matchmakers , criminals, prostitutes , jugglers , dancers, idlers and lazy people.
Inside the church, to the right of the portal, there is a horizontal relief sculpture of a monk named Rydan with a key. This monk probably actually lived and, according to various interpretations, represents the builder of the portal or a porter.
St. Jakobus is the seminary church of the Regensburg seminary . This was housed under Bishop Ignatius of Senestrey in the secularized Schottenkloster. For this reason, his grave is the only one of the bishops since Carl von Dalberg not in the cathedral, but between the main and the people's altar in the Schottenkirche.
See also
literature
- Lore Conrad: The symbolic language of the Romanesque Schottenkirche in Regensburg . 6th edition. Regensburg 1993, ISBN 3-9800355-5-7 .
- Richard Strobel: Romanesque in Old Bavaria . Echter Verlag , Würzburg 1994, ISBN 3-429-01616-9 .
- Helmut Flachenecker : Schottenklöster. Irish Benedictine convents in high medieval Germany . Schöningh, Paderborn 1995, ISBN 3-506-73268-4 ( online [accessed July 23, 2015]).
- Volkmar Greiselmayer: Comments on the north portal of the Schottenkirche St. Jakob in Regensburg . In: Romanesque in Regensburg. Regensburg 1996, pp. 154-167.
- Mona Stocker: The Schottenkirche St. Jakob in Regensburg: Sculpture and stylistic environment . Regensburg 2001, ISBN 3-930480-56-5 .
- Richard Strobel: Schottenkirche St. Jakob, Regensburg . Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2006, ISBN 3-7954-4437-3 .
- Stefan Weber : Irish on the continent The life of Marianus Scottus of Regensburg and the beginnings of the Irish "Schottenklöster" . Mattes, Heidelberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-86809-034-5 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Karl Bauer: Regensburg Art, Culture and Everyday History . 6th edition. MZ-Buchverlag in H. Gietl Verlag & Publication Service GmbH, Regenstauf 2014, ISBN 978-3-86646-300-4 , p. 417 f .
Remarks
- ↑ Not used
Web links
- Schottenkirche St. Jakob (official website)
Coordinates: 49 ° 1 ′ 7 ″ N , 12 ° 5 ′ 18 ″ E