St. Johannes Evangelist (Mallersdorf)

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Parish and monastery church of St. John the Evangelist from the northeast
Romanesque double tower facade with baroque polygonal porch

The Roman Catholic parish and monastery church of St. Johannes Evangelist in Mallersdorf, a district of the Mallersdorf-Pfaffenberg market in the Lower Bavarian district of Straubing-Bogen , is a church building belonging to the Mallersdorf monastery . She was up to the secularisation in 1803 the abbey church of the Benedictine and has since been owned by the Free State of Bavaria . Since 1869 it has been used as a monastery church by the poor Franciscan nuns of the Holy Family , and since 1921 also as a parish church for Mallersdorf with Ettersdorf, Ried and Seethal.

location

The church is located at 411  m above sea level. NN within the Mallersdorf monastery complex, which is located on a hill around 30 meters above the Kleiner Labertal . The church is recognizable from afar, especially through its two square towers with pyramid roofs .

history

According to a late medieval tradition, the first church is said to have been consecrated as early as 1109, i.e. two years after the foundation of the Benedictine monastery. This so-called old minster , which was located to the west of today's church, was demolished in 1759.

On the site of today's church, a new building was built in the 12th century, which was consecrated in 1177. This was substantially rebuilt in the late Romanesque style in the middle of the 13th century and re-consecrated in 1265. As far as we know today, it was a three-aisled basilica without a transept . Its double tower front with the west portal has largely been preserved, and the core of the nave is also likely to go back to this building. In the years 1460 to 1463 the spacious late Gothic choir was built, which still exists today. From 1613 the redesign to the current form of the wall pillar church took place . Originally built-in side galleries were removed in the 18th century. Around 1670 there was a new furnishing in the Baroque style , of which the (later redesigned) pulpit , church stalls and cloister door have been preserved.

From 1740, under Abbot Heinrich VI. Widmann redesigned it in the Rococo style . The following measures were carried out by an unknown master builder: A polygonal porch was added to the west portal , the late Gothic choir was raised and a semicircular apse was added. In the foreground, however, is the radical redesign of the interior, in which numerous well-known artists such as Christian Jorhan the Elder , Mathias Obermayr , Ignaz Günther and Anton Bayr were involved. The work could not be completed by a long way until the abbot's death in 1758. Completion and consecration took place under Abbot Gregor Schwab, who was next but one, in 1792. During the last major renovation work between 1972 and 1975, the furnishings, which were partly changed in the 19th century, were largely returned to their original version .

The pastoral care for the population Mallersdorfs took to the secularization in 1803 the Benedictines of the monastery. From this point on, pastoral care was provided by the cooperator of the West Parish, from 1869 with the support of the superior of the newly established monastery of the Poor Franciscan Sisters. As a result of the growing population and the higher occupancy of the superior, the cooperator's residence was initially relocated to Mallersdorf in 1914, and on August 14, 1921, a separate parish was finally established.

description

Late Romanesque west portal
Capitals with ornaments on the west portal

architecture

The outer walls of the church with arched windows are largely undivided apart from the slender buttresses on the choir. The double tower facade in the west, which at the same time forms the front side facing Klosterbergstrasse, is much more elaborate. The two five-storey towers in the late Romanesque style each have a rather flat pyramid roof with an elaborately designed cross on top. They are structured on the lower four floors by large arched panels, and on the top floor by rectangular panels that end with a round arch frieze . The upper three floors of the north tower, which had been demolished in the late Middle Ages, were rebuilt in the 17th or 18th century in a formal alignment with the south tower. Both towers are connected by a middle section in the Baroque style, built from 1740 onwards, which is closed at the top by a volute gable with a sculpture of the church patron Johannes . Below is a polygonal extension protruding from the alignment of the two towers with a bell-shaped dome , which is divided by arched windows and pilasters at the corners. It contains the late Romanesque west portal made of limestone of the church, consecrated in 1265, which has stylistic connections to the portal of the Schottenkirche St. Jakob in Regensburg (around 1200). It is unclear whether the portal was already integrated into a porch before the baroque renovation or whether it was in line with the tower facades. It consists of a triple stepped wall , which is occupied by three-quarter columns. These continue above the capitals and close in a round arch, which in turn is framed by a round arch frieze. The tympanum is relatively simple and shows an isosceles cross with lilies and rosettes . Various ornaments, human and animal figures can be seen in the capital zone, the symbolic content of which is not known in detail.

Upon entering the church by the west portal is accessed by the baroque stem in the space between the two towers, which from the organ empore is covered. Here an elaborately designed lattice with spirals and rosettes from around 1720 separates the vestibule from the nave. The latter includes four window axes and is spanned by a barrel vault with stitch caps . This rests four pillars on each side, so that a total of eight chapel rooms are created on the north and south sides of the nave, each equipped with a side altar. It is therefore a classic wall pillar church of the south German type. On the east side of the nave the retracted to seven levels higher lying chancel adjoins having three yokes comprises a semi-circular and chorus circuit. It is also spanned by a needle cap barrel, which here, however, rests on much flatter pilasters .

Frescoes and stucco

Interior in the rococo style

The church is richly decorated with rococo-style frescoes and stucco. The furnishing of the choir is dated to 1747, while the large frescoed nave was not built until 1776. The latter is much more cautious than the design of the choir in terms of color. The layout of the nave fresco also indicates the early days of classicism .

The elongated oval, curved framed ceiling fresco in the choir is by Johann Adam Schöpf , who created it in 1747 in the initial phase of the church renovation. In terms of content, it is divided into two parts: on the one hand it shows the vision of the patron saint John on Patmos from the Secret Revelation , on the other hand the beneficial work of the Benedictine order on the four continents known at the time. In the center you can see God the Father, in front of his throne the 24 elders and the lamb with the book with the seven seals . Below, Johannes hovers on a cloud bank with his symbolic animal, the eagle. The main fresco is framed by eight tone-on-tone painted medallions in the vaulted caps, which also refer to the church patron Johannes. The fresco in the top of the choir arch is also by Schöpf. It shows the Mallersdorf monastery with the two founders Heinrich and Ernst von Kirchberg .

The stucco in the chancel concentrates mainly on the vaulted area and the window reveals . It comes from the Straubing sculptor and plasterer Mathias Obermayr . Tendrils, ribbon and shell work are depicted ; These are loosened up with fruit and flower baskets, putti and vases in Delft style . The two white and gold oratorios on the side walls of the chancel are also attributed to the Obermayr workshop . They consist of a stuccoed body and a finely carved grid with vase attachments.

The monumental ceiling fresco in the nave, which fills almost the entire nave vault, was created in 1776 by the Styrian painter Matthias Schiffer . The eastern third of the picture shows the refusal of the patron saint Johannes to do idolatry. In the foreground the fired kettle is already ready for the subsequent oil martyr of the saint. The scene takes place in front of an architectural backdrop known as the Porta Latina in Rome . Most of the picture is taken up by a heaven populated by angels.

Altars

Choir with the high altar by Ignaz Günther
Baroque pillars from around 1670
pulpit
Prospectus of the organ by Anton Bayr

The high altar is considered to be one of the main works of the Rococo sculptor Ignaz Günther . The vaulted structure with four light gray-reddish marbled columns contains an altarpiece painted in 1749 by Martin Speer , which shows the Evangelist John on Patmos hurling lightning bolts at unbelievers lying on the ground. It is flanked by two figures on each side: St. Emperor Heinrich II. And St. Benedict , on the right St. Scholastica and St. Kunigunde . In the altar extract, Günther vividly depicted the central part of the Johannine vision, the apocalypse. In the center stands the winged Apocalyptic Woman as a symbol for the entire church, which is fleeing from the seven-headed dragon . Diagonally above her is the Archangel Michael with a flaming sword, who is about to wrestle the dragon down. In the background there is a large golden sun and several clouds occupied by putti . The figures, like large parts of the rest of the church furnishings, are set in white and gold, while the dragon is olive green with gold decorations.

From a distance, this high altar on the back wall of the choir merges with the sacramental altar by Mathias Obermayr , which is located roughly in the middle of the choir room. The Benedictines' choir once lay in between. The sacramental altar consists of the cafeteria and the tabernacle , the gilded door of which shows a relief of the Last Supper . Above is the exposure niche flanked by angels , the structure is crowned by a golden crucifix . A bilateral, symmetrical structure with volutes on which angels adore the Holy of Holies leads over to the doors to the monks' choir. These richly decorated portals with the inscriptions “Vita bonis” (left) and “Mors malis” (right) are also crowned by figures of angels framed in white and gold. They are flanked by figures of the prophets Isaiah and Zacharias (outside) and the Old Testament priests Aaron and Melchizedek .

Each of the eight side chapels between the mighty wall pillars is equipped with a side altar. These altars were probably made in Mathias Obermayr's workshop around 1750, but the two altars in the third niche from the east date from around 1770 and are ascribed to the master himself. The two four-column altars in the first niche are the cross altar (left) with an altar panel of the crucifixion of Christ, flanked by figures of St. Clare and Pope Gregory the Great, and an excerpt from the Last Supper and the Annunciation altar (right) with an altar sheet of the Annunciation scene attributed to Martin Speer and an extract with God the Father and the Holy Spirit . In the second chapel there are only two-column altars, namely the guardian angel altar (right), in the excerpt of which the apostle James the Elder is depicted, and the Benedict altar (left) with the only side altar leaf signed by Speer and an excerpt picture of John the Baptist . In the third niche there is the Sebastianialtar on the left and the Marienaltar on the right . These two altars have a different design of the altar extension. Here white angel figures with golden wings can be seen between volute-like attachments, each of which has a medallion with a small painting. These are depictions of St. Catherine (left) and St. Josef (right). The two rear side altars are the Vitus altar (left) with a representation of St. Christophorus in excerpt and the Florianialtar (right) with an altarpiece of the weather saints John and Paul .

pulpit

Like the lay chairs and the cloister door in the second wall chapel on the south side, the pulpit probably comes from a Mallersdorfer Benedictine monk from around 1670. In 1776, changes were made by Christian Jorhan the Elder. Ä. made, in particular all figurative sculptures are attributed to him. The pulpit, entirely in white and gold, with elaborate ornaments in the form of cartilage, is located on the second wall pillar on the south side. The edges of the polygonal basket are decorated with small columns, with figures of Christ and the four evangelists in between . On the sound cover there are four volutes with putti heads, which carry a pedestal with the figure of the apostle Paul as a preacher.

organ

In the course of the redesign in the Rococo style, the church received an organ by Anton Bayr in 1783 with a total of 18 stops on two manuals and pedal as well as mechanical playing and stop action . Only the prospectus remains of this instrument today .

This organ was replaced in 1895 by an instrument from the workshop of Martin Binder and Willibald Siemann in Regensburg, who created Opus 45, a work that had 13 stops on two manuals and a pedal.

As early as 1904, Franz Borgias Maerz built a new organ with his Opus 458 with 16 registers on two manuals and a pedal. This organ was rebuilt in 1942 and expanded in 1945. At last it had pneumatic pocket drawers . At this point at the latest, the wind was supplied via an electric fan with 3 HP . Eduard Hirnschrodt expanded it to three manuals and 28 registers in 1953 using the pocket drawer. The organ was dismantled and stored in 1984.

The current organ of the church was built in 1985 by the Swiss company Mathis Orgelbau in the historic case from 1783. The instrument with mechanical playing and stop action comprises a total of 35 stops on three manuals and pedal.

The disposition of the various organs is as follows:

Disposition of the Bayr organ from 1783
I Manual
1. Principal 8th'
2. Dumped 8th'
3. Gamba 8th'
4th Allemande 8th'
5. Octav 4 ′
6th Flauto 4 ′
7th Quint 3 '
8th. Super octave 2 ′
9. Mixture IV 1 1 ⁄ 2  ′
10. Cymbal III 2 ′
II manual
11. Dumped 8th'
12. Salicional 8th'
13. Pointed flute 4 ′
14th Flageolet 2 ′
pedal
15th Sub-bass 16 ′
16. Violonbass 16 ′
17th Octave bass 8th'
18th Fifth bass 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Disposition of the Maerz organ from 1904 (before the renovation in 1953)
I main work C – f 3
1. Bourdon 16 ′
2. Principal 8th'
3. Tibia 8th'
4th Covered 8th'
5. Viol 8th'
6th Dolce 8th'
7th Octave 4 ′
8th. Transverse flute 4 ′
9. Gemshorn 4 ′
10. Mixture IV 2 2 / 3 '
11. Trumpet 8th'
II subsidiary work C – f 3
12. Violin principal 8th'
13. Lovely covered 8th'
14th Salicional 8th'
15th Aeolines 8th'
16. violoncello 8th'
17th Fugara 4 ′
18th Night horn 4 ′
19th Piccolo 2 ′
20th oboe 8th'
Pedal C – d 1
21st Sub bass 16 ′
Soft bass 16 ′
22nd Violonbass 16 ′
23. Octave bass 8th'
24. cello 8th'
25th trombone 16 ′
Remarks
  1. ↑ a b c Register from the 1945 expansion
Disposition of the Mathis organ from 1985
I Rückpositiv C – g 3
1. Copel 8th'
2. Praestant 4 ′
3. Reed flute 4 ′
4th Octave 2 ′
5. Larigot 1 1 / 3 '
6th Sharp III-IV 1'
7th Krummhorn 8th'
II Hauptwerk C – g 3
8th. Drone 16 ′
9. Principal 8th'
10. Big dumped 8th'
11. Gemshorn 8th'
12. Octave 4 '
13. flute 4 ′
14th Fifth 2 2 / 3 '
15th Octave 2 ′
16. Mixture III-IV 1 1 / 3 '
17th Cymbel III 2 / 3 '
18th Trumpet 8th'
III Swell C – g 3
19th Tube bare 8th'
20th Viola di gamba 8th'
21st Principal 4 ′
22nd Pointed flute 4 ′
23. Nasat 2 2 / 3 '
24. Night horn 2 ′
25th third 1 3 / 5 '
26th Mixture III-IV 1 1 / 3 '
27. oboe 8th'
Tremulant
Pedal C – f 1
28. Principal bass 16 ′
29 Sub bass 16 ′
30th Octave 8th'
31. Dacked bass 8th'
32. Choral bass 4 ′
33. Mixture IV 2 2 / 3 '
34. trombone 16 ′
35. Trumpet 8th'
  • Pairing :
    • Normal coupling: II / I, I / P, II / P

Bells

The church has four bells, which were cast in 1948 by Johann Hahn from Landshut . They replace a four-part bell from 1882, the first after sacularisation. The tone sequence of today's bells is c 1 - es 1 - f 1 - a flat 1 and corresponds to that of an ideal quartet.

literature

  • Isidor Gschlößl among others: Mallersdorf . Verlag Schnell & Steiner, Munich / Zurich 1997, 7th edition.
  • Monika Soffner-Loibl ao: Mallersdorf - Former Benedictine Abbey Church and Parish Church of St. Johannes Ev. Kunstverlag Peda, Passau 2009, ISBN 978-3-89643-752-5 .

Web links

Commons : St. Johannes (Mallersdorf)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Soffner-Loibl, pp. 2–4.
  2. ^ History of the parish of St. Johannes in Mallersdorf . Online at pfarrei-mallersdorf.de. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  3. ↑ a b Soffner-Loibl, pp. 4–6.
  4. ↑ a b c d Soffner-Loibl, pp. 7–9.
  5. ↑ a b c Soffner-Loibl, pp. 10-18.
  6. ↑ Soffner-Loibl, p. 19f.
  7. ↑ a b Mallersdorf, Germany (Bavaria) - monastery church . Online at orgbase.nl. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  8. ^ Christian Vorbeck: The organ builders Martin Binder and Willibald Siemann. Siebenquart Verlag Dr. Roland Eberlein, Cologne 2013. ISBN 978-3-941224-02-5 . → Print of the original work list
  9. ^ Stefan Hammermayer: Bavarian organ building at the turn of the century. Franz Borgias March (1848–1910) . Wiedemann Bad Reichenhall, 1999. ISBN 3-00-004382-9 , p. 84.
  10. ↑ Georg Brenninger: Organs in Old Bavaria . GeraNova Bruckmann, 1982, ISBN 3-7654-1859-5
  11. ^ Works archive with correspondence from the Hirnschrodt company
  12. ↑ a b Mallersdorf (DE), St. Johannes . Online at www.mathis-orgelbau.ch. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  13. ↑ Mallersdorf, (Straubing-Bogen) St. Johannes: Plenum . Online at www.youtube.com. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  14. ↑ Soffner-Loibl, p. 22f.

Coordinates: 48 ° 46 ′ 40.5 ″  N , 12 ° 15 ′ 14 ″  E