St. Kunibert (Gymnich)

Parish Church of St. Kunibert

The Catholic parish church of St. Kunibert is a listed church building on Gymnicher Hauptstrasse in Gymnich , a district of Erftstadt in the Rhein-Erft district ( North Rhine-Westphalia ).

History and architecture

The parish church was first mentioned in a document at the end of the 13th century. The Abbey Siegburg was the since 1255 Kollationsrecht to. A late Gothic predecessor is documented. In 1447 the church received a new bell . The bell founder was Johan Brodemann from Cologne . The remaining three bells, the Kunibertus bell, the Matthias and Servatius bell and the small measuring bell, were cast by Martin Legros in 1755 on behalf of the parish. The barons Theodat von Gymnich and Clemens August von Gymnich as well as the bailiff von Lechenich Ignatius Graf Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht took over sponsorships

The groin vaulted hall of three bays with a front west tower crowned by a mighty onion dome was built from 1759 to 1763 based on a design by L. Kees. The brick building with smoothly plastered corner strips and eaves cornices is slated. The lower parts of the retracted choir of a yoke and 5/8 end come from the late Gothic previous building. The brick masonry is criss-crossed by tuff bands. From 1785 to 1786 sacristies were added to the side. The building was remodeled in a neo-Gothic style from the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century . A ribbed vault was drawn in in the choir and tracery windows were built into the nave . During a baroque restoration in 1953, the color of the interior was renewed. The three glass windows in the choir were made around 1882 according to designs by the late Nazarene Ernst Deger , from whom the central window with the image of the Sacred Heart comes from , and Franz Ittenbach . The windows were restored in 1983, architectural parts were partially added. The stained glass frieze in the lower fields of the windows in the nave shows the Gymnicher Ritt , a supplication on Ascension Day that probably resulted from a corridor procession, during which, according to oral tradition, a cross relic acquired by Johann von Gymnich in the Holy Land in 1456 is carried. The frieze was made in 1953 based on a design by F. Pauli.

Furnishing

• The baroque high altar piece from 1703 comes from the former Augustinian monastery church in Merten . It was built in 1962 instead of a neo-Gothic tower from 1907. For this the floor had to be lowered. The wooden structure with winding columns and a semicircular closed altar panel with the depiction of St. Augustine and a prioress of the monastery, pleading before the Trinity. The color version has been renewed.
• The rococo side altars, like the pulpit, probably come from the broken church of St. Maria ad gradus in Cologne. The pillars are made of wood, the niche figures were added later. The color version has been renewed.
• The oak frame of the pulpit was vacuumed. It was signed by JF van Helmont in 1718 and is probably his earliest independent work. In the structure and the fully sculptural design of the carving, the influence of Flemish grand pulpits from the area around the Quellinus can be seen. The basket is decorated with medallions, the crowning volutes on the sound cover bear the heart of Jesus. The stairs and the back wall were added in 1968. The angel figures on the side are not in their original positions.
• The eight-sided baptismal font adorned with tracery is in the tower hall. It was hewn from red sandstone in 1559, the base and the lid were renewed.
• The simple choir stalls are work from around 1490.
• The wooden sculpture of St. Kunibert was carved in Cologne around 1480 and later recast.
• The bronze door in the south tower portal was created in 1968 by S. Hürten.

literature

• Georg Dehio , edited by Claudia Euskirchen, Olaf Gisbertz, Ulrich Schäfer: Handbuch der deutschen Kunstdenkmäler. North Rhine-Westphalia I Rhineland . Deutscher Kunstverlag , Berlin / Munich 2005, ISBN 3-422-03093-X
• Jörg Poettgen, "700 Years of Bell Casting in Cologne" - Masters and Workshops between 1100 and 1800, Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, ISBN 3-88462-206-4

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jörg Poettgen, “700 Years of Bell Casting in Cologne”, pp. 60 and 96
2. ^ Historical archive of the Archdiocese of Cologne holdings of the dean's office Bergheim Gymnich 10
3. ↑ Jakob Schaeben (edit.): Bells peal towers in the former district of Euskirchen. Cologne 1977 pp. 99-101
4. ^ Matthias Weber: Erftstadt-Gymnich. Cologne 1984. p. 311

Web links

Commons : St. Kunibert  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• History and many photos (accessed May 16, 2012)

Coordinates: 50 ° 50 ′ 23 "  N , 6 ° 44 ′ 28"  E