St. Martin (Kirchberg an der Iller)
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The parish church of St. Martinus is located in Kirchberg an der Iller in the Biberach district in Upper Swabia and belongs to the Illertal pastoral care unit . The architect of the basilica , three-aisled , neo-Gothic building , built around 1900, was Joseph Cades . Together with the nearby Martinskirchen in Kellmünz an der Iller , Dietenheim , Erolzheim , Heimertingen or Tannheim , Kirchberg is one of the original parishes of the Illertal. According to the official invoice, the total expenditure for the new church was 113,481.62 gold marks .
History and location
The first mention of a parish church in Kirchberg can be found in 1275 in the Liber decimationis . The liber decimationis was a list of the crusade tithe raised in the diocese of Constance . The derivation of the name Kirchberg from a high above the valley Church and Martin patronage refer to a first rich Frankish wooden church in the 7th century in the former diocese of Konstanz. Around 625 the Iller was established as the eastern border of the Diocese of Constance , although there were Christian communities in Augsburg and Constance as early as 300 AD , which continued to exist after the end of Roman rule. Kirchberg lies on the Danube-Iller-Rhein-Limes , a former large-scale defense system of the Roman Empire, which was created after the abandonment of the Upper German-Raetian Limes in the 3rd century AD.
The east-facing three-aisled basilica church is located on a plateau above the Iller valley. The small previous building was in the same place. The cemetery that surrounded the smaller previous church was relocated in 1898 by five hundred meters in a north-westerly direction. The facility is surrounded by a shoulder-high wall. During the planning phase, a hall-like, single-aisle solution was also considered by the then pastor Funk because of its support-free view of the liturgical events . Ultimately, the minutes of the municipal council meetings show that the architect Cades prevailed with his basilica design. The furnishings of the church initially consisted of items from the previous church. The first new artistic furnishings were the painted choir windows in the east and the rosette in the west of the church from the Zettler company in Munich .
Since it was built , nothing has been changed or added to the church, apart from the installation of a popular altar . As a result, she was one of the few to survive the great iconoclasm of the 20th century and, in addition to her liturgical service, can at the same time and directly give testimony to the church's conception of art and the importance of art around 1900.
construction
The nave of the three-aisled basilica extends over six bays and ends with a choir arch. This is followed by a retracted choir with an apse. There is a sacristy annex to the south of the choir. In the north there is a tower. The height and width of the transept are the same. The length and width of the nave floor plan are in a ratio of 1: 2. The center and side aisles have a height ratio of 8: 3.
The church receives light through the pointed arched two-group windows on the side aisle walls and three-group windows in the upper aisle of the central nave walls . The five lead-glazed single windows of the choir and the rose window above the organ gallery emphasize the east-facing of the church. There is a spatial hierarchy within the church. An inner value results from the side aisle to the central nave and from the gallery to the choir room.
Painting
The church was painted by the church painters Schiller and Ostermaier from Ravensburg from April 23 to August 19, 1909. The two painters completely covered the simple white plastered interior shell with a painted wall and cross vault. Between 1940 and 1970 this type of painting of neo-Romanesque churches came into the crosshairs of iconoclastic critics. The way the church was painted was simply called a fraud by these purist circles. She was accused of not telling the truth. That is why in many neo-Gothic churches this type of painting was completely or partially painted over.
The painters tried to refine the architecture they found. They painted load-bearing supports and vault ribs in particularly pressure-resistant stones. The decor also has the task of identifying elegant and less elegant room zones, which was achieved with the painting.
Five pairs of round pillars painted dark blue add another main accent to the church. The arches of the longitudinal walls of the central nave and the belt arches of the vaulted yokes rest on them.
A painting was placed on the wall panel above the chro-arch. In the center of the painting is a motif from the apocalypse. A lamb on a golden background stands on a book with seven seals and is surrounded by twenty-four heads with golden crowns. (Rev 4,1-11) Three angels hovering to the side of the lamb refer to three text scenes in the Bible:
- The pair of angels with the censer asks for prayer. (Rev 8,3-5)
- The pair of angels with the golden rod refers to the impossibility of measuring what is happening in the church according to type and quantity (Rev 11: 1-2).
- The pair of angels with the golden vessels indicate the abundance of divine glory and power in the temple (Rev 15: 7-8).
The painting marks a boundary between the worldly and the heavenly realm, which the communion bench is intended to underline.
Beyond the choir arch, the proportions of the church change. The base masonry reaches more than twice the parapet height of the side aisle and is painted in the manner of a tapestry. The chancel as a painted throne room. Fish and quail motifs are intended to create a reference to the bread multiplication miracle of the Old and New Testaments.
Two realistically painted murals from the Old and New Testament are intended to illustrate what is happening in the altar area. The southern mural shows the sacrifice of Melchizedech and the northern one the Emmaus story.
Sculpting work
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The sculptures are subordinate to the task of liturgy and catechesis . The sculptures made of colored wood are perfectly handcrafted.
Apostle figures
At the top of the columns are the colored wooden sculptures of twelve apostles with their associated clothing, hairstyles and attributes that were known at the time.
- South of the gallery Judas Thaddäus with a club because he was killed with it for his testimony of faith. Opposite him is the later crucified Philip with a cross staff.
- Thomas and James the Elder
- Matthew with halberd and Andrew
- Simon on the same level as the pulpit
- Bartholomew with a knife and John with the missing beard
Finally, in the choir, Simon Peter with a key and Paul with a book. Here, too, a hierarchy of the formation of the apostles can be seen, which is at the service of the catechesis and liturgy of the Church.
pulpit
The pulpit is set up on the fourth northern column. It is a wooden octagon on a strip with a sound cover, accessible via a spiral staircase.
Mary and Joseph
The southern St. Joseph's and northern St. Mary's altars were recreated for the church in 1899. Two colored carved reliefs each on an oak retable above a stone cafeteria. Annunciation and the birth of Christ are the theme of the Marian altar. Joseph as a carpenter and part of the holy family and the dying Joseph in the arms of the adult Jesus.
High altar
The goal of the entire church is the neo-Gothic high altar. To the left of the tabernacle, a relief depicting the transformation of water into wine at the wedding of Cana. On the right the miraculous multiplication of bread. Above the tabernacle there is a niche in which there is a golden cross, above it a full sculpture of Christ with a shining heart. Boniface with a missal pierced with a sword, Melchizedech with a chalice, below St. Augustine and on the left St. Mauritius complete the altar.
Dimensions of the church
The total built-up area of the church is 700 m 2 . The enclosed space from the terrain to the height of all main cornices is 8,660 cubic meters.
- Total height of the tower with the cross 42.75 meters
- inner ship length 32.90 meters
- inner nave height 13.00 meters
- total inner width 16.00 meters
- inner nave width 9.00 meters
- inner choir width 7.42 meters
- inner choir length 8.70 meters
The previous church had a covered area of 274 m 2 .
Knees and seats
- Adults
- in ship: 554
- in the choir: 10
- Gallery: 36
- Total: 600
- for children: 170
- Total: 770
The previous church had 300 knees and seats for children and adults.
organ
For the previous church, an instrument was procured in 1783 for a purchase price of 60 guilders, which stood in the front of the choir. In 1840 another organ was procured for 500 guilders, which was replaced in 1907 by a new work by Julius Schwarzbaur. The current instrument dates from 1969 and has 30 stops , a mechanical performance and an electrical stop action . The organ comes from the Reiser Orgelbau company from Biberach and cost 85,000 DM.
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Bells
In both world wars, the bells were withdrawn for war purposes and were lost. On March 31, 1949 Abbot Vitalis Maier consecrated five new bells in the church. However, on April 23, 1959, the bells had to be cast by the Perner company in Passau because the casting was too cold . On May 31, 1959, the abbot consecrated the renewed bells.
| Surname | image | inscription | Keynote | Weight | Benefactor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christ King | Christ King | Christ vincit / Christ regnat / Christ imerat | of the 1st | 1,600 kg | Josef and Pius Büchele |
| Martinus bell | Saint Martin | Martinus carries the fire-blight of faith in Christ through the country and calls us all to an act of love wherever need and misery approaches | it 1 | 900 kg | local community |
| Mary Bell | Mary with baby Jesus | Mary calls Christianity to pray in joy and sorrow. Early in the morning and at the end of the day, the greeting from heaven rings out happily | f 1 | 600 kg | Georg Kohler and Josef Huberle |
| Joseph Bell | Joseph with Jesuskins | In your arms you once carried the greatest good. Take home and hearth in your father's hat | as 1 | 400 kg | Alber Kohler, Basel |
| Wendelinus bell | Wendelin | Sankt Wendel, go through fields and corridors. Heaven's dew follow your trail | b 1 | 250 kg | Engelbert and Gerhard Botzenhard |
Rosary and Joseph Brotherhood
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In 1614 Abbot Joachim Gieteler founded the Rosary Brotherhood . On September 8, 1686 the brotherhood of Saint Joseph was founded. The brotherhood was a thank you for surviving a conflagration that killed 13 mercenary houses and two children in April of the same year. The main purpose of the Joseph Brotherhood is the veneration of St. Joseph and on the other hand to obtain the following graces through special intercessions:
- Ease of sins and the punishments they deserve
- Lust and strength for a virtuous way of life
- Achieving a blissful hour of death
- early release from the cleaning place
During processions and other occasions, the procession poles are carried by family members or relatives.
List of former pastors in Kirchberg
Since the parish belonged to the Rot monastery in 1350, the following pastors have been active in the community:
- 1356 Egloff, son of the knight Ulrich von Schellenberg
- 1414 Conradus Fulbin, from Mönchsrot Monastery
- 1436 Father Berthold Füger, Rotisch
- 1460 Father Caspar Bilgrin, Rotisch † 1462
Cenotaph for the former clergy
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To the south of the entrance portal and below the rose window of the church is the memorial for the former clergy of the place. The most famous clergyman in Kirchberg is the former abbot of the Benedictine monastery Ottobeuren Vitalis Maier.
War memorial
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To the north in front of the entrance portal and below the rose window of the church is the memorial for the town's sons who fell in the two world wars.
literature
- Dehio , Baden-Württemberg II. The administrative districts of Freiburg and Tübingen. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1997, page 344.
- Main State Archives Stuttgart, inventory B 486 (Rot an der Rot monastery) documents and types.
- Konstantin Maier , Pietas Ochsenhausana. Form and shape of Ochsenhausian piety in the 17th and 18th centuries in Ochsenhausen. From the Benedictine Abbey to the Upper Swabian Country Town , ed. v. Max Herold, Weißenhorn 1994.
- Catholic parish Kirchberg an der Iller (publisher), 100 years of the parish church of St. Martinus in Kirchberg an der Iller , edited by Berthold Biechele and Andrea Rief, Memminger Medien Zentrum 2001.
Web links
- Deanery Biberach: Pastoral care unit SE 1 Illertal
Individual evidence
- ^ Architecture and design of St. Martin: The religious image and the mystery of the incarnation. by Diocesan master builder Heiner Giese, Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, essay within the writing Katholische Kirchengemeinde Kirchberg an der Iller (publisher), 100 years of the parish church of St. Martinus in Kirchberg an der Iller, Memminger Medien Zentrum 2001
- ↑ Wolfgang Manecke, Johannes Mayr: Historical organs in Upper Swabia. The district of Biberach . Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 1995, ISBN 3-7954-1069-X , p. 200 .
- ^ Organ Databank , accessed on September 21, 2015.
Coordinates: 48 ° 8 ′ 4 " N , 10 ° 4 ′ 44" E