St. Martin (Memmingen)
The listed parish church of Sankt Martin in Memmingen is one of the oldest churches in Upper Swabia . The church is a symbol of the city. It is located on the edge of the northwestern old town, in the old Protestant church district in front of the old abandoned cemetery on an elevation of the Memminger Achtal . Its tower can be seen from afar and at around 65 meters it is the tallest building in the city.
Its history can be traced back to the 9th century. It was a scene of the Memmingen Reformation in the 16th century, which radiated to Upper Swabia and the Allgäu . The reformer was the preacher Christoph Schappeler .
The three-aisled basilica , begun in its current form around 1325 and completed around 1500, is the main church of the Evangelical-Lutheran church district of Memmingen , regular preaching place of the Memmingen dean and the center of one of the four Evangelical-Lutheran parishes of the city. The basilica, financed by the citizens, was once the largest Gothic town church between Lake Constance and Lech. It houses many works of art, including the over 500-year-old choir stalls , which are among the best late Gothic carvings in southern Germany and are considered the city's greatest art treasure.
history
Traces of settlement at the site of the church have been documented as early as the 2nd century AD. During excavations in 1912, the remains of a Roman burgus were discovered under the building . The first church building at this point cannot be precisely dated. Researchers assume that it was built around the year 800. It is unclear whether St. Martin or the Frauenkirche in the southern part of the city was the Königshofkirche. The Guelph church up until then became Staufer in 1178/1179 . In 1214 Friedrich II handed over the patronage to the Antonites , who founded their first settlement on German soil in Memmingen. The church became the city parish church in the next few years, accelerated by the growth and wealth of the city. The choir and tower were built at the end of the 14th century . This was followed by further interior renovations until the 20th century. In 1562 the patronage of the Antonites ended and the church was finally handed over to the city. The citizens of the city took over the financing of all extensions and conversions. The Antonites (also called Antonians) built the children's teaching church as a monastery church opposite the eastern sign and limited themselves to this and their preceptory .
Guelph Basilica
In the 10th century the town of Memmingen came to the Welfs . As a result, St. Martin must have become a Guelph own church. It can be assumed that heavy construction activity has started. With the help of chronicles, the building history of this time can be traced. According to this, St. Martin was built in 926, expanded in 1077 and redesigned in 1176. However, these data cannot be verified by findings. The redesign of 1176 fits in well with the history of the city's development, so it can be assumed that this point in time is right. Due to various irregularities within the current structure, it can be assumed that an earlier development was taken into account. The eastern arched yoke is 1.20 meters wider than the other yokes, the sixth differs by 80 centimeters from the usual arched span. The south-east portal is not in harmony with the Gothic arcade rhythm, so that when entering, one looks at a pillar. Presumably a Gothic vestibule was added to the Romanesque structure. Researchers assume that the previous building was a basilica with a pair of western towers. The transept was located in the first yoke, while the towers were in the sixth yoke. According to the proportions at the time, there would have been space for six Romanesque yokes between the towers and the transept. A reconstruction of the basilica on this basis would fit together with other Guelph buildings. In 1216 St. Martin became a pilgrimage church . A blood relic was transferred to the church from nearby Benningen . As early as 1446, the status of an altar sacrament was withdrawn by the Augsburg bishop and cardinal Peter von Schaumberg after the host had gradually crumbled. He only allowed worship as a relic. During the Reformation, the blood host is said to have been walled up in an unknown place.
Expansion into a Gothic basilica
By 1325 the church had become too small for the rapidly growing number of citizens of the city, so the first extensions were carried out. The tower and a choir were added. A buttress and a tracery window in the northern choir have been preserved from this high Gothic building. The dating is based on a preserved fresco fragment on the wall of the lowest tower floor. Following this construction measure, the first pairs of pillars of the nave and the northern row of arcades with the larger wall field towering above must have been built. Around 1345 the construction work came to a halt, although in the same year Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian left “the two bread tables” (probably Memmingen's first market) for the expansion of the cemetery. Whether this was related to the political unrest surrounding Emperor Ludwig IV or the plague epidemic of 1349 could not be clarified. It was not until the middle of the second half of the 14th century that building activity began again. The unknown master builder must have enjoyed a good education in Gothic architecture of his time, as the clumsy construction of the first buttresses was changed into a slimmer, high-Gothic style from the second yoke. With the start of construction of the fourth yoke with a simple console construction, the builder must have changed again. After the fifth yoke was completed, there was a long pause in construction. Researchers assume that the westwork of the Guelph basilica stood there and that it was thus temporarily completed.
From 1404/1405 the expansion of the sixth yoke began. However, the city workers could not cope with it, whereupon the city council turned to Munich . In 1405 Conrad von Amberg could be engaged for the expansion. The old westwork probably made the expansion extremely difficult, as it served partly as a supporting structure for the arcades and partly had to be demolished and partly integrated. The sixth yoke had to be 80 centimeters wider than the existing yokes. Conrad raised the nave walls to their final height. In 1407 the roof was already erected . It is one of the earliest examples of the reclining chair in the German-speaking world. This made it possible to include the first attic floor in the central nave . It is assumed that only Master Conrad completed the fourth floor of the tower with the high pointed helmet . Similar examples of this Gothic church tower cover can be found in Woringen and Westerheim . By 1409/1410 Conrad vom Amberg completed the church as a six-bay basilica.
In the years that followed, activities focused primarily on interior design. The eastern vestibules were built in 1438. The vaulting of the side aisles , which began in 1458, was only possible thanks to massive donations from the Besserer and Wespach families. The Funk Chapel started a series of chapel foundations in the basilica. The Vöhlin chapel was added in 1476 and the Zwicker chapel in 1482. In 1489–1491, two houses in the Zangmeisterstraße were demolished and the nave was extended by two bays. Since the Memmingen master builders were unable to cope with this delicate task, the city council was able to win over the Ulm master builder Matthäus Böblinger . The choir was rebuilt from 1496 to 1500, completing the largest parish church between Lake Constance and Lech.
Parish Church and Reformation
The Reformation spread in Memmingen from 1524 under the Swiss preacher Christoph Schappeler . Schappeler held a well-paid preacher position in the Vöhlin Chapel in St. Martin and was baptized in German for the first time this year. Together with Lindau, Constance and Strasbourg, the initially Zwinglian- oriented city presented a special confession at the Augsburg Reichstag in 1530, the Confessio Tetrapolitana (four-city confession).
A city council resolution from the year 1531, which said that all church cult objects had to disappear from the churches of the city, led to the greatest loss of decoration elements of St. Martin. The church lost 21 side altars and the late Gothic high altar in the choir. Only the choir stalls remained from the furnishings of the high choir.
The city committed itself to Lutheran teaching in 1532 by adopting the Augsburg confession . Memmingen, and thus St. Martin as well, was finally committed to Lutheran teaching in 1536 by accepting the Wittenberg Agreement .
After the Reformation
During the Thirty Years' War , Emperor Ferdinand II issued the Edict of Restitution , according to which all goods expropriated during the Reformation should be returned to the Catholic owners. This also affected St. Martin, but the city successfully defended itself against it. During the bombardment by the Imperial and Bavarians in 1647, the church was also hit and the wooden ceiling was damaged. Hans Knoll replaced it with a wooden vault made of ribs and keystones with paintings, similar to the choir vault. In 1656, Knoll also created a gallery for musicians and singers in the first nave bay. The medieval churchyard wall was torn down in 1810. At the same time, the former church was redesigned into a park-like landscape with tree plantings. The ceiling of the central nave was redesigned from 1845 and a false vault was added. The nave and the tower were re-covered with slate in 1867 and 1872. From 1926 to 1927 the church was renovated and the roofing removed. 1962 to 1965 and 1984 to 1988 the church was renovated again.
tower
Nothing has survived from the previous towers of the Guelph basilica on the west side. The first tower at the current location is dated around 1300. The lowest storey of today's tower was built around 1325. A further construction of the fifth floor must be dated to around 1370. The brick format of 34 × 16.5 × 7.5 centimeters used there was also walled up in the Frauenkirchturm built around 1370. The other floors were added around 1405 to 1410 by master builder Conrad von Amberg . At that time, the tower was closed with a tall pointed helmet with a green sheet covering. The spiral staircase that led from the north nave to the first floor burned down in 1420. In 1428, today's belfry was built into the tower as a scaffolding. Until then, the bells hung in a beam system connected to the masonry. Two years later, the pointed helmet rising over four stone gables was completed. Due to the vaulting of the side aisles inside the church, the tower entrance was moved to its current location in the northeast corner. After a lightning strike in 1470 the tower was given a button and it was re-covered with green-glass bricks. The tower was saved in 1482 by means of quick extinguishing measures by the population after four lightning bolts had struck the tower and set it on fire. In the chronicles two night lightning strikes are noted for the year 1494, when the later Emperor Maximilian I moved into the city. The tower spire, which was destroyed by another lightning strike in 1535, was replaced in 1537 by today's octagonal structure on the tower stump. A wooden bay window was added in 1573 over the clock face of the tower clock. The carpenter Jacob Britzel and the coppersmith Bartholomäus Seybrand erected a Welsche hood made of copper over the helmet . Since then the tower has a height of about 65 meters. In 1872 the hood was covered with slate, which was reversed during the renovation in 1927. The tower was last renovated in 1966 and 2012. Since the construction, the lower part of the parish, the upper part of the city. In 1927 the city also gave its part to the parish.
Building description
The church is a three-aisled, eight-bay basilica with a raised chancel that ends in a 5/8 end. The northern part of the building is dominated by the tower and the choir. On the south side is the old city cemetery, which has been abandoned since 1530. Beech trees and younger chestnuts are over 300 years old. Opposite the eastern vestibule is the children's teaching church .
Exterior construction
The outer walls of the aisles protrude from behind the choir. The new sacristy on the south side and the old sacristy and tower on the north side adjoin the choir in front of the nave . The central nave has a gable roof, the two side aisles have a pent roof. The walls are made of plastered brickwork . A skylight decorated with simple tracery is visible per yoke above the aisles . Directly below the windows is the roofing of the side aisles. The tracery of the windows in the side aisles was removed during the baroque period , the former pointed arches were reworked into round arches. Due to the construction with plastered bricks, the individual building sections are not visible from the outside. The west side is completely plastered. It is limited by the narrow passage of Martin-Luther-Platz, which narrows to a street at this point. Above the west portal of the church, known as the bridal gate, there used to be two windows that are now walled up. Above it is a small round window, which is followed by another, somewhat larger round window at the height of the apex of the gable roof. The choir is made of tuff stone. The windows are decorated with tracery. The buttresses have little decoration.
inner space
Central nave
The 11.40 meter wide central nave is 50 meters long and 18.80 meters high. It can be entered directly through the so-called bridal gate on the west side. The walls above the eight bays are kept simple. The architectural style corresponds to the Gothic. It used to be closed at the top by a flat wooden ceiling. In the course of historicism in the 19th century, the ceiling height was reduced by 3.80 meters in 1845, a false vault was drawn in in the Gothic style and attached to the hanging beams of the roof structure with iron rods. Skylights provide light in the central nave. The zygomatic arches rest on octagonal pillars, the easternmost of which were obviously reused. Researchers assume that these spoils come from another, broken church. The predecessor building of the Ulm Minster could fit this in time. Due to the lack of natural stone in Upper Swabia, only bricks could be used, which stood in the way of a high Gothic construction method.
North ship
The north aisle is 50 meters long, 5.7 meters wide and 9.45 meters high. You enter it through two entrances on Zangmeisterstraße, which stood in the way of the larger expansion of the north nave chapels. The chapels are recognizable as small pointed arch niches between the buttresses. Only the brotherhood chapel from 1501 differs from it with its round arch. The north aisle is closed off by an unpainted, whitewashed Gothic ribbed vault.
South aisle
The south aisle is ten meters taller than the north aisle, with the same dimensions. It has two entrances via the east and west porches. There are several larger chapels in it. It is rounded off by a Gothic ribbed vault.
Choir
The choir is 24.6 meters long and 10.67 meters wide. It's whitewashed. The late Gothic high windows are colored in the front part, with clear glass on the long sides. Under the windows, in the slightly raised high altar area, there are grave tablets that used to be on the floor of the church. The choir is closed at a height of 17.62 meters by a Gothic star-net vault , on which the only frescoes of the choir are located.
Furnishing
The church is rich in works of art of painting and wood carving from the 13th to 19th centuries.
Carvings
There are carvings on the choir stalls, the high altar, the pews and the pulpit. The furnishing of the new sacristy can also be seen as a large single work. All other sacred carvings were destroyed in the iconoclasm, which was ordered by the city council on July 19, 1531, or rescued in other church buildings.
Choir stalls
One of the greatest and most expressive choir stalls in southern Germany was built in St. Martin between 1501 and 1507 . Along with the choir stalls in the Ulm Minster by Jörg Syrlin the Elder and the stalls in the Constance Minster, it is the most important late Gothic work in Germany. The choir stalls are still in use for worship services.
At that time, the imperial city of Memmingen was at the height of its history - an economic, political and cultural model of success. This success was also reflected in the brisk construction activity. In the main parish church of St. Martin, the last years of the 15th century were marked by the expansion of the church space, its furnishing with chapels and altars and, from 1496, the construction of a new high choir, the exterior of which is made of tuff stone.
Inside the choir room, the star net vault offers a filigree roof and a worthy framework for the choir stalls. The order for this was given in September 1501 by the two church caretakers from St. Martin. Up to 1507, the masters Hans Stark (carpenter) and Hans Herlin (sculptor) created chairs carved from oak with a total of 63 seats. Two of Herlin's journeymen can be recognized by some of the sculptures in these choir stalls: Hans Thoman and Christoph Scheller. Both later achieved artistic greatness as masters.
Interrupted by two portals, 66 sculptures in the Memmingen choir stalls represent two cycles: the theological cycle shows sibyls and prophets of the Old Testament under the canopies . They testify to the coming of the Messiah in Christ. Expressive portraits of people from Memmingen's history can be seen on the front cheeks. However, it is not always possible to precisely assign specific people. Only the objects that the large sculptures hold in their hands result in a reasonably reliable assignment. For example, the mayor and his wife or the Amman and his wife can be identified more precisely. A figure hitherto interpreted as the abbot of the Antonite monastery can with great probability not be identified as such. However, the people depicted must have been so well known in Memmingen that a more detailed explanation was not necessary. It can also be assumed with relative certainty that one of the sculptures depicts the Roman-German King and later Emperor Maximilian I , who was often in Memmingen when the choir stalls were made and who called the city his “resting and sleeping cell” . Also because the Antonierklosterpreceptor was his house chaplain, this assumption seems to come close to the truth.
But the numerous inlays on the back walls and the calligraphic variety of the writing fields, which are not found in any other choir stalls of this time, deserve attention. They come from Bernhard Strigel's workshop . It used to be assumed that the inlays had only been attached to the choir stalls afterwards. Due to various details, however, it can now be said with certainty that the inlay panels - two on each chair - were already inserted at the time of creation.
The choir stalls were extensively restored and missing parts added between 1892 and 1901 by the Memmingen art carpenter Leonhard Vogt . The canopy removed in 1813/1814 was replaced on the choir stalls. Research has shown that parts of the figures used to be painted. This made an even more lifelike representation possible. The choir stalls are among the most famous and artistic in Germany.
pulpit
The pulpit in the nave of the basilica was designed by Johann Friedrich Sichelbein and manufactured from 1699 to 1700 according to his plans. It is a joint work of two artists. The carpentry work was carried out by Georg Rabus , the sculptural elements by Christoph Heinrich Dittmar from Arnstadt . The pulpit was mainly made of walnut with a few golden decorations. The sound cover has the shape of an onion dome and is crowned by an angel playing the trumpet. Acanthus leaves adorn it on the outside. In the pulpit, five statues of Jesus and the four evangelists are set into recesses provided for them. Angel heads are grouped around a golden cluster at the lower end of the basket. The pulpit is decorated with fields and fruit hangings. Above the door there is a figure of John the Baptist. All in all, it is a great work of art from the Upper Swabian Baroque.
New sacristy
The furnishing of the new sacristy was probably made at the same time as the choir stalls. Accordingly, it is richly decorated with carvings and inlays . The three-story wall unit continues under the windows in chest-high sideboards . Rich foliage carvings , inlays, pewter fittings and the flat cut with a green background make for a great late Gothic softwood work. Heinrich Stark comes into consideration as a master. The baroque table set up in the new sacristy is believed to have been made by Johann Christoph Dittmar.
Church chairs
There are no church chairs worth mentioning in the nave itself . Only in the side chapels of the south aisle are there individual late Gothic pieces or pieces from the Renaissance period. On a chair in the Vöhlin Chapel is one of the earliest images of the city's coat of arms, which was carved around 1480.
Paintings
There are numerous wall paintings and oil paintings in the church . The oldest date from the first half of the 15th century, the youngest from the 18th century. Many of the wall paintings come from the Memmingen School .
Strigel frescoes
Some of the frescoes in the building are from the Strigel family. In 1445 Hans Strigel the Elder painted a portrait of the Last Judgment in the eastern sign of the south aisle . The depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus in the niche in the west wall also comes from his hand . Below are the donors with coats of arms and a label on which it can be read that the picture was donated by Erhard Hantteller from Graz. An Annunciation to Mary can be seen on the eastern arched field. The ceiling is decorated with the symbols of the four evangelists , who are grouped around the Lamb of God . The prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel can be seen in the eastern stabbed cap field, Cain fighting the devil for a sheaf, and Abel's offering to God can be seen in the counterpart. Around 1480, Hans Strigel the Younger probably created a Madonna pillar fresco in the south nave. The largest preserved fresco by the artist family is the Zangmeister Chapel . An impressive fresco work by Bernhard Strigel was created here around 1510 . On the Gothic ceiling, it deals with the seldom painted themes of the transfiguration of Christ and the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. On the walls there are pictures of St. Elizabeth during a visit to Mary, as well as the expulsion of a possessed person by St. Eberhard . In addition, there are smaller frescoes with ornaments, putti and the like in the whole chapel. These frescoes were covered in the iconoclasm as early as 1531 and could be exposed again in 1963. Around 1500 frescoes of virtuous and foolish virgins were created in the choir arch . They are stylistically attributed to Bernhard Strigel, the leading master of the Memmingen School .
Sickle-leg frescoes
Presumably Caspar Sichelbein the Elder decorated the church with ornamental paintings in 1587, which was followed a year later by a cycle of passion . The model was probably Albrecht Dürer's Little Passion . Sichelbein had to change the style of some of the pictures because the space on the walls of the east side of the main nave was not big enough. They were covered in 1656, uncovered and supplemented again in 1926 and 1965. Also in 1588 a fresco of the Last Judgment was created on the outer archway . This thematically complemented the Passion Cycle. It reached 3.80 meters above today's vault crown. Here too, Dürer's Little Passion was probably based. Today only a remnant of the fresco remains above the false vault. The so-called green devil , one of the seven landmarks in Memmingen, also disappeared above the false vault. Fire protection paint, with which the roof structure was protected from fire in World War II , also destroyed the rest of the green devil.
Oil painting
In the basilica there are few oil paintings due to the theological view of the Reformation that all church decorations distract from the spoken word. Johann Friedrich Sichelbein painted eight pictures that depict the life of Jesus. They used to hang on the pillars in the main nave. In the course of the interior renovations, they were housed in the chapels of the south aisle. They are part of the main work of the most important member of the Sichelbein family, who had settled in Memmingen since 1581. Another oil painting is in the northwest portal. It was painted by the Antwerp-born Abraham del Hel , who later settled in Augsburg, and shows Christ before Pilate.
Stained glass
The former Gothic stained glass in the choir and the new sacristy have been lost. The paintings seen today date from 1894 and are considered to be outstanding works of art of historicism. They were created by the court glass painting Franz Xaver Zettler from Munich. Only a few Gothic and Renaissance glass paintings have been preserved in the chapels.
Cross altar
The cross altar in St. Martin's Church is one of the most artistic and earliest such works in Germany. The new theological orientation based on the Zwingl model made such an altar necessary. It had to replace the previous center of worship, the high altar. Along with this, a total of 21 more altars were removed from the church.
The cross altar was created and installed in 1531 and has Gothic and Renaissance elements. The columns are strong and have empty coats of arms at the top. The solid table top is supported by cross connections made from fish bubbles and decorated with egg ornaments. It is one of the greatest historical treasures of the former imperial city.
Choir grille
The bar grille with the doors to the high choir is kept simple, the choir grille that surrounds the cross altar, on the other hand, is worth seeing. It dates from 1603 and has spirals, flowers and leaves. To the right of it is said to have been the burial place of the monks of the Antonite monastery . At the beginning of the 19th century there was a Solnhofer stone with the Antoniter- T there .
organ
The organ has a long tradition in St. Martin. The first organ was mentioned as early as 1453. It had its place on a swallow's nest gallery on the south wall of the nave. In 1528 it was removed for reformatory reasons. In 1597/1598 a new organ was built by Kaspar Sturm and Aaron Ruck . On November 21, 1599, the Fugger court organist Hans Leo Haßler declared the organ to be a success. The famous work was extensively repaired by Joseph Gabler in 1758 . The disposition was modernized, Gabler's typical sound elements were added. In the city archives you can read: “He probably repaired the organ and put it in perfect condition, so that it was a strange pleasure.” Johann Nepomuk Holzhey last overhauled the organ in 1778. In 1827 the dilapidated swallow's nest was replaced in favor of a western gallery. The organ moved there, but it never sounded like the swallow's nest. The cladding was brought to Illerfeld Castle ( Volkratshofen ), where the organ wings are built into the coffered ceiling. It was not until 1853, when a new organ with a late Gothic case was purchased from the Walcker und Spaich organ building workshop in Ludwigsburg, that organ music in the church came back into the public eye. This instrument was repaired by Steinmeyer in 1900 and expanded by Paul Ott in 1938 according to the criteria of the time. This organ had to be given up in 1962. A Walcker organ was installed. However, poor workmanship and materials only allowed this instrument to last for 36 years.
In 1991 the parish considered a new concept for the organ, as the old one could no longer be repaired. The plan was to install a large, modern organ at the previous location on the west wall. On November 8, 1998, the new Goll organ was inaugurated. The largest instrument made by the Swiss organ builder to date followed in the footsteps of the 400-year history of the organ in the Gothic cathedral. The organ has 62 registers (4,285 pipes) on four manual works and a pedal . The weak response of the 72-meter-long and 20-meter-high church interior made it necessary to design the bass and midrange ranges to be powerful and yet variable. It was decided to install a symphonic organ based on the French model. It takes up the entire west facade from the first gallery. Only the bridal gate underneath is not installed. This allows the sound of the organ to unfold freely into the nave. The organ case and the gallery are made of untreated oak with Gothic style elements and combine the old Gothic with the modern architectural style of the late 20th century. The gallery itself is sufficient for around 70 choir members or a comparable instrumental ensemble.
Organ concerts are often held throughout the year. Numerous recordings have already been made on the organ. On Saturdays at 11 a.m. the sound of the organ can be admired on an organ culture tour through the church.
Tower clock
In 1524, a year before the Peasant Wars , the first wheel clock was put into operation. The first dial was designed by Bernhard Strigel , one of the most outstanding artists in the city of Memmingen. In 1537, when the tower was redesigned, this painting was revised by Ursus Werlin . Another revision followed in 1688, whereby the baroque forms of the coat of arms and the ribbon with the inscription were added. In 1829 a clock face made of sheet iron was attached. The damaged areas of the frame were also plastered.
Michael Geiger the Elder exposed the frame again in 1906. During the great tower restoration in 1927 under the Ulm cathedral builder Karl Wachter , the iron dial was removed and the entire plaster was removed. Previously, the original was approved and the new version by the Haugg brothers from Ottobeuren. Since then, one can no longer speak of a painting by Bernhard Strigel. This had to be renewed again in 1966. The current state is shown in the illustration from 1697. The dial is flanked by two Memmingen city coats of arms at the top left. Two lions hold a cartouche with the imperial double-headed eagle and the head of a king as the supreme lord of the free imperial city. The depicted king's head was not recognized as such by the population, but was viewed and revered as the head of the "saint" Hildegard . This is surprising, since Memmingen converted to the Reformed Confession as early as 1530 and afterwards the veneration of saints was practically no longer carried out. The painting became one of the seven landmarks in Memmingen . On a banner above the lions' heads is the imperial city motto: "DOMINE HUMILIA RESPICE" (Lord, look at the lowly, Psalm 138: 6).
Today's movement is a wind-up movement. In 1927, when the city handed over the tower, the parish wanted a new clock mechanism without a pendulum to wind up. The city refused this request, whereupon the parish renounced the provision of the tower clock and the clockwork remained in the possession of the city. Therefore, even today, a municipal servant has to wind the clock pendulum every few days.
Bells
The church has a total of eight bells . Four large bells hang in the Martinsturm in a wooden belfry that is over 600 years old and can be rung. Another four bells hang outside the bell house and cannot be rung. In earlier times there was another small bell in the bell room, which served as a messner's bell and signaled to the bell ringer when the big bells had to be struck. The originally oldest ringing bell, the twelve-day bell, was cast in 1415; in 1942 it had to be sent to Hamburg to be melted down and has been missing ever since; in 1954 it was replaced by a new casting. Today's oldest bell, the large Osanna bell, was cast in 1460 by the St. Gallen bell caster Ulrich Snabelburg II, who lived in Memmingen; it was consecrated to St. Martin, Maria and George, but this was forgotten with the Reformation. The other two bell bells, the Elfuhr bell and the Marienglocke and more of the bell bells were cast in 1514.
| No. |
Surname |
Casting year |
Caster |
Weight (kg) |
Ø (cm) |
Height (cm) |
Nominal |
Notes, inscription (s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Osanna bell | 1460 | Ulrich Snabelburg II | 3850 | 174 | 144 | c 1 | Inscription: + o • rex • glorie • veni • cvm pace • anno • domini • mo • cccco • lxo • completvm est hoc opvs • in honore • beate marie virginis • martini • et geory • patronorvm • hvivs ecclesie • vo • snabelbvrg / de • s • gallo |
| 2 | Elfuhr bell | 1428 | Casting house of Conrad Bodenwaltz, Memmingen | 1650 | 129 | 112 | f 1 | It always strikes at eleven o'clock. |
| 3 | Marienbell | 1514 | Martin Kisling and Hans Folmer II., Biberacher Hütte | 450 | 87 | 73 | as 1 | Colloquially also known as "Roßschwanz". Inscriptions: AVE MARIA GRATIA PLENA, DOMINUS TECUM ANNO MCC-CCCXIIII and ihesus • maria • anna • vnd • das • vierdig • hailtum • lucas • marcus • mathevs • iohannes • sancte • martine • avse • maria • anno • dni • mccccxx • viii . |
| 4th | Twelve o'clock bell | 1954 | 650 | b 1 | Also called the Fallen Memorial Bell . Always strikes at 12 o'clock |
Outside the Martinsturm there are four more bells that do not belong to the ringing.
- The hour-strike bell is located in a small bay window above the clock face of the tower. It was cast in 1573 and broke when the city was bombarded by the imperial in the Thirty Years' War in 1632. Leonhard Ernst II re-cast it in 1644. It strikes every hour of the day except the eleventh and twelfth.
- The town fire bell hangs above the open air tower and was cast by Johann Melchior Ernst in 1728. It was struck in fires within the city, weighs 2.5 centimeters, has a diameter of 48 and a height of 35.5 centimeters. The inscription reads "DEO GLORIA ANNO 1728".
- The quarter-hour bell was cast in 1990 as a replacement for the bell that was stolen from the scaffolding in 1986. It hangs over a window in the tower room. In earlier times, the arm sinner's bell with its shrill sound accompanied those condemned to death to the place of execution . In more recent times she was struck the quarter hour. "Help Mary" was engraved on it. It was the oldest surviving bell in the city. It has been missing since the theft.
- The country fire bell is located in the small roof turret above the south-east balcony. It was cast in 1966. It used to be beaten in fires in the Protestant area. If, on the other hand, there was a fire in the Catholic area, the city fire brigade was not called for help.
use
The church was probably founded as a royal court church of the Welfs. It was not until 1214 that the patronage was handed over to the Antonites, who set up their precepts diagonally across from the city wall . Since then the church was actually the monastery church of the Antonites. Since the people of Memmingen have always shared it and paid for the renovations, the church gradually became the parish church. During the Reformation the Antonites were expelled in 1531, the monastery was not finally replaced until 1562. Since then, the church has been a pure town parish church.
Today the church is the deanery church of the deanery Memmingen . The dean is also the owner of the first parish office in St. Martin. Services are usually held every Sunday. Church tours are held every Saturday at twelve o'clock with organ accompaniment. The church interior also serves as a concert hall for organ concerts, oratorios, vocal concerts and smaller ensembles. Tower tours take place daily at 3 p.m. from May to October.
literature
- Evangelical Lutheran Parish Office St. Martin, Memmingen (Ed.): St. Martin and Children's Teaching Church • Memmingen . Memminger Mediencentrum AG, Memmingen 2006.
- Historical Association Memmingen e. V. (Ed.): 500 years of choir stalls in St. Martin zu Memmingen . Memminger Mediencentrum AG, 2007, ISSN 0539-2896 .
- Historical Association Memmingen e. V. (Ed.): Church of St. Martin Memmingen . Memminger Mediencentrum AG, 2017, ISSN 0539-2896 .
Web links
- official website of the parish
- Description of the Goll organ St. Martin in Memmingen
- official website of the church music at St. Martin, Memmingen
Individual evidence
- ↑ Evangelical Lutheran Parish Office St. Martin, Memmingen (ed.): St. Martin and Children's Teaching Church • Memmingen . Memminger Mediencentrum, Memmingen 2006, p. 7, right column, last paragraph .
- ↑ H.-M. Schaller, The transfer of the patronage of the parish church of St. Martin in Memmingen to the Antonites by Friedrich II.
- ↑ St. Martin and children's teaching church in Memmingen. Memminger Mediencentrum, 2006, p. 4.
- ↑ BayHStA KLS 949 of January 8, 1345.
- ^ The Reformation in Memmingen. Archived from the original on September 20, 2008 ; Retrieved July 1, 2008 .
- ↑ The history of the city of Memmingen, 2 vol., Vol. 1, From the beginnings to the end of the imperial city, various authors, Theiss-Verlag, ISBN 3-8062-1315-1 , Stuttgart, 1997, p. 354.
- ↑ Stadtarchiv Memmingen A Volume 371, Bauer, Memmingen 12–36.
- ^ StadtA MM, B1 Apl 1827 D2.
- ↑ Günther Bayer, 1995 on the occasion of the tower opening, supplemented by Hansjörg Käser in April 2016
- ↑ Dr. theol. Friedrich Braun: The parish church of Our Women in Memmingen - A contribution to the history of the Upper Swabian church building . Köselsche Buchhandlung, Munich 1914, p. 20th f .
- ^ Photo of the choir stalls ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ City and district of Memmingen, p. 11.
- ^ Historical Association Memmingen e. V. (Ed.): Church of St. Martin Memmingen . Memminger Mediencentrum AG, 2017, ISSN 0539-2896 , p. 101 .
- ^ Information from the Memmingen dean's office from July 19, 2008.
- ↑ To the bells ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Evangelical Lutheran Parish Office St. Martin, Memmingen (ed.): St. Martin and Children's Teaching Church • Memmingen. Memminger Mediencentrum AG, Memmingen 2006., p. 7.
Coordinates: 47 ° 59 ′ 10 ″ N , 10 ° 10 ′ 45 ″ E
