St. Michael (Aufkirch)
The Church of St. Michael in Aufkirch near Überlingen on Lake Constance was the first mother church in the city of Überlingen. The small hall church is located on a hill northwest of Überlingen and partly dates from around the year 1000. The older and much better known New Year's Eve chapel in the Goldbach district was founded later.
history
The name Überlingen was first mentioned in a document around 770; at that time still a royal estate with a parish church - St. Michael. There was a settlement on the lakeshore in today's urban area at the latest in the 10th century; the inner-city church, however, was subordinate to St. Michael, who was outside the city.
It was not until 1350 that the parish rights changed to the St. Nikolaus Minster, which was now built above the town church . The church with the small village of Aufkirch was owned by the Engelberg Monastery from 1311 to 1343 , and from 1343 to 1557 it belonged to the Teutonic Order on the island of Mainau . The latter finally ceded the collage to Überlingen.
Tower collapse in 1950
In the late evening of September 8, 1950, the church tower , around 35 meters high, collapsed for inexplicable reasons. The church building itself was badly damaged. It is noteworthy that (although there are several inhabited houses in the neighborhood) nobody was aware of the collapse and the rubble was only discovered the following morning. Some citizens heard a "hissing" sound around 10 p.m., but it was not given any great significance. The tower was rebuilt by 1959, outwardly true to the original with a late Gothic stepped gable . In 2011 it was renovated
architecture
The oldest part of the building, the nave , dates back to around 1000. The coarse brick masonry from which the nave walls are made up to a height of five meters is clearly recognizable . The choir was built around the middle of the 14th century. It extends over two bays and has a Gothic ribbed vault with fluted ribs. Its keystones show the Archangel Michael and St. Helena . When the choir was built, it was significantly higher than the existing nave; this was increased to the height of the choir in the late 15th century. The bell tower is on the north side of the nave.
literature
- Ulrich Knapp: Architecture and Sculpture in Überlingen up to the End of the Middle Ages , in: Michael Brunner; Marion Harder-Merkelbach (Ed.): 1100 years of art and architecture in Überlingen (850-1950) . Petersberg: Imhof 2005. ISBN 3-86568-032-1
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ memorial sheet inside the church
- ↑ St. Michael on münstergemeinde-ueberlingen.de
Coordinates: 47 ° 46 ′ 56 " N , 9 ° 8 ′ 58" E