St. Michael (Denklingen)
St. Michael is the Catholic parish church of Denklingen in the Landsberg am Lech district in Upper Bavaria . The stately sacred building above the town was largely built in its present form in the second half of the 18th century.
history
The church, which is visible from afar from the direction of Landsberg, rises at the end of an old moraine and is dedicated to the Archangel Michael . Due to the early Christian tradition of consecrating high-rise churches to the Archangel Michael, it can be assumed that Michael was also the patron of the previous buildings, which could go back to the time of Christianization by Magnus von Füssen .
The 34 meter high tower of the church has a gable roof , dates from 1407 and - despite its origin in the late Gothic period - shows, like many other south German church buildings of this time, a rather late Romanesque character. On its south side there is a stone tablet with the coat of arms of the Rehlinger family and the inscription ad 1407 iar, herma nordang von augspurg raised the blade and did his help with the durn. To have mercy. No more is known about the tower donor. It could be a Herman Ortolf listed in Peter von Schaumberg's fief books , who was enfeoffed in 1424 with a hat, a half court, a Sölde and many pieces of land, or it could be an unknown Herma (n) (N) Ordang , probably a wealthy citizen or an episcopal governor. The reason for the tower was probably the great earthquake in January 1348, which damaged many buildings in the area. Until 1638, the tower had a pointed, Gothic-style roofed roof, which was torn off by a storm in 1638 and fell onto the roof of the nave . The damage could not be repaired immediately due to the hardship caused by the war. There was discussion about onion dome or gable roof and it was not until 1663 that the Schongau city carpenter Hans Jakob Klingensteiner was commissioned to build up the Thurn with 2 shooters, sambt 2 Thürelen or side houses and thus gave the tower its current shape with a steep gable roof and two gable gables. The mechanical clockwork installed in 1688 for 250 guilders is still on the second floor of the tower, but the tower clocks are now electrically powered.
The Gothic nave, originally located east of the tower, burned down in the village fire on May 26, 1668 and was initially replaced by a makeshift building. From 1765 to 1766 the people of Denklingen had a new nave built, which, contrary to the Gothic tradition, was now added to the west of the tower. The decision was made to move the parish church to a more comical place , writes the then curator and forester Joseph Anton Egger to the client, the Augsburg prince-bishop Joseph , incumbent of the Augsburg monastery . Prince-Bishop Joseph donated the wood required for the new building. The master builder was the Tyrolean master builder Franz Xaver Kleinhans , master builder of the Augsburg cathedral chapter and court builder of the bishopric.
The construction of the church took two years and cost 15,862 guilders without interior fittings.
Furnishing
The stucco in the interior was made by Ignaz Finsterwalder, an important stucco worker from Augsburg . The skilled Hindelang master Johann Richard Eberhard was hired as altar builder and sculptor . Incidentally, the Weilheim sculptor Franz Xaver Schmädl also applied (in vain!) For the sculptural work. The frescoes of the church were painted by Johann Joseph Anton Huber, the young, then little-known, later Augsburg academy director . He demonstrated his skills in an impressive manner.
For the builder Kleinhans, presumably for the 125th anniversary of the new church, a memorial plaque was installed above the south portal. However, the first name was mixed up there (Johannes instead of Franz Xaver).
The ceiling fresco above the choir depicts the Archangel Michael as the leader of the people of Israel through the desert. The hands of Moses and Aaron point to the archangel who appears to the people in a shining cloud. The main fresco on the ceiling of the nave depicts the fall of Lucifer by Michael. The ceiling picture above the organ gallery has St. Michael as the "avenger of consecrated places" on the Monte Gargano in Italy. There are more paintings by Huber on the balustrades of the gallery.
Twelve pictures of the apostles in wine-red-green tone painting can be seen in the stitch caps of the nave. The stabbed caps of the choir show the four great Western Doctors of the Church, Ambrose , Hieronymus , Augustine and Pope Gregory the Great .
The remarkable high altar, a major work by Johann Richard Eberhard, was created around 1770/1780 and its back is made of gray marbled wood. A gilded bas-relief (preparation of the tomb of Christ) decorates the antependium. The centerpiece of the altar, however, is the life-size, white, gold and silver group of figures of Lucifer's fall. Between the altar columns are the figures of Saints, also painted in white and gold. Ulrich and Afra. The all-white tabernacle with its many putti and beautiful reliefs as well as gold-plated rocailles is particularly elaborate.
The side altars are works from the late 18th century (dating by the barrel painter M. Fröhlich, 1797), and they were probably also made in Eberhard's workshop. However, the collaboration of the sculptor's two sons can be assumed here. Figures on the left: St. Xavier ; Pietà ; St. Rochus . Figures on the right altar: St. Florian ; Saint Anna teaching Mary; St. Sebastian . On the right of the wall in the nave there is a life-size crucifixion group from around 1800. At the foot of the cross, two putti carry the ark . This work also apparently came from the Eberhard workshop.
The pulpit is made of red and gray stucco marble. It was created around 1770 and has recently been attributed to the Füssen stucco worker Joseph Fischer. Access to the pulpit is through a confessional door.
The choir stalls with their plait style imitations were only acquired during a renovation in 1902/1903. On the other hand, the lay chairs are older . Its oak wood pegs with rocailles carvings typical of the time , like the confessionals, are dated to around 1770.
Several figures by the important Landsberg sculptor Lorenz Luidl have been preserved from the previous church (St. Peter and Paul, Jesus as the Good Shepherd - all from the end of the 17th century).
In the north portal there is a modern Marian grotto, in the southern sign there is a larger than life dungeon savior from the 18th century in a niche behind bars.
The organ was renewed in 1878 and played for the first time by the village teacher Joseph Heiler at the time of the Conception of Mary (December 8th) 1878.
Renovations
- 1854: Restoration of the church under the pastor Joseph Ducrue from Bolzano, purchase of the new organ, which was played for the first time by the village teacher Joseph Heiler at the time of the Conception of Mary (December 8th) 1878
- 1903: Renovation of the church under Pastor Joseph Geiger, the choir stalls are renewed
- 1907: Construction of a morgue and expansion of the cemetery to the west, under Pastor Joseph Geiger
- 1950: The new church bells are consecrated
- 1956/1957: Renovation of the church under Pastor Friedrich Heinzelmann. The frescoes are being restored and the windows replaced. The old stained glass will be lost.
- 1996: Construction of a new people's altar and anvil according to plans by Felix J. Landgraf from Augsburg, after years of only a temporary arrangement.
- 1999/2000: Restoration of the sacristy, renovation of the high altar, redesign of the choir, new electrification and new lighting of the church under Pastor Jakob Zeitlmeir.
literature
- Tilmann Breuer : City and District of Kaufbeuren. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1960 ( Bayerische Kunstdenkmale 9, ISSN 0522-5264 ), (Denklingen belonged to the Swabian district of Kaufbeuren until the regional reform in 1972).
- Wilhelm Neu: The parish church of St. Michael in Denklingen - the last church building of the "Füssen School". In: Yearbook of the Association for Christian Art in Munich. e. V. Vol. 16, 1987, ISSN 1435-8344 , pp. 249-264.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Diocese of Augsburg
- ^ Herbert Wittmann: Supplements to the catalog raisonné of the Faulenbach stucco plasterer Joseph Fischer (1704–1771). In: Alt Füssen. Yearbook of the historical association "Alt Füssen". 2004, ISSN 0939-2467 , p. 73.
Coordinates: 47 ° 54 ′ 49 ″ N , 10 ° 50 ′ 54 ″ E