St. Michael (Limburg an der Lahn)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
St. Michael from the south
Location of the chapel in the cemetery, directly on the edge of the cathedral rock (terrain design from 1873/74)

The St. Michael Chapel (also Michaeliskapelle or Michaelskapelle , also mentioned in 1445 as St. Thomas ) in Limburg an der Lahn was the cemetery chapel and the ossuary (Karner) of the former cathedral cemetery , on whose grounds it is located. The listed building, erected in the 13th century, also served as the city grave digger's apartment from the middle of the 19th century .

history

The chapel was built between 1250 and 1270, some time after the completion of the Limburg Cathedral , which was inaugurated in 1235. The chapel was consecrated to the Archangel Michael , who is considered the companion of the dead in Christianity. The main altar was donated in 1280 by canon Rorich (also Roricius ), it was supplemented around 1325 by a Johannes altar , which the knight Johann von Brunsberg gave. His brother Dielmann donated a Thomas altar in 1331 and 1345 , which was initially housed in an annex, but was also moved to the chapel building shortly afterwards.

Basement with grave crosses formerly used as an ossuary

The St. Michael's Chapel is first mentioned as an ossuary in 1359, and in 1366 it appears as the "new chapel above the ossuary". The basement of the building was used in this function until the 19th century. In 1617 a new, steeper roof was built under which a fruit store was set up.

The St. Michael's Chapel was also affected by the secularization of all the monastery buildings in the first half of the 19th century. In 1835 it was donated to the city of Limburg by the Nassau state government .

After the chapel was almost completely burned out in 1853 for unknown reasons, a flat gable roof was put on again. For this purpose, the partially collapsed east gable was rebuilt from the old material. At the same time, the Gothic west window was closed, the stone walls of the other windows damaged by the fire were repaired with wood.

In 1857 the apartment for the gravedigger was set up on the upper floor of the chapel when the former monastery house, which had been used for this purpose until then, was closed down as part of a cemetery expansion. In addition, the new morgue was housed in the building. In 1882 the new municipal cemetery was built on Schafsberg , but funerals were still held in the cathedral cemetery until the 1920s, so that the chapel was still used as an apartment in 1907.

The chapel is a listed building due to its historical, artistic and urban significance. It is owned by the Episcopal Ordinariate of the Diocese of Limburg and is used for press conferences.

architecture

Reconstruction drawing by Ferdinand Luthmer (1907). The upper floor is shown. The basement is largely covered by embankments. One of the lancet windows is shown in detail on the right.

The St. Michaels Chapel is a two-storey solid building made of quarry stone that was originally plastered. The building stands directly on the edge of the cathedral rock that slopes steeply towards the Lahn . The basement is at the original level of the cathedral cemetery, while the upper floor is roughly at the current level of the cathedral square . Therefore, in the 19th century, the area on the south side of the chapel was filled up, the original entrance area was only exposed and reconstructed at the beginning of the 21st century.

The basement is based on a terrace of the cathedral rock four meters below and is designed as a three-bay, round-arched cross vault without ribs or belts . Its warriors rest on octagonal, slightly rounded corbels . The basement is accessible through a Gothic door on the central axis of the south side and a portal on the west side.

The upper floor has a flat roof. The original wooden stairs to the main entrance of the chapel on the south side were replaced by stone stairs in the course of the reconstruction. The fighters on the upper floor sit on round corbels. Nothing has been preserved from the original design as a chapel since the 19th century, but a niche can still be seen on the south side, which presumably housed the sacrament cabinet.

Both floors have coupled lancet windows , which were partially bricked up in the meantime. These are ogival windows with chamfered stone walls, which are located in pairs in unjointed ogival panels. There are flat blind niches under two of these windows .

literature

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Limburg an der Lahn, district Limburg-Weilburg: Church and religion. Historical local dictionary for Hessen. (As of July 6, 2015). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  2. ^ Limburg - settlement development from the Middle Ages to 1873/74. Hessian city atlas. (Status: 2005). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g Ferdinand Luthmer: The architectural and art monuments of the Lahn area: Oberlahnkreis, Limburg district, Unterlahnkreis. P. 99f.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Verena Fuchß: Cultural monuments in Hessen: City of Limburg. P. 233f.
  5. ↑ Verena Fuchß: cultural monuments in Hesse City Limburg. P. 232
  6. ↑ Volker Thies: Finances in the Diocese of Limburg: Some subtle thoughts
  7. ^ Ferdinand Luthmer: The architectural and art monuments of the Lahn area: Oberlahnkreis, Limburg district, Unterlahnkreis. P. 101

Coordinates: 50 ° 23 ′ 20.8 "  N , 8 ° 4 ′ 0.3"  E