St. Michaels Chapel (Freiburg im Breisgau)

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St. Michael from the south
Donor portrait (Andreas Zimmermann and his wife) above the main portal, destroyed in World War II.

The St. Michaels Chapel is the cemetery chapel of the old cemetery in Freiburg im Breisgau . It belongs to the cathedral parish of Freiburg.

history

The general Freiburg cemetery originally surrounded the cathedral. In 1515, because of the risk of epidemics, the city decided to move it to the suburb of Neuburg to the local church of St. Nikolaus, in the area of ​​today's Bernhard-, Ludwig- and Karlstraße. Therefore it was called Nikolaifriedhof . Around 1678, St. Nicholas and St. Nicholas' cemetery fell victim to the fortress construction by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban . As a replacement in 1683 a little further north, today's old cemetery was created. In its center, the St. Michael's Chapel was built in 1722, donated by the "Colonel Master and Mayor" Philipp Jakob Spindler (1664–1730) and the "Citizen and Bear Owner" Andreas Pflug. In 1725 it was " inaugurated as a chapel for the poor , as usual under the patronage of the Archangel Michael ". This building was probably an open hall consisting of pillars without walls in between with a walled choir. In 1730 Spindler also donated a benefice to support a clergyman. The chapel was given its present form in 1753–1757 when the nave was expanded again thanks to a foundation: by the “Storchenwirt” Andreas Zimmermann (1714–1774). An inscription on the outside above the southern entrance, which has disappeared today, reminded us: “I got the extension, thanks to the helpers in the grave. July 6, 1757 AZM ".

The chapel was badly damaged in the bombing of Freiburg on November 27, 1944 . However, the altars and ceiling paintings were relocated and it could be restored by 1963. Only parts of the exterior painting and the old murals inside in the stucco frame between the windows and above on the south wall were not renewed.

building

The single-nave hall with four arched windows on each side is followed in the north by the narrower, straight-closing choir, the sacristy and a residential building. A vestibule opens to the south, from which the main portal leads into the interior. Two windows next to the portal give the interior additional light. The southern gable has had a simple coat of paint with painted architectural elements that is close to its original state since 1970, after it was dramatically painted with skeletons and a large clock in the 19th century. In the vestibule there are epitaphs and the Freiburg Dance of Death attributed to Simon Göser . After several restorations and war damage, it was repainted by Wolfram Köberl in 1963 . In 2012 the vestibule and dance of death were renovated. A bell hangs in the roof turret.

Interior

Today the interior again gives the impression of a “small rococo church” or, according to an older judgment, a “cozy, bourgeois, festive religious hall”; the eye is "satisfied by the extremely fine decorative design of the ceiling and walls". Seldom have cemetery chapels been so richly and lovingly furnished. The chapel has “its very own, attractive, sheltering and comforting atmosphere thanks to its architecture and artistic furnishings, which is decidedly different from the coolness of today's 'morgues'”.

  • View towards the choir

  • Chronos

  • Bubble game

  • View towards the main entrance

The ceiling sits on the ship's walls over a hollow. Slightly older stucco with Renaissance motifs adorns the ceiling of the choir, younger rococo stucco decorates the ceiling and walls of the nave. The stucco on the ceiling is "extremely well-considered, tasteful drawing: one is pleased with the skill of these artisans who knew how to model such ornaments." Before the Second World War, the side walls were adorned with "ten portrait-format pictures painted on the flooring in pleasing, delicate rococo Stucco framing ". Today abstract color tones are set in the restored frames. The same applies to the three small, stucco-framed pictures on the southern entrance wall and the picture in the arch above the western south window. The anointing of the sick is donated in the flat arch above the south-east window with the signature: "So whoever dies well, / in death does not seek the last judgment."

Anointing of the sick over the east south window

Tombs, mostly of noble families, are placed on the walls of the ship. On both sides of the choir arch wall, painted clock faces are a reminder of transience. Under the left dial, Chronos , the god of time, emphasizes this theme with a scythe and hourglass , and under the right dial, three children play with soap bubbles. A difficult-to-find monogram in the picture of Chronos reveals the painter Johann Caspar Brenzinger .

Above the door to the sacristy on the right in the choir, rococo stucco holds a copy of a crucifixion group ascribed to Johann Christian Wentzinger , the original of which is kept in the Freiburg Augustinian Museum. The trunk of the cross divides the area somewhat asymmetrically. The broad, muscular body of Jesus with hanging head protrudes completely over the group of complainants according to the Gospel of John Jn 19 : 25-26  EU : on the left of the cross Mary, the mother of Jesus, another Mary and John , on the right Mary Magdalene . With his bare right arm, Johannes holds the turned-up hem of the coat against his body, "a typical motif of Wentzinger's figures". On the right Longinus rides his galloping horse with his lance in the background. A commemorative plaque on the left in the choir reminds us: “The probably nobly strict, well-wise, Mr. Philippus Jakobus Spindler burgermeister Alhier, founder of these poor souls chapels and died at the age of 66 years and is buried in our Dear Women Munster zu Freyburg on September 8th (= November) 1730 God give him eternal rest. "

Ceiling painting

The three large and six small oil paintings were created by Johann Pfunner in 1760 . They should be viewed with a view towards the south entrance. The large picture next to the entrance shows the raising of the youth of Naïn . (1) According to the Gospel of Luke ( Lk 7.13  EU ), the painter lets Jesus speak to his mother (in mirror-inverted writing): “Noli flere” - “Don't cry”. The young man looks up at him confidently from the shrouds. In the large central picture, Jesus is about to rise to the resurrection. (2) The event does not take place in the biblical rock cave, but in a mighty, domed hall, where the painter may have thought of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. “The form of the Lord is of noble, moving beauty, and the little angels are precious, who look at him in bodily completeness or look disembodied from on high at him. A soldier's guard sleeps half-standing. ”The picture is inscribed“ Joa. Pfunner invenit 1760 ". The next large picture to the choir shows the resurrection of Lazarus according to the Gospel of John ( Joh 11,17-44  EU ). (3) In front of Jesus' mouth Pfunner has the words of Jesus "Lazare veni foras" (again in mirror-inverted script) - " Lazarus come out ”set. “The bony figure of Lazarus rises out of the open grave, with formal greed taking the word of power from Jesus' mouth that calls him to new life. Majesty and mildness merge happily in Christ's form. ... Helping hands are close to what has been awakened, others appear discreetly in a dim distance and let the main group come to the fore all the more prominently. The painting is one of the most effective of the Pfunner brush ”.

  • Overview

  • (1) The raising of the youth of Naïn

  • (2) Christ rises from the tomb, two round medallions

  • (3) Raising Lazarus from the dead , four oval medallions

In the left of the two small round medallions (2) the sun shines on a sunflower with the slogan "Ut respexit erexit - as it (the sun looked at the flower), it raised it up". In the right round medallion a bellows fanned the fire, accompanied by the slogan “Reddunt suspiria lucem - blowing on brings the fire back”. In the left of the four oval medallions (3), closer to the entrance, a butterfly flies away from a doll on a table , accompanied by the slogan “In egressu nobilior - When a nobler kind comes out”. In the right-hand oval, closer to the entrance, there is a half-open box with jewelery on a table, with the slogan "Ut server tumulor - so that I am received, I am covered". In the oval, further away from the entrance, on the left, a rainbow arches over a mountain with the slogan "Solis ad aspectum - At the sight of the sun (the rainbow arises)". On the right oval, further away from the entrance, the sun rises over a mountain, with the saying “Phoebe redde diem - Phoebus, bring the day back”. Some symbols are also difficult to interpret; like the large pictures, they relate to death and resurrection.

Altars

The three altars of the chapel

The main pictures of all altars are works by Simon Göser , the high altar picture signed lower right with "Simon Geser pinxit 1792", the picture of the left side altar on the back with "Simon Göser pinxit ao 1800", the picture of the right side altar unsigned. If the high altar was created for the chapel, the two side altars did not come here from the Freiburg parish church of St. Martin until the 19th century , at the latest when it was cleared out under Oswald Bremeier (parish priest from 1874 to 1882). The sculptures on the side altars are attributed to Fidelis Sporer . The reliquary shrines were found during a restoration in the granary in 1928 and then put up again.

In the main painting of the high altar, Michael stands ready with the sword in hand to defend the poor soul in purgatory against the devil. Before the Trinity, Mary and Joseph intercede. A winged angel, holding up the prayer book and rosary, indicates the prayers for the dead. “The painting came from a happy inspiration. Overall, it is a beautiful creation based on the idea, composition and color scheme. ... Perhaps too much candy will penetrate one or the other face. ”The two side panels , St. Peter on the left and St. Mary Magdalene on the right, are assigned to a painter Anton Küß again (1739–1833). The antependium shows the prophet Ezekiel according to his vision ( Ez 37,1-14  EU ) in the middle of a field with bones and the dead rising from the ground.

The picture on the left side altar is a repetition of a miraculous image by the Italian painter Pompeo Batoni . Mary holds the baby Jesus, who is standing on a pillow on her lap. The statues are Saints Aloisius of Gonzaga on the left and Anthony of Padua on the right.

The unsigned picture of the right side altar shows St. John Nepomuk , of whom the chapel had a relic. As usual he wears a Rochett . An angel behind him holds the palm of martyrdom in one hand and a padlock as a symbol of secrecy in the other. The statues are Saint Catherine of Alexandria standing on her wheel on the left and Barbara of Nicomedia without an attribute on the right. "The two pictures on the side altars show the fulfillment of Göser's classicism."

literature

  • Josef Dotter: The paintings in the chapel in the old cemetery in Freiburg i. Br. In: Schau-ins-Land 64, 1937, pp. 3–36 ( digitized version ).
  • Joachim Faller: For the exterior painting of the St. Michael's Chapel in the Freiburg “Old Cemetery”. In: Schau-ins-Land 127, 2008, pp. 47–59 ( digitized version ).
  • Friedrich Kempf: The St. Michaels Chapel in the old cemetery . In: Freiburg im Breisgau. The city and its buildings . Freiburg 1898, pp. 382-385 ( digitized version ).
  • Bernd Mathias Kremer : A reminder of impermanence. In: Konradsblatt 96, number 44, 2012, pp. 20–23.
  • Ingrid Kühbacher: You lived in Freiburg. Memories while walking through the old cemetery. 4th edition. Schillinger Verlag, Freiburg i. Br. 2006, ISBN 3-89155-057-X .
  • Hans Georg Wehrens: The dance of death in the Alemannic language area. "I have to do it - and don't know what" . Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-7954-2563-0 , pp. 247-250.

Web links

Commons : St. Michaels Chapel  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Faller, p. 49.
  2. ↑ Kühbacher, p. 84.
  3. ↑ a b Dotter, p. 8.
  4. ↑ Kempf.
  5. ^ Julius Dorneich : The old cemetery in Freiburg im Breisgau. Herder, Freiburg 1974., p. 41.
  6. ↑ Kremer, p. 20
  7. ^ Ingeborg Krummer-Schroth : Johann Christian Wentzinger. Sculptor, painter, architect, 1710–1797 , Schillinger, Freiburg 1987, ISBN 3-89155-058-8 , p. 47.
  8. ↑ Dotter, p. 4.
  9. ^ Dotter, p. 9.
  10. ^ Hermann Ginter : Southwest German Church Painting of the Baroque. Dr. Benno Filser Verlag, Augsburg 1930, p. 111.
  11. ↑ Dotter, pp. 12-15.
  12. ↑ Dotter, pp. 34-35; Hermann Brommer : St. Martin, the "second main church of the city." In: Kath. Pfarramt St. Martin Freiburg i. Br. (Ed.): St. Martin in Freiburg i. Br. Verlag Schnell and Steiner, Munich and Zurich 1985, ISBN 3-7954-0460-6 , pp. 138–262, here pp. 207–208.
  13. ↑ a b Ingeborg Krummer-Schroth: Pictures from the history of Freiburg. Karl Schillinger Verlag, Freiburg 1970.
  14. ^ Dotter, p. 27.
  15. ↑ Yolk p. 34.

Coordinates: 48 ° 0 '2.9 "  N , 7 ° 51' 25.1"  E