St. Nikolaus (Friesach)
The Church of St. Nikolaus , also known as the Dominican Church , north of the Friesach moat , is 74 m long and is the largest church in Carinthia in this respect. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of the church .
history
In 1217, the oldest Dominican monastery in the German-speaking area was founded in Friesach. After 1255 the Dominicans moved to the current location. The construction of the nave began after 1255 and was completed in 1265–68. The long choir was built around 1270/80. The dates of the consecration of the church are 1300 and 1320. In 1320 the chapel-like sacristy was added. In 1509 the Dominikuskapelle was built on the south aisle as a foundation of Balthasar Thanhausen. From 1596 to 1626 the church was restored. The original beam ceiling was replaced by a groined vault by Lorenz Moser in 1690. Today's painting with a square motif and frieze bands as well as a partial refurbishment, for example with the neo-Gothic high altar, took place from 1884 to 1895 after a fire.
Building
The nave consists of three naves. The five-bay central nave is basilically elevated and merges seamlessly into the three-bay long choir with a 5/8 end . The two side aisles end in 5/8 apses . On the north side of the choir is the two-bay sacristy, to which a recessed choir with a 5/8 end is attached.
The Dominikuskapelle stands on the south side of the nave. A roof turret with eight ogival windows and a slender four-part pointed helmet rises between the nave and the choir . The long choir is supported by two-tiered buttresses, the sacristy choir by single-tiered buttresses. The walls at the end of the choir and the sacristy chapel are broken by two-part lancet windows with original tracery. Simple lancet windows are located on the sides of the choir and on the side aisles of the nave. The central nave is illuminated by round upper windows and a large three-part pointed arch window in the west wall. A stone cross adorns the gable of the west wall, and Gothic stone heads and gargoyles are attached to the facade.
The church is entered through the ogival west portal. The stone relief in the tympanum shows Mary as Queen of the Rosary with the holy Dominic of Caleruega and Pope Pius V . It was made around 1890 by the Styrian sculptor Rochus Haas . The former wooden door with the painted representation of Saint Nicholas from the 13th century has been in the possession of the Joanneum in Graz since 1937 .
The interior impresses with its strict monumentality. Pillar arcades with pointed arches separate the nave from the two aisles in the nave. The west gallery, which was built in around 1600, rests on a three-part round-arched columnar arcade. A pointed triumphal arch with a profiled soffit and profiled archivolts connects the nave with the choir. The choir is three steps higher than the eastern nave yoke, which in turn is raised in level compared to the western part of the nave. An early Gothic ribbed vault with a pear rod profile extends over the chancel above round services with capital rings that rest on carved consoles with floral, figurative and animal motifs such as intertwined pelicans. At the end of the choir, the services go over the entire height of the wall. Leafy rosettes with heads form the sculptured keystones. On the south side in the end of the choir there is a pointed arched sacrament niche with a two-part tracery nostril. The two apses of the side aisles have groin vaults with round bar ribs with bud capitals and foliage consoles. A neo-Gothic renewed portal in the north wall of the eastern nave yoke leads to the cloister of the monastery. The ogival profiled sacristy portal on the north wall of the choir shows a relief representation of the Lamb of God in the tympanum. The sacristy is in the former Andreas chapel. This chapel room consists of a two-bayed nave with cross-ribbed vaults and a single-bayed cross-ribbed choir with a 5/8 end, which is slightly shifted from the axis to the north. A round-arched triumphal arch with a cove connects both parts of the room. In the northeast corner there is a lavabo niche with a profiled three-pass shape. The two-part lancet windows are newly glazed.
The Dominikuskapelle has a net rib vault and wide pointed arch windows.
Facility
High altar
The neo-Gothic high altar, created between 1884 and 1890, like the tympanum of the west portal, comes from the Rochus Haas sculptor's workshop. The five-part polyptych shows Anna and Maria in the central niche. Next to it are the Saints Thomas Aquinas , Joseph , Joachim and Hyacinth . Nikolaus von Myra stands above the central niche. On the relief images in the lower row are the Saints Thomas Aquinas, Catherine of Siena , Agnes of Montepulciano and John of Cologne . Six medallions on the tabernacle doors depict Old Testament models of the Most Holy Eucharist .
St. John's Altar
The Johannes altar on the north choir wall comes from the Johanneskirche, which was demolished in 1828 in the Neumarkt suburb of Friesach. This altar with a broken keel arch was made between 1500–1512 in the “Older Sankt Veiter workshop”, the “Lienhart workshop”. In the shrine it contains the dancing statues of Christ the Man of Sorrows , Saint Florian and Saint George , on the wings the relief reproductions of scenes from the legend of John, such as the poison test in Ephesus, the oil martyrs, John on Patmos and the self- burial . Female saints are depicted on the outside of the wings and the death of the Virgin Mary in the predella .
Friesacher Madonna
The sculpture of the Friesach Madonna and Child stands on the southern triumphal arch pillar. The eponymous work by the master of the Friesach Madonna was created around 1340. The early Gothic sandstone sculpture is an import, as the stone was not broken in Carinthia. Under today's polychromy from the late 15th century, the sculpture has an original version in azurite blue with gilded scattered patterns such as eagle and flower motifs. Originally the statue was probably placed on an altar of Mary in the long choir, which was consecrated by Wulfing von Stubenberg , first prior of the Friesach monastery, later bishop of Lavant (1299-1304) and Bamberg (1304-1319).
Forked crucifix
The monumental forked crucifix, the work of the Salzburg master, is an expressive carving from the second quarter of the 14th century. A counterpart to this type of mystic cross can be found in the Nonnberg monastery in Salzburg. A forked cross gives the impression that new life (buds) are growing out of the dead cross stem. In the theological literature of the 13th and 14th centuries one finds the concept of the tree of life ("lignum vitae"), which goes back to the Franciscan Father Bonaventure .
Vespers image altar
The Vespers image altar is in the north aisle and shows the sculptures of Our Lady of Sorrows and the dead Christ, behind a cross of branches. The figures are from the 16th century, the frame and setting from 1694.
Dominic altar
The altar in the Dominikuskapelle consists of an aedicule over a small base with a split segment gable and a small aedicule with a round arched gable as an attachment. The side of the altar has ears with cartilage and cherub heads . The middle picture shows St. Dominic. This 17th century altar is the only black marble altar in Carinthia.
pulpit
The pulpit , created between 1884 and 1890 , probably also came from the Rochus Haas workshop. On the pulpit made of stone, the church doctors Ambrosius , Hieronymus , Gregory the Great and Augustine are depicted in relief images . On the wooden pulpit lid are the half-reliefs of the Dominican saints Ludwig Bertrand , Vinzenz Ferrer and Peter von Verona . The figure of Christ and two angels stand on the pulpit lid. A sculpture of Christ as a good shepherd is placed in front of the pulpit stairs.
Tombstones
Noteworthy is the red marble tombstone from 1516 on the west wall of the Dominikuskapelle, which shows the Vizedom in Friesach, Christoph Thanhäuser standing on a lion in full armor. It is attributed to Jörg Gärtner and is considered to be one of the most beautiful late Gothic figural grave slabs in Carinthia.
Hans Jakob Thanhausen's grave slab on the north wall was made of white marble after 1587. The typical Reformation motif shows the crucified Christ in the center, the deceased kneeling below, his wife and her two daughters to the left. The epitaph was donated by the widow Anna Neumann von Wasserleonburg, who, as a Protestant, left the Friesach Dominicans a donation to preserve the tombstone.
Another grave slab in the chapel is that of Christoph Freiherr von Thannhausen, who died in 1565, on the south wall.
On the south wall of the nave there is a grave relief with the Enthroned Mother of God and a kneeling pair of knights. This relief comes from the end of the 14th century. There are also two relief stones in the church from the 15th century, a coat of arms stone from 1675 and on the outside of the church wall there are Gothic coat of arms stones.
Others
The brass altarpiece in the apse of the north aisle was made at the end of the 19th century and shows images of the evangelists in the manner of Nikolaus von Verdun .
The altar in the apse of the south aisle is dedicated to Mary as the Rosary Queen. In the middle picture of the altar, Mary gives the rosary to St. Dominic and the infant Jesus to St. Catherine of Siena. The secrets of the rosary are depicted on a round arch on fifteen round medallions around the central image .
The cross-path reliefs were adapted to the overall appearance of the church by the sculptor Rochus Haas in the neo-Romanesque style. The organ was created by the Salzburg organ builder Albert Mauracher . The seating in the organ gallery is dated to 1724.
High altar
Vespers image altar
Grave slab Christoph Thanhäuser
literature
- Dehio manual. The art monuments of Austria. Carinthia . Anton Schroll, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-7031-0712-X , pp. 168–170.
- Matthias Kapeller: Churches, monasteries and culture - meeting places in Carinthia. Verlag Carinthia, Klagenfurt 2001, ISBN 3-85378-539-5 , p. 52 f.
- Gottfried Biedermann, Karin Leitner: Gothic in Carinthia - With photos by Wim van der Kallen. Carinthia Verlag, Klagenfurt 2001, ISBN 3-85378-521-2 , pp. 26 f., 106 f.
- Alexander Hanisch-Wolfram: In the footsteps of the Protestants in Carinthia. Verlag Johannes Heyn, Klagenfurt 2010, ISBN 978-3-7084-0392-2 , p. 81 f.
Web links
Coordinates: 46 ° 57 ′ 13.1 ″ N , 14 ° 24 ′ 19.2 ″ E