St. Nikolaus (Bad Abbach)
The Roman Catholic parish church of St. Nikolaus in Bad Abbach , a market in the Lower Bavarian district of Kelheim , is a neo-Gothic church that was built in the years 1849 to 1852 instead of a previous Baroque building. There was also a Romanesque and a Gothic predecessor building at the same location . The parish church is dedicated to St. Nicholas of Myra on December 6th.
location
The parish church of St. Nicholas is 371 m above sea level. NN on the Schloßberg high above the market Bad Abbach ( 338 m above sea level ) in the valley of the Danube and just below the so-called Heinrichsturm ( 383 m above sea level ), the only remnant of the former Abbach Castle . Since the way to the parish church is very difficult, the main parish services today take place in the Church of the Holy Family , which was built in the center of the village in the 1960s.
history
The first church on site is likely to have stood in the immediate vicinity of Abbach Castle, i.e. on the site of the current church, as excavations from 1995 show. The Romanesque church probably already existed in Carolingian times; a letter of gift from Emperor Heinrich II from 1007 confirms this. A parish of its own was first reported in 1237, when a pastor Cunradus residing in Abbach was mentioned as a witness in a document from Bishop Siegfried von Regensburg . Before that, the parish seat was in Eiglstetten, today a wasteland on the road from Bad Abbach to Saalhaupt. There a pastor Werner was mentioned in 1177, who also looked after Abbach as dean .
During excavations, the remains of the walls of the various previous buildings were found under the floor in the northwestern area of today's parish church. The small Romanesque church as roughly hewn, irregularly large sandstone blocks with a semicircular apse was significantly enlarged during the Gothic period . In addition to the nave , the choir was also enlarged. However, this ends at a right angle, which is atypical for the style epoch. The reason given for this is the nearby mountainside. During the Baroque period , the church was enlarged further towards the east, i.e. towards the castle complex. The choir now got a three-page ending. A redesign of the interior and an extension of the choir room "by seven shoes" have been handed down from the year 1752, ie in the Rococo period . At that time the choir was again provided with a semicircular end. During the excavations, remains of the floor covering from 1752 were found. This consisted of Solnhofen slabs in the rose lace pattern , very popular at the time.
The previous church had to be closed and demolished in 1842 due to dilapidation. However, the new building could not begin until autumn 1849. The construction according to plans by Joseph Tanera was carried out by the master builders Josef Schmidtner from Landshut and Karl Dobmayer from Kelheim . The foundation stone was laid on October 16 this year in the presence of Bishop Valentin von Riedel . In 1852 the construction was completed and was given a credit by Pastor Martin Otto on behalf of the bishop. Since a large part of the interior was still missing at that time, an altar was taken from the previous church. The consecration took place on August 10, 1859 by Bishop Ignatius of Senestrey . The interior was done by the Abbach carpenter Johann Koch, the altar and cross paintings are by the local painter Albert Stahl.
The first interior renovation was carried out in 1891. For the 100th anniversary of the parish church in 1952, a major redesign took place in line with current tastes. During this intervention, essential parts of the neo-Gothic furnishings were removed: the superstructures of all three neo-Gothic altars , the sound cover of the pulpit and the carvings on the choir stalls and confessionals and the painted church windows disappeared . The space shell was painted a pure white. The only decoration was two fresco-like wall paintings by the painter Otto Baumann from neighboring Oberndorf , which took the place of the superstructures of the side altars. Later preserved neo-Gothic elements were reinserted. In 1984 the altar and ambo were made from parts of the old communion bench . In addition, the church stalls were renovated and the previous cheeks and the carvings of the end benches were reinserted.
For the 150th anniversary, another renovation was carried out from 1999 to 2002 for a total of around 2.4 million D-Marks . This included the draining of the church, the renovation of the underground, tower and roof structure, the redesign of the outdoor facilities, the deworming of the wooden ceiling, the new painting of the room shell in a very light ocher tone , with a reconstruction of the original picturesque design, the redesign of the high altar and the side altars and the renewal of the lighting.
architecture
The east-facing building includes a nave with six bays and a clearly indented choir with two bays with five-eighth end , on the north and south sides of which there is a small sacristy annex. The outer structure is structured by simply offset buttresses and has ogival openings with two-lane tracery windows . On the west side, the 68 meter high, five-storey tower is built on the central axis of the nave . This rises above a square floor plan and is structured by double-offset corner struts. It also has ogival window openings and just such sound arcades. Above the four tower clocks , four triangular gables convey the transition to the eight-sided, neo-Gothic pointed helmet .
The inside of the church is accessed via a portal on the north and south side. The nave is spanned by a flat wooden ceiling, the choir is covered by a ribbed vault in a net-like configuration. The organ gallery, which is supported by two slender wooden pillars, has moved into the rear nave yoke.
Furnishing
High altar
The high altar structure, which was dismantled to the predella in 1952 , has been adorned again by the original, neo-Gothic altar sheet since the renovation for the 150th anniversary. Depicted is the patron saint of the church, the holy bishop Nicholas, who raises his right hand in the manner of the Latin type of blessing. In his left hand he holds the crook and the gospel book with three golden balls on it. An elderly man and three young women kneel at his feet - arms asking for alms from the saint .
Side altars
The superstructures of the two side altars were also removed in 1952 and replaced by paintings by the artist Otto Baumann. The picture on the left shows Saint Mary , who hovers protectively over Bad Abbach. On the right was Emperor Heinrich II, who was possibly born at Abbach Castle and was canonized by Rome . He hovers with angels on a rainbow above the old Abbach. This painting was made from an ink drawing by the nurse Dionys Haberl from 1536. These two pictures were hung with large, mint-colored glass panels during the renovation in 2002. The latter also serve to attach the original neo-Gothic altar leaves. The picture on the left side altar ( Mary's altar) shows the Mother of God with the baby Jesus , flanked by two angels. The young Prince Heinrich is depicted on the right side altar (Heinrichsaltar) . His late teacher, Bishop Wolfgang, appears to him . Above it is the inscription post sex (lat. After six), which indicates that Heinrich will become king of eastern France after six years . The ducal hat next to Heinrich identifies him as the future Duke of Bavaria .
Left side altarpiece
Right side altarpiece
Epitaphs
On the walls in the interior there are several epitaphs made of red marble , which come from the previous churches and came to today's parish church during the renovation in 1952. The epitaph of the caretaker Bernhard von Stinglheim († 1595) on the south wall is remarkable. The deceased is shown in full armor, rests on his hip with his left hand and a battle hammer in his right . The family coat of arms and crest can be seen in the upper corners. The nurse wears a chain around his neck to which a so-called Gnadenpfennig with the Palatinate Bavarian coat of arms is attached. Exactly opposite is the epitaph for Bernhard's wife Margareta von Stinglheim († 1592). Also on the south side are memorial stones for Sibylle von Leibling, geb. von Stinglheim († 1595) and for Hans Sigmund von Stinglheim († 1616) and his wife Anna Maria von Stinglheim († 1615).
Approximately opposite the pulpit is off limestone beaten Mount of Olives relief from the year 1505 attached. The founder , Pastor Erhard Fabri, is shown at the bottom right . This can also be seen under the organ gallery on the south side of the nave. There he is shown in the clothes typical of the time.
organ
The first organ in the Abbach parish church was purchased in 1853, shortly after the church was built. It comes from the organ builder Johann Anton Breil from Regensburg . The single-manual instrument had eight registers and a purely mechanical keyboard and register action . In 1981 the organ builder Hermann Kloss from Kelheim extensively restored the instrument, which is more like a new building using historical material. The still purely mechanical organ currently has twelve registers that can be played on a manual and pedal . 182 of the 859 pipes are made of wood.
Peal
A five-part bell hangs in the west tower of the church. The four lower bells form the motif of the Salve Regina . Originally there were three bells from 1473, 1493 and 1526 in the tower. The oldest and the youngest bell had to be delivered during the Second World War , so that only the St. Nicholas bell from 1493 remains. In 1948 and 1958 two more bells each raised. Today's bells are listed in detail in the following table:
| No. | Surname | Casting year | Weight [kg] | Chime |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | St. Heinrich | 1958 | 1150 | it 1 |
| 2. | St. Nicholas | 1493 | 800 | g 1 |
| 3. | St. Mary | 1948 | 350 | b 1 |
| 4th | St. Joseph | 1948 | 250 | c 2 |
| 5. | St. Christopher | 1958 | 120 | it 2 |
literature
- Werner Sturm, Christian Fischl, Franz Hagl, Günter Tamme: Catholic parish church Sankt Nikolaus - Bad Abbach. For the friends of the parish church , brochure, Bad Abbach 2010.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Sturm, Fischl, Hagl, Tamme; Bad Abbach 2010.
- ^ Parish of St. Nikolaus in Bad Abbach: An excursion into history . Online at www.st-nikolaus-pfarrei.de. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
- ^ Parish of St. Nikolaus in Bad Abbach: The financing . Online at www.st-nikolaus-pfarrei.de. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
Coordinates: 48 ° 56 ′ 4.8 ″ N , 12 ° 2 ′ 29.2 ″ E