St. Nicholas (Eupen)
The parish church of St. Nikolaus in the upper town of Eupen in the German-speaking Community of Belgium is a Roman Catholic church building dedicated to St. Nicholas of Myra . Today's church not far from the market square with its distinctive twin towers is one of the city's landmarks and was built in the Renaissance style from 1720 to 1726 according to plans by the Aachen city architect Laurenz Mefferdatis . The interior was designed in the style of the Liège and Aachen Baroque and has a mighty high altar designed by Johann Joseph Couven between 1740 and 1744 as the most valuable work of art . Since the 1990s, it belongs to Pfarrverband Eupen-Kettenis in the Diocese of Liege and since 1939 it is under monument protection .
history
As early as 1213 a "Capella Sancti Nicolai" in "Oipen" is documented in the Annales Rodenses , which belonged to the Baelen parish together with Membach and Henri-Chapelle and was founded in 1178 by Duke Heinrich III. was donated by Limburg to the Abbey of Klosterrath . The south tower of today's church, built of irregular rubble stones, is a remnant of this first chapel, which was finally replaced by a Gothic church in the 14th or 15th century. The old south tower was integrated into the new building. In 1695, St. Nikolaus was decoupled from the Baelen parish and raised to an independent parish, and the previous rector Nikolaus Heyendal was appointed first pastor. In 1707 the new rectory was completed, which was also added to the list of historical monuments in 1939.
The current church was finally built from 1720 to 1726 according to plans by the Aachen city architect Laurenz Mefferdatis, including the old south tower, and consecrated in 1729. A year later, the parish took over the Lambertus Chapel on Werthplatz and, in 1803, after secularization and the departure of the Capuchins under French rule, their former Church of the Immaculate Conception as a subsidiary church .
In the Prussian time of Eupen from 1815 to 1920, St. Nikolaus belonged to the Archdiocese of Cologne before it was again subordinated to the Diocese of Liège after the Eupen district was annexed to Belgium. In the years 1897 and 1898, the facade and the two towers were redesigned in baroque forms according to plans by the architect Lambert von Fisenne . In 1949 a major fire destroyed the north tower and it took four years to restore it to its old condition. Between 2013 and 2017, both towers and the facade were completely renovated and partially renewed.
Building description
Behind the high entrance with its portal wall and the two flanking towers, the six stretches yoke reaching three naves of sandstone built hall church , which closes on its east side with a seven-sided apse and the southern and northeastern corners of the building with blue stone blocks are reinforced. Behind the apse is the multi-storey sacristy, to which changes were made in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Six high, arched windows on each side and four on the side walls of the apse, framed with cuboids made of bluestone in a tooth-cut sequence, ensure the necessary incidence of light into the interior of the church . Most of the lead glazing used there was renewed several times, mostly in the Oidtmann glass painter's workshop from Linnich . The oldest existing church windows date from 1866 to 1868 and go back to donations from influential Eupen citizens.
On the slate covering , which is decorated with small dormer windows , a small octagonal bell tower with a pointed onion helmet , which is equipped with a combination of cross and wind vane , is placed at the level of the choir .
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The two towers and the connecting west facade of the church owe their current appearance primarily to the redesign by Lambert von Fisenne, who adapted them to the baroque forms by creating a figured gable and a new cladding of the towers. The monumental west facade is characterized by the two two-storey square tower buildings with their large walled-up arched openings. The bricks in the arch of the right tower largely come from the tower of the first chapel from the 12th / 13th centuries. Century. Originally, the plans from 1722 only provided for this one tower at the southern corner of the church, but Mefferdatis decided at short notice to add a mirror image of a second tower on the north side. Its arched niche was filled with bluestone blocks, in which an oval, horizontal ox-eye is built in and a sundial is attached in the middle . At the foot of the tower, standing in a small stone round base, is an old mission cross from 1852 with a small canopy, the cast iron head of which was modeled on the late Gothic crucifix from the 16th century in the parish church of Baelen.
On the outside of both towers, windows are built into the arched niches there, comparable in shape and size to those in the church. Above the round arches, the structure, which is identical in both towers , continues over a cornice running all around, through a smaller storey that originates from the renovation of Fisenne and into which round arch openings equipped with lamellae are built on all sides for the sound propagation of the bells. Four bells are installed in it, which were cast at Gaulard in Tongeren and which came from donations from the Grand Ry , Hüffer and others families . In the rectangular gable superstructures above, round niches are embedded in the middle, each containing a clock in the right tower and with the coat of arms of Pope Leo XIII on the left tower on the entrance side . is decorated. As a cover for the towers, onion helmets with a cross and weather vane are interrupted by a small octagonal intermediate tower, which replace the old tent roofs and are clad in copper .
The lower area of the west facade itself consists of regular blue stone blocks in which the heavy wooden arched double door from the 18th century is embedded between two Tuscan columns on square plinths and a small arched gable. The year 1724 is engraved in the wedge stone above the entrance door and the chronogram is written in a cartouche in the small door gable : “Deo eIVs Matri b. annae b. nICoLao praesVLI eVpenses posVere ”(“ The people of Eupen built this church to God, his mother, St. Anne and St. Nicholas as the parish patron ”). A horizontal and vertical three-part sandstone gable top, divided by cornices and pilasters , rises above a small double arched window above the organ loft .
The lower horizontal section contains a cartridge with a crossed coat of arms on both sides on a rectangular field . In the rectangular field in between and decorated with scrollwork is the note: "QUOD PIETAS POSUIT PERFICIT PIETAS IN FRONTISPICIO FASTIGIUM CELSIORESQUE SURGUNT TURRES" ( "What founded pious sense, perfect pious sense: a gable and the towering towers rise up on the front" ) Engraved in gold script. In the middle section of the gable there are three figure niches in which from left to right the statues of Nicholas of Myra, of Jesus Christ on a pedestal with the inscription: "VENITE AD ME OMNES" and St. Anna with the young Maria , all of which were made around 1897 in the workshop of the Aachen sculptor Wilhelm Pohl .
Above another cornice, which goes hand in hand with that of the tower structure, is the final tower of the overall gable, behind which the attic is located. The two lower curved side parts emphasize the three-part central structure, which has a small rectangular window in the lower section, the Jesus monogram on a cartouche in the middle and a cross above in an openwork triangular gable.
The church square in front of the main entrance is separated from the market square by bluestone pillars and iron bars, with the year 1767 being engraved on one of the pillars. Originally, Eupen's first cemetery was located directly around the church building, of which only a small historical part remains on the northeast side. This church cemetery with its fourteen grave slabs, some of which date from the 17th century, and some grave crosses in the enclosure wall was also placed under monument protection in 1939. Another old tombstone is located inside the church, including in the so-called Bethanienraum , which was added to the south side in 1987 by the Belgian architect Yves Delhez.
inner space
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The bright three-aisled interior has a raised central nave, which is separated from the side aisles by open arcade walls, which are made up of seven Tuscan columns adorned with stucco work and provided with stonemason marks on each side. These slightly tapered columns with small bulge capitals on a square base merge into the belt arches and vault ribs , which stabilize the dome-like cross rib vault . In the central yoke of the central nave, a wooden cover depicting a "watchful eye" is embedded at the cutting point of the ribs.
In the vaulted fields of the side aisles, golden stars are painted on a dark blue background and the belt arches of the ceiling are held up by pilasters on the outer walls . In the middle of the outer wall of the north aisle is the side entrance of the church, in the lintel of which the inscription: "HERR MATTHIAS PASS IUNGMANN AND KAUFFMAN 1729" is carved. A large part of the outer walls was provided with richly decorated wall paneling in 1758.
Above the entrance area, which is protected by a large vestibule, the organ loft extends across its full width at the height of the concealed double arched window. A leaning wooden staircase leads from there to the attic with the small rectangular window, which is at the level of the Fisenne sandstone gable.
High altar
The baroque high altar was donated by the Eupener spinners and weavers and was built between 1740 and 1744 according to plans by the Aachen architect Johann Josef Couven. The altar was carved by the Liège sculptor Hubert Hyard and was marbled and colored by the Liège artist Jakob Hainaux.
The wide cafeteria , which is elevated on four curved steps, shows a bust of Jesus Christ on its front between rocaille and lattice ornaments. On top of it rests the three-sided tabernacle , in the lower section of which the depository is built, above which there is a bas-relief depicting the Lord's Supper under a small canopy. This is flanked by figures modeled on the biblical scene of the praise of Simeon and Mannalese in the presence of Moses and Aaron , as well as angel figures on consoles . The altar cross rises above the gable structure of the tabernacle on an ornate console in which a representation of Agnus Dei with a crucifix is incorporated. The 19th century depository itself is a steel construction and shows an annunciation scene on its winged doors .
The round-arched wooden-framed picture niche with a marbled background running behind the altar structure and on the wall of the apse is flanked by three finely grained marble stucco columns on each side, which stand on a two-part base, on which the twelve apostles are depicted as oval bas-reliefs . Inside the richly decorated wooden frame are the statues of the parish priest Nikolaus von Myra and the diocesan patron Lambert von Liège . In addition, at the foot of St. Nicholas has a small tub with three children bathing and two putti with bishop's insignia above the statues . Between these hovers a symbolic globe, on which God the Father and God's Son are depicted as part of the Trinity , sitting on banks of clouds. The dove of the Trinity as a symbol of the Holy Spirit hangs in the middle above in the curved and richly decorated roof structure of the high altar resting on the six marble columns and is optically highlighted with a halo and several angel heads. Above the roof beams there are six further angel figures, the two in the middle holding a gold-plated cartridge with the inscription: "EUPEN DEDIT 1744".
Side altars
Mary Altar
Anne Altar
The style and shape of the two side altars of the church are adapted to Couven's baroque architecture, which is why these are occasionally attributed to him. Its completion around 1770, however, suggests works based on the couven style, which may have been made in the same workshops as the high altar.
These two relatively similarly constructed altars made of marbled wood are richly carved and tastefully decorated, some of them gilded. The retable niches are flanked on each side by two columns on a square base. In the right side altar, the Marian altar, the portraits of four church fathers are attached to these pedestals. The group of figures in the statue niche there was made in the 19th century and shows Mary under a small canopy with an angel, representing the scene of the Annunciation . Above the curved altar structure, which is modeled on the high altar, there is an alliance coat of arms on which the family coat of arms of the couple Leonard Thimus and his wife Anna Maria Gadé, the donors of this altar, are applied.
The left side altar, also known as the Anne Altar, shows the portraits of the four evangelists on the pedestals of the columns and a triangle with the eye of God in the middle of the altar table. In the retable niche, the figures of St. Anne and her daughter Maria, also from the 19th century, are set up, supplemented with symbolic rays of the sun and putti. Above the altar is the alliance coat of arms of the founder family Reiner Franz von Grand Ry (1716–1777) and his wife Maria Elisabeth Thys (1723–1801), which was attached in 1770.
Mary and Joseph niche
To enrich the chancel, two gilded figural niches made of marbled wood and decorated with puttis are attached to ornate consoles on the last two columns in the transition from the choir to the apse above small side tables. The left, called Marian, is equipped with the sculpture of the Mother of God standing on a globe with the crowned Baby Jesus in her arms and was commissioned in 1865 by the founders Adelheid (1803-1889) and Sophie von Grand Ry (1812-1870) created. On the front of the console is the shield with the alliance coat of arms of their great-grandparents Nikolaus Joseph Grand Ry (1709–1763) and Marie Elisabeth de Wampe (1717–1794).
The opposite counterpart, the Joseph niche, was donated by the widow Zervais in the 19th century and is decorated with the statue of St. Joseph carrying the baby Jesus in his arms. The alliance coat of arms on the console there reminds of the cloth manufacturer and mayor Walter Mostert (1717–1792) and his wife Anna Sophia von Wespin (1722–1802).
Communion bench and offering table
The communion bench, now divided into two parts, with its passage at the level of the central aisle, which has been open since the renovation in 1980, separates the choir from the chancel at a corner and is one of the most valuable pieces of equipment in the church. It is a work by H. Vondergracht from the year 1740 and was moved forward by a yoke in 1980 on the occasion of a redesign of the choir room by the Aachen cathedral builder Leo Hugot in order to make the choir room more open and to provide space for a new sacrificial table .
The communion bench consists of a black marble frame with polished brass balusters and four golden brass bas-reliefs on each side of the church, which are printed with different motifs. Six balusters of the no longer required middle section of the formerly continuous and closed communion bench were used to design the base for the newly acquired hexagonal offering table, which is covered with an anthracite-colored marble top.
pulpit
The pulpit, erected around 1730, is one of the oldest pieces of equipment in the church. It is carved from oak in the Regency style. Her chair is equipped with four decorated volute consoles , in the fields of which there are medallions with motifs of Christ, Mary and Joseph. The back wall of the pulpit, leaning against the column, is hung from the chair to the sound cover with a portrait of Nicholas of Myra. The sound cover itself is flanked by two angels blowing trumpets. The underside of the lid shows the dove of St. Spirit under a halo and the crown-like structure culminates in a bust of God the Father, who rises above a globe.
Confessionals
Two oak confessionals are set up in each aisle, which date from 1758 and have an openwork carved ornamental gable. The upper left confessional is adorned with the alliance coat of arms of the donor family Johann Agidius Grand Ry (1701–1767) and his wife Maria Theresia Bevers (1706–1785), the upper right bears the coat of arms of the Thimus family.
Pews
A total of 84 pews were made from oak in a uniform style between 1730 and 1850. They were partly commissioned and financed by the city authorities and partly by influential citizens. These could then be rented out permanently if required. Tenants and donors then had their names carved into the wood and thus convey a picture of the city's dignitaries at the time.
Other equipment (selection)
- In the center of the choir, a large triumphal cross hangs from the ceiling, which was carved from oak in the Wilhelm Pohl workshop in Aachen in 1876 and is partially polychromed . Symbols of the evangelists are applied to the ends of the bars.
- The wooden carved figures of the apostles and evangelists as well as the Immaculate and the Triumphator, which are placed on the tower walls and on the pillars, were originally made around 1640 in the workshop of the Augsburg- born Cologne sculptor Jeremias Geißelbrunn (1595-1660) for the Cologne Minorite Church . They were acquired by the Nikolauspfarre in 1866 for 145 thalers and later polychromed. Five other, partially gilded figures also come from the Pohl workshop and were carved between 1875 and 1880.
- The stations of the cross are represented by 14 pictures that are painted on sheet metal and framed with a polychrome oak frame. Some of them were not made until 1868/1869 and hang clockwise on the outer walls of the aisles.
- Several precious paintings adorn the church and more are hung in the rectory, including some half-portraits of the pastors to St. Nicholas.
- In memory of the fallen and missing people in the city during World War I, a monument to the fallen was created in 1925 by the Eupen sculptor Christian Stüttgen (1876–1942), which has been placed on the right outer wall. The altar-like monument, adapted to the wooden wall paneling, consists of a central, life-size statue of Jesus in a figural niche, which is flanked on each side by two steles in a wooden frame with the names of the victims. A massive stone commemorative plaque for the victims of the Second World War was added to this later in front of the statue of Jesus, bearing the inscription: "1940–1945 IN MEMORY OF THE DEAD AND MISSING OF THE WAR"
organ
The first larger organ in the church came from the organ workshop of Guillaume Robustelly in Liège and was manufactured between 1760 and 1763 and evaluated in 1764 by the organist Jantrain from Aachen. In the following decades it was continuously renovated and restored and technically expanded again and again, most recently in 1966 by the organ builder L. Verschueren from Heythuysen , who replaced most of the old Robustelly components with newer systems. He used these old components, which had actually been sorted out, together with other antique replacement parts to build a new organ, which he manufactured in 1993 for the Carolus Chapel in the Diocese of Roermond . There the old, former Eupener Robustelly organ was placed under monument protection in 1995, while the present organ in the Nikolauskirche has almost nothing in common with the original version.
literature
- Jean-Jacques Bolly, Norbert Kreusch: Photographic Directory of Sacred Art in Belgium , Royal Institute for Art Heritage, Eupen 1981, pp. 11–18 ( PDF )
- Bruno Bastin: The organs of the St. Nikolaus parish church in Eupen , Eupen History Volume I, Eupen 1967, pp. 33–47
- André Schlesinger: The Nikolauspfarrkirche as a burial place , Eupen History Volume II, Eupen 1968, pp. 25–40
- Leo Hermann: The old St. Nicholas Church in Eupen , History of Eupen Volume XII, Eupen 1978, pp. 97-107
- Johann Cloot: The baptistery of the St. Nicholas parish church in Eupen , Eupen History Volume IX, Eupen 1985, pp. 127–168
- Victor Gielen: The bells of the Eupener Nikolauskirche , Geschichtliches Eupen Volume XXVIII, Eupen 1994, pp. 5-19
Web links
- Church of St. Nicholas , on ostbelgienkulturerbe.be
- Parish church St. Nikolaus on the pages of the parish association Eupen-Kettenis
- St. Nikolaus became the city's landmark on ostbelgiendirekt.be on July 16, 2013
- Leo Kever: The twin towers of St.Nikolaus , In: Grenz-Echo from August 3, 2013
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rectory St. Nikolaus , on ostbelgienkulturerbe.be
- ↑ Frederik Schunck: Renovation work almost finished: St. Nicholas Church in Eupen with new copper towers , report and video from the BRF from April 3, 2017
- ↑ Grand-Ry-Ackens church window , on ostbelgien.net
- ↑ Hüffer church window , on ostbelgien.net
- ^ Church window The Losen-Hüffer , on ostbelgien.net
- ↑ Coat of arms Pope Leo XIII. , on ostbelgien.net
- ↑ Old St. Nikolaus Cemetery , on ostbelgienkulturerbe.be
- ↑ Bethanienraum - Simonis coat of arms , on ostbelgien.net
- ↑ Annenaltar - Grand-Ry-Thys , on ostbelgien.net
- ^ Marian niche - Grand-Ry-Wampe coat of arms , on ostbelgien.net
- ↑ Joseph niche - Mostert-Wespin on ostbelgien.net
- ↑ Confessionals Gran-Ry-Bevers and Thimus , on ostbelgien.net
- ↑ Pew - Grand-Ry , on ostbelgien.net
- ↑ Monument in the St. Nicholas parish church in Eupen , on worldwartours.be
- ↑ Cees Van der Poel: Fates of three restored Robustelly organs , on hetorgel.nl from 2007
- ↑ Een Waals organ in Roermond , press release about the whereabouts of the old organ from St. Nikolaus on orgelnews.nl from June 13, 2006 (ndl.)
Coordinates: 50 ° 37 '50.3 " N , 6 ° 1' 56.9" E