St. Nikolaus (Meran)
St. Nikolaus is the Roman Catholic parish church of Merano in South Tyrol . The late Gothic building is located on the parish square in the middle of the old town and has been a listed building since 1980 . It is considered a symbol of the city. To the east is the Barbara Chapel .
history
The former capital of Tyrol , Meran, developed from a medieval market town between the steep slope of the Küchelberg in the north and the Passer in the south. A church in this area is only mentioned around 1266 and was consecrated to St. Nicholas and Peter Martyr, who was canonized just before that . It belonged to the older parish of Tyrol and, since the diocesan border was on the Passer, not to the Archdiocese of Trento , but until 1816 to the Diocese of Chur . Due to the growth of Merano (around 1291 already congruent with today's old town), the citizens decided to rebuild the church. The work dragged on for a relatively long time. In 1367 the nave and choir were inaugurated, on which stonemasons from the Rottweiler Bauhütte had previously worked; After a long break, the nave was vaulted after 1438 by Stefan Tobler from Burghausen . The completed church was consecrated on November 10, 1465. The tower with the two lowest floors was built at the same time as the choir in the 14th century, while the third floor with the Gothic windows was finished by the time the church was inaugurated. In 1545 the square tower with the clock was placed on it, the dome followed until 1618. In 1657 Merano became its own parish and thus St. Nicholas parish church. In the second half of the 17th century, a gallery was built inside the church at the main portal and the organ from the choir was moved there. Between 1882 and 1898 the church was thoroughly renovated by the Viennese cathedral builder Friedrich von Schmidt and the furnishings were renewed. In 1957 the building was renovated again in accordance with the style in agreement with the monument office. The last thorough restoration took place in 1993–2000.
Building description
The Nikolauskirche is a late Gothic three-aisled hall church , which ends in the east with a polygonal choir. The 78 m high tower is attached to the south of the choir. The west facade has a triangular gable, which is covered with turret-like battlements and has flat arch niches inside. Below is a rose window between two buttresses . To the right of the centrally located pointed arch portal is the wall painting with many figures depicting Christ carrying the cross from around 1518.
This is followed by a mural on the south facade depicting the raising of Lazarus , which was created as a grave painting for Christoph Hafner, who died in 1699. Next to it, in a niche with a steeply rising eyelash, stands the statue of St. Nicholas, who raises his right hand in blessing; a nice job by the Rottweiler stonemasons who were working on the choir at the same time. Next to it is the large western south portal of the church under a keel-arched eyelash studded with crabs and open three -passes. Here on consoles are the figures of St. James , Andrew , Mary with child, Christ as a gardener , Paul and Bartholomew . To the right of it was a mission cross by Johann Baptist Pendl , which is now attached to the sacristy. Above the eastern keel-arched south portal is a ten-meter-high mural of St. Christopher , which was repainted by Alfons Siber in 1896 based on the traces that have been preserved . The picture of St. Sebastian and the prelate Sebastian Glatz († 1909) kneeling in front of him comes from the same artist . Walking further along the facade are the gravestones for Erasmus Scharsacher (1483), Felix Übelher (1509) and the bronze epitaph for Benigna and Everosina von Wolkenstein (1586), which Alexander Colin created, as well as the grave monument of the Schneeburg-Stachelburg family ( 1837) and a death lamp (around 1530).
Under the tower there is a passage with cross vaults resting on foliage consoles and a female breast figure from 1360 to 1370. In the passage, a wall painting by the master Wenceslas is particularly noteworthy, which shows a forest landscape with two men kneeling in front of the cross of the order of the Trinitarians , probably the both Saints John of Matha and Felix of Valois . Further pictures show a Pietà from 1414 with two coats of arms, perhaps also a work by the master Wenceslaus, and a crucifixion from 1460, both of which were renewed in the 18th century.
Several white marble tombstones are set into the choir wall: Paul Weggler (1597), Hanns Memminger (after 1481), Thomas Zöttl (1542) and Hans Pritschwitz (1581). The municipal cemetery was located around the church until 1848 , of which around 80 tombstones have survived. Those belonging to the Pendl and Wasmann families of artists deserve particular interest. A tombstone belongs to Anna von Paravicini, née von Zinnenberg, who, when she was eighteen, married the eighty-two-year-old Bernardin von Paravicini, who was 104 years old and had seven children with her. Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland immortalized it in his book Macrobiotics , published in 1796 .
The church interior is 52 meters long and 32 meters wide. Ten massive round pillars support the net vault with its strong ribs. The room gives the impression of being closed, although the north aisle is 6 meters wide and the south aisle only 4 meters, and the presbytery, separated by a little emphasized triumphal arch , is inclined slightly to the north. The choir is 7 meters long and one of the best creations of Tyrolean high Gothic.
Furnishing
Choir
The high altar was created by Jakob Pirchstaller in 1786–1788 and consists of a free-standing cafeteria made of Ratschings marble and two worshiping angels made of wood. Originally there was a carved altar by Hans Schnatterpeck , an altar painting by Johann Panneels (1643) and one by Matthias Pußjäger . The seven glass windows were donated by the citizens of Merano in 1888–1889 and depict scenes from the life of Mary, with the Coronation of Mary in the central window. Between the windows there are 14 statues on consoles that were designed by Emanuel Pendl and executed by his father Franz Xaver Pendl . They show Christ, Mary and the 12 apostles. Former altarpieces on the walls are Christ in the temple by Matthias Pußjäger, a Mother of Sorrows under the cross from the 18th century, a Trinity with Mary and the plague saints Sebastian, Fabian and Rochus by Christoph Helfenrieder (around 1632–1635) and an Annunciation by Ulrich Glantschnigg (around 1700). In front of the stairs that lead down to the nave are two wooden statues, on the right St. Nicholas (around 1500) and on the left St. Sebastian (17th century).
Triumphal arch
The wooden triumphal cross at the top was created by Blasius Mayrhofer. On the two triumphal arch walls there are classicistic altars by Jakob Pirchstaller, the paintings are by Martin Knoller . On the right is the Last Supper and on the left the birth of Christ . The designs for the confessionals here were made by Friedrich von Schmidt and they were carried out by Josef Waßler . Over the first confessional the painting hangs Visitation of Friedrich Wasmann . The communion bench was made of sandstone in 1898, with openwork tracery and wrought iron grating, but was removed during restoration work in the 1990s.
Longhouse
On the north side of the nave is the so-called cross altar with the crucifix carved by Hans Patsch around 1640 and the dolorosa, the figure of Johannes comes from the 19th century by Sebastian Stainer . On the north wall there is also the twelve-sided, cup-shaped baptismal font made of gray-white Töller marble (around 1500). The relief figures on the wooden lid are recent works by Josef Waßler. On the same side is a late Gothic winged altar (around 1500), which comes from the Johanniterkirche in Tarsch and was acquired in the antique trade around 1888. It is said to have originally been a Medardus altar created by Hans Schnatterpeck and was restored by Josef Waßler from 1890 to 1891. In the shrine, the figures of Mary with the child, a deacon (possibly St. Stephen ) and Bartholomew can be seen, on the wings St. George and St. Mauritius are depicted as reliefs, on the outside John the Evangelist and St. Sebastian. In the predella there is a carved Vesper image with John and Maria Magdalena , flanked by the images of Saints Ottilia and Apollonia . A neo-Gothic winged altar stands on the south side of the church, created in 1892 by Dominikus Trenkwalder based on a design by Anton Weber. In the center it depicts Saint Joseph with the standing Jesus boy, on the wings the Marriage of Mary and the Flight into Egypt and the twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple and in Joseph's workshop; in the predella the death of St. Joseph. Next to the main entrance hangs a copy of the Maria Hilf picture by Lucas Cranach , which was donated by the people of Merano in 1801 after the Peace of Lunéville out of gratitude for the liberation of the country from the French.
In the middle of the church, on one of the pillars, is the red sandstone pulpit with openwork tracery (around 1500).
On the parapet of the organ gallery there are recessed oil paintings, probably by Pussjäger, with scenes from the life of St. Nicholas and in the middle a larger picture with the adoration of the three wise men. The organ itself was made in 1973 by Georg Hradetzky from Krems . The 6.5 × 3.5 meter painting Maria Himmelfahrt by Martin Knoller was attached to the high altar between 1788 and 1887, as were the figures of Saints Rochus, Sebastian, Vigilius and Nikolaus, which are now placed next to the organ and on the parapet .
gallery
Late Gothic Nicholas on the south wall (around 1340)
Side altar with image of the Last Supper (right)
Side altar with picture of the birth of Christ (left)
Cross altar
Neo-Gothic winged altar
Copy of the Maria-Hilf picture by Lucas Cranach
literature
- Karl Theodor Hoeniger : St. Nikolaus, Meran . Schnell & Steiner, Munich 1960 (Art Guide No. 719).
- City parish church of St. Nikolaus Meran. A house of God through the ages . Parish of St. Nikolaus, Meran 2003.
- Leo Andergassen : The parish church of St. Nikolaus in Meran . Tappeiner, Meran 1994, ISBN 88-7073-184-7
- Leo Andergassen : South Tyrol. Art on site. Athesia Verlag, Bolzano 2014
Web links
- Entry in the monument browser on the website of the South Tyrolean Monuments Office
- Merano city gazette
- Website of the parish of St. Nikolaus in Meran - art history
Individual evidence
- ↑ The parish church ... p. 34 ff.
Coordinates: 46 ° 40 ′ 17.3 " N , 11 ° 9 ′ 53.8" E