St. Oswald (Zug)
The St. Oswald Church is located in the outer old town of Zug, which was built in 1477 . It forms the largest and most important sacred building in Zug's old town. The former main church of the city is now a branch church of the parish of St. Michael.
Patronage
The church is dedicated to St. Oswald of Northumbria and contains some relics of the early medieval king. Patronage day is on August 5th.
Building history
In the course of the city expansion from 1477, a new main church was also planned. The former foreman from Lucerne and Zurich , Hans Felder , was commissioned with the construction. In 1478 the construction of an aisle church began, which was expanded into a three-aisled basilica in 1492 . The expansion was completed in 1545. In 1558 the tower was built. From the four-bay hall church, one of the largest and most representative late Gothic town churches in today's Switzerland was created through several extensions . In 1719 the baroque sacristy was built to the side of the choir . To the south of the church is the former city cemetery with the late Gothic Mariahilf chapel , which once served as an ossuary .
description
Exterior
The overall simple main facade is characterized by a richly decorated double portal. Two sweeping eyelashes and five figures of saints under magnificent, pinnacle-crowned canopies are located above the gates. The buttresses of the aisles and the choir also contain figures of saints. In the tympanum so-called Jörgenpforte in the south aisle there is a valuable relief of the original church, which shows the fight of St. George with the dragon.
In the east, the retracted polygonal choir, the sacristy and the tower connect to the three-aisled structure. The high church tower with a pointed spire, together with the Zytturm and the tower of St. Michael’s Church, are one of the defining buildings on the Zug skyline. The bell consists of four bells and was delivered by the Rüetschi foundry in Aarau in 1897 .
Interior
The main nave is unusually wide, while the side aisles are very narrow. The net vault of the nave has developed later virtuoso vaults of the northern aisle simple shapes over 20 years. Ornate consoles and sinuous services characterize the walls of the aisles. The choir and side aisles are illuminated by small tracery windows . The nave is illuminated by the cliff windows . The mighty choir arch that was created in the course of raising the main nave in 1445 is striking .
Most of the furnishings in the church date from the 19th century. The painting of the Last Judgment on the wall of the choir arch from 1866 is an eye-catcher. It was made by Melchior Paul Deschwanden in the Gothic Revival style. In 1935 the Aloisius Altar and the Brother Klaus Altar , which flank the choir arch, were built. Next to the altars are two valuable saints from the 15th century. The neo wood pulpit dates back to 1870. The rear of the nave is of a sweeping Empore in Rococo spans style which the splendid organ bears. The Rückpositiv is embedded in the gallery parapet and has the same sweeping shapes as the parapet. In 1972 a new organ was added that corresponds to the original late baroque disposition of the Bossart organ.
In the north side aisle there is the cross altar from the old St. Michael's Church in Zug with neo-Gothic parts . The rosary altar in the south aisle was created in the neo-Gothic style in 1869. Various statues , epitaphs and paintings from the Baroque period adorn the walls of the aisles. The painting of St. Oswald in front of the cross of Christ from 1704 hangs on the back wall of the south aisle. In 1965 the windows were decorated with stained glass by Edi Renggli .
The richly carved late Gothic choir stalls from 1484 have been preserved in the choir. Above the tower door is a copy of a panel painting painted in 1492, which shows the church donor, Johannes Eberhart, as well as St. Oswald and Anna the third. The original of this important late Gothic painting hangs in the Zug Castle Museum. Relics of the church patron are kept in the choir wall. An unusual piece of equipment is the high altar created by August Weckbecker in 1935 , which in Art Nouveau forms suggests a late Gothic figure- retable . at the same time that emerged stained glass windows by Louis Baumhauer .
sacristy
The two-storey building from 1719 adjoins the choir to the south. Magnificent baroque stucco decorate the vaults of the rooms. A valuable church treasure from several centuries is kept in the sacristy.
Mariahilfkapelle
The Mariahilf chapel, which once served as an ossuary, is located in the former city cemetery south of the church . The hall with a polygonal choir is crowned by a roof turret from 1715. Inside, a late Gothic carved ceiling and a splendid wooden epitaph belonging to the Zurlauben family from 1719 have been preserved. From 1851 to 1855 the ossuary was converted into a chapel and given a neo-Gothic portal. The baroque paintings were provided with neo-Gothic frames. The Mariahilf altar from 1904 with its gothic Art Nouveau forms is remarkable .
literature
- Josef Grünenfelder: St. Oswald's Church in Zug. (Swiss Art Guide, No. 622). Ed. Society for Swiss Art History GSK. Bern 1998, ISBN 978-3-85782-622-1 .
- Art guide through Switzerland - Volume 1. Society for Swiss Art History GSK, Bern 2005, p. 712 f.
Web links
- History of the church on the website of the Catholic parishes of the city of Zug
- History of the church ( memento of March 22, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) on the Zug Tourismus website
Coordinates: 47 ° 9 '55.2 " N , 8 ° 30' 56.7" E ; CH1903: six hundred and eighty-one thousand six hundred sixty-seven / 224380