St. Paulin

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St. Paulin in the current color version from 2015/2016 with a Christmas tree in the spire
St. Paulin (color version until 2014), left the stone cross
Romanesque building St. Paulin (left) with St. Maximin (right) in front of the city walls (right). Engraving from 1646, probably based on a view from 1548/50
Illustration of St. Paulin on the Trier court picture from 1589
Ceiling painting by Christoph Thomas Scheffler
inside view

Sankt Paulin is a late baroque parish church in Trier , the interior of which was designed by Balthasar Neumann . Until 1804, it and its predecessor buildings were collegiate churches for centuries . St. Paulin Basilica has been minor since 1958 .

history

First church: 4th century to 1039

The first church on this site was built in the 4th century by Bishop Felix in the Roman burial ground north of the city walls of Roman Trier (so-called Augusta Treverorum ). According to legend, however, the Roman bone finds come from the Theban Legion , a legendary Roman legion of Christians who are said to have been executed in ancient times for refusing to renounce their faith. According to the regional version of the legend, her martyrdom took place on the spot where the square in front of the church is today. Her blood is said to have flowed into the Moselle and colored the river red for kilometers (according to various sources, for example to Cochem ).

The church got its name from St. Paulinus , who was bishop of Trier from 346 to 353 and whose remains were largely transferred to the church named after him around 400. Some relics of Paulinus are kept in the church of St. Paulinus in Lauterbach , a district of the Saarland city of Völklingen .

In the 5th century, St. Paulin was destroyed by the conquests of Trier by the Franks (probably around 413 and 421). Reconstruction began in 480.

The origins of the monastery , which stretched around the church for centuries, can not be precisely dated . The first datable foundation is documented for the beginning of the 8th century.

In 1039 a fire almost completely destroyed the ancient church. Only the ancient crypt with its many skulls and remains of bones (allegedly those of the legendary Theban Legion) is still preserved today; it is made available to visitors on certain liturgical feasts and in exceptional cases.

Second church: before 1148 to 1674

After the fire in the ancient church, a Romanesque successor building in the form of a two- tower basilica was erected and in 1148 by Pope Eugene III. consecrated.

The Romanesque church was blown up by French troops during the war of conquest of the French king Louis XIV in 1674 in order to create a free field in the north of the city of Trier for tactical reasons. Today only the Romanesque crypt with the sarcophagus of St. Paulinus from the 4th century remains of the basilica .

Third church: since 1734/57

In 1734, Elector and Archbishop Franz Georg von Schönborn laid the foundation stone for the new church on the foundations of the nave of the Romanesque church, which he financed from his income as provost of the monastery. The new building was a single-nave baroque church. The question of the planning architect cannot be clearly answered on the basis of the plans and written sources obtained. In addition to the Trier Augustinian brother Joseph Walter and the Trier court master craftsman Johann Georg Seitz, it was also attributed to Christian Kretzschmar . Above all, however, the name of Balthasar Neumann is associated with the church building, who designed the rich interior furnishings of the bright church space, but unlike the other architects involved in the construction, he did not stay in Trier for a long time and should therefore, in addition to the designs for the Equipment, rather indirectly influenced the building.

Christoph Thomas Scheffler (1743) created the frescos on the ceiling depicting the story of St. Paulinus and the martyrdom of the Theban Legion. There are also white stucco work on the walls and the ceiling. The high altar (based on a design by Balthasar Neumann) - a ciborian altar -, the choir stalls and other church fittings were made in the workshop of the sculptor Adam Ferdinand Dietz . The side altars designed by Neumann remained unfinished. In 1756 the work on the organ was completed by the organ builder Roman Benedikt Nollet from Trier . The organ prospect also goes back to plans by Neumann, the execution of the Trier court master builder Johannes Seiz supervised . In 1757 the baroque church was consecrated.

In 1794, Trier was occupied by French revolutionary troops. When Napoleon Bonaparte came to the city, he is said to have been very impressed by the beauty of the church. In 1802 the St. Paulin Monastery - together with most of the Trier monasteries, monasteries and abbeys - was dissolved by the French occupation and its property was expropriated. In 1804 part of the property was returned and St. Paulin was declared a parish church.

In the 20th century, St. Paulin was renovated in 1930/1931 (interior) and 1979–1982 (exterior). The organ was also repaired several times: In 1934 the organ manufacturer Klais carried out extensive modifications (including extensive electrification), and in 1991 it was restored by Klais.

On May 23, 1958 St. Paulin was by the then Pope Pius XII. the honorary title Basilica minor or Papal Basilica bestowed. After the Benedictine Abbey of St. Matthias and the Church of Our Lady, it was the third church in the city of Trier and the 32nd church in Germany to receive this title. As a sign of this honorary title, the coat of arms of Pope Francis is placed above the main portal .

Today's parish church of St. Paulin is a single-aisled complex with a retracted choir, under which there is a three-aisled crypt. The nave walls, choir apse and tower stand on the foundations of the central nave of the previous Romanesque building. The length of the church is 52 meters, the height of the tower to the top is almost 53 meters. The soaring exterior of the nave and choir is structured by buttresses and tall, slender arched windows. The three-storey tower is organically connected to the nave by rounding off the volutes above the lower storey. The two lower floors are square, the bell chamber above is hexagonal.

The building had been painted yellow and white since 1982, based on paint residues found at the time. During a restoration in 2014, however, it turned out that this color scheme had only been created in the 19th century. With modern technical means, the original color scheme in red-brown, yellow and white could be determined. This color scheme was also chosen for the repainting that was completed at the end of 2016.

Every year at the beginning of October the "Martyrs' Days" are held, at which the Trier martyr and members of the Theban Legion are remembered. On this occasion, among other things, the crypt in which the remains of the Roman soldiers are said to be made accessible. On other days of the year, the crypt is at least partially visible through a metal grille.

360 degree view
Show as spherical panorama

Concerts - mainly organ concerts - are also held in the church.

Views

  • Paulinkirche east side

  • St. Paulin front in the current color version from 2015/2016

  • Exterior view (south), current color version

  • Weathercock on the tower

  • Exterior view (southwest), color version until 2014

  • Exterior view (southeast), color version until 2014

  • Main portal with coat of arms of Elector Franz Georg von Schönborn

  • Coat of arms of Pope Francis above the entrance as a sign of a Basilica Minor

  • Scheffler fresco (detail)

  • Scheffler fresco (detail, crucifixion)

  • Altar of the side chapel

  • Medieval pieta on the altar of the side chapel

  • pulpit

  • Bronze statue of St. Paulinus

  • War memorial 1880

  • Memorial cross for the painter Louis Counet (+ 1721)

  • Crucifixion group

  • Interior view 1895

organ

organ

The organ of St. Paulin was built between 1747 and 1756 by the organ builder Romanus Benedikt Nollet (Trier). The organ case was built according to a design by Balthasar Neumann .

In 1858 the instrument was renewed by Heinrich Wilhelm Breidenfeld (Trier). In 1934 the organ building company Klais (Bonn) electrified the organ and added a swell mechanism to the instrument . In 1991 the organ was restored.

The instrument has 42 registers . With the exception of the swell mechanism, which has electric cone chests , the other manual works are on the historical mechanical slide chests from 1858, the pedal mechanism on mechanical slide chests from 1991.

I echo C – f 3
1. Hollow flute 8th'
2. Unda maris 8th'
3. Principal 4 ′
4th Gemshorn 4 ′
5. Nasard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
6th Octave 2 ′
7th third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
8th. Mixture III-IV 1'
9. Krummhorn 8th'
10. Vox humana 8th'
Tremulant
II Hauptwerk C – f 3
11. Drone 16 ′
12. Principal 8th'
13. Salicional 8th'
14th Viola da gamba 8th'
15th Reed flute 8th'
16. Octave 4 ′
17th Forest flute 4 ′
18th Slack doux 4 ′
19th Fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
20th Super octave 2 ′
21st Mixture V-III 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
22nd Trumpet 8th'
23. Clarino 4 ′
III Swell C – f 3
24. Lovely Gedackt 16 ′
25th Violin principal 8th'
26th Bordunal flute 8th'
27. Aeoline 8th'
28. Vox coelestis 8th'
29 Octave 4 ′
30th Forest flute 2 ′
31. Progressio III-IV 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
32. Tromp. Harm. 8th'
Tremulant
Pedal C – f 1
33. Principal 16 ′
34. Sub-bass 16 ′
35. Fifth bass 10 2 ⁄ 3  ′
36. Octave bass 8th'
37. Dumped 8th'
38. Tenor octave 4 ′
39. Rauschpfeife IV 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
40. Bombard 16 ′
41. trombone 8th'
42. Clairon 4 ′
  • Pairing :
    • Normal coupling: I / II, III / II, III / I, I / P, II / P, III / P
    • Super octave coupling: III / II, III / III

Bells

Four church bells hang in the wooden belfry in the belfry. The brothers Joseph and Charles Perrin (1797–1849) from Maisoncelles cast it in 1821, the smallest bell in 1822. Since there are only a few bells from the 19th century due to the two world wars, the bell from St. Paulin has a high historical value . The sound pattern corresponds to the type of French bell casting of that time. For Angelus at 07:30, 12:00 and 19:00 sounding 3 x 3 strokes on a bell 3, nachläutet out for a few minutes. A quarter of an hour before the start of measurements, two bells ring on working days, three for Sunday masses and all four bells on high festivals. The quarter hours are struck on bell 3, the whole hours on bell 1.

No.
  		Surname
  		Casting year
  		Caster
  		Diameter
(mm) 		Weight
(kg) 		Nominal
(16th note)
1 Paulinus & Trier Martyrs 1821 Joseph & Charles Perrin 1570 2365 h 0 −11
2 Nicholas & Donatus 1420 1774 cis 1 -9
3 Michael & Walburga 1273 1239 d 1 −5
4th Petrus & Johannes Nepomuk 1168 1017 e 1 −4

Cemetery and church forecourt

There is a small cemetery to the east and north of the church. Since 1989 there has been a chapel with the grave of the blessed Ursuline sister Blandine Merten .

In the west of the church there is a stone cross on the church forecourt, which is similar to the Trier market cross . It is unknown whether the cross is a market cross, a court or immunity mark, or a martyr's cross.

Vineyard property

The St. Paulin Abbey maintained vineyards in various areas on the Moselle until secularization at the beginning of the 19th century. One of the most famous wineries is the Paulinshof winery in Kesten on the Middle Moselle . It was first mentioned in 936 AD in a deed of gift from King Henry I.

See also

literature

  • Regine Dölling (Ed.): The Catholic parish church of St. Paulin in Trier (=  preservation of monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate. Research reports . Volume 8 ). Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2005, ISBN 978-3-88462-221-6 (with contributions by Reinhold Elenz, Doris Fischer, Elisabeth Jägers).
  • Thomas Lutgen: The new exterior color of the collegiate church and today's parish church St. Paulin in Trier , in Kurtrierisches Jahrbuch 2017, p. 387ff.

Movies

  • Film by Catherine von Westernhagen for the SWR series Heaven on Earth (2018)

Web links

Commons : St. Paulin (Trier)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Matthäus Merian's engraving from 1646 is very similar to the woodcut of Trier from 1548 in Sebastian Münster's Cosmographiae Universalis (title: Situs & figura antiquissimae & praecipuae Medioniatricum ciuitatis Treuirensis), which is considered to be the first authentic cityscape of Trier. Although Merian's view is more detailed than the woodcut, it does not depict structural changes that were made between 1548 and 1646 (e.g. to the Constantine Basilica). Comparison of the woodcut in the Latin edition of Cosmographiae Universalis from 1550 on Historic Cities
  2. ↑ a b c d Trier Orgelpunkt ("Common church music page of the High Cathedral and the Evangelical Parish in Trier"): Sankt Paulin (accessed January 30, 2007)
  3. ^ City of Trier / Tourist Information: St. Paulin: Construction and History (accessed January 30, 2007)
  4. ↑ volksfreund.de
  5. ↑ volksfreund.de
  6. ↑ [1]

Coordinates: 49 ° 45 ′ 44 ″  N , 6 ° 39 ′ 8 ″  E