St. Pelagius (Bischofszell)
The collegiate church of St. Pelagius is the Roman Catholic parish church of Bischofszell in the canton of Thurgau . Bischofszell belongs to the pastoral area Bischofsberg , which consists of the parishes of Bischofszell-Hauptwil, St. Pelagiberg and Sitterdorf .
Development and construction history
After the region around Bischofszell was settled in the 6th or 7th century, the Bishop of Constance , Solomon I (838–871) or Solomon III. (890–919), who built the Canons of St. Pelagius . The three to nine secular priests who formed the community of canons were subordinate to a Constance canon who was represented in Bischofszell by a custodian . The patronage of the church goes to Bishop Solomon III. back: He brought the relics of the early Christian martyr St. Pelagius from Rome to Constance , where they were kept in a stone sarcophagus in the crypt of the Constance Minster .
In the 10th century, the Church of St. Pelagius was a three-aisled pillar church, which was closed with an apse . The place name Bischoffescella was first mentioned in a document dated November 15, 1155. Around 1300 the nave of the 9th century complex was enlarged, a Gothic choir was added and two side chapels were added. A rood screen separated the choir and nave from the 14th century. In 1460 Bischofszell came under the rule of the Confederates without the Constance bishop having given up his claims to rule.
In 1529 the Reformation in Bischofszell was carried out under the influence of Johannes Zwick . From then on, the town church was used for Reformed church services. As a result of the Second Kappel War , it was decided two years later that those who remained Catholic were given the right to use the church. The canons' monastery was restored in 1533 and existed until 1848. After the Second Villmerger War , the Diessenhofen tractate laid down the rights and obligations of joint ownership. The equal use of the historic church in Bischofszell continued until the 1960s.
1708–1709 the domed sacristy and confessional chapel were added to the east of the choir . In 1864 the church was redesigned in neo-Gothic style, and in 1922 it was decorated in the style of the time. When it became apparent in the 1960s that the parity church had to be reorganized, Catholics and Reformed people considered breaking up the parity relationship. After the Protestant community had built the Johannes Church in 1968/69 according to the plans of the Zurich architect Benedikt Huber , the St. Pelagius Church was reserved for Catholics. Because the Catholics of Hauptwil also wanted to build their own house of God, the church of St. Antonius in Hauptwil-Gottshaus was built from Bischofszell in the years 1967–1968 . 1968–1971 the church was renovated by architect Franz Bucher. He lengthened the nave, replaced the two galleries with a single one and removed the neo-Gothic elements from 1864 and the decorations from 1922.
Building description
Church tower and exterior
The St. Pelagius Church stands in the middle of the old town of Bischofszell and is surrounded by medieval houses. It is a three-aisled basilica complex from the 14th and 15th centuries. The symbol of the church is the baroque helmet that completes the medieval tower.
Bells
The six-part bell was cast by Emil Eschmann in 1967 in Rickenbach TG . The bells ring in the Salve Regina motif with a doubled keynote.
| number | Weight | volume | dedication |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5120 kg | As ° | Trinity |
| 2 | 2520 kg | c ' | St. Pelagius |
| 3 | 1525 kg | it' | Mother of God Mary |
| 4th | 1054 kg | f ' | Guardian Angel |
| 5 | 606 kg | as' | St. Wendelin |
| 6th | 410 kg | b ' | John the Baptist |
Interior and artistic equipment
Inside the church there are elements of equipment from different eras. On the south wall there are remains of a passion cycle , on the west and north walls some parts of detached frescoes depicting the life of St. Ambrosius and fragments of an Annunciation , all from around 1500. Above the south door there is a crucifix from the 16th century, next to the north door there is a Mother of God by Conrad Martiner from 1905. Above the choir there is a rococo design by Hans Georg Graf as well as a painting by Joh Church Patron, St. Pelagius, represents. The high altar is attributed to a Constance master from 1639–1640. The main sheet depicts the Ascension of Christ and comes from Sebastian Eberhard. On brackets , St. Pelagius and St. Theodul the picture, above are St. Fridolin and St. Potenziana and in the middle the Archangel Michael . In the southern sacrament chapel there are fragments of late Gothic wall paintings depicting the Last Judgment and the martyrdom of 10,000 knights. The northern Chapel of Our Lady is a neo-Gothic building from 1866. The contemporary colored windows were made by Heinrich Stäubli in 1971.
Organs
In 1486 the church received its first organ , which was placed on the rood screen. In 1523 a new organ was built by Hans Schentzer, Stuttgart , with supposedly 20 stops. In 1546 the church received its third organ, which was built by Aron and Sigmund Riegg from Memmingen and which was placed on the rood screen. This instrument probably had 23 registers. After the Reformation, the collegiate church was used equally. At that time the Catholics and the Reformed had their own organ at times. That was probably also the reason for Michael Grass to build an "Evangelical" organ on the west gallery with 14 or 16 registers. In 1864 the rood screen organ and the organ on the west gallery were demolished. In 1865 the Walcker company , Ludwigsburg , built another organ with 30 registers on the west gallery. In 1922 the Walcker organ was converted into a pneumatic pocket organ with 34 stops on two manuals and a pedal by the company Kuhn , Männedorf . In 1943 Orgelbau Kuhn expanded it to 35 registers.
1968 Walcker / Kuhn organ was removed and 1971 & by today's organ in unison by Neidhart Lhôte, St. Martin, with 12 registers, 2 manuals and pedals, as well as 1975 by the organ on the west gallery by organbuilder Wilfried Albiez, Lindau , with 30 registers on 2 manuals and pedal replaced. The organ has a third manual, which can also be used to play the choir organ. The choir organ has two manuals and a pedal, but this separation is not possible from the main organ, all stops of the choir organ are on the III. Played manually. The choir organ can also be registered from the main organ and linked to a manual or to the pedal of the main organ. Difficulty playing both instruments are the different actions, the great distance to the choir organ and the delayed response.
Main organ
Disposition of the Albiez organ:
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- Couple
- Register crescendo
- six typesetting combinations
- mechanical action mechanism
- electrical stop action
Choir organ
Disposition of the choir organ:
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- Couple
- mechanical action mechanism (electrically controllable)
- electrical stop action
literature
- Evangelical church council Bischofszell-Hauptwil (ed.): Johannes-Kirche Bischofszell. In memory of the construction and inauguration of the Johannes Church in Bischofszell. Bischofszell 1974.
- Angelus Hux, Alexander Troehler: KlangRäume. Churches and organs in Thurgau. Frauenfeld 2007.
- Parish Bischofszell (Ed.): Collegiate Church of St. Pelagius. Bischofszell 2015.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Hux, Troehler: KlangRäume. 2007, p. 106.
- ↑ a b c Parish Bischofszell (ed.): Collegiate Church of St. Pelagius. 2015, p. 2.
- ↑ a b Evangelical church council, Bischofszell-Hauptwil (ed.): Johannes-Kirche Bischofszell. 1974, pp. 43-46.
- ↑ Hux, Troehler: KlangRäume. 2007, p. 104.
- ↑ Bells of the Church of St. Pelagius on YouTube . Retrieved September 18, 2016.
- ^ Parish Bischofszell (ed.): Collegiate Church of St. Pelagius. 2015, pp. 2–3.
- ^ Organ profile Catholic Church of St. Pelagius, main organ, Bischofszell TG. In: Organ directory Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
- ↑ Hux, Troehler: KlangRäume. 2007, p. 112.
- ↑ Hux, Troehler: KlangRäume. 2007, p. 110.
Coordinates: 47 ° 29 '38.11 " N , 9 ° 14' 19.61" O ; CH1903: 735641 / 261 907