St. Ulrich (Wilchenreuth, Protestant)
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The Church of St. Ulrich in Wilchenreuth is a Romanesque country church in the municipality of Theisseil , near the town of Weiden in the Upper Palatinate . Until 1912 St. Ulrich was a simultaneous church , currently it is owned by the Evangelical parish Neustadt an der Waldnaab . The church was built at the end of the 12th century as a simple Romanesque hall building with a retracted round apse, probably as the chapel of a noble residence that has now disappeared. A pastor's position is only definitely occupied for the year 1363.
Building type
The church represents a Romanesque type represented in the Upper Palatinate: a hall church with a semicircular east apse, west gallery and secular upper floor. Similar systems of the Romanesque country church type with a secular upper floor can still be found today in Schönkirch, Hof near Oberviechtach, Obertrübenbach near Roding, Schönfeld near Altenthann (perhaps the most important example), Zinzendorf near Wörth on the Danube, in Kreuzhof and in Harting near Regensburg.
The purpose of the respective upper floors is not clearly clarified; The function as asylum and refuge or pilgrims' hostel is conceivable. However, it is not permissible in this church of a fortified church or even a fortified church to speak: To the first missing defenses as machicolations and loopholes - Romanesque slit window should not be confused with it! -, to the latter the strategically favorable location and the necessary wall ring.
Construction phases
At least three, more likely four construction phases are occupied:
- 12th century: Construction of the basement in ashlar masonry with carefully hewn granite outer shell, rectangular church space with west gallery and a little indented round apse in the east, Romanesque round windows in the north and east, flat buttresses on the apse, without static function, ending under the roof ridge, for visual structuring (similar to the French "Contreforts").
- 13th century: The chapel was increased by an upper floor intended for profane purposes, made of quarry stone masonry with corner blocks, today plastered, small rectangular windows, access to the church was secured inside through the arched portal in the north, outside through a raised outside entrance in the west (see Image).
- After the 13th century: Structural changes to the exterior (gable approaches using ashlar technology, the west entrance with a flat lintel) were made either at the same time or later.
- 20th century: The entrance canopies in the west and north, the sacristy and the half-timbered roof turret were added in 1912.
Apse painting
A rarity in the Upper Palatinate are the preserved Romanesque apse paintings, which were uncovered in fragments in 1904, but then changed again in the overall impression by an improper restoration in the years 1908–1912 (filling painting in the sections that were not preserved). In the center of the apse half-dome, set off by powerful warriors, is an enthroned Christ Pantocrator , next to him the symbolic figures of the 4 evangelists, including a frieze with 6 only partially preserved image fields with themes from the life of Jesus. The tendrils on the triumphal arch date from around 1230–1240. In addition, there are still small remains of painting.
Furnishing
The church furnishings come mainly from the time of the modern restoration in 1912: crucifix copy by Tilman Riemenschneider , exposed pulpit paintings (Johannes Evangelista, John the Baptist, Saint Bartholomew), extension of the gallery to the north, organ prospect, painting of the pews, reconstruction of the sacristy, new baptismal font , everything in the sense of rural redesign (according to Dehio, transition from late historicism to the Heimatstil). Old sacrificial stock in the central aisle of the church, roughly hewn from a tree trunk and studded with strong iron bands. An endowment founded in 1614 by Andreas Meissner from precious village chalice , a goldsmith, is now in custody of the Protestant parish Neustadt.
Bells
In the roof turret of the church there is a 3-part bell with the tone sequence h 'cis "e". The two larger bells were cast by the Erdinger bell foundry in Erding in 1955 .
literature
- Georg Dehio : Handbook of German Art Monuments , Volume Bavaria V: Regensburg and Upper Palatinate , Munich 2008.
- Hans Ottmann: The Ulrich Church in Wilchenreuth and its traces of history . In: Oberpfälzer Heimat, Volume 63, pp. 135–144, Weiden 2019.
Web links
- Aerial photos of the Ulrichskirche in Wilchenreuth ( online )
Coordinates: 49 ° 42 '22 " N , 12 ° 13' 11.9" E