St. Wolfgang (Essenbach)
The pilgrimage church St. Wolfgang is located in the open field on a hill, the Sankt-Wolfgang-Berg, north of the Isar valley near Essenbach in the Lower Bavarian district of Landshut . The patron saint of the church is St. Wolfgang (Remembrance Day: October 31), who is also the patron saint of the Regensburg diocese . The Gothic wall paintings from the early 15th century are remarkable in terms of art history and their scope - with the exception of the branch church St. Peter and Paul in Berghofen - is unique in a wide area. Sankt Wolfgang is an officially named district of Essenbach.
history
Because of its advanced position above the Isar valley, an important road connection between Regensburg and Salzburg led over the Sankt-Wolfgang-Berg in the Middle Ages or even in Roman times . The legend has it that the holy Wolfgang , 10, in the late century bishop and now patron of the diocese of Regensburg, in his travels to the monastery Mondsee in the Salzkammergut made stop here and have left a body impression on a rock. Based on this legend, a lively pilgrimage to Sankt Wolfgang will soon have developed; The location of today's church, far from any buildings, also indicates its function as a pilgrimage church . A pilgrimage of the Landshut tailors' guild is documented as early as the late Middle Ages ; To this day, the parish of Essenbach holds annual processions to the St. Wolfgang Church.
In the early 14th century, an early Gothic chapel was built on the site of the current building . It is unclear whether this corresponds to today's choir of the Wolfgangskirche. Today's nave and possibly the choir were rebuilt in the same century . The church had as broken traces reveal the inside of the west facade, originally one in the ship -entrant west tower . This was probably replaced in the late 15th century by a larger tower with a rectangular floor plan , the core of which still exists today. The tower top with a baroque onion dome was built in 1689 according to an inscription on the south side of the superstructure. During this time the church furnishings were also baroque; In addition, a painted wooden ceiling and the gallery were drawn in and the neighboring hermitage was built. Massive overpainting of the Gothic frescoes was carried out, which was uncovered again around 1900 and partially supplemented. At the same time, the carved panel paintings on the side altars were brought to the parish church of St. Peter in Altheim , where they are still part of the side altars to this day. At that time, Assumption of Mary in Essenbach was still part of the Altheim parish with St. Wolfgang ; Essenbach was raised to a parish only in 1922.
In 1957, a renovation project funded by the Niederbayern district was carried out. The onion hood and the church roof were repaired and a new wooden ceiling was installed in the nave. In 1982 the first attempt to dry the wall was made, which turned out to be unsuccessful. In 1993 the baroque altar was restored. The largest renovation in recent times took place in 2001/02: the walls were dried and given a restoration plaster , new drainage was created, the roof structure was repaired, a new onion dome and a new belfry were built, the historical paintings were preserved according to the requirements and the pulpit restored.
architecture
Exterior construction
The Wolfgangskirche consists of three structures (from east to west): the choir with a square floor plan, the nave and the rectangular tower, which are arranged in a slightly rising shape according to the slope of the terrain. The choir and nave are each covered with a gable roof at approximately the same incline. While the north side has no windows, the south wall, which also forms the courtyard side towards the hermitage, is loosened up by a slit-like Gothic pointed arch window , a narrow rectangular window and a round arched window . In addition, a walled-up doorway with a straight lintel can be seen in the masonry of the south wall about halfway up , the earlier access to the pulpit . This pulpit ascent can be documented, for example, by a votive picture from 1811; The inside of the pulpit staircase was probably built later.
The separated tower with a rectangular floor plan forms the western end. The late Gothic substructure , which reaches just above the ridge height , comprises four storeys , with the second and third being decorated with partially bevelled pointed arches. The octagonal attachment, which was added in 1689, contains the bell cage and has ogival sound openings on four sides . A brick with the year of construction (1689) can be found in the masonry of the superstructure on the south side. At the top, the tower closes with a copper-covered onion dome with a ball and cross .
inner space
The floor in the interior of the church is based on the level of the choir room. Therefore, at the pointed arched portal with wrought iron fittings , which leads to the ground floor of the tower, three worn brick steps have to be descended. The transition from the tower to the ship is also pointed.
The square, one-bay choir is spanned by a Gothic ribbed vault with shield ribs . This has a strong, round keystone . The ribs are rectangular in cross-section and arise from rectangular corner pillars. The consoles at the transition between the wall pillars and the ribs were knocked off. Instead of a sacristy, there are niches in the north and south walls of the choir room and two niches in the east wall for storing liturgical implements. The choir arch is pointed and chamfered on the west side.
The nave has a flat wooden ceiling and, due to the low floor level, has a large room height. The western wooden gallery rests on a slender oak column . The anteroom on the first floor of the tower is spanned by a star-shaped , late Gothic ribbed vault with pointed arches and a simple, round keystone that rests on bevelled corner pillars. The pear-shaped ribs emerge from head consoles.
Furnishing
Establishment of the choir room
Late Gothic choir stalls from around 1500 have been placed on both sides of the chancel . Recognizable by a black coat of arms on one of the benches, it was donated by the Landshut tailors' guild . The high altar is a baroque triumphal arch -Altar with two marbled , winding and gilded vines entwined columns. This is likely to have originated around the middle of the 17th century. Instead of the altar sheet, in the middle of the anthracite-colored retable is a seated figure of St. Wolfgang, which was created around the same time as the altar. It is flanked by the side figures of St. Notburga (left) and St. Barbara (right) - modern South Tyrolean carvings that replace stolen Baroque figures of Saints Agnes and Katharina . All three figures are only set up for church services . The figure of St. Lawrence in the excerpt was also lost due to theft.
Furnishing of the nave
The baroque seating is of a simple but solid design. The pulpit, which is also baroque, is likely to have been built at the same time as the high altar. The polygonal body with corner pillars is decorated on the sides with shell work and fruit pendants. The niche in the wall behind the pulpit also shows that it was previously accessible from the outside. Three late Gothic figures of Saints Maria , Ulrich and Magdalena from around 1500 were also stolen. The Gothic side altars were removed around 1900 and parts of them were used for the neo-Gothic side altars in the Altheim parish church. The cafeteria has been preserved from the right side altar , above it a modern figure of the mourning Maria under the cross. In place of the left side altar is a modern wooden figure of the church patron Wolfgang.
Gothic frescoes
On the inner walls of the choir and nave, with the exception of the west wall, Gothic frescoes have been preserved, which must have been made before 1425. These were whitewashed in the course of the Baroque renovation, exposed again during a renovation measure around 1900 and partially redrawn and refreshed. In some cases, however, the frescoes were replaced by new motifs , for example on the choir vault, in the reveal of the choir arch and on the choir arch wall. In 1957, during a restoration of the Wolfgang Church sponsored by the district of Niederbayern, the new frescoes created at the turn of the century were removed and the historical stock of frescoes - as good as possible - restored. In 2001/02 the historical motifs were consolidated in terms of conservation.
A continuous plinth curtain in red and yellow stretches along the painted walls in the lower part, above - filling the entire height of the walls - simple figural scenes and individual figures without a background in warm tones of earth colors . Ornamental was used very sparingly.
Choir
A starry sky is depicted on the choir vault , interrupted by eight circular fields, the contents of which have been greatly faded. In four of the eight fields you could originally see the evangelist symbols , of which the lion, as an attribute of Mark, can still be seen most clearly. The remaining four fields probably contained representations of angels with banners , possibly the Annunciation to Mary . The round keystone on the choir vault should originally have shown Jesus Christ ; right below him stands the priest at Holy Mass .
On the inside walls of the choir, in addition to two crosses of the Apostles , figurative scenes and individual figures can be seen. The representation on the south wall of the choir is interrupted by a window opening that was subsequently broken out. The twelve-year-old Jesus is shown teaching in the temple , sitting on a raised, throne-like chair, while the scholars are grouped in a crouched position at his feet. The other depictions probably show Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem or the Holy Family on their return from Egypt as well as Jesus being brought home from the temple by his parents.
Opposite on the north wall you can see depictions of Saints Wolfgang (left) and Valentin (right), standing as bishops. Behind the former are two pilgrims kneeling and praying . Also to be seen are three saints within an aureole , possibly an early depiction of the Holy Trinity or the coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven .
On the east wall, partially covered by the high altar, the Visitation of Mary can be seen on the left , the colors of which have almost completely faded. Today the motif is only recognizable from the red chalk drawing . In the middle above the small window there is an angel swinging a smoke barrel ; the window reveal is filled with foliage. On the right, Mary and Joseph are shown walking. When the frescoes were uncovered around 1900, tendrils were also found in the choir arch reveal; Neo-Gothic images of saints had previously been painted in the still recognizable medallions .
Longhouse
On the left of the choir arch wall, the east wall of the nave, there is a clearly recognizable depiction of St. Christopher with the baby Jesus on his shoulders. The Last Judgment is shown in almost faded colors above the choir arch and to the right of it . Above can be seen fanfare tubes from heavenly heights, the sounds of which awaken the dead from their graves on the lower right . The central representation of Christ as judge , surrounded by trumpet- blowing angels and adoring saints, is barely recognizable.
A large part of the frescoes on the south wall of the nave has been lost due to built-in windows; here, too, the pulpit reduces the wall area. In the upper area to the left and right of the pulpit at least five of the twelve apostles are depicted with their attributes, in the lower area the remains of two scenes from the life of St. Wolfgang, the beheading of John the Baptist and in the rear area again a larger than life representation of St. Christopher.
The frescoes on the windowless north wall of the nave, which reflect the entire life story of Jesus, are best preserved. As on the opposite wall, the pictures are shown in two rows one above the other; the division of the individual image fields is unevenly more regular here. All fields are almost square with an edge length of around 1.15 meters. Starting with the fourth picture from the left, the bottom row shows (from left to right): the Annunciation to Mary, the birth of Christ in the manger with ox and donkey, the adoration of the Magi , the presentation of Jesus in the temple, the death of the Virgin in the circle of the twelve apostles with Christ hovering over the scene, who receives the soul of Mary depicted as a child. The chronological order of the pictures continues in the top row (from left to right): the Judas kiss , the demonstration at Pilate , the flagellation on the flagellum , the crowning of thorns and mockery by the Roman soldiers, the carrying of the cross , the crucifixion with Mary and John and the Entombment . The three remaining images in the bottom row (from left to right) represent: the resurrection , the appearance of Jesus to the women and finally the ascension .
Bells
The two historic beehive-shaped bells of Wolfgang's Church from the 14th century and 1480 were confiscated and melted down during the Second World War . After the war they were replaced by a foundation of two new bells, which to this day are only rung by hand.
ensemble
Next to the church is the pilgrimage hermitage in the style of an old farmhouse , which is open on Sundays and serves as a meeting place for the parish of Essenbach. The single-storey block building made of thick wooden planks was probably built in the 17th or 18th century. The formerly shingled roof is today with bricks covered. The church and hermitage are surrounded by a whitewashed churchyard wall, which also dates from the 17th or 18th century.
Others
The motif of the pilgrimage church St. Wolfgang with a sunflower field in full bloom is used as an image image by the Landshut district . The Landshuter Zeitung uses a graphic representation of the Wolfgang Church to identify articles that affect the entire district .
literature
- Sixtus Lampl: Essenbach and its churches . Bound. Schlossverlag Valley, 2008.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g Lampl, pp. 16-18.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Parish office Essenbach, Mettenbach + Mirskofen: The pilgrimage church of St. Wolfgang . Online at www.pfarramt-essenbach.de ; accessed on December 26, 2019.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Parish office Essenbach, Mettenbach + Mirskofen: The church of St. Wolfgang on Wolfgang mountain . Online at www.pfarramt-essenbach.de ; accessed on December 26, 2019.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Anton Eckardt (Hrsg.): Art monuments of the Kingdom of Bavaria - District Office Landshut. Oldenbourg, Munich 1914, pp. 83ff. ( Digitized version ).
- ↑ a b c market community Essenbach: Churches & parish offices . Online at www.essenbach.de ; accessed on December 26, 2019.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Lampl, pp. 18–20.
Coordinates: 48 ° 37 '26.3 " N , 12 ° 12' 48.8" E