City Parish Church (Hartberg)

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City parish church of St. Martin
Inside view of the parish church of St. Martin

The Roman Catholic parish church of St. Martin in Hartberg was consecrated to St. Martin of Tours . Today's exterior design is based on the late baroque color scheme.

history

The parish church stands on the remains of a Roman building from around 200 AD.

Romanesque

Immediately after the establishment of the first market in Hartberg around 1128 a Romanesque choir square church was built and dedicated to St. Martin consecrated. The parish was founded around 1140 next to Riegersburg and Leibnitz as one of the original parishes by the archival deacon Reinbert von Fischau. The first pastor Erchenger is mentioned in a document in 1157. For the period from 1163 to 1201 Ulrich, a nephew of the archdeacon Reinbert, appears as pastor of Hartberg in eight documents. Pastor Ulrich (1163–1201) had the square choir expanded into a three-aisled pillar basilica with a tower above the eastern choir. The main nave and the two low, windowed aisles were given flat ceilings. The construction of today's church tower, originally a Romanesque defense tower made of cut ashlar, could also fall during this construction period.

Gothic

Gothic star rib vault

Around the middle of the 15th century, in the Gothic style, the chancel of the church was extended to the east. The main nave got a star rib vault and its own church tower (east tower). From the vaults that were newly built at the time, the Gothic ribbed vault in the central nave is still preserved. The date 1467 is engraved on the strut pillars.

Baroque

Hartberg parish church, baroque west facade

In the fire disaster in 1715, Hartberg was destroyed except for a few houses. The defense tower burned out and the church was also affected. The fire damage, the partially dilapidation and the small capacity of the church required a new building. In 1750, the pastor Gerhard Soecker (1736–1758) from Westphalia began extensive construction work. In 1751, however, the decision was made to carry out extensive renovations.

The Romanesque aisles were demolished, rebuilt, provided with galleries and extended to the west side of the former fortified tower. The Romanesque defense tower was expanded into today's baroque church tower with one of the most beautiful spiers in Styria. The chancel was given a new vault and after the dilapidated east tower was demolished, the adjacent choir square received an oval flat dome instead. The sacristy was enlarged and the Marienkapelle added to the north. The Hartberg builder Thoman Reiff, who was entrusted with the construction work, was able to complete the renovation in 1756. The entire interior was redesigned in baroque style.

Renovations

  • Exterior renovations, around 1840, 1887, 1928, 1955, 1978, 2005
  • Interior renovations, around 1840, 1863, 1905–1911, 1960, 1973, 2004

An excavation in the course of the interior renovation in 1973 brought some clarity about the four construction periods of the parish church. When installing the floor heating, not only hypocausts and wall parts of a Roman building from the 2nd / 3rd Century and the foundations of the Romanesque choir square church emerged, but also a crypt .

Furnishing

High altar
inner space
Hartberg parish church interior - harmony of Gothic and Baroque

When entering the church, the first thing you notice is the harmonious interior design, a successful merging of the Gothic room with the baroque furnishings, a high altar and seven side altars.

presbytery

The high altar picture was created by the Vorau monastery painter Johann Cyriak Hackhofer before the baroque renovation, probably in 1717. It shows how St. Martin floats skyward. Angels swarm around him and carry all the episcopal utensils. The frescoes by the court chamber painter Josef Adam Mölk above the high altar show St. Martin on his arrival in heaven. The high altar with the column structure was built in 1766.

The end of the presbytery is formed by the statue of St. Virgin Mary and on the right the statue of St. Joseph with the baby Jesus .

In 1984 the chancel was redesigned. The baroque choir stalls came from the collegiate church in Göß , the stone altar table was designed by the Graz architect Reinhard Schöpf. A large Gothic crucifix hovers over the altar , which was slightly modified in the Baroque period.

Lady Chapel

The Lady Chapel is opposite the sacristy to the north.

Baptistery

Baptismal font 1648

The fresco in the baptistery represents St. John the Baptist at the baptism of Jesus. The stone Renaissance baptismal font bears the year 1648. Four oil paintings show the adoration of the Magi, the circumcision of Jesus, the presentation of Jesus in the temple and the murder of children in Bethlehem. The memorial stones of the lord of the castle Maximilian Steinpeis († 1635) and the pastor Matthias Doll von Dollenberg († 1657) are attached to the south wall of the baptistery .

Side altars

Hartberg parish church, side altar of St. Aloisius
  • Rosary altar The altarpiece shows the handing over of the rosary by the Mother of God to St. Dominic .
  • Altar of the apostles Peter and Paul The right altar is dedicated to the holy apostles Peter and Paul . The still pictures on both sides represent the hll. Franz Xaver and Aloisius .
  • Marienaltar A Gothic Pietà from around 1420 and a golden altar porch from the 19th century are integrated into a baroque altar . The golden sun rises behind Mary, who is holding the dead body of Jesus. In the upper part of the altar, the Easter sun rises behind the cross.
  • Altar of the Holy Family The altarpiece shows the Holy Family in their home in Nazareth. To the left and right of it are the statues of St. Catherine and St. Barbara . The ceiling fresco also depicts the Holy Family . Joseph stands by a dying person, he is the patron saint of the dying.
  • Altar of St. Francis Xavier The next side altar is dedicated to St. Consecrated to Franz Xaver . In the ceiling fresco you can see St. Franz Xaver at the baptism of the Indians. The altarpiece shows him dying. The statues represent St. Augustine and St. Florian represents
  • Altar of St. John Nepomuk The statues represent the apostles Peter and Paul. The ceiling fresco shows St. John of Nepomuk before King Wenceslaus .
  • Altar of St. Aloisius Above the Aloisius altar with the statues of St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. John of the Cross shows the Mölck fresco St. Aloisius renouncing the world and the crown.

organ

The organ is located on the western gallery and was handed over ready for use by the Graz organ builder Ferdinand Schwarz in 1762. With its 29 registers, it was the third largest organ in Styria, alongside Mariazell and Admont, until the 19th century . The organ was renewed in 1942 by the organ builder Karl Schuke from Berlin, whereby only the front pipes and the case of the black organ were preserved. In 1969 the organ was expanded to include two more registers (trumpet and trombone). The organ now has 22 registers on two manuals and a pedal with an electro-pneumatic action . The gaming table is set up on the side. On the sides there are statues of King David and St. Cecilia .

pulpit

The pulpit , which the Graz sculptor Mathias Leitner created in 1753, is a stucco marble work , similar to the altars, marbled in gray, red and white. On the acoustic roof of the pulpit are the statues of the four seated evangelists and, as a crown, Christ as the good shepherd. On the basket are gold-plated reliefs of "Sheep on the pasture" and the "Handing over of the pastoral office to Peter".

Steeple

The church tower is 54 m high and, with its 90 m² gold surface (16,500 gold plates), is one of the church towers with the most gold in Austria.

"I Lorenz Husickh locksmith master on the Rinnen Markh made this Creitz and Helm glorious God and his saints and glorified the 14th julius 1755th year it was set up."

- Quote in the tower head

Bells

From 1659 until the First World War there were six bells in the church tower.

In 1942 the bells had to be melted down for war purposes, only the smallest, donated by the Schildbach community in 1924, remained. Since this bell could not be included in a new ringing, it was handed over to the mission and is now in San José de Chiquitos in Bolivia .

On August 24, 1958, six new bells were raised:

Surname consecrated to the Weight volume Percussion
Martin's bell St. Martin 2265 kg c ' (Hour)
Anniversary bell Christ the King 1611 kg d ' (Quarter of an hour)
Fire bell St. Florian / St. Francis of Assisi 1135 kg e '
Angel of the Lord Bell St. Mary and Anna 704 kg G'
Weather bell St. Leonhard and Notburga 472 kg a '
Death bell St. Joseph 245 kg c ''

Video system

In 2007 a video system consisting of 3 dome cameras and 7 displays was installed. With this system it is possible, despite the structural conditions, to follow the central divine service from all places in the church. The video system is also the basis for the internet broadcast of the service via live stream .

See also

literature

  • Josef Strauss: Hartberg . A city through the ages. Heimat Verlag, Schwarzach 2003, ISBN 3-9501643-8-3 , p. 11-13 .
  • Hartberg Parish (Ed.): 850 Years of Living Hartberg Parish . Festschrift. 2007, p. 74, 160-167 .
  • Parish Hartberg (Hrsg.): Hartberg parish church and Karner . 2nd Edition. S. 3-9 .
  • Parish Hartberg (ed.): Parish church and Karner Hartberg . 2008, p. 3-21 .
  • Château Gaillard: Actes du colloque international de Graz (Autriche), 22-29 août 1998. Publications du CRAHM, 2000, ISBN 9782902685097 , pp. 7-8 ( online ).

Web links

Commons : Stadtpfarrkirche  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 47 ° 16 ′ 50 ″  N , 15 ° 58 ′ 9 ″  E