Parish Church of the Assumption of Mary (Berching)
.JPG)
The Roman Catholic parish church of the Assumption of Mary in Berching , a town in the Bavarian district of Neumarkt in the Upper Palatinate , goes back to an early Gothic choir tower church and was essentially given its present form in the middle of the 18th century, i.e. in the Rococo style . The interior is also kept very uniform in the Rococo style. The Berching parish church is one of the most important church buildings of the 18th century in the diocese of Eichstätt . In addition, it is considered to be the most successful work of the Prince- Bishop 's court building director Maurizio Pedetti , as it was executed very unconventionally for the time, but still creates a harmonious overall impression.
location
The parish church of the Assumption of Mary is located in the historic old town of Berching ( ensemble protection E-3-73-112-1), which is enclosed between the Main-Danube Canal, built at the end of the 20th century, and the Sulz river , at a height of 385 m above sea level NN . The church is in the south-east of the district formed by the two intersecting main streets in the city center. It is enclosed on three sides by residential buildings; only on the east side, from Dr.-Grabmann- Platz, does the view of the simple east facade with the choir tower and the sacristy extensions on both sides open up .
history
The church construction goes back to an early Gothic choir tower church, which was first mentioned in 1422 as the " Liebfrauenkapelle ". In 1488, today's parish church was called “capella”, so it was a rather insignificant place of worship. As early as 1515, however, this was greatly upgraded by adding a preacher position and expanded by adding two side chapels. In 1519, the parish seat was finally transferred from the St. Lorenz Church outside the city fortifications . As it turned out a little later, this time was chosen very favorably, as Berching was hit by the " Mässinger Haufe" in the course of the German Peasants' War in 1524/25 , which the city survived largely unscathed thanks to its high wall and courageous vigilante group.
In contrast, the church building was badly affected in the Thirty Years War . The first repairs were made between 1661 and 1663. In the years 1684/85, the parish church, like St. Lorenz's before, was rebuilt by Johann Baptist Camesino , architect of the Eichstätt Monastery. Jakob Engels had drawn up the plans for this. Two rectangular chapel extensions were created at the east end of the ship with semicircular conches inside, a new choir on the tower ground floor and a new portal .
However, as early as 1742 the church showed such damage that the citizens of Berching asked Prince Bishop Johann Anton II of Freyberg in Eichstätt for a new building. As a result, well-known master builders, the prince-bishop's court building director Gabriel de Gabrieli , the building inspector Matthias Seybold and the Ingolstadt city mason Michael Anton Prunnthaler, all of them came to the conclusion that a new building was indicated. However, this was not carried out by any of the three. So in March 1750 the citizens turned again to the prince-bishop, who now went to Berching personally to get an idea of the dilapidated parish church. He then gave the new court building director Maurizio Pedetti the job of looking after the church. However, this did not envisage a new building, but rather found an elegant conversion solution taking into account the structural conditions. An extension in the longitudinal direction was not possible due to the dense development west of the church. Instead, a widening of the church was chosen. In addition, two new chapel extensions were added on the sides, which look like a transept inside the church, and a flat western extension with beveled corners. This plan of 1751/53 was carried out between 1755 and 1758. On May 15, 1760, Prince-Bishop Raymund Anton von Strasoldo consecrated the rebuilt parish church, which essentially still exists in this form today. The furnishing of the church in the Rococo style continued until around 1785.
The last renovation work was not very long ago. An exterior renovation was carried out in 1974 and an interior renovation in 1982/83. In 2014/15 extensive water damage was repaired, the outer facade was renewed and the roof was renovated.
architecture
Exterior construction
The parish church has an unconventional structural design in many ways. At first glance, the floor plan suggests that the choir is facing west. The annex there with beveled corners, which was added during the Rococo period - one might think that it was a presbytery closing on three sides - only accommodates the two church portals on the north and south sides as well as the organ loft . In contrast, the choir is, as was common at the time, on the east side, which from the outside looks more like a portal facade. The central choir tower is framed by two sacristy extensions. There is a sundial on the outer wall of the southern sacristy . The tower still comes from an early Gothic building, the bell storey with the sound arcades was probably added in the second half of the 16th century. The eight-sided pointed helmet rises above four triangular gables, each containing a clock tower .
The nave, whose substance dates back to around 1500, has side chapels extending to the north and south, the size of which suggests the presence of a central transept, especially inside. While the nave of a high pitched roof is covered, the roofs of the aisles are significantly lower and the outside hipped . The exterior is structured by flat pilasters and pilaster strips , which, like the window frames, stand out from the yellow tone of the walls with their white color. In niches above the two portals there are wooden figures of the diocese patroness Willibald (north side) and Walburga (south side).
inner space
The wide, light interior is spanned by a shallow barrel with stitch caps and structured by a surrounding beam resting on pilasters and rounded window openings. Since the rococo renovation, the choir is no longer located on the tower ground floor, which would also be clearly too small for the current high altar , but has moved into the room and is visually delimited by two filigree, square free pillars. The extremely flat side altars lean against these pillars. The two side chapels on the north and south sides, each vaulted by a transverse barrel, open up to the main room in a round arch. In the western extension there is a small vestibule in front of both portals ; it also contains the organ gallery.
Furnishing
Stucco and fresco
Like the white version of the room shell, the rich, gray-tinted stucco work on the walls and ceiling, which is made in the old Bavarian plait style , goes back to the artist Johann Michael Berg. The Eichstätter court sculptor Michael Seybold is sometimes named as the creator of these stucco work, which was carried out in the years 1757/58.
The large ceiling fresco by Johann Michael Baader from 1758 is framed by particularly rich rocaille stucco. It shows the heavenly coronation of Mary by God the Father and Jesus Christ . Representatives of the four continents known at the time, Europe , Africa , Asia and America, pay homage to the Mother of God, as do the harp- playing King David and numerous angels on clouds. At the top of the picture, under a canopy, the Holy Spirit Dove is shown, which completes the Holy Trinity . Another, somewhat smaller fresco can be seen above the organ gallery. The curved bordered picture shows King David playing the harp in the midst of an angelic concert .
Altars
The interior is dominated by the rococo high altar, which harmonizes perfectly with the side altars in terms of design and color. The concave altar structure is supported by six composite columns, which - typical for the Eichstätt monastery - are kept in opaque brown tones. Above the gilded tabernacle with exposure niche is the large altarpiece with a painting by the Eichstatt painter Willibald Wunderer from 1779. It shows the patronage event , the Assumption of Mary . On the altar extension, accompanied by volutes , is a clock, the dial of which is backed with a halo. Ten putti heads and two fully plastic angels are arranged all around . The high altar sheet is flanked by larger-than-life figures of the diocese patrons Willibald (left) and Walburga (right).
The two side altars in front of the square free pillars each have two columns and are therefore more restrained, but executed in a very similar style to the high altar. The altar leaves were also created by Willibald Wunderer. On the north (left) side altar, the main painting depicts the Last Supper , side figures are St. John the Baptist and Moses . The southern (right) side altar shows the fourteen helpers in the main picture , flanked by figures of the parents of Mary, Saints Anna and Joachim .
In the two side chapels there are further, smaller side altars with paintings by Johann Chrysostomus Winck from Eichstatt on the east side . Saints Joseph , Anthony of Padua and Francis Xavier are depicted on the altar panel in the north side chapel, and Christ on the Mount of Olives in the south side chapel .
The folk altar and the ambo were created by the Eichstatt sculptor Günter Lang in 2011, a little later than the 250th anniversary of the church's consecration . Both are carved from limestone and set modern, cubist accents compared to the otherwise uniform Rococo furnishings. A relic of St. Lawrence , which is probably from Nuremberg provenance, is incorporated into the celebration altar . It reminds of the patronage of the old Berching parish church of St. Lorenz. The altar was consecrated on November 20, 2011 by the abbot of the Plankstetten monastery, Beda Maria Sonnenberg .
pulpit
The pulpit on the epistle side , also in rococo style, was created around 1760 and is the work of the Eichstatt court sculptor Matthias Seybold. It is set in white and decorated with gilding in the shape of a rocaille. It is carried by the symbolic figures of the four evangelists . There are volute pilasters at the edges of the curved pulpit. The dove of the Holy Spirit can be seen on the underside of the sound cover . In addition, an equilateral triangle is attached in a halo, which symbolizes the Holy Trinity. At the top, volutes soar to a pedestal on which a trumpet angel with the slogan “Estote Factores Verbi et non auditores tantatum” is enthroned.
Funerary monuments
There are also some valuable epitaphs in the parish church . The most important is placed in the front left of the nave; it is the work of the famous Renaissance sculptor Loy Hering , who, among other things , created the large statue of St. Willibald in Eichstätter Cathedral . It reminds of Provost Georg Keller and his wife Helene Sauerzapf. Further epitaphs come from Lorenz (Laurentius) Raab, a Berching sculptor from the 18th century. They are dedicated to the pastor Franz Melchior Bößl and the provost Johann Christoph Schrehl, among others.
Other equipment
The crucifixion group on the Gospel side is like the altars and the pulpit in the Rococo style. It was created by the Berching sculptor Lorenz Raab. Below the pulpit is the baptismal font from 1684. The elaborately carved cheeks are also a work of the 18th century, as are the guild poles attached to them , which are decorated with figures of saints and were carried during processions . The original gallery stalls from 1760, which consist of wooden beams that have been jumbled together, are remarkable. In earlier times the servants and the common people had to take their seats there.
organ
Instead of an organ with 18 registers by Joseph Bittner from Nuremberg from 1890, which had been repeatedly repaired and improved, a new instrument was purchased from Hubert Sandtner's workshop in Dillingen an der Donau in 1995/96 . This was in the valuable Baroque prospectus installed by an unknown artist from the first half of the 18th century and on February 11, 1996 Gregor Maria Hanke , now Eichstätter Bishop , then abbot of the monastery Plankstetten , consecrated . Due to its variety of sounds, concerts, including by well-known organists , are often held in the parish church . Choirs such as the Regensburger Domspatzen or the Munich Women's Choir have also been guests at Mariä Himmelfahrt zu Berching. The Sandtner organ has mechanical performance and stop actions and comprises a total of 29 stops on two manuals and pedal . The disposition is as follows:
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Pair : II / I, II / P, III / P
- Playing aids : 128-fold set combinations including sequencer, mixer with 999 combinations, introduction via lifting magnets into the mechanical stop action (double action), cymbal star (installed in 2013)
Bells
In addition to the extraordinary organ, the Berching parish church also has an imposing, six-part bell with the tone sequence d 1 -g 1 -a 1 -c 2 -d 2 -e 2 as well as a seventh, small bell that is only rung as a soloist as a death bell . The bells are all cast from bronze and hang on one level in a wooden belfry , the yokes are partly made of metal. In 1960, three bells by Friedrich Wilhelm Schilling from Heidelberg were added to the four historical bells that survived both world wars . For this event, the bell was also electrified. The bells in detail are:
| No. | Surname | Casting year | Caster | Weight [kg] | Diameter [mm] | Chime | Chime |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Brotherhood bell (also death bell ) | 1590 | Christoph Glockengießer, Nuremberg | 1850 | 1550 | d 1 | Death of a parishioner, following the death bell |
| 2. | Marienglocke ("fear") | 1st half of the 14th century | unmarked | 1400 | 1200 | g 1 | Change |
| 3. | Christ bell | 1960 | Friedrich Wilhelm Schilling , Heidelberg | 938 | 1090 | a 1 | Angelus chimes |
| 4th | Anniversary bell | 533 | ??? | c 2 | |||
| 5. | George Bell | 372 | 800 | d 2 | |||
| 6th | Little bell | around 1500 | Nuremberg foundry; possibly also Hans Kanngießer, Berching | ??? | 650 | e 2 | |
| 7th | Death bell | 1729 | unmarked | 50 | 440 | ??? | Death of a parishioner |
literature
- Catholic rectory in Berching (ed.): Church leader Berching - Assumption of Mary, St. Lorenz. Edition 2017.
Web links
- Internet presence of the Berching Parish Association
- Internet presence of the Berching parish
- Video presentation of the parish church of the Assumption in Berching
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Werner Robl: The city parish church of the Assumption in Berching . Online at www.robl.de; accessed on August 16, 2017.
- ↑ a b c d Church leader Berching, p. 4f.
- ↑ a b c d e f Church leader Berching, pp. 5–7.
- ↑ a b c Catholic parish church of the Assumption of Mary in Berching . Online at www.berching.de; accessed on August 16, 2017.
- ↑ City Parish Church of the Assumption - Timeline . Online at berching.bistum-eichstaett.de; accessed on August 17, 2017.
- ↑ Mittelbayerische Zeitung on November 16, 2016: Sandtner organ has been delighting for 20 years . Online at www.mittelbayerische.de; accessed on August 17, 2017.
- ↑ 92334 Berching - cath. Parish Church of the Assumption of Mary . Online at www.sandtner-orgelbau.de; accessed on August 16, 2017.
- ↑ Sandtner organ . Online at www.kirchenmusik-berching.de; accessed on August 16, 2017.
- ↑ Sandtner organ . Online at berching.bistum-eichstaett.de; accessed on August 16, 2017.
- ↑ Bells of the parish church of the Assumption . Online at berching.bistum-eichstaett.de; accessed on August 16, 2017.
- ^ Berching, parish church of the Assumption of Mary . Online at glockenklaenge.de; accessed on August 16, 2017.
- ↑ BERCHING (NM), City Parish Church of the Assumption - full bells . Online at www.youtube.com; accessed on August 16, 2017.
Coordinates: 49 ° 6 ′ 19.3 " N , 11 ° 26 ′ 28.7" E