Parish Church of the Assumption of Mary (Weilheim)
The parish church of the Assumption of Mary is a Catholic parish church on Marienplatz in Weilheim in Upper Bavaria , which is one of the largest sacred buildings in the Pfaffenwinkel .
history
The predecessor of today's church dates from the 13th and 14th centuries and was executed in the Gothic style. Of this, only the tower was left standing during the demolition in 1624, which was crowned with a Welschen dome in 1573 . During the Thirty Years' War, Bartholomäus Steinle built a new building in the Mannerist style from 1624 to 1628 , ie at the transition between Renaissance and Baroque ; The sculptor and builder Hans Krumpper, who was born in Weilheim, also participated . The building was the first self-supporting wall pillar church in a southern German country town . The mannerist Jesuit Church of St. Michael in Munich (built from 1583 to 1597) served as a model .
The last church renovation took place in 2004. Six new bells were also installed, the smallest originally intended to be placed in the small roof turret on the west side of the church. This turned out to be problematic, so that the sixth bell was also moved to the main tower.
description
Only remains of the Romanesque predecessor church are preserved in the lower part of the church tower. From 1624 to 1631 the current church building was carried out under the direction of the sculptor Bartolomäus Steinle. The execution of the architecture and the stucco work are attributed to Georg Praun from the nearby Wessobrunn school.The approximately 45 meters long and 25 meters wide structure is a wall pillar church - strongly narrowed on the right by the tower and left by the sacristy - with four nave bays , the rearmost being of the organ gallery is covered. The choir consists of a choir bay and a five-eighth end with a dome. This represents the first eight-sided monastery vault with a lantern built by Germans north of the Alps, possibly inspired by the Salzburg Cathedral. The wall pillars create a certain division of the interior, so that three side chapels are created on each side of the nave, each with an altar. The parallels to the St. Michael Church in Munich, which was built in the same period, are interesting in terms of architectural history. The Romanesque tower substructure was raised by Hans Guggemoos as early as 1573 with an eight-sided lantern structure with a Welscher hood in order to accommodate a ringing with five bells. Above the bell chamber is the room of the tower keeper, who had an unobstructed view of the city from a walkway secured by railings.
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The furnishings of the church are extremely extensive and interesting in terms of art history. The stucco inside the church is the first verifiable work of the “Wessobrunn School” and was probably created by Jörg Schmuzer. The mostly straight and even forms indicate the early date of origin. The ceiling frescoes were created by the Weilheim painter Elias Greuter the Elder and his son Johann Greuter in 1627 and are among the earliest attempts at monumental ceiling painting in Germany. Depicted is a glorious Archangel Michael who, under the eyes of Mary, pushes Lucifer into hell. With the glorification of Mary and the Archangels, a typical motif of the Counter Reformation was chosen. The frescoes in the dome above the chancel are a hidden specialty. Usually the Catholic rite only knows the veneration of the three archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Here the seven archangels of the Orthodox sister church are shown in a circle with the Mother of God Mary, i.e. Uriel, Barachiel, Salathiel and Jehudiel, which corresponded to the trend of the time. It is assumed that this is to be seen in connection with the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome, which was commissioned by Pius IV at the same time .
The altars come from different stylistic epochs. The high altar sheet was created by the Munich baroque painter Johann Ulrich Loth in 1642. A famous painting by Peter Paul Rubens for Antwerp Cathedral served as a model for the depiction of the Assumption of Mary . The first of the two side altars on the left was designed in the Rococo style by the Weilheim sculptor Franz Xaver Schmädl around 1760 . The front altar in the first nave yoke contains the wooden figure of Christ resting in its central niche from around 1510. The rear side altar by Schmädl in the second nave yoke shows St. Ulrich (890–973), Bishop of Augsburg, and a copy on his predella of the miraculous image of Mary Help by Lucas Cranach the Elder . The rear side altar on the left is designed in the classicism style. The main picture by Johann Greuter shows the beheading of the martyr Margaret of Antioch , the excerpt of his father Elias shows the adoration of the baby Jesus by the three wise men from the Orient. To the right of the round chancel arch are the pulpit and the cross altar with the miraculous image of the painful Mother of God by Bartholomäus Steinle. The centrally mounted crucifix is flanked by the figures of the martyrs Georg and Sebastian . The next side altar contains an altar sheet originally created for the Ettal Abbey with a depiction of the Lamentation of Christ, created by the Austrian artist Martin Knoller . The rearmost side altar on the right again contains an altar sheet by Elias Greuter the Elder, which shows the beheading of John the Baptist . On the predella stands the sculpture group Anna selbdritt . Along with the Virgin Mary, St. Anne is the second city patroness of Weilheim.
Also on the back walls of the side chapels are valuable paintings donated by wealthy Weilheim citizens. In addition, the church is home to Germany's largest baroque monstrance , the so-called "Wurzel-Jesse-Monstrance" by Joseph Anton Kipfinger .
organ
The organ of the parish church was built in 1970 by the organ builder Max Offner (Augsburg) and replaced an instrument from 1909 made by the Koulen company with 36 registers . In 1989, the instrument was the organ builders Riegner & Friedrich ( Hohenpeißenberg ) with new tracker action equipped and slightly rescheduled . In the years 1994 to 1998 the organ was rebuilt again by the organ builders Josef Maier and Stefan Niebler (Polling), equipped with a new console , partially rearranged and re- intonated . The abrasive loading -instrument 41 has registers (55 rows of pipes) on three Manual works and pedal .
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- Coupling : II / I, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
- Play aids : setter system , crescendo roller , swell kick
New organ building project
Since individual registers of the organ keep failing, notes get stuck, the pipes are partially out of tune and mechanical parts are worn out, it was decided in April 2018 to procure a completely new instrument. In the opinion of numerous experts, an improvement through repair and revision no longer makes sense. A donation project was started to cope with the costs.
Bells
In 2004, a total of six new bells were manufactured by the Grassmayr bell foundry in Innsbruck to replace a ringing made of steel bells from 1947 . These represent the first bell from this manufacturer in Bavaria .
Uniform decorative design: bells
All bells are adorned on the so-called "bell neck" with a frieze-like bas-relief, which captures the alpine panorama of the Weilheim region, stylistically set as a belt with a coat of arms-like belt buckle, which represents the abbot of Wessobrunn Abbot Beda and is intended to symbolize the entire Pfaffenwinkel. This abbot was given by the Regensburg bishop to the Metten monastery in 1830 for re-establishment. In the curva of the staff there is a replica of the Wessobrunn image of grace. The view from Hohenpeißenberg, an ancient place of pilgrimage, one of the sacred “ mountains ” that dominates the Pfaffenwinkel region, is captured in the frieze . The mountain chain shown extends from the headwaters of the Isar over the Loisach and Ammer to the Lech. The sound space, the wide sound of the Weilheim bells, is framed by the nearby horizon of the mountains . On the shoulder of the bell, the Alpine panorama that can be seen from Weilheim is shown.
Marienbell
- Inscription: "Patroness full of goodness, guard us all the time!"
- Style element: rose
- Strike tone: h 0
- Weight: 2850 kg
- Diameter: 167 cm
- Rib : medium weight
The Mother of God Maria is not only Patrona Bavariae, but especially besides her mother Anna she is also the patron saint of the Maria Himmelfahrt community in Weilheim. The bell spell is the refrain of a well-known Marian hymn. The representation of Mary on the flank of the bell is taken from the Marian column that dominates Marienplatz. The figure of Mary belongs to the basic type of Gothic Madonnas. This goes back to the representation of Mary in a church in Constantinople ("Panagia Hodigitria", Mary pointing the way), standing upright while the child on her left arm raises her hand in blessing. The left hand of the baby Jesus rests on the orb to underline the claim to rule over the world. This type of representation was particularly widespread in the Eastern Church.
The symbolic interpretation of the crescent moon on which Mary stands can be seen in contrast to the sun. The moon embodies the female principle, which receives its light from the sun and changes its shape during different time phases. Because of its delicacy, the rose can be interpreted as a symbol of transience, which fades before it unfolds its splendor anew from its bud. It is thus interrelated to the crescent moon. On the bells of Weilheim, the rose, together with the olive branch and the palm tree, represents the vegetable part of creation.
On the back of the Marienglocke the well-known image of the town's market square is impressive, a tribute to citizenship and the community effort that made the renovation of the church, including the belfry, and the casting of new bells possible. The beautiful facades of the town houses represent the pride of a city. The Marian column reappears here in miniature, the very motif that adorns the front of the bell. The stars sparkle above the city, here the star constellation Virgo , which figuratively spreads its arms over the city.
Sacred Heart Bell
- Inscription: "Laudo, voco et congrego, ploro, fugo et decoro"
- Style element: Gregorian score
- Strike: cis ′
- Weight: 1850 kg
- Diameter: 145 cm
- Rib: medium weight
Jesus, suffering from the palm tree, is full of deep, early Christian symbolism. The palm branches of Palm Sunday, which point to the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, are intended to indicate in advance the resurrection beyond the Passion event.
The style of the crown of thorns returns as a decorative element (barbed wire) on the Rupert Mayer bell. The bell slogan aptly summarizes the meaning and function of the ringing, the religious, social and political tasks of the bells. It is an old bell saying that summarizes the so-called "virtutes campanae " (virtues of the bell) in a hexameter :
"Laudo Deum Verum, Plebem Voco, Concrego Clerum
Defunctos Ploro, Pestem Fugo, Festa Decoro"
"I praise the true God, I call the people, I gather the clergy. I weep the
dead, I drive away the epidemics, I decorate the holidays."
Resurrection bell
- Motif: Risen Jesus
- Inscription: "In Christ Jesus, our Lord, we want to live and gladly die"
- Strike note: e ′
- Weight: 1400 kg
- Style element: olive branch
- Rib: heavy
In the Weilheim bell motifs, Easter is the further thematic development of the crucifixion on the palm cross. The aureole that surrounds Christ here is circular and is held by his outspread arms. With one foot he still touches the inscribed square that is connected with earthly existence in the mysticism of numbers and geometry: four seasons, four stages of life, four elements, four winds and cardinal directions. The olive branch is one of the most symbolic plants of antiquity as well as the biblical world. The oil symbolizes the spirit of God and the spiritual power emanating from him.
St. Francis Bell
- Motif: Francis with the dove
- Inscription: "Pax et Bonum" - "Peace and Salvation"
- Style element: dove
- Strike note: g sharp ′
- Weight: 550 kg
- Diameter: 96 cm
- Rib: medium weight
St. Francis may be an example of the movement of monasticism that has so lastingly shaped the Weilheim area around the so-called " Pfaffenwinkel ". The representation of St. Francis on the Weilheimer Glocke is taken from an old fresco in the Capella Bardi in S.Croce , Florence. The monk's costume was a simple habit with a hood and belt (cingulum). St. Francis holds the book in his left hand, the right is raised in blessing - a parallel to the motif of the Christ child on Mary's left arm. In the Christian tradition the dove stands as a symbol of the Holy Spirit for divine inspiration.
Father Rupert Mayer Bell
- Motif: Portrait of Father Rupert Mayer
- Inscription: "I cannot be silent"
- Style element: barbed wire
- Strike note: h ′
- Weight: 380 kg
- Diameter: 86 cm
- Rib: heavy
“I cannot be silent” is a motto that Jesuit Rupert Mayer abandoned during the years of National Socialism. The stylistic element of this bell is the barbed wire , which is intended to remind of the many unjustly imprisoned people around the world and of the inhumane demarcations that still exist in many parts of the world after the reunification of Europe. The barbed wire is Christ's crown of thorns in our time.
St. Benno's bell
- Motif: fish with pair of keys
- Inscription: "Let your heart be fearless!"
- Style element: waves with anchor
- Strike note: f sharp ′ ′ ′
- Weight: 33 kg
- Diameter: 32 cm
- Special rib: very difficult
On the bell relief, St. Benno is shown in episcopal robes with a fish holding two keys in its mouth. According to legend, he is said to have saved the cathedral treasure when it was looted by throwing the bowl to the treasury into the Elbe. After the enemies left, a fisherman is said to have brought a fish to the bishop, in whose stomach the keys were found. A fish is depicted on the bell snapping at the keys. The element and baptismal sacrament of water is captured by the stylistic element of the waves, which here again girdle the bell together with the symbolic belt buckle of the anchor. A copy of the "water bell" with the meaningful slogan "Your heart be without fear" was given as a ship bell as a gift from Weilheim to the German Navy on the day of the bells for the minesweeper " MS Weilheim ".
Web links
- Internet presence of the parish community
- Twelve bells of the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation on April 6, 2015 from the parish church Mariae Himmelfahrt in Weilheim
Individual evidence
- ^ Diocese of Augsburg
- ↑ a b c d Parish community Weilheim: Church chronicle Mariae Himmelfahrt . Online at www.pfarierenden-weilheim.de. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
- ↑ a b Weilheim in Upper Bavaria (D-WM) City Parish Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary: the bells ring . Online at www.youtube.com. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
- ↑ a b Herrmann Bauer, Bernhard Rupprecht: Art historical hiking guide - BAYERN South of the Danube . Ed .: Chr.Belser AG for publishing business & Co KG. Chr.Belser AG for publishing business & Co KG, Stuttgart-Zurich 1973, ISBN 3-88199-135-2 .
- ^ City parish church Mariae Himmelfahrt Weilheim ( Memento from February 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: www.pfaffen-winkel.de .
- ↑ International Weilheim Organ Summer: The organ of the parish church Mariae Himmelfahrt in Weilheim . www.weilheimer-orgelsommer.de .
- ^ A new organ for the parish church Mariae Himmelfahrt, Weilheim. In: neue-orgel-mh.de. Catholic Church Foundation Mariae Himmelfahrt, accessed on January 24, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c Kurt Kramer: Bells in the past and present . Ed .: Advisory Committee for the German Bell System. Badenia Verlag GmbH, Karlsruhe 1986, ISBN 3-7617-0238-8 , p. 49-72 .
- ↑ I. Schwarz-Winklhofer, H. Biedermann: The book of signs and symbols . fourierverlag, Graz 2004, ISBN 3-932412-58-3 .
- ↑ a b c Gerd Heinz Mohr: Lexicon of symbols . 2nd Edition. Eugen Diederichs Verlag, Düsseldorf / Cologne 1972, p. 229-230 .
- ↑ Erich Stümmer: An employee of P.Rupert Mayer reports . In: The cath. Parishes of the deanery Munich-Laim (Ed.): Contacts . tape 16/1987 . EAO Druck, St.Ottilien, S. 2-4 .
- ↑ Father Seven: Article for the Episcopal Trial of the Servant of God P. Rupert Mayer SJ Ed .: Marian German Congregation of Lords and Citizens at the Bürgersaal in Munich. M. Greska Buchdruckerei-Buchbinder-Verlag, Munich 1962.
Coordinates: 47 ° 50 ′ 20.7 " N , 11 ° 8 ′ 32.2" E