Collegiate Church (Elten)
The former collegiate church of Elten is the parent Roman Catholic parish church of St. Vitus .
Previous buildings
Excavations in 1959 and 1964/65 have proven the original castle chapel, a rectangular wooden building with a square choir from the beginning of the 10th century, as well as a rotunda south of it, in addition to the castle buildings on the Eltenberg. In 967, following the establishment of the noble women's monastery by Count Wichmann von Hamaland , the first collegiate church was a three-aisled tufa building that integrated the older rotunda.
Today's church
Under Abbess Irmgardis (around 1100-1129) the pre-Romanesque church building was replaced by a Romanesque new building, which was consecrated in 1129 by Bishop Sigward von Minden in the presence of King Lothar . This church building, also built in tuff stone, consists of a basilical nave that is vaulted over four double bays in a bound system. A transept and the choir were originally attached to the east . The single tower to the west is considered the oldest in Rhenish church architecture. The Collegiate Church of Elten served as the architectural model for the Sigward Church in Idensen, built by Bishop Sigward from 1129–34 .
As early as the second half of the 14th century, major repairs and changes were necessary, which resulted in a new vaulting and the addition of a Gothic choir. The church was destroyed in the Spanish-Dutch War in 1585, and it was not until 1671 to 1677 that it was rebuilt in a reduced form, demolishing the eastern parts, the parts of which were reused for the new choir. The state of ruin around 1660 is documented in drawings by the Dutch architect Justus Vinckboons (* around 1620, † around 1698).
At the end of the Second World War in 1945, there was heavy destruction. The tower was rebuilt by 1956 and the church was rebuilt by Walter Bader by reconstructing the Romanesque vaults until 1965 .
literature
- Walter Bader: The nave central nave of Hochelten, arched in 1129. In: Bonner Jahrbücher. 158, 1958, pp. 15-28.
- Günther Binding , Walter Janssen , Friedrich K. Jungklaass: Elten castle and monastery on the Lower Rhine: archaeological investigations from 1964/65 (Rhenish excavations 8). Rheinland-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1970. ISSN 0557-7853
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 51 ′ 50.5 " N , 6 ° 10 ′ 18.7" E