Collegiate Church of St. Gallen

The east facade of the collegiate church with the characteristic twin towers

The Collegiate Church of St. Gallen (actually Collegiate Church of St. Gallus and Otmar ) is a Roman Catholic church in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland . It serves as a cathedral for the diocese of St. Gallen and was the church of the monastery of St. Gallen from 1755 to 1766 until 1805 . The collegiate church was added to the list of world cultural assets worthy of protection in 1983 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with the Abbey District .

history

The newly built Abbey District on a representation from 1769

The initiative to rebuild the collegiate church goes back to the 18th century, when the old church of the St. Gallen Monastery, which essentially dates back to the 9th century, became increasingly dilapidated. Based on the plans by Gabriel Loser and Johann Caspar Bagnato , Peter Thumb built the nave and rotunda between 1755 and 1757. The demolition of the old building began on May 2, 1755, the laying of the foundation stone for the new building took place on August 29, 1756 under Abbot Coelestin Gugger von Staudach in the partially finished shell.

The interior and exterior decoration was carried out by Johann Christian Wentzinger for 52,000 guilders as a complete work, whereby most of the work was not carried out personally, but only designed, planned and conceived. The work on the nave was essentially completed in the summer of 1760; the consecration took place on November 15, 1760.

Floor plan (with the inner courtyard)

The interior of the collegiate church St. Gallen

The decision to build the new choir of the church was not made until 1760. Until then, the old Gothic choir served as an emergency church. The construction management passed from Peter Thumb to Johann Michael Beer von Bildstein . Further outbuildings and the towers as well as the interior fittings were carried out in the following years. The towers were the last parts of the structure to be completed in 1766, while minor work on the inside lasted until 1772.

The bold dome construction in the nave had been poorly executed in terms of construction technology, so that the first renovation work was necessary as early as 1773. The problems of statics could be solved with the subsequent installation of scaffolding.

After the abolition of the St. Gallen monastery in 1805, minor changes were made to the interior of the church. The abbot's throne was moved and the high altar was converted into a community altar. Structural damage made further renovations necessary, in the course of which Antonio Moretto executed several new ceiling paintings by 1824. Further extensive renovations were carried out from 1841 to 1845 (east facade), 1866/1867 (comprehensive interior renovation) and 1928 to 1938 (comprehensive exterior renovation). The last major renovation was carried out between 2000 and 2003.

The collegiate church has been the cathedral of the diocese of St. Gallen since 1824 .

Construction and equipment

The collegiate church is one of the last monumental sacred buildings of the late baroque . The rotunda is harmoniously arranged to the west and east in a symmetrical arrangement of the nave and choir. The painterly and sculptural equipment between Rococo and Classicism is the work of South German masters. The stucco work comes from the brothers Johann and Mathias Gigl, the stucco reliefs from Johann Christian Wentzinger . The paintings are the work of Joseph Wannenmacher .

The paintings in the rotunda show the arrival of God in the presence of the blessed, while Gallus, Otmar, Magnus and Wiborada , the great figures of the history of the monastery, are depicted in the ship domes . The double choir stalls with reliefs from the life of St. Benedict go back to Joseph Anton Feuchtmayer .

The twin towers of the east facade are aligned with the palace buildings. They are 68 m high. The gable relief shows the Assumption, below the statues of Saint Desiderius and Mauritius can be seen.

The core of the east crypt dates back to the 9th century. According to tradition, this is where the tomb of St. Gallus is located . A piece of his skull is still shown here in a reliquary . The crypt of St. Otmar and the bishops of St. Gallen are located in the west crypt .

The church is separated in the middle by a turquoise-gold grid. It originally served to divide the monks 'room and the church-goers' room. Today mass is read at the altar directly in front of the bars, roughly in the middle of the church.

The facade is kept simple, except for the east side with the towers. Only the four statues that characterize the entrance on the north side stand out.

Organs

The collegiate church has three organs : the large cathedral organ on the west gallery and the epistle and gospel organ in the choir.

The history of the organs goes back far into the Middle Ages. In the period since the baroque renovation of the church, the two choir organs, which were built in 1768 and 1770 by Viktor Ferdinand Bossard (1699–1772), have long been content. It was not until 1808–1810 that the church received a large west gallery for a new, large main organ, which was built by Franz and Josef Frosch (Munich) in 1811–1815. This instrument had 60 registers on four manuals and a pedal . The organ case was built in 1811 by the plasterer and sculptor Josef Simon Mosbrugger ( Schoppernau , Bregenz Forest). The "Frosch" organ was completely rebuilt by Johann Nepomuk Kuhn from 1872 to 1875, whereby a manual was no longer necessary. It had 55 registers, 14 of which were completely or partially new. The case remained unchanged.

Main organ

In the course of the overall restoration of the church (1961 to 1967), today's main organ was designed and built in 1968 by Orgelbau Kuhn (Männedorf). The two side pedal towers were taken over from the old organ from 1815. Incidentally, the structure was completely redesigned. The instrument has slide chests and mechanical action .

I positive C-g ³
Quintatön	16 ′
Harp principal 0	08th'
Copula	08th'
Principal	04 ′
Reed flute	04 ′
Sesquialtera II	02 ² ⁄ ₃  ′
Super octave	02 ′
Octavlein	01'
Mixture III	0² ⁄ ₃ ′
Dulcian	16 ′
Krummhorn	08th'
shawm	04 ′
Tremulant

II Hauptwerk C – g ³
Principal	16 ′
Viol	16 ′
Praestant	08th'
Open flute	08th'
Gemshorn	08th'
Fifth	05 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′
Octave	04 ′
Coupling flute	04 ′
Pommer	04 ′
third	03 ¹ ⁄ ₅  ′
Fifth	02 ² ⁄ ₃  ′
Octave	02 ′
Flat flute	02 ′
Cornett V	08th'
Large mix V – VII 0	02 ′
Small mix IV	01 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′
Bombard	16 ′
Trumpet	08th'

III Swell C – g ³
Dumped	16 ′
Wood octave	08th'
Metal dacked	08th'
viola	08th'
Unda Maris	08th'
Principal	04 ′
Harp pipe	04 ′
Flute	04 ′
Fifth	02 ² ⁄ ₃  ′
Night horn	02 ′
third	01 ³ ⁄ ₅  ′
Plein jeu IV 0	02 ′
Basson	16 ′
Trompette harmonique	08th'
Hautbois	08th'
Clairon	04 ′
Tremulant

IV Kronwerk C – g ³
Tube bare	08th'
Quintad	08th'
Principal	04 ′
Pointed	04 ′
Flautino	02 ′
Zinc III	01 ³ ⁄ ₅  ′
Nasat	01 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′
Sharp V	01'
Color symbol III 0	0¹ ⁄ ₁₄ ′
Wooden shelf	16 ′
Vox Humana	08th'
Tremulant

Pedal C – f ¹
Principal	32 ′
Praestant	16 ′
Flute bass	16 ′
Sub bass	16 ′
Octave	08th'
Pointed flute	08th'
Basszink III	05 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′
Octave	04 ′
recorder	04 ′
Mixture V	02 ² ⁄ ₃  ′
Piffaro	02 ′
Contrabassoon	32 ′
trombone	16 ′
bassoon	16 ′
Trumpet	08th'
Clairon	04 ′
Singing Cornett	02 ′

Coupling: IV / I, I / II, III / I, III / II; I / P, II / P, III / P
Other: Balanciers

Choir organs

The two choir organs were built by Viktor Ferdinand Bossard (1699–1772) in 1768 and 1770 . They are arranged in mirror image to one another and are located in the choir room, each side above the choir stalls. The gaming tables are built into the choir stalls on the left and right. The organs were restored by Mathis Orgelbau from 1966 to 1967 .

I Epistle organ C – f ³
Great Bourdon	16 ′
Principal	08th'
Copell	08th'
Quintatön	08th'
Viola (beat)	08th'
Octav	04 ′
Flood dous	04 ′
Flageolet	02 ′
Larigott	01 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′
Fournitur III	02 ′
Cornetto II	02 ² ⁄ ₃  ′
Trumpets	08th'

Pedal Epistle organ C – d ¹
Praestant	16 ′
Sub bass	16 ′
Principal	08th'
cello	08th'
Mixture III	04 ′
Bombard	16 ′
Trumpets	08th'

II Gospel organ C – f ³
Principal	8th'
Gamba	8th'
Copell	8th'
Slack travers	8th'
Octav	4 ′
Flauto	4 ′
Quint flood	2 ² ⁄ ₃  ′
Super octave	2 ′
Tertia	1 ³ ⁄ ₅  ′
Mixture III	1 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′
Vox humana	8th'
tremolo

Pedal Gospel Organ C – d ¹
Sub bass	16 ′
Principal bass	08th'
cello	08th'
Octava	04 ′

Coupling : II / I, I / P.
Playing aids : shut-off valve to the pedal
Tuning: Neidhardt III 1724

Peal

The collegiate church has a baroque bell. The nine bells in the two towers come from different foundries, most of whom were active in the Lake Constance area. The two large bells in the right tower of the east facade are significant testimonies to the Zuger Glockengiesser Keizer. Because of these bells, the ringing is the lowest in Switzerland. The Trinity Bell also exceeds the Bern Minster Bell in terms of pitch. There are two more bells in the two tower lanterns. In terms of music theory, the overall ringing does not correspond to any recognizable harmonic or melodic structure.

No.	Surname	Casting year	Giesser, casting location	Mass (kg)	Nominal
1	Trinity	1768	Peter Ludwig I. Keizer	approx. 8100	e ⁰
2	Heart of jesus	1767	Peter Ludwig I. Keizer	5400	g ⁰
3	Mother of God	1633	Jean Girard, La Mothe (Lorraine)	2750	h ⁰
4th	Michael / Ave Maria	1767	Peter Ludwig I. Keizer	1950	cis ¹
5	Gallus / convent bell	1702	Andreas Aporta, Feldkirch	1700	d ¹
6th	Guardian Angel	1766	Johann Heinrich Ernst, Lindau	1202	f ¹
7th	Holy Cross	1772	Johann Leonhard IV. Rosenlächer, Constance	552	a ¹
8th	St. John	1707	JB Ernst / Andreas Aporta, Feldkirch	492	c ²
9	Poor souls	1616	Hieronymus Gesus, Constance	403	dis ²

Views

The four statues next to the north portal
Gallus
Otmar
Peter
Paul

literature

Adolf Fäh: The cathedral in St. Gallen. Edited by Moritz Kreutzmann. Photos by C. Umiker. M. Kreutzmann, Zurich 1899–1900 ( digitized version )
Erwin Poeschel: The art monuments of the canton of St. Gallen. Volume III: The City of St. Gallen: Part Two - The Pen. Birkhäuser, Basel 1961.
Josef Grünenfelder: St. Gallen Cathedral. The former Benedictine collegiate church of St. Gallus and Otmar. (Swiss Art Guide, No. 847, Series 85). Ed .: Society for Swiss Art History GSK. Bern 2009, ISBN 978-3-85782-847-8 .