Pilgrimage Church Birenbach
The baroque pilgrimage church "To the painful mother of God" is located on a natural hill on the eastern edge of the Schurwald in the community of Birenbach ( Baden-Württemberg ). The parish's Catholic services are held in the pilgrimage church . It has belonged to the parish of Wäschenbeuren since the construction of the first church, along with the Catholic believers in Birenbach . The gem is a special example of the peasant baroque architectural style in southern Germany. A pilgrimage to Birenbach has been documented as early as 1499 .
history
legend
In the 13th or 14th century, so the legend goes, a noble horsewoman fell from her horse at this place and broke her leg. Through the appearance of an angel she could start her ride back again. The noblewoman therefore commissioned the construction of a small pilgrimage church in thanks for her rescue .
Previous buildings
A pilgrimage to Birenbach is mentioned in documents from 1499 and 1501 . The pilgrimage church was consecrated by the Constance vicar general in honor of God and Our Lady and other saints, whereby the patronage of St. Vitus is mentioned in a later addition .
Baroque pilgrimage church
After the construction of the pilgrimage church on the Rechberg was completed in 1688, the prince-bishop's master builder Valerian Brenner was commissioned to rebuild the old pilgrimage church. So construction began in 1690 because an enlarged new building was necessary and the necessary financial resources were covered by the victims of many pilgrims. The pilgrimage church in Birenbach is very similar to the one on the Rechberg, thanks to the same master builder. On October 7, 1698, the church was consecrated in honor of the Sorrowful Mother of God by the Augsburg auxiliary bishop Egolf von Westernach . Since the church fell into serious disrepair in the following decades, it was closed due to dilapidation in 1847 by order of the Royal Württemberg Regional Council. This was mainly due to the loamy subsoil and the resulting moisture in the masonry. In 1849 the baroque vault was replaced by a flat vault and the choir arch was supported by wooden beams. 35 years later the pilgrimage church received a clock tower . Because the church had become so dilapidated in 1957, renovation was considered futile. However, since the building was under monument protection , the chief curator Count Adelmann in Stuttgart decided: “The church comes from the peasant baroque and must be preserved.” In 1958, the extensive general renovation began: The entire church grounds were drained and the sacristy , which had collapsed, was rebuilt . Drainage was laid to drain the masonry . The altars were restored in Bad Mergentheim . To secure the ceiling, the choir arch was supported with reinforced concrete . The high altar and the gallery, which collapsed during the renovation, were renewed. In 1962 the restored church was consecrated again. The construction costs amounted to 327,000 DM. Under Pastor Fiderer a new bell cage was installed in 1985 and the bell was extended to four bells . In 1990 the church got a new pipe organ with 27 stops and 1450 pipes. In 1998 the church was renovated again on the outside and in 2001 on the inside.
Furnishing
Outside
The nave is a cross-shaped hall, which, however, cannot be clearly divided into different areas. In the western end there is the gallery , in the middle the community and at the eastern end there is the choir , which is no longer part of the nave. This is framed by the church tower in the north and the sacristy in the south. The church roof is covered with dark clay tiles. The outer wall surfaces are plastered white, the supports are kept in a yellowish shade. The nave has three windows to the north and south, two to the west are above the gallery and two smaller, round windows below it. The tower has a square basic shape. He has direct access through the choir. On the first floors of the tower there is a light slot for two floors on the east side of the tower. A passage leads from the tower directly into the roof structure of the nave. The bell of the tower is in the shape of a regular octagon. On top of this is the onion dome , covered with slate , on which the weathercock is enthroned above the cross .
Inside
The high altar forms the center of the interior . It is richly decorated with motifs from rural life. In the middle of the gilded altar is the tabernacle , where the holy hosts are kept , above which is the miraculous image of the Sorrowful Mother of God, which was created towards the end of the 15th century. The heart with the seven swords indicates the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady . In front of the high altar is the altar , which was consecrated in 1993 and is therefore one of the youngest objects in the church. The benches in the choir are still the original benches from the time it was built. During the Advent season, the Christmas story is recreated here with figures. There are two side altars to the right and left of the choir. They show various saints such as Mary or St. Vitus. The altar in the transept depicts Christ's Descent from the Cross . It comes from the previous church, on the altar table lies the head of John the Baptist . On the left side the pulpit from 1696 shows the four evangelists and the Blessed Mother . On the pulpit lid, the world savior holds the earth in his hand. Stations of the Way of the Cross hang on the walls of the interior . In 1962 the flat ceiling was removed again and attempts were made to restore the old vaulted ceiling.
The organ , built in 1990, stands on the wooden gallery and blends in harmoniously with the overall appearance of the baroque church. The instrument was built by the organ builder Martin Gegenbauer (Leutkirch). It has 24 registers (1450 pipes ) on two manuals and pedal and also has a coupling manual . The key actions are mechanical, the stop actions are electrical.
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- Pairing : I / P, II / P
- Playing aids : two free combinations
Sacristan's house
The sacristan's house was built next to the previous church in 1688 and is therefore the oldest still preserved house in Birenbach. The ground floor and the basement are made of solid stone, today plastered, the first floor and the attic are built in half-timbered construction, they are clad on the weather side . Today the Mesnerhaus, or Mesni for short, serves as an event location and houses the rooms for the altar boys on the first floor .
Events
In the pilgrimage church in Birenbach, the Catholic church service takes place regularly on Saturday and Tuesday at 7 p.m. The ecumenical school church service in Birenbach is also celebrated here in alternation with the Evangelical Church . In addition to organ concerts in the church, May devotions are special highlights in the pilgrimage church, as is the patronage in September. The church is particularly popular as a wedding venue for couples outside of Birenbach.
literature
- 500 years of St. Johannes Ev. , Catholic parish of St. Johannes Ev. Washes; 2007
- Birenbach - Views of a village , Birenbach municipal administration; 1993
- 100 years of TV Birenbach , Birenbach gymnastics club; 1990
- Historical yearbook, district of Göppingen, Volume 11 Hohenstaufen-Helfenstein; 2001
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information on the organ of the pilgrimage church
Web links
Coordinates: 48 ° 44 ′ 50.9 ″ N , 9 ° 39 ′ 48.3 ″ E