Pilgrimage Church Herrgottsruh (Friedberg)
The pilgrimage church "Herrgottsruh" ( Our Lords Rest ) is located on the eastern outskirts of the former border fortress Friedberg in the district of Aichach-Friedberg in today's Swabia . Some of the most important artists of the Bavarian Rococo were involved in furnishing the monumental late baroque building, creating a spatial work of art of remarkable coherence in terms of content and form. The original condition could be restored during the major general renovation after the turn of the millennium.
history
The pilgrimage dates back, according to tradition on a vow of a medieval Jerusalem pilgrim. The Friedberger is said to have been captured by the Turks on his way back from the Holy Land and to have praised the building of a chapel on his local field if he would get home safely. In fact, in 1964 the foundations of a small chapel were found which may have been a replica of the Holy Sepulcher.
On October 2, 1496, the Augsburg auxiliary bishop Johannes Kerer consecrated the choir and the high altar of a pilgrimage chapel at this point. This small church was enlarged again from 1599 and consecrated in 1606. Some of the votive pictures show a simple church with an onion dome that was damaged in 1632 during the Thirty Years' War , but then restored.
The pilgrimage became more and more popular. There was talk of miraculous healings and answers to prayer, and at night music and light appearances from the interior.
During the Spanish War of Succession (around 1705) there was renewed devastation. The influx of help seekers and pilgrims grew steadily, so that around 1720 a new building of the church was considered. In 1727 the preserved but slightly modified priest house was built. On June 16, 1731, the Bavarian Elector Karl Albrecht finally laid the foundation stone for the rococo-style pilgrimage church, the shell of which was completed in 1738. The executive architect was Johann Benedikt Ettl .
Then the interior decoration began by the best contemporary Bavarian artists and craftsmen. The stucco work by Franz Xaver and Johann Michael Feuchtmayer together with the wall and ceiling frescoes by Cosmas Damian Asams and Matthäus Günther and the architecture of Ettl form one of the most important spatial images of 18th century architecture in Old Bavaria .
On September 30, 1753, the Augsburg Auxiliary Bishop Franz Xaver Adelmann von Adelmannsfelden was able to inaugurate the church, the next day the image of grace was transferred to the new altar of grace in the north aisle. In 1756 and again in 1758 storms caused such severe damage that Matthäus Günther had to repaint two vaulted areas.
In the course of secularization , this church was also to be demolished. The city council then designated the pilgrimage church as a cemetery chapel and thus made it possible to preserve it. In 1868/70 the building was restored and changed in line with contemporary tastes. For example, Asam's choir wall fresco was whitewashed due to a lack of “artistic value” and a neo-renaissance high altar was purchased. From 1964 a new renovation began, which largely restored the original condition of the construction period. The new high altar disappeared from the presbytery and Asam's mural reappeared.
In 1998 the exterior was renovated and the original colors restored. In 2003 the first phase of the interior renovation (heating, electrics, redesign of the choir room) began, and in 2005 the renovation of the shell was continued. The nave has been accessible again since 2006.
description
The pilgrimage church is located east of the old town on today's outskirts and is surrounded by the cemetery. In front of the west facade is the priest's house from 1727, the two floors of which are closed off by a hipped roof.
The broad, somewhat compact exterior of the church is dominated by the dome of the choir rotunda and the choir side tower in the north. To the south, the two-storey sacristy is attached to the rotunda, which is therefore only semicircular in the manner of an apse .
The outer structure consists of double colossal pilasters, between which the windows are integrated. On the south side a triangular gable simulates a non-existent transept . The central nave is raised like a pseudo basilica (relay hall). The three-axis main facade swings back and forth in the middle part. The west portal sits in a high round arch niche, above which the elevated central nave rises. A ribbon frieze runs around the building under the roof, which is covered with gable and hip roofs. The rotunda is crowned by a dome with an attachment. The bell tower on the north side has a similar, low tower.
inner space
The west portal leads into a spacious anteroom, which is separated from the nave by a wrought iron grille.
The two-bay nave is divided into three naves by the two mighty pillars. The central nave opens to the round choir, the side aisles are closed off by the brotherhood and grace altar. The three-aisled complex and the "late Gothic" elevation (approx. 2.20 m) of the central nave give the impression of a baroque, medieval architecture, which is actually the result of the new building of the 18th century.
The nave bays are spanned by six frescoed round or transverse oval domes (side aisles), which are separated by wide belt arches . The western central nave dome is lit directly through a small window and has a small gallery. In favorable lighting conditions, this creates an impressive baroque illusion effect. During the “Last Judgment”, the “righteous” pull through a painted rock gate straight into the sky, from the gate bright light falls on the scene through the covered window.
The choir dome is divided into as many sections by eight stucco bands, the choir is divided by marbled double pilasters. Instead of a high altar, the uncovered wall fresco by Cosmas Damian Asam closes the presbytery.
Furnishing
The room is characterized by the frescoes by Günther and Asam and the stucco work by Feichtmayr. The iconographic program was chosen according to the double patronage of the church. Representations of the Trinity and the Magi are images of the suffering Christ and the Sorrowful Mary supplemented (cartridge pilgrimage Brotherhood).
In Asam's choir wall fresco, depictions of the Holy Trinity are unusually combined with the adoration of the kings . The segments of the overlying dome fresco show further motifs of the divine counsel for the redemption of mankind, such as the fall of man and the expulsion up to the crucifixion . The dome frescoes in the central nave also refer to this. To the east is the vision of St. John (. Chap 5.4) from the Book of Revelation portrayed in the West dome that is Judgment shown.
The right aisle is dedicated to the painful Maria . In the eastern dome you can see her Old Testament predecessor Abigail pleading with King David ( 1 Sam 25 EU ). In the west, Mary emerges from the grave and is crowned by Christ , below is a procession of the Brotherhood of the Church, which is led by the builder, Pastor Maximillian von Eckher. The side altar also refers to the Mother of God as the “brotherhood altar”.
In the left aisle the Redeemer is venerated, who appears in the late Gothic miraculous image as Christ at rest . Based on this, the dome frescoes show the healing of a sick person in the pool of Bethesada (east) and the ascension of Christ . Both pictures were created in 1764 and 1772 after the partial collapse and are considered to be weaker works by Günther, who also created the other frescoes on the nave domes. However, the Ascension in particular had to be heavily restored in the 19th century.
The two altars in the side aisles were brought closer to their original condition after engravings in 1870. The northern altar of grace contains the late Gothic miraculous image (around 1496) in a shrine . Scenes of the Passion of Christ are grouped around it . The center of the “Brotherhood Altar” is an important Pietà by Agidius Verhelst (around 1745). The six other Sorrows of Mary are shown on gilded reliefs. Both altars were made in 1753/54 (attributed to Johann Wilhelm and Johann Michael Hegenauer).
The pulpit at the right choir entrance was added around 1770. The pulpit bears reliefs with the sending of the apostles .
The wrought-iron grille under the organ gallery is the work of the Augsburg court locksmith Albert Biber, the gallery with its marble columns was created by the Augsburg city stone mason Wolfgang Schindel.
literature
- Georg Dehio: Handbook of the German art monuments . Bavaria III; Swabia. Editor Bruno Bushart, Georg Paula. Munich, Berlin 1986.
- Gode Krämer: Pilgrimage church "Herrgottsruh" Friedberg. 2nd Edition. Munich, Zurich 1986. (Schnell & Steiner, Art Guide No. 267).
- Adelheid Riolini-Unger: Accompanying volume for the exhibition “The Herrgottsruh Pilgrimage in Friedberg”. October 1, 2000 - January 31, 2001. Friedberg 2001, ISBN 3-9807466-0-7 .
- Peter Stoll: "The glory of the Lord rises above you". The three wise men with Johann Ulrich Kraus (holy eyes and soul lust) and Cosmas Damian Asam (pilgrimage church Herrgottsruh). University of Augsburg, Augsburg 2007 ( full text )
Web links
- Photos of the furnishings in the Herrgottsruh pilgrimage church, in the Warburg Institute Iconographic Database .
Coordinates: 48 ° 21 ′ 29.2 ″ N , 10 ° 59 ′ 28 ″ E
Andechs Monastery Church (Andechs) | Mary in misery (Baar) | St. Benedikt (Benediktbeuern) | St. Jakobus, St. Laurentius and St. Cross (Biberbach) | Pilgrimage Church Herrgottsruh (Friedberg) | Maria Hilf on the Lechfeld (Klosterlechfeld) | Marienfried (Pfaffenhofen an der Roth) | Maria Hilf (Speiden) | To Our Lady of Sorrows (Vilgertshofen) | St. Michael (Violau) | St. Leonhard im Forst (Wessobrunn) | Wigratzbad | Maria Vesperbild (Ziemetshausen)