Pilgrimage church Hohe Salve

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The west elevation of the pilgrimage church

The Hohe Salve pilgrimage church , also known as Salvenkirchlein , is located on the summit of the Hohe Salve ( 1829  m above sea level ) in the Kitzbühel Alps in Tyrol in the municipality of Westendorf , and is considered the highest pilgrimage church in Austria .

It is a branch church of the parish and deanery church in Brixen im Thale and is consecrated to St. John the Baptist .

history

The church was first written in 1589 under the description "Salvenberg - a church of St. John ”mentioned. The farmer Andreas Schwender from Brixen im Thale built it as a thank you to God because he was recovering from a serious illness.

Soon pilgrims from all directions came from far and wide to visit the new church, especially with head ailments it was supposed to help - according to the martyrdom of the Baptist. One quickly noticed that the chapel was becoming too small and was expanded twice in 1625 due to the large number of visitors. There was also permission to hold holy masses there.

The Salzburg citizens Widmer and Elisabeth Elslerin, who were also affected by a serious illness, were completely healed after a visit to the Hohe Salve and therefore donated an altar . In 1618 the Bishop of Chiemsee gave Erenfried Graf Khuenburg , to whom the church was subordinate, 150 guilders to the church. A new house was also built for 70 guilders to accommodate the priest on duty. Then the assets of the Church grew enormously, especially by the poor box money , but also by the abundant donated wax votive . In 1641 the property amounted to 1851 guilders.
In that year the new church was built, which is still standing today - the old one had burned down shortly before after a lightning strike.

The pilgrimage church was not spared from accidents. There were over 20 fires caused by lightning between 1619 and 1819. It was therefore decided to use a shower and weather bell . On December 18, 1751, the bishop Franz Carl von Chiemsee ordered that the bell damaged by lightning should be cast over. The head of the people's missions of the Jesuits, Fr. Miller SJ, recommended pouring a Loreto bollard, as these are especially helpful in storms. Only when the dean Wishofer of St. Johann in Tirol installed a lightning rod on the Salvenkirche in 1784 did this danger seem averted . But this was destroyed again in 1807. The little Loreto boll also had to be removed. The scythe-smith Angerer in Haslau near Hopfgarten in Brixental gave this to the Elsbethen church.

The patronage of the pilgrimage church is on June 24th and is the main festival day, as is Annatag on July 26th and Bartholomew on August 24th. The festivities, during which the pilgrims carried a carved head of St. John around the altar, have only been held since 1945 on Anna's day.

Today the Hohe Salve is one of the most visited peaks in Tyrol. It can be reached with a gondola lift from Hopfgarten and the gondola lift from Hochsöll . Thus, the Salve is also opened up for winter sports.

Web links

Commons : Pilgrimage Church Hohe Salve  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Hohe Salve - Tyrol's most beautiful view , accessed on May 16, 2010
  2. ↑ a b Brixen im Thale: Church history: pilgrimage church of St. John , in local history , geschichte-tirol.com

Coordinates: 47 ° 27 ′ 53 ″  N , 12 ° 12 ′ 15 ″  E