Horní Police pilgrimage church

Area of the pilgrimage church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary

Bell tower of the pilgrimage church

Cloister of the pilgrimage church

The pilgrimage church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary ( Kostel Navštívení Panny Marie in Czech ) is located in Horní Police in Okres Česká Lípa in the Reichenberg region ( Liberecký kraj ). It belongs to the Vicariate Česká Lípa in the diocese of Leitmeritz . The pilgrimage to Oberpolitz has existed since 1523. The current buildings on the pilgrimage area (church, cloister, bell tower and deanery building) date from the 18th century. The entire area is listed as a national cultural monument of the Czech Republic .

history

The first church in Oberpolitz is mentioned in a document from the Premonstratensian monastery of Doxan from 1291. The current appearance of the church and the adjoining buildings was created in the years 1689–1725 under the rule of Duke Julius Franz von Sachsen-Lauenburg (1641–1689) and his daughter Anna Maria Franziska von Sachsen-Lauenburg (1672–1741), Grand Duchess of Tuscany.

Since around 4,000 pilgrims visited the old pilgrimage church in 1682, Pastor Michael Gabriel Jantsch applied for the church to be expanded. The order to build a new pilgrimage church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary took place in 1684 by the Leitmeritz bishop Jaroslaw Ignaz von Sternberg (1641–1709). The construction was in the hands of Giulio Broggio (1628-1718) and his son Octavio Broggio (1670-1742). The baroque church is a three-aisled building, surrounded by a three-winged cloister with chapels and altars. In 1861 the church was renovated at the suggestion of Emperor Ferdinand .

Anna Maria Franziska von Sachsen-Lauenburg always tried to increase the splendor and reputation of the pilgrimage. At their request, Pope Clement XII appointed In 1736 the pastors of the pilgrimage church in Oberpolitz became archdechanten (also archdeacons or archdeacons) and, similar to the abbot of a monastery, were given the right of infuls , i.e. to carry the pontificals of a bishop (miter and bishop's staff ) during mass. Today this prerogative of archdeacons is suspended.

The pastors and, since 1736, the archdeaners lived in the deanery building (archdeanate) of Oberpolitz. The best known was the popular priest Wenzel Hocke , also called "Hockewanzel", who worked there from 1779 to 1808. Since 1908 there has been a memorial stone on the way to the church at the point where Archdechant Hocke died of a stroke. In the hall of honor of the Archdeanate hang eleven portraits of the fifteen archdeacons, and the portrait of the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Anna Maria Franziska with her husband and daughter.

Pilgrimage

Virgin Mary statue in the pilgrimage church

According to a legend, in 1523 a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary was washed up on the bank of the Polzen ( Ploučnice ) river . The residents of the place brought the statue to the original Gothic parish church. Then pilgrims came to the main altar with the statue of Mary, this was the origin of the pilgrimage site in Oberpolitz.

The miraculous image of Oberpolitz, the “Mater Gravida” or “Pregnant Madonna” or “Panna Maria in Hope”, is a roughly 75 cm tall statue of the Virgin Mary. It is not a particularly valuable work from an artistic point of view, more likely that of an amateur woodcarver. Today the statue can be seen in the church "dressed" with clothes. These clothes change according to the church calendar. Several copies of the statue were later made, e.g. B. the statue of Mary on the bridge in Oberpolitz (1722). After the completion and consecration of the new pilgrimage area, around 35,000 pilgrims came to the Visitation of Mary in 1724. From 1730 to 1760, Oberpolitz was next to Mariaschein (Bohosudov) the most visited pilgrimage site in Northern Bohemia.

The main pilgrimage in Oberpolitz currently takes place on the first Sunday in July ( Visitation of the Virgin Mary on July 2nd). There are also regular "small pilgrimages" on the first Saturday of the month.

List of archdeans

No.	Archdean	from	to	description	proof
01	Johann Heinrich Karl Möltzer	1724	1746	* before 1700 in Bohemian Leipa; † December 15, 1746 Oberpolitz, was appointed priest in Oberpolitz and Sandau ( Žandov ) in 1722 , appointed the first archdeacon in Oberpolitz on June 29, 1724, and on December 6, 1736, Pope Clement XII granted him . the “Inful”, the right to wear the pontificals during mass ( ad instar Abbatum ). He was an honorary canon of the cathedral chapter of St. Stephen in Litoměřice .	Jan Jindřich Karl Möltzer
02	Augustin Wenzel Möltzer	1747	1757	* October 22, 1695 Bohemian Leipa; † June 25, 1757 Oberpolitz, he was a nephew of the first archdechant Johann Heinrich Karl Möltzer	Augustin Václav Möltzer
03	Johann Franz Bautsch	1758	1764	* around 1700; † January 10, 1764 Oberpolitz, appointed Archdechant in 1757 by Bishop Moritz Adolf Karl von Sachsen-Zeitz-Neustadt	Jan František Bautsch
04	Anton Johann Graf Deym von Stritez	1764	1775	*?; † November 25, 1775 Oberpolitz, came from a noble family	Antonín Jan Deym ze Střítec
05	Johann Christoph Pitsch	1775	1779	*?; † February 27, 1779 in Oberpolitz (died of the plague)	Jan Kryštof Pitsch
06	Wenceslaus crouch	1779	1808	* January 8, 1732 in Neustadtel ( Stružnice ); † March 1, 1808 Oberpolitz, ordained a priest in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Leitmeritz in 1756, appointed consistorial councilor in 1807, popularly known as "Hockewanzel". He was very popular because of his philanthropy and was considered a "Eulenspiegel" in priestly garb - an original that was unparalleled in the German-Bohemian region, it even found its way into literature.	Wenceslaus crouch
07	Ignatius Jaksch, also Hynek (Ignaz) Jaksch	1808	1824	* January 31, 1754; † April 16, 1824 Oberpolitz, ordained a priest on September 21, 1777, pastor in Deutsch-Gabel ( Jablonné v Podještědí ), 1795 honorary canon of the cathedral chapter of St. Stephan in Leitmeritz, 1814 vice rector at the grammar school in Bohemian Leipa	Ignác Jaksch (arciděkan)
08	Franz Hantschel	1824	1846	* November 19, 1752; † March 13, 1846 Oberpolitz, ordained priest on September 29, 1775, initially chaplain in Oberpolitz, in 1834 appointed consistorial councilor	František Hantschel
09	Ignatius Meisner	1846	1864	* December 30, 1785; † September 17, 1864 Oberpolitz, ordained a priest on July 20, 1808	Ignác Meisner
10	Franz Josef Goerner	1865	1883	* January 1, 1809 Bleiswedel ( Blíževedly ) near Böhmisch Leipa, † October 24, 1883 Oberpolitz, ordained priest on September 28, 1832, appointed by the Leitmeritz bishop Anton Ludwig Frind on September 11, 1879 to the board of the episcopal consistory	František Josef Görner
11	Christoph Kachler	1883	1897	* July 6, 1826 plan; † 1 April 1897 Oberpolitz, ordained a priest on July 25, 1851 from Leitmeritzer Bishop Emmanuel Johann Schöbel the Episcopal Vicar appointed	Kryštof Kachler
12	Josef Maria Liebich	1897	1908	* May 15, 1834 Reichstadt ( Zákupy ); † February 22, 1908 Oberpolitz, ordained priest on July 29, 1863, appointed by the Leitmeritz bishop to the board of the episcopal consistory	Josef Maria Liebich
13	ThDr. Wenzel Frind	1908	1932	* July 30, 1868 Hainspach ( Lipová u Šluknova ); † after 1937, ordained a priest on May 24, 1891, appointed episcopal notary in 1925	Václav Frind (arciděkan)
14th	Ludwig (Ludwik) Gala	1932	1954	* July 5, 1876 Boreci při Ljutomeru (Boretz near Luttenberg in Lower Styria , today Slovenia ); † May 8, 1957 Děčín (Tetschen), ordained a priest on December 8, 1903, worked in the parish of Sandau, during World War I he was a military chaplain	Ludvík Gala
15th	Mons. Josef Stejskal	1991	2014	* January 21, 1922 Schüttboritz ( Šitbořice ); † January 26, 2014 Oberpolitz, 1945-49 priests studying in Brno, priestly ordination on July 5, 1949 in the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul (Brno) , 1954-1991 administrator , since 1 April 1991, Archdeacon, since 1996 honorary member of the Cathedral chapter of St. Stephen in Leitmeritz and on January 3, 2001 by Pope John Paul II. Appointed papal prelate .	Josef Stejskal (kněz)
	ThLic. Stanislav Přibyl (CSsR),			* November 16, 1971 Prague; Ordained priest on June 22, 1996 in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague , since February 1, 2014 administrator excurrendo in Oberpolitz. He was Vicar General of the Diocese of Leitmeritz and has been General Secretary of the Czech Bishops' Conference since October 2016 .	Stanislav Přibyl (redemptorista)