Pilgrimage church Locherboden

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Maria Locherboden with the Chapel of Grace
Maria Locherboden in front of the Mieminger chain

The Roman Catholic pilgrimage church Maria Locherboden or Maria, Hilfe der Christisten am Locherboden in the municipality of Mötz stands on the ridge of the Sassberg in front of the Mieminger chain at 816  m above sea level. A. , a good 150 m above the valley floor of the Inn Valley . The church belongs to the dean's office of Silz in the diocese of Innsbruck , the patronage is celebrated on April 24th. Next to the pilgrimage church there is also a grace and a night pilgrimage chapel. The pilgrimage church, the Chapel of Grace and the Way of the Cross are listed as historical monuments.

origin

Representation of the origin legend in the anteroom of the church
The original of the miraculous image in Innsbruck Cathedral

The discovery of a Hallstatt bronze parquet knife from around 800 BC BC in 1893 and finds of fire remains with prehistoric pottery in 2009 bear witness to early settlements and mining in the area.

Around 1740 the miner Thaman ( Thomas ) Kluibenschädl from Mötz put a picture of Our Lady at the tunnel entrance as a thank you . It is not known whether this was done as a thank you for his miraculous rescue from the closed tunnel, or out of gratitude that he never had a misfortune while mining .

According to legend, a mining accident in 1740 was decisive. The miner is said to have been buried while digging a tunnel, which was dug for lead ore containing silver. A huge stone sank and blocked the squire's way out of the tunnel. Kluibenschädl couldn't move the stone. In his need he turned to the Blessed Mother Mary in prayers. He vowed that if his prayers were answered, a picture of Mary would be erected in her honor at the tunnel entrance .

In 1854 a new footbridge was laid out to the picture and the entrance to the gallery was expanded to a grotto . During the work on the grotto, the image of the Virgin Mary was kept in Zein, in today's municipality of Mieming , and returned to its previous location on August 15, 1854.

The number of pilgrims increased and more answered prayers are reported. The sacrifice money also increased, and so a canopy and a knee bench could be purchased. Next to the Mariahilf picture, a picture of the Sorrowful Mother of almost the same size was attached.

The picture was supposed to be restored in Ötz in 1860. Since the picture was exposed to the weather for over a hundred years, the painter Josef Mühlegger (called Ötzer Malerle) decided to paint a new, larger Mariahilf picture (like the original picture, a copy of the miraculous picture Mariahilf by Lucas Cranach ) on canvas , which is today still hanging in the church above the high altar .

As more and more people made pilgrimages to Locherboden, a new path was laid through the Mötz forest to the grotto.

Interest in the grotto and the image of Mary decreased again, however, when the weather was bad, the grotto was used as a stable and sheep and goats were herded into it. Over time, dust and cobwebs covered the picture.

Marian apparitions and healing of the calf of Mary

Maria Locherboden gained importance as a place of pilgrimage after the miraculous healing of the terminally ill Maria Kalb.

Maria Kalb, born on February 10, 1842 in Rum near Innsbruck , was a weak but happy child. In Mardi Gras in 1864, she was injured in the back . That was the beginning of her long and painful illness . The doctors diagnosed a " Nervenabzehrung and nerves drying" and told her that there was no hope of recovery would be. The sacraments of death were given to her early on .

First apparition of Mary: In prayer to Mary she drew hope for healing and at the end of April 1871 she had an apparition of Mary in which Maria Kalb received a letter with an image of Mary.

Second apparition of Mary: At an apparition of Mary at the end of July 1871, Our Lady told her : "You must look for me in the Oberland , and pray the rosary in my seven sorrows!"

Third apparition of Mary: But she could not correctly interpret the words and the location. So there was a third apparition of Mary on August 4, 1871, during which the Blessed Mother depicted the place to her and said: “This is the place where you have to look for me! - You stand on the sunny side - Stams there, Silz there , and Mötz down there . ”Maria Kalb talked about her appearance and acquaintances remembered having passed this place before. "There's a little pilgrimage here, that's the name on Locherboden."

On September 11, 1871, Maria Kalb traveled with her brother Johann and two other relatives by horse to Mötz, where they stayed in an inn. The next day, September 12, 1871, Maria Kalb was carried to the grotto and placed on two pillows. Maria Kalb hardly gave any signs of life .

Her sister-in-law took the Mariahilf picture from the rock and showed it to the sick. Then they said the rosary of the seven sorrows. After a short time the patient opened her eyes and Maria Kalb, who had previously been too weak to pray, said clearly: "Our Lady, you appeared to me, it is you, you will help me." Then she rose and knelt next to her the other down and prayed the memorare with outstretched arms . At the second rosary she felt changes in her body and suddenly felt strong and strong. Without outside help, she then went down to Mötz on her own.

Maria Kalb still frequently visited the place of her healing and died on January 20, 1925, at the age of 82 in rum.

Gnadenkapelle (so-called original chapel)

Chapel of Grace with three crosses on the hill, 1881

After Maria Kalb was healed , a new path from Mötz to the grotto was built for the growing number of pilgrims . The grotto at the tunnel entrance has been expanded. A larch wood porch was built over the entrance in 1872 and three crosses that could be seen from afar were set up on the heights of the perforated floor . In 1876 fourteen stations of the cross were built along the way.

The number of pilgrims continued to rise and in 1881 the Mötz curate Johann Schlatter decided to build a brick chapel with a 3-axis pillared vestibule, in which the miraculous image was re-erected on June 6, 1881 after it had been restored .

Johann Speckbacher, the son of an innkeeper from Stams, had drawn the plan for the basilica-like chapel in a neo-Romanesque style and the Mötz master mason Josef Hörmann carried out the construction. The construction was very much supported by the Stams monastery , in particular by making the building material available or at least “charging it cheaply”. On November 24, 1885, the chapel received an altar.

Today there is a Pietà depiction of the Mother of Sorrows by Josef Bachlechner in the Chapel of Grace .

church

history

Pilgrimage church Maria Locherboden

Johann Schlatter, pastor of Mötz, wanted to build a church above the place of healing . He planned to expand the existing chapel along the rock to the west. The rocky terrain would have required very large blasts . That is why it was decided to build the church on the hill above the grotto. On March 12, 1896, under the direction of the Mötz master builder Heinrich Hörmann, construction of the neo-Gothic church began; on August 22, 1896, the roof structure could already be placed over the nave . The tower was built in 1897 and the shell was finally completed. Due to a lack of funds, it should take a few more years until the preliminary completion. Once again, the Stams monastery supported the building project with cheap building materials. On June 30, 1901, the Mariahilf picture was brought to the new church in a festive procession from the Mötz parish church. Maria Kalb was among those present. On July 6, 1901, Prince-Bishop Simon Aichner of Brixen came to consecrate the church . In 1902 the sacristy was added. On May 24, 1916, on the feast of Maria Hilf , the work was completely finished.

General

The neo-Gothic, 3-yoke building has a south tower, which is presented to the main facade. The tower has ogival sound openings, stepped gables and a pointed helmet . The choir is designed as a five-eighth closure . Inside there are ribbed vaults on sunken bases. On the outer facade there are buttresses on the choir and nave .

Frescoes

Stams Abbey announced a competition to decorate the pilgrimage church with frescoes . The winner, the young, hitherto little known painter Anton Kirchmayr from Innsbruck made the frescoes in the years 1914–1916. It is noticeable that both the walls and the vault are adorned with ornaments inspired by Art Nouveau and figurative paintings. Contrary to the tradition that a St. Mary's Church can only be decorated with depictions from her life, Kirchmayr chose the church year with its four main festivals - Easter , Pentecost , Corpus Christi and Christmas - as the theme . Kirchmayr made many portrait studies in Mötz, and so it happens that many Mötz citizens find themselves in the figures in the frescoes.

presbytery

presbytery

High altar

The high altar including the figures comes from the sculptor Josef Bachlechner from Hall in Tirol and takes the picture of Mariahilf in the center. On the left there is a statue of St. Bernhard - a great admirer of Mary, on the right a statue of St. Kassian . - Locherboden used to belong to the diocese of Brixen , St. Kassian is one of their diocesan patrons . There are two turrets on the altar structure. The space in between gives a view of the glass window. In the niche of the left tower there is a statue of the Apostle John , in the niche of the right tower there is a statue of St. Joseph with the child. Banners in the altar structure show the texts "This is the place where you have to look for me" on the left and "If one day your eye breaks, mother, do not leave me" on the right.

Frescoes

The frescoes on the dome of the presbytery show Easter with the figure of the risen Jesus , who shows his wounds with outstretched arms. In addition to Jesus are two angels that crown and scepter carry, and two angels with two suffering dies , the veil of Veronica and the crown of thorns to see.

Stained glass window

Figures of saints are depicted on the glass windows in the presbytery, which come from the Tyrolean stained glass and mosaic institute .

Longhouse

Frescoes

The visual representation of the four main festivals continues after Easter in the presbytery in the nave. In addition to the respective representations for the respective festival, there is also a representation of a prophet who reported on this event.

Evangelists Mark and Matthew

The four evangelists are depicted with their symbols on the walls of the nave . On the right side are the evangelists John and Luke . On the left you can see the evangelists Mark and Matthew . The wall decoration in the nave is complemented by Apostle crosses in mosaic technique.

Organ gallery with organ and frescoes

The parapet of the organ gallery is decorated with depictions of the twelve apostles in the form of pictorial representations of apostle busts. There are also portraits of the builder of the church and the painter. Underneath there is an angel making music or singing on both sides, on the left the musical notation with the text “ Ave Maria, gratia plena ” and on the right the words with notes “ Tota pulchra es, Maria ”.

Representations from the history of the pilgrimage site are attached to the walls of the pointed arch portal . These were also painted by Kirchmayr.

  • right: Angels turn the stone to save the buried miner
  • left: the healing of Maria Kalb

The fresco decoration of the church was completed on May 24, 1916.

organ

In 1906 a harmonium was installed in the church according to the American system. Today's organ , a mechanical slide organ with ten registers , was placed on the gallery in 1996. It comes from the workshop of Orgelbau Pirchner in Steinach am Brenner .

mosaic

Above the entrance there is a representation of Mary with the lily in mosaic technique and the inscription "Sacred Heart Mary be our rescue" by the artist Josef Pfefferle .

Night pilgrimage chapel

At the end of the 1980s, the desire arose to build a chapel in order to offer the now monthly night pilgrimages a worthy setting for the celebration of mass , as the church could not accept all pilgrims. Resulting from a competition for the Tyrolean village renewal , it was built according to plans by architect Gerold Wiederin at the foot of the rock face near the grotto.

Night pilgrimage chapel with annex

In collaboration with the artist Helmut Federle, Wiederin decided on a modern construction made of concrete with the dimensions 15.09 m × 11.45 m × 6.09 m (W × D × H) with “clear, geometrically crystalline cubes in one Dialogue with the deformed and weathered rock formations surrounding them ”. or "a precise geometrical structure that logically continues the sequence of sacred buildings on the Locherboden and indicates their temporary use". A simple concrete pavilion , a concrete slab supported by four supports on which a concrete ceiling divided in a cross shape lies. The altar , ambo and sedile are also made of concrete. Frosted glass lighting rails are embedded in the cross shape of the ceiling panel and ensure calm, discreet lighting.

In the center of the back wall there is a branch created by the artist Helmut Federle , which is made up of coarse, colorful pieces of glass that lie loosely on top of one another and are formed by a steel net . The colors of the chunks of glass are related to the glass windows of the pilgrimage church. From the clearing in front of the night pilgrimage chapel, pilgrims have a view of the church on the hill.

The night pilgrimage chapel was consecrated on September 8, 1996 by Abbot Josef M. Köll from Stams .

Extension

An extension to the night pilgrimage chapel in front of the grotto entrance, which is supposed to provide shelter for the choir even in rainy weather, was built using a very simple construction method and does not fit into the architectural concept originally devised by Wiederin. The steel mesh originally installed by Federle in the direction of the grotto has also disappeared.

Way of the Cross

The twelfth station of the cross

As early as 1876, fourteen stations of the cross were built along the way to the grotto . These were wooden pillars and carried pictures of the painter Theres Strigl from Sautens in niches on canvas . These Stations of the Cross were consecrated on April 9, 1876, Palm Sunday . Due to the weather, it was necessary for Theres Strigl to restore the pictures in 1887. In 1915, the old wooden stations of the cross were replaced by cast concrete stations. Today's pictures of the stations of the cross on the way to the church come from Heinrich Kluibenschedl . The stations of the cross and pictures were consecrated on June 6, 1915.

Pilgrimage

Since May 11, 1976, night pilgrimages have taken place from May to October on the 11th of each month. Starting from the parking lot below Locherboden, a light procession leads to the night pilgrimage chapel .

The pilgrimage site can be reached either from Mötz via the Kreuzweg or from the parking lot below Locherboden via a road built in 1975, or via a footpath from Stams that leads over a suspension bridge over the Inn . The route leads through the Mieminger and Rietzer Innauen special protection area , which is one of the most species-rich habitats in Europe. These floodplains are the most pristine landscape on the Tyrolean Inn.

swell

  • P. Josef Fiedler SJ: Maria Locherboden: Pilgrimage church Maria Help the Christians on Locherboden near Mötz in Tyrol . 3. Edition. Self-published by the Catholic Parish Office, Mötz 1983, p. 32 .
  • Meinrad Alois Bader: Locherboden: its panoramic view and its pilgrimage . 2nd Edition. Self-published by the Catholic Parish Office, Mötz 1930, p. 244 .
  • DEHIO, The Art Monuments of Austria - Tyrol . Ferdinand Berger & Sons, 1980, ISBN 3-7031-0488-0 .
  • Story of the Locherboden. Diocese of Innsbruck, archived from the original on January 11, 2016 ; accessed on January 11, 2016 .
  • Helmut Hörmann: The pilgrimage Maria Locherboden and the Stams monastery. In: Spektrum 2001 - the Meinhardinum's magazine. meinhardinum.at, archived from the original on January 12, 2016 ; accessed on January 12, 2016 .
  • Night pilgrimage chapel. (PDF) nextroom.at, archived from the original on January 12, 2016 ; accessed on January 12, 2016 .

Web links

Commons : Locherboden  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Austrian Map online. (PNG) Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying, archived from the original on January 13, 2016 ; accessed on January 13, 2016 .
  2. ^ Tyrol - immovable and archaeological monuments under monument protection. (PDF) BDA, p. 104 , archived from the original on January 12, 2016 ; accessed on January 12, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Lust for Collection - Objects 1851. Tiroler Landesmuseum, archived from the original on January 12, 2014 ; accessed on January 12, 2016 .
  4. ^ Eduard Widmoser: Tirol A to Z. Südtirol-Verlag, 1970, p. 485 ( online ).
  5. ↑ Gerhard Tomedi, Markus Staudt, Margarethe Kirchmayr: Annual Report 2009. (PDF) University of Innsbruck, p. 30 f , archived from the original on January 12, 2016 ; accessed on January 12, 2016 .
  6. ^ Pilgrimage to Maria Locherboden near Mötz in Tyrol. tirol-infos.at, archived from the original on January 12, 2016 ; accessed on January 12, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Meinrad Alois Bader: Locherboden: his panoramic view and his pilgrimage . 2nd Edition. Self-published by the Catholic Parish Office, Mötz 1930, p. 58 .
  8. ↑ Meinrad Alois Bader: Locherboden: his panoramic view and his pilgrimage . 2nd Edition. Self-published by the Catholic Parish Office, Mötz 1930, p. 53, 65 .
  9. ↑ P. Josef Fiedler SJ: Maria Locherboden: Pilgrimage Church of Maria Help of Christians on Locherboden near Mötz in Tyrol . 3. Edition. Self-published by the Catholic Parish Office, Mötz 1983, p. 10 f .
  10. ↑ P. Josef Fiedler SJ: Maria Locherboden: Pilgrimage Church of Maria Help of Christians on Locherboden near Mötz in Tyrol . 3. Edition. Self-published by the Catholic Parish Office, Mötz 1983, p. 11 .
  11. ↑ P. Josef Fiedler SJ: Maria Locherboden: Pilgrimage Church of Maria Help of Christians on Locherboden near Mötz in Tyrol . 3. Edition. Self-published by the Catholic Parish Office, Mötz 1983, p. 11 f .
  12. ↑ Meinrad Alois Bader: Locherboden: his panoramic view and his pilgrimage . 2nd Edition. Self-published by the Catholic Parish Office, Mötz 1930, p. 115 f .
  13. ↑ a b Helmut Hörmann: The pilgrimage Maria Locherboden and the Stams monastery. In: Spektrum 2001 - the Meinhardinum's magazine. meinhardinum.at, archived from the original on January 12, 2016 ; accessed on January 12, 2016 .
  14. ↑ P. Josef Fiedler SJ: Maria Locherboden: Pilgrimage Church of Maria Help of Christians on Locherboden near Mötz in Tyrol . 3. Edition. Self-published by the Catholic Parish Office, Mötz 1983, p. 24 .
  15. ↑ Innsbruck News. (PDF) Austria National Library, May 23, 1906, p. 8 , accessed January 18, 2016 .
  16. ↑ Maria Locherboden pilgrimage church. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Kugelpanorama.at, archived from the original on January 12, 2016 ; accessed on January 12, 2016 .
  17. ^ Mosaic in Tyrol. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 13, 2016 ; accessed on January 13, 2016 .
  18. ↑ Cath. Night pilgrimage chapel. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016 ; accessed on January 13, 2016 .
  19. ↑ Locherboden night pilgrimage chapel. In: aka work documents. Kunsthaus Bregenz, archived from the original on January 12, 2016 ; accessed on January 12, 2016 .
  20. ↑ Night pilgrimage chapel. (PDF) nextroom.at, archived from the original on January 12, 2016 ; accessed on January 12, 2016 .
  21. ↑ Franziska Leeb: So cheap cannot be cheap. diepresse.com, July 25, 2014, archived from the original on January 12, 2016 ; accessed on January 12, 2016 .
  22. ↑ Innsbruck News. (PDF) Austria National Library, June 12, 1915, p. 8 , accessed January 18, 2016 .
  23. ^ Research and reports on the history of Tyrol and Vorarlberg. 1915, p. 198 ( online ).
  24. ↑ Night pilgrimage to Locherboden. Sonnenplateau Mieming, archived from the original on January 12, 2016 ; accessed on January 12, 2016 .
  25. ↑ Günther Krauthackl: Over the suspension bridge near Stams to Maria Locherboden. krone.at, November 10, 2010, archived from the original on January 12, 2016 ; accessed on January 12, 2016 .
  26. ↑ AUEN IN AUSTRIA. (PDF) Umweltbundesamt, 1997, p. 140 f , archived from the original on January 12, 2016 ; accessed on January 12, 2016 .

Coordinates: 47 ° 16 ′ 58.7 "  N , 10 ° 57 ′ 47.2"  E