Pilgrimage Church of Maria Langegg
The parish church of Mariae Birth is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage church in the cadastral community of Maria Langegg in the Lower Austrian municipality of Bergern in the Dunkelsteinerwald ( diocese of St. Pölten ).
history
The history of the pilgrimage in Maria Langegg goes back to the Salzburg court master Matthäus Häring, who in 1604 vowed to build a chapel for an image of Mary he venerated - today's miraculous image - when his seriously ill child would recover. The child actually recovered, and the chapel was built as early as 1605. It soon had to be expanded as more and more pilgrims came to it. From 1623 there was a permanent pastor. In 1647, Nikolaus Schober Hartenbach, owner of Langegg, summoned the Servites to Maria Langegg. Soon after the Thirty Years War , construction began on the monastery, which was built in several stages: the west wing was completed in 1654, the north wing in 1682, and the south wing in 1733.
Because of the numerous pilgrims, the Chapter decided in 1764 to build a new larger church, which was completed in 1773 with the transfer of the miraculous image from the old church. The builder was Michael Ehmann .
Maria Langegg became an independent parish in 1783 under Emperor Joseph II .
On April 5, 1966, lightning struck the tower.
In 1974 the Servites left Maria Langegg. Afterwards the monastery building served as a housekeeping school and later as an educational center for the diocese of St. Pölten.
The Community of Beatitudes has been located in Maria Langegg since 1993 , so the building is again a monastery. Since 2007, the place of pilgrimage has also been looked after by priests from this Carmelite community.
As part of the EU funding program LEADER + , a pilgrimage museum was set up in the monastery building from 2006 and opened in 2008.
Building description
The church is - contrary to the rule - facing south and forms the east wing of the monastery building. The tower is included in the curved north facade and crowned by a small boiler hood. Three portals lead from the front into the vestibule of the church. The outer east wall of the church is divided by five flat pilasters and four large windows.
The interior is a single-nave hall space and flat side chapels. The middle and largest of the three bays in the nave has a flat dome and slightly deepened side chapels. The organ loft above the vestibule in the north is spanned by a flat domed vault. The presbytery connects to the nave in the south, is slightly narrower than the nave, and also has a flat domed vault. The treasury is connected to the presbytery to the east and an oratory to the west. The choir is closed in the south by a flat arch.
Interior
The decor of the church is Marian , according to the church patronage and the pilgrimage to Mary, salvation of the sick . The Seven Holy Fathers of the Servite Order are also depicted on the side altars .
The interior of the church is artistically dominated by the paintings created by Josef Adam Mölk . The ceiling frescoes and the altarpieces on the side altars were made by him and his assistants (four have been handed down by name).
Frescoes
The ceiling frescoes show essential events in the life of Mary:
- The Nativity of Mary - the patronage of the Church - in the presbytery. As a symbol of Mary's freedom from all sin, the expulsion of Lucifer by the Archangel Michael is shown on the left. Lucifer holds a snake with an apple in his hand, which points to the fall of man in paradise, and is literally pushed out of the picture by Michael.
- The Annunciation to Mary by the Archangel Gabriel in the foremost yoke of the nave.
- Mary, salvation of the sick is depicted in the central dome. This fresco shows sick people and people seeking help as well as an approaching group of pilgrims who turn to Mary as intercessor for Christ. On the left the founder Matthäus Hering is shown with his wife, on the right the builder Michael Ehmann and Father Rupert Strebig, the building director of the church. Interesting is the illusionistic pseudo-architecture, the perspective of which is designed to be viewed from the church entrance.
- The Visitation , Mary's visit to her relative Elisabeth after the Annunciation, is depicted in the rear yoke of the nave.
- The Assumption of Mary , surrounded by the apostles, closes the cycle of Mary in the yoke above the organ.
Altars
A special feature are the altars, which - presumably for reasons of cost - are all not three-dimensional, but rather as illusion paintings.
The high altar was created in 1789 by Andreas Rudroff as a monumental altar wall, in the middle of which the miraculous image of Mary, salvation of the sick is attached in a halo and under a canopy. On the side, the parents of Mary, Saints Joachim and Anna are painted, above in the altarpiece the Eye of God.
The cafeteria stands in front of the painted altar wall and bears the tabernacle created by the sculptor Anton Caccon .
The side altars in the three bays of the nave are also executed as illusion paintings. Five of the six altars are from Josef Adam Mölk and his assistants. Due to the larger yoke width, the two middle ones are correspondingly wider than the side altars of the adjacent yokes.
- Philippus Benitius -Altar (front left): The altarpiece shows the saint from the Servite order kneeling in front of Our Lady with the child. In the background, a cardinal holds the tiara as an indication that he could only escape his election as Pope by fleeing. On the side, Saints Peter and Paul , in the altarpiece, Saint Sebastian . The Infant Jesus of Prague is located in the glass shrine on the Altarmensa.
- Cross altar (middle left): crucifix with Mother of Sorrows (plastic), behind it a painted representation of the city of Jerusalem. On the side the Saints Johannes and Maria Magdalena , in the altarpiece the Seven Holy Fathers of the Servite Order as they receive their religious clothing from Mary.
- Nepomuk Altarpiece (back left): The altarpiece shows the saint as he is held by an angel in the waves of the Moldau, above Christ with angels holding the saint's tongue. On the side Saint Anthony of Padua and Francis of Assisi , in the altarpiece Saint Leonhard .
- Peregrini altar (front right): Depiction of the saint whose sick foot is healed by an angel. On the side Saints Aloisius and Stanislaus Kostka , in the altarpiece Saint Florian .
- Joseph Altar (middle right): The picture shows the death of St. Joseph . On the side, Saints Barbara and Leopold , in the altarpiece, Saint Juliana von Falconieri .
- Nine choirs of the angel altar (back right): This altar was the only one that was not created by Mölk, but by Franz Sigrist (1773). The theme of the altarpiece is based on the visions of the prophet Daniel . On the side two blessed of the Servite Order from Siena, Francesco Patrizi and Joachim Piccolomini , in the altarpiece a representation of John the Baptist .
pulpit
The pulpit on the left central pillar of the nave was created in 1773/74 by the sculptor Andreas Gruber. It already shows classical forms, while the carving is still late baroque. On the pulpit roof are the three divine virtues: hope, faith and love (from left). Reliefs are attached to the pulpit: on the left the sermon of John the Baptist, in the large center field the twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple, and on the right Peter in prison.
On the right pillar of the nave, opposite the pulpit, there is an oil painting showing the Seven Holy Fathers of the Servite Order.
organ
The originally preserved organ was built by Stephan Helmich from Vienna in the years 1781–1782. It is part of the southern German-Austrian organ building tradition of the Baroque and has 17 stops with two manuals and a pedal . Hauptwerk and pedal are divided between the two main housings. The gaming table is attached to the Rückpositiv . The instrument had to be financed twice, because the first amount was confiscated by the Josephine state.
Bells
The church has a melodious ring of six bells :
| No. |
Nominal (1/8) |
Weight (kg) |
Diameter (cm) |
Casting year | Caster | material |
| 1 | c 1 +0 | approx. 2300 | 171 | 1925 | Boehler | Cast steel |
| 2 | e 1 +0 | about 1200 | 136 | |||
| 3 | g 1 +0 | 707 | 1966 | Bell foundry St. Florian | bronze | |
| 4th | a 1 -2 | approx. 460 | 1925 | Boehler | Cast steel | |
| 5 | c 2 +0 | 248 | 1966 | Bell foundry St. Florian | bronze | |
| 6th | d 2 +0 | 206 |
In the church there is an old baroque bell under the organ gallery. It was cast by Franz Josef Scheichel in 1774 and originally had the strike note g 1 . It was so damaged by the tower fire in 1966 that it can no longer be rung.
The steel bells from Böhler, however, survived the fire unscathed. There is even evidence that this “heat treatment” has made them sound better than they used to. The big bell is the largest steel bell in Lower Austria.
Chapel of origin
The presbytery has been preserved as a remnant of the original church and is now a free-standing chapel on the hill next to the church. In contrast to today's church, it is oriented to the east. Its early baroque altar was created by Franz Jacob in 1663. The altarpiece shows Our Lady of Sorrows with the Seven Holy Fathers of the Servite Order. The original chapel is a memorial for the priests of Lower Austria who died and were murdered in the world wars.
literature
- Dr. Johann Kronbichler: Maria Langegg , church leader. Verlag Kellner, Korneuburg, no year.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ LEADER + Austria: Pilgrimage Museum Maria Langegg - implementation ; Retrieved April 1, 2012
- ^ Maria Langegg: September 5, 2008: Maria Langegg - opens his new pilgrimage museum (PDF; 27 kB); Retrieved April 1, 2012
- ↑ a b Jörg Wernisch: Bell customer of Austria . Journal-Verlag, Lienz 2006.
Coordinates: 48 ° 19 ′ 19.1 ″ N , 15 ° 27 ′ 8 ″ E