Lambertus Chapel (Eupen)
The Lambertus Chapel in Eupen , Province of Liège / Belgium , also known as the Werth Chapel , is one of the oldest church buildings in the city. It was built in 1690 on the Eupener Werthplatz and taken over by the parish of St. Nicholas in the diocese of Liège in 1730 . The chapel had been consecrated to the Assumption of Our Lady since 1729 and was under the protection of St. Lambertus posed. As early as 1949, the chapel, which was changed and restored several times, was given the status of a protected property and has been functioning as a simultaneous church for both the Roman Catholic and the Greek Orthodox parishes of Eupens since 2014 . Since the 1990s it has belonged to the parish association of Eupen-Kettenis in the diocese of Liège.
history
In order to spare the residents of the district around Werthplatz the difficult way to the St. Nicholas Church, depending on the weather, the influential Eupen merchant family Klebanck donated part of their property to the community around 1686 with the condition that a chapel be built there. In 1690, after long deliberations, the foundation stone for the single-nave church building was laid and the first service was held in 1691. At the same time, the brothers Michael, Matthias and Isaak Klebanck signed a contract with the abbot of Rolduc Abbey , who is responsible for the Eupen parish, on the appointment of a clergyman , initially for a period of two years from the Bishop of Liège, Johann Ludwig von Elderen was approved. This contract was extended several times and finally extended in 1700 for the life of the Klebanck brothers. After the death of the last of the Klebanck brothers in 1723, the descendants and members of the family were obliged by will to pay the interest of an investment to the church annually and to remain in the foundation for the preservation of the church. This agreement led to the final consecration of the chapel in 1729 by the Liège Auxiliary Bishop Jean-Baptist Gillis (1729–1736) from the responsible diocese of Liège and its consecration as the Church of the Assumption . At the same time he gave the chapel the relics of the martyrs Faustinus of Rome and Clara. A year later it was taken over by the parish of St. Nikolaus and from around 1750 it was run as the Lambertus Chapel. The sources say nothing in detail about when and on what occasion the new inauguration took place. From around 1759 the chapel was administered by its own church council.
Decades later and now under Prussian administration and the associated membership of the Archdiocese of Cologne , the western front of the chapel, exposed to the weather and facing Werthplatz, showed the first damaged areas and threatened to collapse in 1820. Thereupon the city council decided to expand the chapel with a mighty new porch that towers above the choir in the style of the then emerging classicism according to plans by the builder Leonhard Baltus. This striking combination of different architectural styles made the chapel one of the strangest buildings in the city. In 1828 the sacristy was enlarged, the altarpiece restored in 1831 and the windows renewed in 1864.
When the Eupen district became part of Belgium in 1920 as a result of the Versailles Treaty , the parish initially belonged to the Eupen-Malmedy diocese and has been part of the Liège diocese again since its dissolution in 1925. Another fundamental renovation and restoration of the chapel took place in 1975, including the installation of a new heating system. Finally, the chapel received a new interior painting in 2007/2008 and the high altar, which was infected by a wood worm, was completely renovated.
In 2014 the Lambertus Chapel was elevated to a simultaneous church in order to serve the Orthodox parish of St. The apostle-like Nino , who with their around 250 believers were previously guests in the Eupen monastery church on Rathausplatz and then in the Garnstock monastery on the outskirts, offered an opportunity to attend the liturgy . Since the symbolized separation between the “spiritual” (sanctuary) and “material” (visitor room) world is a central component in the Orthodox liturgy, a mobile iconostasis , a richly decorated partition, was set up, which can be folded in or out as required can be.
In a small garden area on the north side of the chapel, a statue of Mary was built in a small heart-shaped bed, which stands in a round arch niche of a roofed-over housing on a stone plinth.
Building description
The oldest part of the chapel, dating from the 17th century, consists of a single-nave choir made of quarry stone over three bays and a three-sided apse . On each side there are three arched window niches with blue stone frames . A high in slate held gable roof with Aufschieblingen includes the building upwards towards.
At the level of the former west wall of the old building, an old square stair tower on a high base with a three-sided hipped roof has been preserved at its northern corner , in whose west side the side entrance door from the end of the 17th century with a flattened round arch and beveled shape is built. There are also elements of the lintel of the former main entrance, on which the year "ANNO 1690" is noted.
As part of the restoration in 1820, the ailing west wall was torn down and replaced by a rectangular porch in blue and quarry stone construction, which clearly towers above the old building. The massive corner pilasters are raised on a high base in bluestone on the front and brick on the sides and crowned with striking capitals . The front facade made of quarry stone is determined by the new rectangular main entrance with an attached triangular gable, above which the statue of St. Lambertus is located. A semicircular window with simple glazing and blue stone framing is installed further above.
The front building is visually completed by an unadorned bluestone frieze running all around under another narrow wall strip, which is equipped with small square bulges that look like loopholes. Above it rises the four-gabled cross roof with two gable roofs intersecting at right angles, forming four triangular gables. The triangular gable above the entrance facade is covered with slate and has a clock dated 1690 with a light background and golden numerals in the center.
The porch is surmounted by a slate-clad square roof turret to accommodate the bell, which is itself crowned with a broadly profiled cornice and a roof in the shape of an onion helmet.
Furnishing
High altar
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The slim interior is dominated by the floor-to-ceiling baroque high altar from 1694, which is Eupen's oldest altar. It consists exclusively of marbled wood and completely fills the central wall of the three-sided apse. The altar is the work of an unknown artist and was renewed a first time in 1831 and a second time in 1881 and most recently in 2008.
Its cafeteria , built of simple masonry over the entire width, is equipped with an antependium with a half-length portrait of St. Lambertus, painted in oil on canvas, is equipped. On it stands the carved wood and gilded tabernacle, which dates from the 19th century. It is flanked by two adorants and crowned by a lamb in a halo carrying a cross flag. In the semicircular altar niche is the delicate silver altar cross.
On the wall of the apse and above the altar rises a large arched picture niche, which is framed on each side by two winding columns on whose pedestals the four evangelists and their symbols are placed. The altarpiece itself is a copy of the painting Assumption of Mary by Peter Paul Rubens and alludes to the chapel's first name. It was extensively restored by the painter Jacob Reiners from Lobberich (1828–1907); in 2011 the altar, the altarpiece and the alta plinth were subjected to a further restoration.
The double coat of arms of the Arnold Roemer and Sophia Lambris families, who were related to the Klebanck family and who are considered to be the donors of the high altar, are located above the arch of the picture, decorated with garlands and ribbons. Their names and the year 1694 are engraved on the ribbons. A chronogram on the top of the picture frame recalls the restoration of the altar in 1831 and bears the inscription: ILLIbata Da CLIentIbVs a VXILIUM ( Unharmed , help your wards ).
On the stepped entablature of the columns to the left of the altar are the figure of Anthony of Padua with a ray monstrance, book and mule and on the right that of St. Lambertus with a putto holding the miter on. The rectangular gable building of the high altar is flanked by angel heads and equipped in the middle with a gold-plated sword and a gold-plated palm branch in a gold-framed area. The gable structure also serves as a pedestal for the depiction of the Holy Trinity , which is attached to it and is grouped around a globe.
Hanging pulpit
The hanging pulpit , made in Maastricht , partly gilded and completely carved in oak, dates from 1720 . It is located in the chapel to the right of the high altar at the transition between the choir and apse and is also a foundation of the Klebanck family. The round pulpit chair is divided into an access area and three side panels by four volute consoles richly decorated with flowers . These are oval rays medallions the portraits of Sts. Lambertus, St. Michael and St. Nicholas used with appropriately labeled ribbons. Festons held by ribbons swing above the medallions and visually connect the individual consoles. Below the pulpit chair, volute struts hold a vine pommel as a finish. The sound cover of the pulpit has a lambrequin on its edge and a coat of arms on its front, on which the Klebanck coat of arms is carved.
Other equipment
- a small communion bench , created around 1740, is very similar to the one from St. Nicholas' Church in Eupen. Between two supports there is a group of balusters on which a seat plate made of polished granite, allegedly from the area around Dolhain , is placed.
- The modern offering table is still relatively young and was only assembled in 1975 with nine baluster columns between two edge plates from the central part of the communion bench, on which a polished granite plate rests.
- The Stations of the Cross, acquired in 1877, were made by the above-mentioned painter Jacob Reiners, who took famous models from art history, such as the painting The Entombment of Christ by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio .
- The organ was made in the organ workshop of Engelbert Maaß (1781–1850) in Cologne . It was commissioned in 1834, but could not be erected until 1840. The woodwork was made by the Eupener master joiner Johann Michael Gilles (1806–1855).
- From the old church treasure , a silver chalice from 1700, made in an Aachen workshop, and a sun monstrance from the 18th century have been preserved.
literature
- The chapel of St. Lambertus im Werth , in: C. Rutsch: Eupen and Surrounding Area , C. Jul. Mayer, Eupen 1879, pp. 108–113 ( Chapter II / 4 digital or as pdf ).
- The Assumption of Mary or Lambertus Chapel in Werth , in: Johann Gerhard Heinen: Pfarrgeschichte Eupens , C. Jul. Mayer, Eupen 1896, pp. 215–223.
- Eupener Werthkapelle in the mirror of the chronicle , part I: On the convenience of workers in Werth , in: Grenz-Echo from March 29, 1975; Part II: Wills dispute after the death of the last founder , in: Grenz-Echo from April 5, 1975.
- Jean-Jacques Bolly, Norbert Kreusch: Photographic Directory of Sacred Art in Belgium , Royal Institute for Art Heritage, Eupen 1981, pp. 22–23 pdf
Web links
- The Werthkapelle on the website of the parish association Eupen-Kettenis
- St. Lambertus Chapel (Eupen) on ostbelgienkulturerbe.be
- Chapel St. Lambertus, Werthkapelle , picture gallery on kirchen-galerie.de
- Coat of arms and history of the Klebanck family, Eupen
Individual evidence
- ↑ Homepage of the orthodox parish of Eupen ( memento of the original from September 12, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Ulrike Mockel: Interior painting gives the Werthkapelle new shine , in: Grenz-Echo from April 26, 2007
- ↑ Elli Brandt: High altar in the Werthkapelle renewed - angels had not bathed since 1881 , in: Grenz-Echo from February 1, 2008
- ↑ Orthodox community in Eupen sets up iconostasis , news regional on BRF of May 5, 2014
Coordinates: 50 ° 37 ′ 57 ″ N , 6 ° 2 ′ 21.5 ″ E