Wintringen (Saarland)

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Wintringer Chapel (east view)
Wintringer Chapel (west view)

Wintringen is a former village in the southeastern Saarland . The chapel there is considered to be one of the few examples of late Gothic in Saarland.

History of origin

Floor plan of the Wintringer Chapel with various expansion stages

The former village is located about 10 km southeast of Saarbrücken between the villages of Bliesransbach and Kleinblittersdorf directly on the border with France. Wintringen is the gateway to the Bliesgau UNESCO Biosphere Reserve . The village is said to go back to a settlement called Winteroinga of the Franks in the 3rd to 5th centuries. The place was mentioned for the first time around 1320 in documents from the Premonstratensian Abbey of Wadgassen , to whose property it probably belonged. There is evidence that the place was already deserted before 1400 . The focal point of the submerged place was a Gothic priory church , the choir of which was preserved in fragments. The foundation walls of the former church can still be seen on the ground floor, so that its floor plan is still visible today. The former sacred building is known today as the "Wintringer Chapel". In the second half of the 15th century, the choir became a chapel rebuilt, which the Holy Wolfgang was dedicated, in the 10th century bishop of Regensburg ( "Wolfgangskapelle"). The chapel was destroyed in the Thirty Years' War , only the foundation walls of the choir, which is closed on three sides, and part of the vault-free transept remained . After that, the former was sacred to the profane subject. In the period that followed, the remains of the chapel fell into disrepair.

Interior of the chapel

Today's structure still shows many traces of the high quality architecture and rich furnishings of the 15th century. These include, for example, the sacrament niches in the apse , figure consoles or a limestone relief attached to the wall, which presumably dates to the 16th century. The original furnishings also included a late Gothic wooden sculpture, the Wintringer Madonna . The figure is a carved from linden wood Madonna and Child, which is one of the few remaining late Gothic wooden sculptures in the Saar region. It was created around the year 1480. The original is exhibited in the museum in the Schlosskirche in Saarbrücken, and in the chapel itself there is an artistically designed gisp cast by the modeler Frank Schneider. Of particular importance is the probably unique cycle of eight late Gothic water hammer figures on the buttresses .

Pilgrimage site and the Way of St. James

Way of St. James in Bliesgau and the neighboring regions

The Wintringer Chapel was a place of pilgrimage for centuries, where Saint Wolfgang was venerated. Archaeological excavations have unearthed relevant evidence (including pilgrim badges from Kornelimünster ). In addition, a tiled stove from the 15th century and late Gothic utility ceramics were found in a separate room in the north nave. Both indicate the presence of a pilgrims' room with a kitchen to supply the participants in pilgrimages.
The Wintringer Chapel was an official stop on the traditional Way of St. James , the classic southern route of which led from the former Hornbach monastery via Saarbrücken and the neighboring French city of Sarreguemines to the Lorraine metropolis of Metz . This is evidenced by the representation of the classic scallop shell in a limestone relief in the interior of the chapel. Recently, the traditional pilgrimage to St. James has been revived by tourists and church institutions; In 2009, a Franco-German working group developed a new hiking map that describes the individual path axes in detail and lists the night hostels. The Wintringer Hof is also designated as a night hostel for pilgrims on the Way of St. James.

Newer usage

In the 1990s, at the suggestion of the Saarbrücken designer, publisher and author Charly Lehnert, a restoration of the chapel was undertaken, which was sustainably supported by a support association Wintringer Kapelle eV founded by Lehnert . The work cost a total of about 1 million DM; they were supported by the German Foundation for Monument Protection , the Saarland , the Saarbrücken City Association (today Saarbrücken Regional Association ) and the Friends' Association. After the restoration work, the Saarbrücken Regional Association took over the sponsorship and management of the restored chapel. The association's new usage concept sees the Wintringer Chapel as a place of culture where readings, art exhibitions, lectures and other cultural events take place. The former sacred building is also used as a location for weddings.
In 2002, the Friends of Wintringer Kapelle eV received 3rd prize in the German Federal Prize for Crafts in Monument Preservation competition .

On the site of the desert there is a neat, manor-like property from around the turn of the century (19th / 20th century), which was at times the headquarters of a communications company and publishing house and is now used as a private house after extensive renovation.

Agricultural farm

In the 19th century, the desert once again experienced economic importance when an agricultural farm was established there. At the end of the 1980s, the farm was taken over by Lebenshilfe Obere Saar eV and supplemented by the construction of new farm buildings. The farm cultivates around 50 hectares of arable land and 60 hectares of grassland. The core of the livestock industry is keeping a herd of suckler cattle of Glan cattle , an old German livestock breed that is threatened with extinction. The Wintringer Hof belongs to the Bioland cultivation association and produces organically produced products. Natural food and dairy products are on offer, as are sausage and meat products from our own slaughter. A special focus is on the cultivation of apple varieties. In the meantime, vines have also been replanted on a slope that was used as a vineyard in earlier centuries. The Bliesgau was already used as a wine-growing area in a number of areas during the Roman times.

Timetable

  • 3rd / 4th Century. Finds from a relocated layer of fire give evidence of Roman times of development
  • 10/11 Century. Remnants of the foundation, u. a. also graves, suggest a larger rectangular building (presumably Romanesque hall church )
  • 13./14. Century. The Saalkirche receives a rectangular choir on the east side, the hall is a double-aisle long building expanded
  • 15th century, 2nd half Completely new building of a late Gothic church complex consisting of a three-aisled nave of three bays with choir and polygonal closed apse . The older western parts, which are spatially connected to the new complex as a kind of pre-church, are also preserved. The patronage of St. Wolfgang is mentioned for the first time at the end of the 15th century . A profane use, for example as a pilgrims' hostel, is to be assumed in view of the traditional pilgrimages
  • 16th century Wintringen is plundered in 1525 during the Peasant Wars. The historical sources confirm the place as the priory of the Wadgassen Abbey
  • 17./18. Century. Putative destruction of the system 1635 performs the traditional conveyance and maturity. After the destruction in the Thirty Years' War and the demolition of parts of the complex, only the choir and eastern central nave yoke of the nave remain as a “chapel”
  • 19th century/1905 The building that has been preserved is used at times as a sheep shed and barn. A fire, triggered by a lightning strike, destroyed the upper parts in 1905, and the open ruins were falling into disrepair
  • 20th century / 2nd half
  • 1959–1961 The heavily dilapidated facility is partially rebuilt for static security. Still existing structural problems as well as the lack of use and construction maintenance lead to renewed damage
  • In 1991 the Wintringer Kapelle eV association was founded with the aim of preserving the building, setting it up instantly in accordance with historical monuments and initiating use for cultural events in a way that was compatible with historical monuments
  • 1992–1995 preparatory work for more extensive renovation measures
  • 1995–1997 Archaeological excavations and construction studies are carried out. As one of the first renovation measures, a ring drainage will be created
  • 1998–1999 Extensive sandstone renovation measures are carried out and the exterior is newly plastered
  • 2000 The slate covering of the roof is renovated
  • 2001–2003 The excavation areas are backfilled, the windows and arcades get new frames and glazing. This is followed by the renovation of the flooring, electrical installation and lighting as well as the repair of the front areas. The water hammer figures are preserved and copies made to secure their current state. The so-called Wolfgang relief will be restored and put back in the chapel. A copy of the Wintringer Madonna , which is in the museum, is made for the chapel
  • 2003 ff. The Wintringer Chapel developed into an authentic cultural site on the Upper Saar, which takes the genius loci into account through cultural events and projects

literature

  • Peter Volkelt: Water hammer figures in Saarland. Saarbrücken: Univ. d. Saarlandes, 1955 (Annales Universitatis Saraviensis)
  • Heinz Spieß: History of the farm and the Gothic chapel in Wintringen . St. Ingbert, 1971.
  • Charly Lehnert: Wintringen - revitalization of a desert on the upper Saar . Ed .: Förderverein Wintringer Kapelle eV Saarbrücken: Lehnert-Verl., 1992. 71 S., Ill. ISBN 3-926320-33-8
  • Charly Lehnert: The renovation of the Wintringer chapel. In: EuroSAAR magazine, vol. 2002/4
  • Peter Michael Lupp, Emanuel Roth: The Wintringer Chapel near Kleinblittersdorf. Historical overview in German, French and English; Cultural monument guide attached . Saarbrücken: Stadtverband, 2003. 43 p., Ill. ISBN 3-923405-23-5
  • Ulrike Beckert: flute tones and chicken cackles. The renovated Wintringer Chapel. In: Saarbrücker Zeitung (Culture) of November 7, 2003
  • Ulrike Beckert: The chapel in the church. In: Saarbrücker Zeitung (Culture) from December 5, 2003
  • Charly Lehnert: The Wintringer Chapel . In: EuroSAAR magazine, year 2004/1
  • Charly Lehnert: A new cultural site - the Wintringer Chapel. In: Magazine Fine Addresses , year 2004/4
  • Peter Michael Lupp: stations of life - cultural center Wintringer chapel . Ill .: Andreas Kuhnlein. Saarbrücken: Regionalverband Saarbrücken, 2010. 63 p., Numerous. Ill. ISBN 978-3-923405-36-7
  • Desgranges, Ilka: Art has time and space to grow here. Wintringer Chapel as a cultural site. In: Saarbrücker Zeitung of June 19, 2012, p. C5
  • Franz-Josef Reichert : The Wintringer Chapel In: Journal for the history of the Saar region, LV - 2007 of the Historical Association for the Saar region, Saarbrücken 2008, pp. 66–79

Visual media

  • The restoration of the Wintringer Chapel . TV report (first broadcast: current report by Saarländischer Rundfunk from November 5, 2003)

Web links

Commons : Wintringer Kapelle  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Wintringer Hof  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Charly Lehnert : The Saarland Geheichnis, Volume 1: Stories and glosses . Lehnert Verlag, Bübingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-939286-18-9 , KulturOrt mit Magie: Die Wintringer Kapelle, p. 207-209 .
  2. ↑ Christof Trepesch: The Madonna from the Wintringer Hof . In: Saarheimat . 1994, issue 3/4, pp. 13-18
  3. ↑ Hiking guide Jakobswege Hornbach - Metz ( Memento from November 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Copy of the legend in public space (time table) at the Wintringer Chapel

Coordinates: 49 ° 10 ′ 24 ″  N , 7 ° 4 ′ 12.5 ″  E