St Martin's Church, Colmar

The often Martinsmünster called, Roman Catholic (former) Church of Saint -Martin ( Collegiate Church Saint -Martin ) is the dominant religious building in the city of Colmar in Alsace and one of the most important Gothic buildings in the Haut- Rhin. Today it serves as a parish church ( église double paroissiale ). After the French Revolution it was briefly cathedral of a diocese and is sometimes still referred to as the Cathédrale Saint -Martin. The present building was built from 1234 to 1365, the current, striking crown of the bell tower was placed in the Renaissance style after a roof fire 1572.

History

From the constructed around the year 1000 first 1972 previous church remains were exposed. It was a three-aisled church with a transept and chancel closed flat. A later grown Westbau could be detected during the excavations. Also from the second, Romanesque predecessor church there were foundations. Your apsidial closed choir had the width of today's Single choir, the apses connected to a transept to today's scale. 1234 brought the Bishop of Basel, St. Martin parish church, dedicated to the pin, which included 16 canons ( 1245 ). This was apparently the occasion for the new building, which probably began from 1234 with the no longer existing choir. One assumes an 5/8tel choir as it was common in the Upper Rhine late Romanesque. The eastern crossing piers still show base forms of the late Romanesque period, so that it can be assumed that only in the transept, the oldest surviving member, was the transition to Gothic architecture. At the south transept portal, the so-called Nicholas portal, you will find the inscriptions designated figure of the "Master Humbert ' ( Maistre Hunbret ), which is regarded as the architect of this component. The nave with its burly kantonierten pillars comes from the second half of the 13th century. The western façade betrays the influence of the West building of Strasbourg Cathedral. In the mid-14th century, the establishment of the choir, for the 1350 land was purchased falls. 1491 was built according to an inscription the Vierungsgewölbe. The church is surrounded by several relatively small portals (some of them bricked ), of which the largest in the tympanum have a rich figural decoration. The west portal shows the Adoration of the Magi and the Last Judgment, the Holy Martin appears on the gable at the coat donation. The south transept portal represents the legend of Saint Nicholas, also is another world court representation to see. In the Archivolts the Builder Maistre Humbert is shown at an angle.

It is also striking the colored tile roof, reminiscent of that of the Münster to Thann.

The massive pillars of the façade give the building front, a somewhat ponderous aspect which contrasts with the airy appearance of the high late Gothic choir window.

Among the unusual external features of the building is in addition to the presence of two " Judensäuen ", a gargoyles and the other as gantry angle figure.

Tympanum of the west facade

Tympanum of the south facade cross

The choir

A Colmar Judensau

Equipment

In the spacious interior that suffered by the French Revolution severe losses on the equipment, unique in Alsace ambulatory with a dense ring of chapels as well as the preserved medieval sculptures ( altar, Madonna) and lead glass windows are remarkable ( beardless Christ head above the north portal of the facade, early 13. century).

Also noteworthy is the organ case of 1755, which was created by Johann Andreas Silbermann. The instrument was in 1979 replaced by a contemporary instrument of organ building Felsberg AG. It has 48 registers on three manuals and pedal.

• Couplers: I / II, III / II, I / P, II / P

Organ music. The German musician Martin Vogt from 1837 to 1854 was choirmaster and organist in Martinsmünster. According concert organist Gerd Hofstadt Vogt was then the most laid composer of church music in Alsace and northern Switzerland.

The main peal consists of eight bells, in the years 1817 ( Bell Foundry precious ), 1976 /78 ( Heidelberger bell foundry ) and 1990 ( Karlsruhe Bell and Art Foundry ) were cast. The percussive sounds of bells are g0, b0, d1, f1, g1, b1, c2 and d2.

Dimensions

The dimensions of the building are

• Inside length: 78 meters
• Interior height: 20 meters
• Interior width in the transept: 34 meters
• Height of tower: 71 meters