Saint Peter's Church, Fritzlar

The Fritzlarer St. Peter's Cathedral is a Romanesque former monastic and collegiate church in Fritzlar in northern Hesse Schwalm- Eder-Kreis, who today serves as a parish church. The church and monastery founded around 723/724 goes back to the St. Boniface and became the starting point of the urban development of Fritzlar. The Fritzlarer Cathedral is one of the historical and architectural history important architectural monuments of Northern Hesse. His predominantly Romanesque buildings dates back to a 1085/90 started high Romanesque building which was renovated in the late Romanesque greater extent. This is followed joined to the 19th century, a variety of other construction projects, whose harmony -acting blend determines the appearance of the cathedral today. Since 2004, the church bears the title of a papal basilica minor.

History

Church planting

To 722 left the missionary Wynfreth / Boniface at Geismar (today a district of Fritzlar ) of the pagan god Thor ( Donar ) consecrated Donareiche cases, which served as a place of worship. After the Willibald of Mainz report Boniface built by about 723/724 from the wood of a Donareiche St. Peter consecrated oratorio ( prayer house ). It is generally assumed that this archaeologically proven Kapellenbau already stood on the site of the present cathedral. The exact location of the Donareiche is not known. In the written tradition two different place names are called, the archaeologically proven at this time Geismar as the location of Donareiche and approximately 1.5 km from Fritzlar today as the site of the church. In deviation is assumed as a hypothesis, these places are identical and the cathedral stands on the site of the former Donareiche.

Wigbertbau and monastic foundation

To 732 is reported that Boniface had built a church and a Benedictine monastery in Fritzlar, built and led by the Holy Wigbert as its first abbot. From this stone building probably no archaeologically detectable residues are known. To 775 the monastery to the imperial abbey was charged.

First archaeologically detectable predecessor

During an excavation in 1970 it was discovered ruins of an earlier building with a reconstructed transept width of approximately 24 m and a total length of about 23 m. This first building with a west transept and an apse was built subsequent to the west end of the 8th century or later.

In the imperial history Fritzlar stepped becoming a place of empire and church gatherings in appearance. 919 the royal election of Henry I. took place here. 1001 a royal or imperial palace is mentioned for the first time. To 1005, the conversion of the monastery began in an Monastery. Probably around 1066 came Fritzlar the archbishopric of Mainz.

In a Saxon invasion in 1079 and the cathedral was destroyed Fritzlar, with its abbey.

Second archaeologically detectable predecessor

1916 was found in an excavation, the foundation remains of a very modest, only about 12 m wide church building, which was higher than the first predecessor. These residues come from a small Notbau after the destruction of 1079th Until the discovery of the older predecessor to 1970, the first excavated in 1916 Baurest was erroneously regarded as Bonifatiusbau.

High Romanesque Building I

To 1085/1090 the construction of a three-aisled basilica with nave flachgedecktem, wide flaring Ostquerhaus and flat closed choir was begun. Under crossing and long choir was a three-aisled crypt, which is completely preserved and was originally from the nave from accessible. Later, subsequent lateral Nebenkrypten were built with eastern apses next to the main crypt to the cross- houses, of which the north-eastern side crypt is preserved. The current floor plan of the cathedral is dictated by the high Romanesque building from the outer walls, the lower parts of the north transept were used up in about 4 m in height, as well as parts of the north aisle wall that can be seen on the hammer right layer masonry made of smaller cubes.

In the West built the two western towers, between which there is the king loft inside. After a schedule change, the originally planned two- tower facade was redesigned by an additional cross floor on the balcony to a latch to the West -Saxon model. The West ties with the towers, with the exception of the renewed spiers completely preserved and forms the largest remaining contiguous phase of construction from high Romanesque structure I, which was probably completed by 1118. The lower part of the west facade is now hidden by the porch.

Late Romanesque building II

Archbishop Christian of Mainz I met in 1171 the cathedral at a visitation in such a bad condition that he ordered its restoration, which was tantamount to extensive new building. The previously flat closed choir and the main crypt has been extended by a polygonal apse, which is divided by a profiled base and corner pilaster strips and concludes with a dwarf gallery on the large arched windows. Even the built in 1194 Romanesque roof over the subsequent Langchorjoch remained original, the woods are dendrochronological dating back to the Fälljahr 1193. For the cross sections of the old houses transept walls were used.

The high quality of Fritzlarer choir draws attention to the work of the builders of Worms. The late Romanesque building Fritzlarer II shows close relationship to the Worms Cathedral and other works of the so-called Worms Bauschule with which elements of the Rhenish Romanesque style were imported to North Hesse first time. The exterior of the Fritzlarer Chorapside was soon copied it in the choir of St. Paul in Worms. The previously flat -roofed basilica now received a continuous indentation with cross-shaped tape vaults. Using the old aisle walls you built a new nave in a bound system, which are assigned in the plan a Mittelschiffsjoch two groined vault Seitenschiffsjoche. In the nave covered the increasing extension of the yokes and west on the high Domikalgewölbe with partly strongly warped belt ribs. With the transformation of the west gallery of the late Romanesque building was completed well before 1232.

West porch

After 1253 Elizabeth Chapel, today also "paradise" called Westphalian porch in late Romanesque and early Gothic -influenced transitional style with numerous figural capitals whose representations, however, can not be interpreted originated off the west facade. The two-aisled porch also served as a legal site. No later than 1267 Elizabeth Chapel was completed, the Gothic in the one upstairs was set up with a steep roof.

Gothic

Well from the 1290s years the Romanesque Südseitenschiff was replaced by two Gothic aisles, the southern Südseitenschiff served for the installation of chapels. He was followed by the three wings of the cloister and the convent building in which today houses the treasury and the Cathedral Library. No later than 1323 the cloister was completed. The Gothic construction phases of the dome were probably formed in parallel with the construction of the Fritzlarer Minoritenkirche ( Franzikanerklosterkirche ). In the cross- houses as well as in individual wall panels of Chorapside large tracery windows were let in and built over the northeastern side crypt a small archive room. After 1358 was erected over the crossing a large wooden crossing tower, which reached the height of the western towers and was available until 1799. The two western towers had received at an unknown time very high and pointed spiers. 1354 grown on the north transept Lady Chapel was donated, but not completed until around 1365/1366. The late Gothic nave roof was built from about 1498 to 1494.

Renaissance and Baroque

Around 1560, was erected on the archive room on the northern side crypt a Renaissance - timbered room. From the late 17th century, the Baroque style of the interior began. The west entrance hall received in 1731 a simplified floor with low roofs. 1735 called vestibule was on the north aisle of the "red neck " grown.

19th century

After Reichsdeputationshauptschluss and the secularization of 1803, the Fritzlarer pen has been lifted. The cathedral was now purely as a parish church. Between 1822 and 1828 the stump of the Vierungsturmes received a neo-Gothic remodeling and a pyramidal roof, its tip protrudes about 10 m above the roof ridge. 1854 restored the architect Georg Gottlob storm the Gothic St. Mary's Chapel.

Due to the long neglect of the cathedral took place on 7 December 1868 disaster, as during the show a very strong gust of wind tore down the dilapidated high Südturmhelm. The spire and wall pieces fell on the nave and pierced partly the vault, which had 21 deaths and a number of people have been injured. When repairing the spiers of architect Carl Schäfer unified the hitherto different spiers and replaced in 1873 by two identical diamond helmets with previously existing triangular gables. 1878 was followed by a Neo-Romanesque transformation of the north side wall of the ship at the restored the severed arched friezes and additionally a base profile and a Lisenengliederung were attached.

20th century to today

After a long delay began in 1913 a comprehensive restoration that lasted conditioned by the First World War until 1919. They renounced the originally planned neo-Romanesque By design and Purifizierung of the interior and restored the found ancient polychromy and paintings. Other major restoration took place from 1963-1970 and a longer restoration campaign of 1980-1997.

2004, the church received the title of Papal Basilica awarded minor. 2010 started a further restoration of the interior, in the remodeled including the chancel and the heating system should be replaced. The entire construction project will be implemented in three phases by 2012.

Artistic equipment

Inside the Gothic Shrine of the Holy Wigbert of 1340 are highlighted in the main crypt, Gothic tabernacle and the Romanesque relief of St. Peter with keys from the 12th century.

Cathedral Museum

In the cloister is the Cathedral Museum, show its showrooms paintings, sculptures, sacred objects, or other evidence of pen history from the Middle Ages to the present. The most famous exhibit of the cathedral treasury is the Henry Cross, which was the St. Peter's pen given in 1020 by Emperor Henry II. The Romanesque Gemmenkreuz among the most important works of German medieval art treasure. Parts of the former abbey library were preserved in the Cathedral Library.

Organ

Today's cathedral organ was built in 1929 by organ builder Johannes Klais and 1995 completely restored. The instrument has 45 registers.

• Pairing: Normal Couplers: II / I, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P III / P
• Superoktavkoppeln: III / I, III / III, I / P
• Suboktavkoppeln: II / I, III / I, II / II and III / III

Bells

In the towers, a large bells hanging out of eight bells. Five of them are from the Middle Ages, one comes from the Baroque period, and two modern bells complement the historically evolved sound. The bells in the north tower hanging in a wooden belfry on wooden yokes. The bell in the south tower bells hanging in a chair made ​​of steel on steel yokes, wherein the steel yoke of the great Martin Bell is slightly cranked.