Westwork

The West 's work is a component of a church building. West works were first built in the Middle Ages as the Basilica west superior separate church interiors, its construction began in the Carolingian period. Already in the following Ottonian period, the type of the west section was mixed with other forms of facade - there were no pure West works more. A special or transitional form is the West Saxon bars. The west work has functional and architectural characteristics: it is not merely a the nave final west facade, but a separate building with interiors that serve specific uses. Therefore Western works only occur at collegiate and monastic churches on, only in exceptional cases on domes ( eg Minden ), but not in parish churches. Buildings that do not meet these criteria are referred to as non- Western art, but generally as Westbauten.

The west front is preceded by the church and forms an independent part of a building, usually with three towers, a central tower over the center of the west section and two flanking stair towers on the sides of the facade. On the ground floor there is a through hall, upstairs to a church open, usually surrounded by galleries space. Later forms of development often forego the multi-storey space division, this is ( as in the example of St. Pantaleon in Cologne ) spoken by a westwerk like Westbau.

History and Functions

The West 's work was mostly to be found at Empire monasteries, where traveling kings or emperors resided (see also Reisekönigtum ). You and her entourage reserved, the west front was mostly used to the Cluniac reform for secular purposes, such as firm or of court. From one to the church gallery opening the rulers take part in the worship of an elevated position was possible. The presumed imperial throne systems are sometimes derived from the Carolingian Palatine Chapel of Aachen Cathedral, where, however, proved there was a throne only in the Ottonian period.

The main function of the west section was potentially is to make the presence of the emperor or ruler's obvious, even if it was not present in person. The Westwerk Church distinguishes two spaces of meaning: the real, the Holy reserved Church in the East, the ecclesia triumphans, and the bulwark like Westwerk, symbol of the church militant, the place of the ruler as protector of the Church. Thus the large number of West works in the settlement areas by Charlemagne conquered Saxony is explicable. Only in rare cases, the western facade had a real military function (" fortress church "). Its symbolic importance was that of a castellum within the meaning of a fortress in the defense of devils and demons. While the east ( sunrise ) was considered Christ direction and in the apse of the altar housed ( Ostung ), the west ( sunset) were assigned to the powers of evil and death, are those granted to the Church, the "New Jerusalem ", no access should. Almost always at the west front of the altar of the Archangel Michael, the leader of the angels fighting the thronging the West demons. Other researchers make the claim that it was in the "West works " given thrones for the emperor in question deny that the type of building was to be understood as a sign of the Empire. You will see the function more in the monastic liturgy, especially during the Easter period. One of the earliest known Western art had the major Carolingian imperial abbey of Saint- Riquier, near Amiens in France. However, it is known only from drawings traditions, so that the exact shape of the west section is only hypothetically reconstruct. The only remaining pure Westwerk Carolingian period is in Corvey, although there away of the central tower and the side towers were increased, so that today the picture is a two- tower facade.

The fact that the form and function of the "West Plant" ultimately are only detectable in Corvey, leading to criticism of this concept and its related ideas. The consequences can be different: either to recognize the term " West Factory " to refer to a supposed building type as an invention of art history and abandon it ( Schönfeld de Reyes ) or the term generous to handle in practice ( Lobbedey ).

Examples of western works to existing church buildings

Collegiate church of Bad Münster Eifel. around 1100

St. Pantaleon in Cologne, Empor opening of the West building for church interior

Essen Cathedral, west front 997-1002

Collegiate Church Freckenhorst

Minden Dom. 1152 transformed into the West Bars

Monastery Möllenbeck. Ottonische flanking towers. The central tower has been destroyed by fire in 1248

Servatius Church in Maastricht

St.Bartholomäuskirche in Liege

Husaby Church (Sweden), Westwerk 11th century, influenced by Saxon- Westphalian models