Patronage: St. Nicholas | Holiday: December 6th |
City: A-6800 Feldkirch | Parish: Cathedral parish St. Nicholas |
Province: Vorarlberg | Deanery: Feldkirch |
Country: Austria | Diocese: Feldkirch |
In the urbarium of raetia curiensis at about the middle of the 9th century, the name “Feldkirch” first appeared as “Feldkiricha” and “ad Feldkiricha”. This settlement was located on the historic “Petersfeld” between Rankweil and modern day Feldkirch. Founder of the town of Feldkirch was Hugo of Montfort, second son of count Hugo of Tübingen (died 1182), who owned the county Bregenz since 1170. Feldkirch was mentioned first as an official town in 1218. The oldest church inside the city walls was Saint John.
Of the church Saint Nicholas was first to be heard in 1287; a letter of indulgence describes the “ecclesia in honore sancti Nicolay apud Velkirche”. Analytical investigations of the architecture and the building as a whole indeed prove that the lower parts of the bell tower walls and other parts date back to this time. Romanesque plaster remains were found in the crypt, which is inaccessible in modern day times.
During which year Feldkirch gained its status as an independent deanery remains unclear. In 1286, the patronage rights transferred to Chur, approved by the bishop of count Frederick I. of Montfort-Feldkirch. One year later, Bruno Graf of Kirchberg, bishop of the monarch in Bressano, consecrated parts of the church. In 1348, 1398 and 1460, the church took several heavy fire damages, as confirmed by several excavations. The last fire damage must have been so scarring, that the “lords and bourgeois” of the town decided to rebuild the nave, which was finished in 1478.
A lot of relevant information on the construction of the choir has been lost to time; however, it is believed to be erected in 1523, about the same time as the high raised forged aumbry. The latter would not have had enough space in the old choir that had a lower ceiling.
The side aisle, once connected through three pointed arches with the main part, carries a continuing net vault with belt ribs. One broad belt arch separates the four ridges from the higher vaulted pulpit, whose ribbed vault are from the gothic revival era.
The area with the Marian altar could be part of the construction period of 1478. The lower part of today’s Marian chapel, previously Anne chapel, is according to the vault shapes younger than the nave’s chapel, but not later than from 1508. Today’s communion chapel however developed its current form mid-19th century.
In a certificated, Hans Sturn is named as the master-builder of the new nave. This matches with the inscription; uncovered by the restorations of the nave in 1961 (“MCCCLXXVIII Hanß Sturn Maister dies Buwes”, roughly translated to “1378 Hans Sturn, master of this building”).
He came from the area of Weiler/Klaus and worked as a mason, fastening technician and builder. Word has it that he jumped into the river Ill after a vault was lowered, this however is contradicted by further research; he is mentioned in certificates from the beginning of the 16th century multiple times, due to his position as mayor of Feldkirch.
When entering the church, the spatial impression is overwhelming. The eight slim rib ridges unfurl from high, slender sand stone pillars without disruption through their capitals and form a big, protective parasol or palm tree above the room of the main hall. The contrast between the almost white walls and vault fields and the grey stone pillars and buttresses adds sacral seriousness to the filigree urge for heights of the delicate gothic construct. The luscious and glowing colours of the windows liven up the room through ever changing dancing colours.
The five striving pillars form a two aisled hall with five and a half ridges. Each one of the four pillars in the church aisle is hallowed by an evangelist, the fifth, growing through the rood loft, reminds us, we are the fifth gospel.
The rood loft carries the annual number of 1484 on the left side of its balustrade, the middle part with lyre-like ornamentations dates back to the 19th century.
The high altar made by Josef Götz of Regensburg was set up during the restoration in 1872. It consists of an independent plate top with a gothic revival tabernacle construct and reliquaries of gilded brass on either side. Besides the high altar are figures of the apostles Peter (right hand side) and Paul (left hand side), they date back to the 16th century and were in the cemetery church (now near the train station; church St. Peter and Paul) before.
The new celebratory altar in the middle of the presbytery was sculpted by Vorarlbergian sculptor Prof. Herbert Albrecht (2006). Much like how the aumbry stood in this position and at the end of the middle pillar row, the new stone altar raises above the floor and acts as the pinnacle of this pillar row. A composition of twelve pillars, reminiscent of the twelve apostles, carries the altar’s stone slab. Similarly, the four singled out pillars remind of the four evangelists. The altar is carved out of a block of limestone from Beaune in Burgundy.
On the left choir end wall is an immured gravestone, which exhibits one of the Montfortian sovereigns (first quarter of the 14th century). Above the left choir stalls are two paintings by Hans Huber, who led an altar workshop in Feldkirch and created several pricey altars for the Diocese Chur. One depicts Mary amidst the Churian Saints, the other shows a final judgement. Hans Huber was father of his much more famous son Wolf Huber, born 1480 in Feldkirch. Wolf worked as court painter for the bishop in Passau at last and is remembered as one of the most important member of the Danube School, alongside Albrecht Emil Bührle from Zürich won, who purchased the picture boards and lent them to the Austrian State permanently. His daughter Hortense Anda-Bührle and her brother Dr. Dietrich Bührle decided in 2005 to lend them to the cathedral of Feldkirch, so that the altar was complete again.
The memorial foundation Peter Kaiser and its chair holder Prof. Dr. Dr. Herbert Batliner of Vaduz funded the restoration of the altar.
The big lamentation of christ picture in the centre of the altar was signed by Wolf Huber and dated 1521. He painted the descent from the cross in the landscape of Feldkirch to reference what was happening back then in Jerusalem is still happening here and now (there and then). Besides the biblical characters, an unknown spectator draws the painting’s viewers into the scenery. The painter uses his typical colours in shades of yellowish orange, green, turquoise and crimson for the clothes, which drastically contrast the gloomy atmosphere, a contrast that nods towards the seriousness of the situation. The cross breaks through different horizons and towers over them, thus indicating a luminescent way of light and salvation. The original carved frame harbours eleven figurines of the ancestors of Christ covered in artificial vines.
The side panels depict as follows: top right – birth of Christ, bottom right – visit of the biblical magi, top left – circumcision, bottom left – presentation of Jesus. The latter is staged in a ruined church, as if to declare, despite the ensuing chaos and the surrounding collapse, the birth of god is still of utmost importance. Therefore, he placed the child on a tree stump, which should sprout like the tree Jesse.
The backside panels, only visible during advent and lent, since the altar is closed, envision the story of Anne based on the apocrypha of Jacob’s gospel, again as follows: top right – rejection of Joachim’s sacrifice, bottom right – Joachim and Anne meeting at the Golden Gate, top left – Joachim’s vision of being a shepherd, bottom left – birth of Mary. Two of these paintings are signed.
The carved ornamental attachment above the high altar depicts a Madonna and Child with Saint Anne (1494) in its middle. The shrine figures are Baptist John and John the evangelist. In the predella is an image of the veil of veronica, held by two floating angels. A graving by Albrecht Dürer served as model for this composition.
In 1878, J. Bertsch from Dormettingen created two neo gothic altar shrines for the side altars according to the design drafts by Georg Dengler (Regensburg), who also devised the high altar.
The shrine and the figure of Saint Joseph are the only parts of the shrine of Joseph that actually originate in the 19th century. The framed wooden sculptures of Saint Stephen, Saint Anthony the hermit and Saint Christoper in the gable top, as well as the shrine figures of Saint Odilia and Saint Judoc come from the old church in Thüringen. The neo gothic bas-relief of Saint Catherine and Saint Barbara were bought 1870 in Munich. On the predella, there is a clan relief, which originally made up the central shrine sculpture, its motive are Mary and Anne with the child, surrounded by relatives in pictoral arrangement.
Above the tower entrance is a sandstone bracket with a silver bust of Saint Nicholas (about 1700). It finds its roots in the silver altar of Feldkirch, which was sold to Switzerland in 1796 to pay defence costs and ransom for the city. The statue should remind of peace and solidarity.
The pulpit was once an aumbry and erected in 1523 for the choir. On a stone foot shaped like a six-stranded star raises an iron pillar with round bars and golden ornaments on a dark surface. Upon lies the hexagonal pulpit basket, decorated with buttresses and foliage ornaments. The wooden sound cover with early baroque ornaments was added to the pulpit during the conversion in the middle of the 17th century. The entire extension of wrought iron belonged to the aumbry. It is decorated richly with lashes and crucifers. There are ten wooden figures implemented in the structure that symbolise the manna culling. During the restoration of 1961, the pulpit was moved to its current position from the south western wall, it was also blue, red and gold originally. The blueprint for this pulpit is archived in the cathedral museum in Freiburg and was the prime sample for aumbries in south Germany. It also contained the gothic silver monstrance from 1506, which doctor and geographic Hieronymus Münzer from Nürnberg donated to the parish of his hometown Feldkirch.
The altar of Mary in the side nave, donated by the famous benefactress Katharina Mutter, was manufactured by Fidelis Rudhart, a sculptor from Feldkirch-Altenstadt. In its centre niche is a gothic Madonna with her child. This figure was cast in stone 1420, its stylistic elements point towards an origin in the upper rhine area. Saint Nicholas and Saint Lucas in the side niches are from the 15th century, as well as Saint Joachim in the gable niche.
In front of Mary’s altar are three stone slabs set in the ground. These are the bishop’s crypt.
On the side wall above the bishop’s crypt is a picture panel of lime wood showing the crucifixion, made in 1551. Depicted are also Peter, Paul and Nicholas.
On the front arch body beside the altar of Mary, there is a picture of the sacred heart on a cranked base from 1772, which is one of the oldest of its kind. At last in 1917, bishop Sigismund Waitz hallowed the province Vorarlberg in the name of the sacred heart in front of this picture.
Facing the sacred heart picture and under the figure of Saint Mary Magdalene with the oil vessel is a tabernacle for the sacred oils. Stored here are the chrisam oil for baptisms, confirmations and priestly ordinations and the consecrated oil for the anointing of the sick.
Leonhard Stainhauser made two paintings (1683) that are now hanging at the right wall of Mary’s chapel. In a flower bead and a fruit bead they tell of the birth of Christ and the flight into Egypt.
On the left wall of Mary’s chapel is an epitaph of two brass board with heraldic jewellery from the first quarter of the 16th century reminding of the royal barbers Ulrich and Heinrich Putsch.
A carved wooden figure of Saint Judas Thaddeus, a popular prayer motive, stands below the back archway from the main hall to the side chapel.
In front of the last supper chapel is the oldest playable Organ in Vorarlberg. This listed instrument was made in 1699 and renovated in 2013. During its over 300 year long history, it went on a true odyssey: after having travelled many churches, like in Feldkirch, Rankweil or Bregenz, it returned to Feldkirch in 2013 and is placed in its cathedral since then.
On the right hand entrance to the last supper chapel hangs a painting showing the adoration of the biblical Magi. Its painter is Johann Christoph Storer (1611-1671).
The Last Supper Chapel is equipped with a virgin of mercy altar, painted by Bartholomäus Storer in 1615. On its side are figures of Mother Anne with Mary and Zachary with John.
On the sidewall is a noteworthy depiction of the crucifixion of Christ, attributed to Tyrolian carver Bachlechner. The last supper relief dates to the 19th century and is by Franz Renn from Imst.
Beneath the singers choir behind the last pillar is a picture of the virgin of mercy by Matthias Schiestl, who made it for the world famous Jesuit boarding school Stella Matutina in 1930. It should remind of the benevolent doings of the order in terms of education and counselling.
Also beneath the singers choir is an icon of Saint Nicholas, located on the sidewall and made by Karl Abraham Selig, who dedicated it to the cathedral in 2006.
On the left side wall of the main hall stands a formation of figures, demonstrating the coronation of the virgin on a console. Mary herself is kneeling between Christ and the Lord under the shadow of the Holy Spirit. The formation once adorned the high altar of the cemetery church, which was built in the 16th century.
On the southern longitudinal wall, there’s a sitting figure of Saint Urban (17th century). He is holding a crosier in his left hand and a big grape in his right, as tiara-wearing pope. He was the patron saint of winemakers in southern Germany, and already in medieval times.
Four chandeliers are hanging between the pillars in the main hall. They were reworked in neo-gothic style, the figurative decoration is dated 1646. An inscription board on the luminaire of the artisans’ guild says 1738, two others were endowed by the cobbler’s guild and the tailor’s guild, the last one in front of the presbytery comes from the Vonbunian foundation from 1910.
Another memorable sight is in the main aisle: the Stations of the Cross on limestone reliefs by Emil Gehrer (1913 – 1992). They inspire with their insightful meaning and count as the more modern pieces of the church, having been crafted in 1963/64.
In front of the oil tabernacle is a baroque baptismal font (“shell basin”), beside the back entrance is an additional font, now serving as a holy water font, no longer for babtism. The oldest font of the church (16th century) dominantly marks the crossing of the nave. In its middle stands a wooden John the Baptist in his camel skin clothes.
The gallery splits into a singer’s choir part and an organ choir part. On the organ choir side is the cathedral organ, now equipped with three manuals and 35 organ stops, originally made in 1976 by the organ workshop Metzler & Söhne in Dietikon, Switzerland.
The organ standing in the altar room with neo-gothic casing (1 manual, 6 stops) is a creation by the organ company brothers Mayer from 1878. The two pictures on the singer’s choir present the feast of ascension and the assumption of Mary. They are the remains of the previous baroque altar painted by Sebastian Eberhard of Constance, whose side wings they once formed.
The windows made during the years of 1960/61 by painter Martin Häusle (1903 – 1966) in Feldkirch thematically present the lore of salvation history from genesis to revelation. Music making angels decorate the rose windows above the north wall, the rose window above the back entrance contains the creation of the world.
The first long window demonstrates the expulsion from paradise; the luminescent part depicts the Immaculate Conception, reminiscent of hope and contrasting the surrounding darker, blue panels. The middle long window contains god’s mercy through sending his son as redemption, whose work is told through eight miracles.
Christ risen appears in the rose window above the front entrance, who claimed the throne through the cross, surrounded by angels holding the Arma Christi. The front long window contains Jesus ordering Saint Peter to herd his sheep.
The central window above the high altar depicts the patron saints Nicholas and Catherine, below them are the four living things, the evangelists’ symbols. Above the two patron saints in the small circular window is the lamb with the book and the seven seals. The two side aisle windows are dedicated to Saint Fidelis and Gebhard, the patron saints of the diocese Feldkirch since 1968. In the side, windows are revelation angels standing and worshipping the throne of the lamb.
In Mary’s chapel, there is a cyclic of Marian images and the window of the last supper chapel gives life to the theme of baptism in six images. The splendour of colours of all windows fills the cathedral with ever changing coloured light.
The exterior of the church is emphatically simple. The southern wall is equipped with a memorial to the victims of the two world wars (Clemens Holzmeister). The ports are neo-gothic and were made in 1872. The neo-gothic fountain (1985) on the cathedral square succeeds its predecessor from 1835.
-Church Saint John (Marktgasse)
-Capuchin Church, a monastery church with the head of Saint Fidelis
-Cemetery Church of Saint Peter and Paul, with a resurrection altar by Dietrich Meuß
-Chapel of the True Cross “im Kehr”, containing a valuable fresco
“Standing in a church
Just for a moment
Being one
With the bricks of the ground
With the walls and their windows
With the arches, the spiked and the round
With heaven and earth
With yesterday and today
With body and soul
With myself and others
With friends and foes
With god in me
With god besides me.
For one moment
Nothing but being.
Being eternal.
Being human.”
1218 |
First mention of the city |
1287 |
First mention of the church St. Nicholas |
1460 |
Fire in the church |
1478 |
Reconstruction of the nave |
1521 |
Altar by Wolf Huber |
1523 |
Reconstruction of the presbytery |
1872 |
Restoration of the church |
1960 |
Restoration of the church |
1968 |
Cathedral |
2005 |
Restoration of the cathedral |
Credits:
German original written by:
Rudolf Bischof, Manfred A. Getzner (2007)
Verlag Schnell&Steiner GmbH, Ravensburg
ISBN: 978-3-7954-4249-1
independently translated by “Zivi” (2024)