Basilica Gößweinstein - Gößweinstein, BY-DE - Baroque Architecture on Waymarking.com

The basilica is the second largest pilgrimage site in the Archdiocese of Bamberg and at the same time the largest Trinity pilgrimage site in Germany. Every year around 140 permanent pilgrimage groups make the pilgrimage to Gößweinstein. Gößweinstein is considered the spiritual and ecclesiastical center of Franconian Switzerland.

In 1071 a chapel is said to have stood on the square of the basilica. In 1240, Konrad I from Schluesselberg and his wife Kunigunde converted the chapel into a spacious church, which was consecrated in honor of the Most Holy Trinity. The earliest mention of a church in Gozwinstein is in 1308 in Gottfried von Schlüsselberg's will. The Schlüsselberger family is seen as the founder of the first church; she also donated the Cistercian convent in Schlüsselau, which is also consecrated to the Holy Trinity.

In 1461 Gößweinstein became self-employed. It was previously incorporated into the Hollfeld Archdeaconate. Funding from noble families, such as from Groß zu Trockau, can be identified early on. The first indulgences were given to the church in 1511. Among the days provided with indulgences, the later main pilgrimage day Trinity, the Sunday after Pentecost, was not yet.

The medieval church was soon no longer able to cope with the onslaught of pilgrims. It was expanded by about three meters in 1593 and 1594; this extension was not sufficient. “In the church there seemed to have been such a crush that around 1624 it was reported that the pilgrims had knocked over the baptismal font and in 1719 that the clergy had to shrink back when distributing communion in front of the mass of the faithful 'because of the narrow altars' . “To counteract the lack of space, the Marienkapelle was built in 1630, next to it an open wooden chapel. Confessionals and a sermon chair also had to be set up outdoors.

A new building appeared to be urgently needed; In 1683 there were hopeful signals from the Bishop of Bamberg, which suggested that it could begin shortly. In the same year Margaretha Gerstackerin from Allersdorf donated "20 florins for church building". the foundation stone was laid on June 3, 1730. In the previous decades, the Gößweinstein pastors had repeatedly asked Bamberg for permission to start construction. It was especially thanks to Pastor Dippold's persistence that construction was not delayed any further. In a letter, Dippold asked Bamberg Bishop Lothar Franz von Schönborn, who was eager to build, “The prince may, in addition to his worldly magnificent buildings, also have a magnificent temple in honor of St. Build the Trinity. ”There were plans by various builders, including one of the court builder Leonhard Dientzenhofer from 1715, who envisaged a central domed building with three towers and nine chapels, based on the Holy Trinity patronage. This plan was rejected by the authorities as too expensive.

After the death of Lothar Franz von Schönborn in 1729 and the election of his nephew Friedrich Carl von Schönborn, the order was given to the famous Balthasar Neumann (1687–1753), whose plan was also carried out. At first the work was carried out under his direction, later under the direction of Johann Jakob Michael Küchel, who had been Neumann's employee in the prince-bishop's building department in the Bamberg monastery since 1735. When the church was consecrated in 1739, which took place in the presence of the prince-bishop, construction was far from over. Even the high altar and pulpit were not yet finished, the other altars had not even begun.

The work on the equipment dragged on until after 1769 (the construction protocols of Pastor Adam Peter Vogl end in this year). The devastating fire of 1746, which severely damaged the church, the rectory, the Kirchnerhaus, the school and around 60 town houses, was a major setback - in terms of both timing and finances. Because of the necessary repairs, the church furnishings had to be put back. The repair of the fire damage cost the Gößweinstein parish about 12,000 guilders (florins) - not including the parish, church and school buildings. The construction costs before the fire had been over 70,300 florins. The financing posed a major problem for the church, which had previously had a large fortune. Pastor Vogl complained in 1748 that the church “did not have 30 fl in cash at that time, and I learn that it is bad to build where there is no money."

In 1948 the church was opened by Pope Pius XII. raised to the minor basilica. From 1999 to 2005 the baroque interior was renovated. The Gößweinstein basilica has been on a marked Way of St. James since 2009. The basilica is listed as a Bavarian monument in the list of architectural monuments in Gößweinstein under the file number D-4-74-129-2.

Source: German Wikipedia, translated

Style: Baroque Type of building (structure): Large religious building (church, monastery, synagogue...) Date of origin:: 1/1/1739 Architect(s): Balthasar Neumann Web site of the object (if exists): [Web Link] Address: Not listed

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Date Logged Log   08/20/2023 Kon1 visited it