Parish Church St. Nicholas, Rosenheim: A Late Gothic Catholic Parish Church
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.4
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Germany
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Duchy of Bavaria, Electorate of Bavaria, German, Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Church
On this page8 sections
History
Parish Church St. Nicholas is a Catholic parish church in Rosenheim, Germany, dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Myra and situated in the historic city center between Ludwigsplatz and Max-Josefs-Platz. The late Gothic church was erected around 1450, and its present nave incorporates a core from the second half of the fifteenth century. Saint Nicholas was a fourth-century Christian bishop associated with charitable giving and the protection of children and travelers.
Foundation and Rebuilding
The church served the Catholic parish of St. Nicholas in Rosenheim and belongs to the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. A fire destroyed the building in 1641. The subsequent rebuilding included the bell tower, which received its onion dome, a bulbous dome that narrows toward the top and is associated especially with Central European and Eastern European church architecture.
Nineteenth-Century Enlargement
Repeated interior renovations altered the church over time. In 1880 and 1881, the nave was extended eastward by additional bays. This work established the present three-sided, single-nave choir and added a sacristy structure around it.
Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Changes
The church assumed its present appearance in 1960. After several years of renovation, it reopened on 10 December 2006. The interior furnishings created for this work included a new altar ensemble, baptismal font, and tabernacle by Josef Hamberger. A chest organ made by Orgelbau Linder was acquired in 2007, and a new organ built by the Dutch firm Reil of Heerde was inaugurated in 2009.
Remains
Plan and Bell Tower
The surviving church is a three-aisled hall church, meaning that the nave is divided into aisles whose spaces are approximately equal in height to the central area. Its bell tower rises 61 metres and is topped by an onion dome. The tower is recognized as a landmark of Rosenheim. The eastern end forms a three-sided, single-nave choir enclosed by the surrounding sacristy structure.
Interior, Windows, and Furnishings
The 2006 renovation completely redesigned the interior. New windows by the glass artist Karl-Martin Hartmann, created in 2004, replaced the former old German glass. The south-side windows are highly colorful, while those on the north side have a more subdued design and had previously been covered.
One window commemorates the Jewish schoolgirl Elisabeth Block, her family, and the Jewish victims of Nazism. Another bears a penitential prayer by Pope John XXIII concerning the Catholic Church’s centuries-long failures toward Jews. An accompanying text panel explains the purpose of both windows. Hamberger’s altar ensemble and baptismal font combine shell limestone and bronze, while the tabernacle is made of bronze. The church also preserves an image of the Madonna, made in 1514 by an unknown painter, which is its oldest preserved work.
Organs and Bells
The Reil organ is a purely mechanical instrument with 41 stops, three manuals, and a pedal. Manuals are the keyboards played by the hands, the pedal is operated by the feet, and stops control sets of organ pipes. Its couplers are II/I, III/II, I/P, and II/P, and its auxiliary stops include a cymbal star and a nightingale.
The bell tower contains a six-bell peal with the pitches B-flat, D-flat, E-flat, F, A-flat, and B-flat. Karl Czudnochowsky of Erding cast these bells in 1947. The tower also contains a historical F-sharp bell bearing the inscription, “Bartholomeus Wengle cast me, 1606.”
