Neustadt, Renania-Palatinato (uno stato della Germania), l’arte delle facciate di Neustadt an der Weinstraße (Rathausstraße)

(further information you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)

Collegiate church (Neustadt at the Wine Route)

Collegiate church in Neustadt at the Wine Route (the chimney in front of the small ridge turret marks the dividing line, to the left of it is the Catholic area with a ridge turret, to the right of it is the Protestant part with the two towers)

The Collegiate church seen from the marketplace

Nave and choir area of the Collegiate church; from the ridge turret to the rear part extends the Catholic Church

Protestant part with the expressionist mosaic of August Babberger

Choir of the Collegiate Church of New Town with the high altar of the Jesuits

The Gothic Collegiate church of St. Giles in Neustadt at the Wine Route is the largest church in the Palatinate city that was one of the residences of the Electoral Palatinate in the Middle Ages. The double church has by the later insertion of a partition wall a Catholic and a Protestant part.

Location

The church stands in the center of the city. With the choir conventionally aligned to the east, it closes the medieval market square to the north towards the Potato market. With its two different towers, it is a landmark in the city.

History

Architectural History

Count palatinate Rudolf II disposed testamentarily the stemming from the 13th century parish church of St. Giles, his residence Neustadt at the Wine Route, to convert in a Memoria - so a prayer and memorial site - for the house of Wittelsbach and he wished to be buried there. After his death on October 4, 1353 he was buried as desired in front of the altar of the Neustädter parish church of St. Giles.

1356 donated the successor, Elector Ruprecht I, due to the testamentary will of his brother Rudolf II, the Blessed Virgin Mary Collegiate monastery to Our Lady Neustadt as Memoria for the common family. In the Memorandum Elector Ruprecht as motivation, in addition to the ostensible purpose of the grave lay and Memoria, indicated express concern about, if possible, formal, frequent and godly worship in Neustadt. He had the Romanesque parish church of St. Giles rebuilt in the Gothic style, enlarged and expanded with a magnificent choir to the east. The choir area of this new church, today's Neustadter Collegiate church, according to a pillar inscription was begun in 1368.

The main altar of the new church now moved a good bit to the east and the square in front of the altar of the old parish church, where Rudolf II had been buried, was now at the transition from the nave to the new choir area. At this point they buried in 1377 also Rudolf's second wife Countess Palatine Margaret of Sicily-Aragon, on the side of her husband. As a "Church of Our Lady" the new church was consecrated to Saint Mary that is traditionally considered the patron saint of the House of Wittelsbach; the Holy Giles as a by-patron was relegated to the background. The 15 canons with a dean at the top had daily to pray for the Wittelsbach royal house, to celebrate the Mass and at respective days of death of various family members to celebrate solemn, eternal anniversaries (Jahrgedächtnisse - requiems on the anniversary of death). For some royals their own "soul keepers" were ordered that in form of a prayer principally cared for the soul of a certain deceased.

Also the founder, Prince Elector Ruprecht I. and his wife Beatrice of Mountain had themselves buried in the Collegiate Church, but already in the new choir. Their graves are there in the central aisle, marked by bronze inscriptions.

1556 Elector Otto Heinrich introduced the Reformation in the Palatinate and banned Catholic worship. The monastery under its last dean Lawrence Kercher put up tough resistance, but it was in 1566 definitely dissolved and went on to the new Protestant parish. For this reason, also the foundation's purpose as a place of prayer for the dead of the house of Wittelsbach fell into oblivion. The palatine Electoral princes changed several times their profession of faith between Lutheran-Protestant and reformed; with them also the whole country and the Collegiate Church in Neustadt in each case the religious belief had to change.

Finally, the in the meantime again become catholic Electors the former confession of faith granted the free exercise and had the few Catholics in New Town from 1700 looked after by the Jesuits. The Collegiate church from now on was used simultaneously. The Palatine Religion Declaration of 1705 determines in § 17 that in chief administration cities (Oberamtsstädten) such as New Town, where there is only one Church located, and not several, this one is to divide by a partition wall, the choir always being assigned the Catholics, the nave but the Protestants. Accordingly, in Neustadt was done the same; on November 21, 1705 the exclusive right to use the choir of the church was given to the Catholics, while the Protestants were given the larger nave with the towers. 1707/08 according to the law of the land both parts of the Collegiate church with the still existing wall from each other were separated (present rear wall of the Catholic church area). The Jesuits in the Catholic part (Choir of the Church as a whole) the magnificent Baroque high altar had manufactured, whose upper yellow glass halo is modeled on the altar apse of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, and they resumed the proper foundation remembrance in prayer for the house of Wittelsbach. During this time here worked outstanding men as the world-renowned moral theologian Father Edmund Voit or Father James Baegert, previously Indian missionary in America, who in New Town wrote an extensive description of the country of California, where it is one of the basic historic reference works.

Epitaphs of Elector Ruprecht I (left) and his wife Beatrix of Berg (right); the tombs are located in the center aisle of the choir and to protect the originals with modern stone slabs covered

Blessing of the graves of Elector Ruprecht I. and his wife Beatrix of Mountain, at the resumption of the founders intent on October 31, 2010

Prince Elector Ruprecht III. of the Palatinate, paintings on the choir ceiling

The patronage to Mary was in 1862 to by King Ludwig I (Bavaria) largely financed neighboring St. Mary's Church conferred. The Catholic parish of Neustadt had it built as the choir of the church for it had become too small. So the old Patron Saint Giles came back to the forefront of the now rarely used Catholic choir.

The division of the Collegiate church continues to this day. A 2009 proposed removal of the separation wall was abandoned, since they came to the conclusion that both parts of the church have evolved separately since 1707 (the Catholic part is, for example, in the Baroque style), and on the Protestant side of the partition wall a valuable mosaic of August Babberger from the early 20th-century can be found. In addition, the heritage authority itself the historic separation wall - the last which still exists due to the Palatine religion declaration - has even classified as an outstanding monument of Palatine church history. Meanwhile, the Catholic part was passed by the competent diocese Speyer to its diocesan community of the Tridentine rite.

The Dean of the monastery to Our Lady (Liebfrauenstift) Neustadt in pre-Reformation time at the University of Heidelberg automatically held the office of one the four curators, who as councillors of the chancellor watched over the academic rights and freedoms. Dean Heilmann Wattenheim († 1411) also held the office of a papal representative for the at the University of Heidelberg existing privileges of the Holy See and the patronage parishes directly being under his authority of the university.

Because with the building of the church in the second half of the 14th century also the estabilishment of an own collegiate school was associated, the oldest high school of Neustadt in 1964 chose the name of the builder Elector Ruprecht.

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stiftskirche_(Neustadt_an_der_Weinstra%C3%9Fe)

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