Birnau pilgrimage church

About

The Birnau pilgrimage church (German: Wallfahrtskirche Birnau or Basilika Birnau) is a Baroque pilgrimage church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary (Assumption of Mary on 15 August and Visitation on 2 July) on the northern shore of Lake Constance (the Überlinger See) between Nußdorf and Uhldingen-Mühlhofen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies in the hamlet of Birnau on the western section of the Upper Swabian Baroque Route, directly below federal highway B 31. Built between 1746 and 1749 by the Vorarlberg master builder Peter Thumb for Salem Abbey, it is famous for its rich Rococo decoration: frescoes by Gottfried Bernhard Göz, and also stucco work, altars and sculptures by Joseph Anton Feuchtmayer. Since 1946 Birnau has also served as the parish church for Deisendorf and Nußdorf. In 1971 it was raised to a minor basilica by Pope Paul VI. The former monastery buildings in front of the church, with their distinctive bell tower, now house a priory of the Cistercian Territorial Abbey of Wettingen-Mehrerau.

The present church replaced an earlier pilgrimage chapel on a hill east of Nußdorf, several kilometres from the current site. A chapel may have existed there as early as the late 9th century: an 883 exchange document between Reichenau Abbey and Charles the Fat mentions a chapel ad pirningas (“for pilgrims”) that may refer to Alt-Birnau. By 1227 a nunnery is recorded, possibly linked to Salem Abbey.

From at least 1241 part of the land belonged to Salem Abbey, which already possessed a Marian chapel there. By 1317 it had become a popular pilgrimage site, as attested by two surviving indulgence letters. Pastoral care was provided by secular priests until Pope Urban VI incorporated the chapel into Salem Abbey on 27 March 1384. Jurisdiction remained with the Diocese of Constance.

In the 14th century (or earlier) the chapel was enlarged by building a larger church around it so the original miracle-working chapel could remain intact. Around 1420 a late-Gothic “miracle-working image” of the Virgin from the Salzkammergut was installed; it still occupies the centre of the new church's iconographic programme. The pilgrimage grew steadily, requiring repeated extensions in the 16th and 17th centuries. The outer church was destroyed in the Thirty Years’ War ; the inner chapel is said to have been spared, and the statue rescued. After the war the pilgrimage revived.

The old church was a simple gabled hall with a roof turret (typical for Cistercian buildings) instead of a tower. Interior paintings were by Hans Winterlin, the 1656 high altar by Melchior Binder, and its altarpiece by Johann Christoph Storer (now in Rottenmünster Abbey church). Side altars were dedicated to St Erasmus and St Joseph, with paintings by Franz Carl Stauder.

Despite constant resistance from the Imperial City of Überlingen, which owned the surrounding land, Salem kept expanding the complex. Tensions occasionally turned violent; in 1742 Überlingen citizens destroyed the half-built economic wing. In 1745 Abbot Stephan Enroth decided to abandon the cramped and dilapidated site and build a completely new church on abbey-owned land.

Construction of the new church (1746–1750)

Permission from Pope Benedict XIV was obtained secretly in 1746. After Abbot Stephan's sudden death, his successor Anselm II Schwab pressed ahead energetically. The Vorarlberg architect Peter Thumb, then at the peak of his career, was commissioned. After several rejected designs a compromise was reached; construction began in 1747 and the foundation stone was laid on 11 June 1747.

The site chosen was a promontory above the abbey's own vineyards and the existing Maurach manor, with the façade facing the lake to create a dramatic landmark visible from afar. The altar could not be oriented eastwards without sacrificing this effect, so the church and altar face roughly south-south-east.

The building cost 150,000 gulden and was completed in under four years. Consecration took place from 19 to 24 September 1750.

The present church replaced an earlier pilgrimage chapel on a hill east of Nußdorf, several kilometres from the current site. A chapel may have existed there as early as the late 9th century: an 883 exchange document between Reichenau Abbey and Charles the Fat mentions a chapel ad pirningas (“for pilgrims”) that may refer to Alt-Birnau. By 1227 a nunnery is recorded, possibly linked to Salem Abbey.

From at least 1241 part of the land belonged to Salem Abbey, which already possessed a Marian chapel there. By 1317 it had become a popular pilgrimage site, as attested by two surviving indulgence letters. Pastoral care was provided by secular priests until Pope Urban VI incorporated the chapel into Salem Abbey on 27 March 1384. Jurisdiction remained with the Diocese of Constance.

In the 14th century (or earlier) the chapel was enlarged by building a larger church around it so the original miracle-working chapel could remain intact. Around 1420 a late-Gothic “miracle-working image” of the Virgin from the Salzkammergut was installed; it still occupies the centre of the new church's iconographic programme. The pilgrimage grew steadily, requiring repeated extensions in the 16th and 17th centuries. The outer church was destroyed in the Thirty Years’ War ; the inner chapel is said to have been spared, and the statue rescued. After the war the pilgrimage revived.

The old church was a simple gabled hall with a roof turret (typical for Cistercian buildings) instead of a tower. Interior paintings were by Hans Winterlin, the 1656 high altar by Melchior Binder, and its altarpiece by Johann Christoph Storer (now in Rottenmünster Abbey church). Side altars were dedicated to St Erasmus and St Joseph, with paintings by Franz Carl Stauder.

Despite constant resistance from the Imperial City of Überlingen, which owned the surrounding land, Salem kept expanding the complex. Tensions occasionally turned violent; in 1742 Überlingen citizens destroyed the half-built economic wing. In 1745 Abbot Stephan Enroth decided to abandon the cramped and dilapidated site and build a completely new church on abbey-owned land.

Permission from Pope Benedict XIV was obtained secretly in 1746. After Abbot Stephan's sudden death, his successor Anselm II Schwab pressed ahead energetically. The Vorarlberg architect Peter Thumb, then at the peak of his career, was commissioned. After several rejected designs a compromise was reached; construction began in 1747 and the foundation stone was laid on 11 June 1747.

The site chosen was a promontory above the abbey's own vineyards and the existing Maurach manor, with the façade facing the lake to create a dramatic landmark visible from afar. The altar could not be oriented eastwards without sacrificing this effect, so the church and altar face roughly south-south-east.

The building cost 150,000 gulden and was completed in under four years. Consecration took place from 19 to 24 September 1750.

The complex consists of a long single-nave hall church preceded by a transverse block containing monastic and (today) commercial rooms. The façade has eleven window axes divided by three pairs of giant Ionic pilasters. Instead of a central risalit it is crowned by a three-stage bell tower – unusual for a Cistercian church but made acceptable by placing it outside the sacred building proper.

The interior is a hall church without aisles. Peter Thumb abandoned the traditional Vorarlberg münster scheme (based on Il Gesù ) in favour of a simpler space that allowed greater freedom for painting and sculpture. A continuous gallery at half height connects to the organ loft; two shallow conches in the fourth bay accommodate side altars.