The Heiligen-Geist-Kapelle in

Bruck an der Mur Bruck an der Mur is a city of some 13,500 people located in the district Bruck-Mürzzuschlag, in the Austrian state of Styria. It is located at the confluence of the Mur and Mürz Rivers. Its manufacturing includes metal products and paper. Br ...

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, is a chapel named for the

Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...

. It was built in late-

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style, originally dedicated to the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

, which explains its unusual triangular floorplan, with three similar walls, all with a portal. The building fell into disrepair in the 18th century and was used for several purposes such as a postmaster's stable, an inn and for housing, which changed the interior. Initiated by Philipp Harnoncourt in 2011, the building was restored to its original appearance, with new features where no trace of the original could be found. It is a unique listed historic monument of more than regional importance.

History

The chapel was built in the 15th century, replacing a chapel from 1422 that belonged to a ''Pestspital'', a hospital for patients with the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

. That building was badly damaged during the invasion by Turks in 1480. Four wealthy citizens including the Kornmesser, Pögl and Holzapfel families financed a new building. It was erected from 1495 to 1497 as a monument of thanks for the survival of plague, hunger and war. The donors were merchants who contributed to the flourishing of Bruck, located where important roads of the day met. Further donors whose names are mentioned in wall decoration belong to a younger generation. One inscription, dated 1504, mentions ''figura aura'', the golden ratio which governs the proportions of the building. Protocols dated from the 1540s confirm that the building was used for church services as a filial church of Bruck. In a protocol of 1617, Bishop Jakob Eberlein noted the triangular floor as unusual and demanded that the altars be returned to the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

s, to concur with the intentions of the first builders, and to ease listening to masses from outside. Services were held in the chapel until 1783. When no longer used, the building fell into disrepair. In 1794, the Catholic Church conducted a ceremony of

deconsecration Deconsecration, also called secularization, is the act of removing a religious blessing from something that had been previously consecrated by a minister or priest of that religion. The practice is usually performed on churches or synagogues to b ...

of the chapel. It was then used by the postmaster Ignaz Weigel as a stable and hay storage for the carriage horses. In 1817, Franz Oberländer received permission to remodel the building as a guest house, called Geistwirt. Further restructuring happened in 1921, destroying the Gothic windows. The town of Bruck acquired the building in 1955 and used it as housing for its personnel. For this purpose the interior was divided, with two upper floors with several rooms each. When a nearby highway was expanded there were plans to demolish the chapel. It was prevented, but living so close to major traffic became unbearable, and the building remained empty from 1999. The building was recognised as unusual in the 19th century, by publication of the floor plan and images of the vault. Johann Graus requested restoration in 1882. Two doctoral theses focused on the building, in 1999 and 2000. Related to these works, the art historian Mario Schwarz pointed out the sad state of this unique Gothic monument. Philipp Harnoncourt, who was interested in the arts focused on the Trinity, decided in 2011 to work towards the restoration. He first convinced his six siblings including

Nikolaus Harnoncourt Johann Nikolaus Harnoncourt or historically Johann Nikolaus Graf de la Fontaine und d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt; () (6 December 1929 – 5 March 2016) was an Austrian conductor, particularly known for his historically informed performances of music ...

and Franz Harnoncourt, and then the government of Bruck, to support the plan to restore the building, to serve as a monument for the protection of the environment. On June 7, 2020,

Trinity Sunday Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christianity, Western Christian liturgical year, liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity. Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the ...

, as Philipp Harnoncourt had wished, the completion of the restoration of the Holy Spirit Chapel in Bruck an der Mur was celebrated with a ceremony - just a few days after his death and one day after his funeral in Grundlsee. The celebration during the COVID-19 pandemic was presented per

livestream Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

by the town of Bruck.

Architecture and restoration

The chapel is unique in the late-Gothic architecture of Austria. The donors were free from the restrictions of conventional church building. The ground plan of

equilateral triangle In geometry, an equilateral triangle is a triangle in which all three sides have the same length. In the familiar Euclidean geometry, an equilateral triangle is also equiangular; that is, all three internal angles are also congruent to each othe ...

with bevelled corners is a symbol of the Trinity. Inside, the corners house three equal

s, making it an equilateral hexagon floor, which is crowned by a three-fold star

rib vault A rib vault or ribbed vault is an architectural feature for covering a wide space, such as a church nave, composed of a framework of crossed or diagonal arched ribs. Variations were used in Roman architecture, Byzantine architecture, Islamic ...

. The building's proportions follow the ''aurea figura'', the

golden ratio In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities. Expressed algebraically, for quantities a and b with a > b > 0, where the Greek letter phi ( ...

. The three facades are equally prominent, all with a portal and a window above it. The restoration of the original appearance was possible, because exterior and interior features were preserved, at least on one side, and could be reconstructed knowing of the symmetry. Surviving interior decoration was rediscovered in 2013, included red chalk graphics with remains of the Stiftungsinschrift (foundation inscription) of 1497, which names Bruck citizens and shows their

coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its wh ...

: Pankraz Kornmess, Michael Holzapfel, Leonhard Schierling and Albrecht Dyem. The building was restored as close as possible to its original character, in collaboration with the Österreichisches Bundesdenkmalamt. For missing elements, such as a floor, the windows and lighting, an architecture competition was held to include contemporary art. File:Gewölbe der Heiligen-Geist-Kirche.jpg, Star

in 2014, before restoration File:Bruck L1400826.jpg, Star rib vault detail File:HGK Bruck Sept 18-5078.jpg, Inscription and

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

of a donor, red chalk

Timeline

The project developed in stages: * 2012: Founding of the association "Förderung zur Wiederherstellung der Heiligen-Geist-Kapelle" (Support of the restoration of the HGK) * 2013: Gutting of the interior * 2014: Architecture competition * 2014: Restoration of the original roof * 2015: Restoration of the facade, demolishing the stable building * 2016: Restoration of the interior * 2017: Discovery of the frescoes, restoration of the interior walls * 2018: Windows and portals * 2020: Completion

References

External links

* Claudia Riegler
Das langsame Erwachen der Heiligen-Geist-Kapelle in Bruck an der Mur
meinbezirk.at 14 August 2014 *
Livestream aus der Heiligen-Geist-Kapelle im Gedenken an Philipp Harnoncourt
meinbezirk.at 6 June 2020 * {{YouTube, AtuyEJyVGAk, title=1+1+1=1: Eröffnung der Heiligen-Geist-Kapelle in Bruck/Mur am 7. Juni 2020 Chapels in Austria Churches completed in 1497 Plague churches

History

Architecture and restoration

Timeline

References

Further reading

External links