St. Lorenz Basilica is a baroque

minor Basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

Kempten Kempten (, (Swabian German: )) is the largest town of Allgäu, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. The population was about 68,000 in 2016. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later taken over by the Romans, who called the town '' ...

, Bavaria, named after the Christian

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...

Lawrence of Rome Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman ...

. It is the former abbey church of the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

Kempten Abbey The Princely Abbey of Kempten (german: Fürststift Kempten or Fürstabtei Kempten) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire for centuries until it was annexed to the Electorate of Bavaria in the course of the German mediatizati ...

."St. Lorenz's Basilica", Religiana
/ref> It is currently used as the parish church of the Roman Catholic parish of St. Lawrence in the Diocese of Augsburg.

History

There is evidence of a first church from the eighth century and the three-nave late Gothic parish church "St. Lorenz uffm Berg" on the hill of the Basilika St. Lorenz built on the site in the 13th Century but burned down in 1478."Basilika St. Lorenz", Kempten Turismus
/ref> In 1632, during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...

, the monastery and church were looted and destroyed by the Swedes and the citizens of the nearby imperial city of Kempten. Inside the St

Prince-Abbot Roman Giel von Gielsberg, commissioned the

master builder A master builder or master mason is a central figure leading construction projects in pre-modern times (a precursor to the modern architect and engineer). Historically, the term has generally referred to "the head of a construction project in ...

Michael Beer of

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the ...

to build a new church to serve the parish and monastery. The foundation stone of the Basilica of St. Lawrence was laid on 13 April 1652.1652 – St Lorenz Basilika, Kempten, Bavaria
archiseek This was one of the first large churches built in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

after the end of the Thirty Years' War. The building included a residence for the

Prince-abbot A prince-abbot (german: Fürstabt) is a title for a cleric who is a Prince of the Church (like a Prince-bishop), in the sense of an ''ex officio'' temporal lord of a feudal entity, usually a State of the Holy Roman Empire. The territory ruled ...

s. Beer built the nave, the ground floor of the towers and the choir. He was succeeded by Johann Serro on 24 March 1654. Benefactress

Hildegard of the Vinzgau Hildegard (c. 754 – 30 April 783), was a Frankish queen consort who was the second wife of Charlemagne and mother of Louis the Pious. Little is known about her life, because, like all women related to Charlemagne, she became notable only f ...

is commemorated in one of the ceiling paintings. The Nikolausaltar is in the north aisle. The church was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on 12 May 1748. In 1803 the monastery was dissolved and the church became a purely parish church. In 1900 the twin towers were finally completed. They were built of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most ...

which is heavier than the used material before that time. Cracks at the connections to the main building are the result of the completed towers. In 1969

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

bestowed the honorary title of

basilica minor In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular b ...

. In December and January, the Bründl Baroque nativity scene can be viewed on selected dates in the crypt below the choir of the Basilika."Kempten, Basilika St. Lorenz", Bistum Augsburg
/ref>

References

External links

Website of the parish of St. Lorenz in Kempten
Basilica churches in Germany Kempten Roman Catholic churches in Bavaria Church buildings with domes Building and structure articles needing translation from German Wikipedia {{Germany-RC-church-stub