St.Martin in Garmisch by Thomas Riess

About "St.Martin in Garmisch"

by Thomas Riess

About the artwork

Around 750, Irish and Scottish monks converted the Bavarian Oberland to Christianity. It is assumed that a wooden church was also built in Garmisch at this time. Its patron saint is St. Martin, the most important saint in the Frankish Empire. In the Romanesque period it had to make way for a new stone building. In the 18th century, the church had become too small for the congregation. It was therefore decided to build a new church south of the Loisach on the edge of the Loisachgries on the Nikolausanger. After the foundation stone was laid on 15 August 1730 by Prelate Patritius, the provost of Rottenbuch, the new parish church was built in the years 1730-34 by the Wessobrunn master builder Joseph Schmuzer. The ostentatious hall church, built in place of a St. Nicholas chapel, is in typical southern German baroque style. The roof truss was erected on 22 October 1732. One year later, the scaffolding was taken down. The ceiling paintings were created by Matthäus Günther and the frescoes by Franz Zwinck.[1] The new parish church was consecrated on 23 September. As with the old church, the builders chose the patronage of St. Martin as the patron saint. Of the originally planned two church towers, only one was built, as the Freising prince-bishop and sovereign over Garmisch and the county of Werden-fels only approved one tower. The total construction costs amounted to 12,000 gulden. In addition, the population provided extensive voluntary services in the form of manual labour. The stones for the new building came from Werdenfels Castle, which was demolished in 1730. Since 2007, the church has been extensively renovated. After the roof and façade renovation, the interior with the ceiling and wall frescoes as well as the technical equipment was renovated in 2010. In the process, the renovators discovered massive damage to the wooden floor under the pews. The renovation measures were completed in