The Basilica of Ottobeuren – Guided tour for pupils by Helmut Scharpf (19-June-2012) stage 1 (in front of the church 1)
We are in front of the basilica now. We are going on a tour through the church which gives you not only an idea about the building, but also about the religious idea behind it. The church and the monastery are more than just splendid pieces of art – they are a way of making worship visible.
The church you can see here now isn‘t the first one, it’s probably the fifth building . You can find out about the first church and monastery inside. The one which is there now was built between 1736 and 1766, so it took them 30 years altogether . For the first stage they had to get the ground ready, which took 10 years. The fundaments of the church with its two towers go down 12 meters or almost 40 feet. The towers are 82 meters or 270 feet high.
The other churches before this one had been looking towards the east with their altars, as it is still the usual case for a church. (Point towards the east!). The present one goes north to south. stage 2 (in front of the church 2)
Does anyone know why we normally have the altar in the east?
Yes, the sun rises in the east and that’s a symbol for the resurrection of Jesus . So why do you think they changed the direction when they built today’s church?
Well, there were three reasons: Just think of the shape of the valley . It goes from south to west. So today’s church fits in much better into the natural landscape.
The next reason lay in the sheer size of the church which would have been too big for the size of the hill.
And the third one was the idea of forming the shape of a cross with the whole complex of buildings, including the monastery. stage 3 (in front of the church 3)
The time when the church was built is called baroque . After the fundaments had been prepared it took another 10 years to erect the building and yet another 10 years for the interior decoration. Luckily they didn’t run out of money, so the monastery and the church were all built in the same style, although the baroque era actually ended around 1750.
Everything you can see has a meaning, and most of that is hidden in symbols. For example it’s no coincidence that there are seven steps leading up to the gates, 7 is a holy number. The people at that time were able to read the symbols, but some of the ideas behind have been lost. stage 4 (in front of the church 4)
Above the big central gate you can read „
Gottes Haus - Himmelspforten
“, which translates as house of God, gate to heaven. We get reminded what the purpose is. Above it there’s the archangel Michael with his protective function against all evil and demonic .
Above the angel you can see the founding father of the Benedictine order, Saint Benedict who lived from 480 to 560. Next to him on the gabled ends there used to be two Roman martyrs, Alexander and Theodore , the patron saints of church and monastery.
Do you recognize something unusual about the crosses on top of the towers?
Answer: They are double-crossed . It means that this church was awarded the title „basilica minor“ (or small basilica) by the Pope in Rome in 1928 because of its importance as a place of pilgrimage and because the founder of the order is rated a patriarch. There’s only one
“basilica major“ on earth and you might guess which one it is!
Answer: It’s Saint Peter’s in Rome. Now let’s go inside the church, please.
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stage 5 (at the back of the church - right)
When you enter the church you get told through the paintings what to keep in mind.
(Stand between the right and the central gate and look up.)
What can you see in the right hand picture?
Possible answer: There’s a lady giving some money.
This lady is a widow and she hasn’t got much money. Even so she donates it. So what does this scene called „ the widow’s mite “ (Schärflein) tell us?
Answer: In the eyes of God everybody is equal. The amount the widow gives might be worth more than 10 or 100 times the money a rich person gives. Important is that you give what you have, not the amount. stage 6 (at the back of the church - center)
Above us in the central fresco you can see another famous scene from the Bible. Jesus is very angry about some people. Who are they and what is Jesus doing?
Answer: They are merchants and Jesus wants them to leave the temple.
The scene is called „ the expulsion of the dealers out of the temple
“. This is a place of worship and not of gambling and trading. Jesus reminds us of the sacredness of the place which ought to be nothing but a house of prayer. stage 7 (at the back of the church - left)
In the fresco on the left hand side we get reminded that God expects not only the purity of the heart as we could see it in the „widow’s mite“, but also the willingness of man to change his ways.
We see a publican (an old word for tax-collector) praying „God, forgive my sins, I‘m not worthy to come to thee“. He’s a person who isn’t respected by the people
(probably for good reasons), but he is humble, whereas the man next to him, the Pharisee (or hypocrite) says
: „I’m nothing like him, I’m something better.“
Next to the Pharisee there’s a devil with two colors . Which ones?
Answer: white and blue.
Well, white and blue are the Bavarian colors. You won’t find the explanation for this
Bavarian devil in any guidebook, but he symbolizes the bad relations between the abbey and the Bavarian rulers at that time who demanded more influence and money. The state of
Ottobeuren which existed until 1802 was only subject to the Emperor and therefore rejected these demands. stage 8 (at the back of the church at the classical gate)
Before we go from the porch through this gate you should have a look towards the altar. The gate itself is one of the few objects not dating from the baroque era, it’s from the classical period (1792), but don’t ask me why!
What does walking from the entrance towards the altar symbolize?
Answer: our life on our way to God . The splendor of the interior decoration symbolizes the promise of a wonderful life after death, a life in heaven. The richness of the artistic splendor, the brightness and spaciousness should give us a notion of what heaven is like. One element the basilica is famous for are the cherubs (Putten) who are all very joyful.
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stage 9 (at the back of the church past the classical gate)
Before we proceed I would like to show you two objectives we have to follow on our way to
God. The one thing can be seen on the left, the other on the right. Any ideas?
Answers: On the left there is the baptismal font – above there`s the baptism of Jesus in the
Jordan - and on the right there’s the pulpit, representing the word of God. The inscription on the pulpit says “Go ye therefore and teach all nations”.
To him who accepts the gospel and seals his faith with baptism and confirmation from now on the gate to church which is symbolized by pulpit and baptismal font and the other five sacraments is open . The other sacraments are represented by five people, but that would take too long to explain. stage 10 (the Millennial Ottobeuren 1)
Let’s go through the gate now and walk on a bit so that we can have a closer look at one of the ceiling frescos. Just after the gate you will pass the tombstone of Rupert Ness and other abbots and yet again there’s a symbolic element in it. Underneath there are the dead, where we are walking there’s life and above us you can see heaven.
Can you tell me why it’s called “ The Millennial Ottobeuren ”?
If there’s no answer: What dates are we given?
Answer: 764 - 1964. These are the dates of the foundation and the millennium celebration. It also has some Latin words written on it: “ Crescas in Mille Millia ”, which means “You may grow a thousand times a thousand - basically eternally.” stage 11 (the Millennial Ottobeuren 2)
The people left and right of the church all represent important figures of the time of the foundation . The founders Hatto and his wife Erminswint, their son Toto, who became the first abbot of Ottobeuren, Pope Innocence III, the emperor Charles the Great, who confirms the foundation (perhaps you can see the Latin word “confirmatio”), his wife Hildegard who declares some relics the possession of the monastery (“dotatio”) and emperor Otto I presenting the exemption of the abbey from all Imperial charges to bishop Ulrich of
Augsburg (“exemptio”).
At the lower edge you can see abbot Rupert Ness II. He doesn’t have anything to do with the foundation but initiated and built the baroque construction. His name was given to our school. stage 12 (tombstone of Rupert Ness and Benedictine heaven)
The main organ, called
St. Mary’s organ
, was donated by the Federal Association of German
Industry in the 1950s. When the church was built, the main organ was the only thing there was no money left for.
Now have a look at the red columns which look like they are made of marble . Do they change as you look towards the altar? Yes, they get brighter and only the High Altar is surrounded by darker ones.
Remember : We are on our way from life to God with all his glory and greatness. Now as we proceed towards the main cupola we leave behind the dark porch and get awaited by brightness and spaciousness. This comes into full effect when you get to see into the two side naves.
Above us you can see four scenes from the life of Saint Benedict , you can also see his sister, Saint Scholastica , but that’s another story.
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stage 13 (at the end of the benches just before the Pentecost Cupola or Dome)
Now everybody turn around, please and have a look back into life.
If you compare what splendor you are able to see on your way to God, what has your way through life so far looked like?
Answer: It looks bleak and empty.
This is the highest cupola and the center of the church where the two naves meet. The cupola is 36 meters or 119 feet high. The mission of Jesus culminates in the sending of the
Holy Spirit and in the founding of the Church in Pentecost or Whit. The fresco shows how the apostles, surrounding Mary, are amazed by the arrival of the Holy Spirit in the shape of flaming tongues. Thus the disciples (Jünger) become able to give evidence in all languages and nations of what they have learned and heard from Jesus. The light which gets sent by the
Holy Spirit is also spread by the Messianic star on the floor underneath the dome. The star is shedding light to each of the four edges which represent the cardinal virtues. stage 14 (the foundation of the church, Pentecost Cupola or Dome)
Let’s have a look what the Christian church is founded upon . If one element failed, the whole building would collapse.
On the very bottom of the church there are the martyrs whose belief was so firm that they even gave their blood for it. So one element of God’s Church is a strong belief .
(Go to the skeleton on the left.)
The skeletons which you can see in the shrines are real and their display is typical for the baroque era . Death is shown here for real because not long before the building of the church
Europe had been swept by the 30 years war, along with several outbreaks of the pestilence.
The monastery and the church both were devastated by the Swedish and looting troops of the emperor. So through theses skeletons we can see the face of death and our own finite nature. stage 15 (the martyrs beneath the Pentecost Cupola or Dome)
The baroque element lies in the sharp contrast which is shown. The skeletons wear precious clothes and through their upright postures they point towards the place which the splendid clothes stand for: heavenly life. They also show their belief in resurrection .
Every Catholic church has to have some remains of martyrs or other relics, such as a tiny piece of the cross on which Jesus was crucified.
Above the four martyrs you can see the four cardinal virtues (Kardinaltugenden):
(18): Saint Michael as a symbol for fortitude (Tapferkeit) fighting the devil
(19): the Guardian Angel (Schutzengel) who stands for prudence (Klugheit, Umsicht)
(21): Saint Joseph , the good father, stands for justice and
(20): Saint John the Baptist , who lived in the desert, symbolizes temperance
(Genügsamkeit)
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stage 16 (the stucco sculptures and the evangelists at the Pentecost Cupola or Dome)
The four stucco sculptures on top of them are the four Latin Fathers of the Church (die vier Kirchengelehrten), who point to the tradition and the hierarchic structure of the Roman
Church.
But now have a look at the four frescos above them: What are all these people doing? What have they got in common?
Answer: They are all writing.
What are they writing and who are they?
Answer: They are writing the Bible, they are the four evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John . stage 17 (the cupola fresco of the Pentecost Cupola or Dome)
In the cupola fresco – as I told you – we can see the disciples who stand around Mary as
Mother of the Church and who can now spread the word of God into the world in all languages. In the picture four continents are represented, but one is missing. Can you guess which one is missing and why?
Answer: Australia because it hadn’t been discovered then.
There are people wearing turbans (Asia), feathers (America), there are black people
(Africa) and we can see Maria Theresia , the European empress at that time, along with other people. stage 18 (the Holy Cross Altar)
Here we can see another piece of art which doesn’t belong to the baroque era. It’s much older, from the romanic or romanesce time, early 13 th
century. At that time Jesus was shown as an emperor wearing a crown, not the thorny crown, but the crown of a Roman emperor . The legend says that when one of the older churches had been pulled down a monk found the body and saved it. Later the monk was told by the statue that it should be brought back into the church. stage 19 (in front of the Holy Cross Altar, looking into the naves)
In the side naves you can see three elements which separate the Catholic from the
Protestant church . You can see wooden boxes with curtains. What do people do in them?
Answer: They confess their sins to the priest.
In the nave which is now sealed off for tourists you can see a small Madonna from Gothic times , which is one of the few remaining things left from a monastery nearby which got destroyed after the secularization in 1802. Many people used to go there on a pilgrimage , and today people do so here by worshipping the gothic Madonna of Eldern .
And on the other side on the painting on the ceiling it is shown how all classes on earth appeal to Mary with their wishes. So the Catholics use Mary as a kind of mediator and intercessor
(Fürsprecherin). In the painting below you can see two ships on the right. The scene shows the sea battle of Lepanto. Pope Pius V. prays the rosary and after the victory of course he ascribed (zuschreiben) the victory to his prayer.
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stage 20 (the choir stalls 1)
On our last stage in the Basilica I would like to draw your attention to the choir stalls . They are the benches for the monks when they do their praying and chanting which happens here twice a day, at 5.30 in the morning and in the evening. In winter they go somewhere else because it can get very cold in here.
In the middle of the choir, as this place in church is called, you can see a big stand. What do you think it is used for?
Possible answer: As a music stand ?
In former times when there were no printing machines, books had to be copied by hand. So books were something very expensive to have. For the singing of the Gregorian chants they used just one very big book and a conductor who pointed out the direction of the tune. stage 21 (the choir stalls 2)
The relieves above the 12 choir stalls on the left show scenes from the old testament which correspond with scenes from the life of Saint Benedict above the twelve choir stalls on the right.
The stalls are carved from walnut and limewood (Lindenholz). Parts of the carvings are gilded.
Part of the choir stalls are the two organs , also from baroque times. They were built by Karl
Riepp who was a native of Ottobeuren. He went to France, became a famous organ builder and came back to build two more masterpieces. stage 22 (Nagelkreuz Coventry)
One last object not from baroque times is the “ cross of nails
”. They were taken out of the rubble of Coventry cathedral which got destroyed in a raid by German bombers. After the war a movement of reconciliation came into life by founding the cross of nails society which today is a world-wide movement. You can find these crosses on all continents. And still today, every Friday at 12 o’clock people gather here for a prayer for world peace.
Recommendation: Visit the monastery museum with its famous “
Emperor’s Hall “ and the library with about 12,000 old books!
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