Kim Richards

Current Mood: content

St. James Cathedral in Innsbruck, Austria

Pics are here:  http://s105.photobucket.com/albums/m203/sharrisselva/Germany%20trip/April%2013%202008/

St. James Cathedral is a more baroque style church than some of the others. The original was built prior to 1180; it’s first mentioned in a land transfer document of that date which uses the church as a point of reference. This church has survived despite having been burned down, destroyed by earthquake and sustained bomb damage from the second world war. Of the original church there are a few gothic crosses and a painting of the Virgin by Lukas Cranach (1530 a.d.).

Much of what we see today is late 16th and early 17th century work. Silver and gold gilding, marble and colored moulded stuccoing come from then, as does many of the statues, alters (having been donations of orders of brothers or church benefactors), and the pipe organ.

The tomb is of Archduke Maximilian, Grandmaster of the Teutonic Knight Order. I believe it’s bronze, carved wood and marble.

The gorgeous ceiling frescoe artwork is also 17th century by the Asam brothers, who have done numerous frescoes throughout Germany and Bohemia. This is the only one of theirs placed in Austria. The pics I took of a frescoe is St. James battling the Moors.

Interesting enough, there are mention of the bells in writings of 1394, however the current ones installed were cast in 1961, with one remaining from 1846. I love hearing the church bells everywhere we go. Back in Santa Rosa, I hear the recorded ones from the College nearby but these babies put those to shame. They ring with a rich tone which carries over crowd noises and traffic. If you’re close enough, you can feel them reverberate in your bones (it’s a pleasant feeling!). Every hour; it’s so beautiful. In the larger towns we’ve been to with multiple cathedrals, they almost seem to call out to one another and answer. I always want to pause whatever I’m doing and just listen.

Neither of us is minding the snow. It seems fitting here in the Alp mountains.