St. George´s Chapel
in Kelheim in the national park Altmuehl valley
Near the eastern verge of the town there is a small chapel, built where the slope of the hill meets the bank. It was built in the middle of the 14th century. Its octagonal belfry is completely shingled and crowned by a blunt cupola; it was probably added to the chapel in the early 17th century when repair works were done. In the years from 1654 to 1656, after the damages in the Thirty Years´ War, repairs were again necessary. Old account books suggest painter s work. In the rococo epoch all paintings were covered by a thick layer of whitewash.
In 1912, the Rev. Josef Schmid, an enthusiastic historian, uncovered a large part of the old paintings which stem from different periods. The Bavarian Department of Care and Preservation of Monuments ordered the Gothic mural paintings to be laid open by specialists.
Now we know that the whole choir was painted between 1420 and 1430. The unknown artist depicted numerous biblical scenes with a cute feeling for colours and a surprising sense of perspective. On the left-hand side of the choir we see the twelve apostles arranged side by side, and in the vault the agony of Christ. At the left side of the high altar there is the statue of Archangel Michael with the Doomsday pair of scales. On the righthand side of the choir, the artist depicted the resurrected Christ revealing himself to Mary Magdalen, and the unbelieving Thomas, a bishop, and a cowering woman.
The centre of all these depictions seems to be in the apse:
Christ´s face on the Holy Handkerchief which is flanked with two adoring angels. Art-critics agree on the paintings being the creation of a very skilful artist with a good sense for decorative and figurative elements.
In southern Germany there are very few examples of buildings fully painted in Gothic style, and so St. George´s Chapel in Gronsdorf is indeed a most remarkable sight.
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Zuletzt aktualisiert am 10.02.2017