St.-Georgs-Church

Interior and Floor Plan

St. George's Church has a vestibule that connects windowless to the church entrance. The church interior appears as a three-aisled hall church, where all three aisles have the same height. 22 free-standing octagonal pillars, supporting the net vault, separate the main and side aisles. Above the central nave is a segmental arch barrel vault, while the side aisles are spanned by a pointed arch barrel vault. The nave has ten bays up to the inner choir, which has the shape of a half hexagon. Behind it is the choir ambulatory, which is executed with six faces of a dodecagon. The transition from the side aisles to the choir area is almost seamless. Only a slight elevation of the floor emphasizes the inner choir area somewhat. In the choir ambulatory, the more strongly executed transverse ribs between the wall pillars and the opposing four pillars of the inner polygon, which divide the vault into three pentagonal fields, represent a special feature.

The wall pillars of the church are interrupted by four-light pointed arch windows, starting approximately 4 m above the floor and reaching almost to the vault. The walls are otherwise smoothly designed, and the wall pillars are only vertically projected to create emphasis. All windows have different tracery, with not a single one repeating in the 26 windows. In addition to access through the west tower, the church has four other entrances, each connecting to the side aisles on the right and left in the first and sixth bays. The sacristy, which was formerly planned as a north tower, connects to the eighth bay, which can already be seen in the floor plan by the very thick walls. In the west, the tower can also be clearly identified in the floor plan by the thick wall construction. Next to the west tower is a stair tower. In the west bay, there is an under-vaulted gallery from the time of construction, spanning its entire width.

Exterior

Originally, the entire south side of the church was free and unobstructed, until the first row of houses was built in front of the church in 1530.

The outer wall and the buttresses of the church are set on a plinth. This is intended to compensate for differences in level. The proportions of the outer wall are coordinated and balanced. Below the windows runs a dripstone, which is also led around the buttresses and is only interrupted by the portal bays. This "separates" a quarter of the buttresses. The front of the buttresses ends in a concave gable. Behind this gable, the buttresses run towards the wall with the help of a concave lean-to roof. After a free wall strip, a rod profile follows, located below the concluding cornice.

In the choir polygon, this wall articulation is maintained. Here is also the already mentioned inscription of the foundation stone laying. An incised sundial can also be seen in a stone block. Above it is a niche with a bust as a support for a console. Four chapels were subsequently built between the buttresses of the choir. Two chapels date from the 16th century, the other two from 1728.

Four portals lead into the church via the side aisles; all are executed as pointed arch portals. Also common to all is a tympanum field with pointed arch doors below it. The southwestern market and men's portal bears the year 1616, when it was renovated. A wooden statue of Saint Mary is located in front of the tympanum. The tympanum is kept plain. The southeastern bridal portal is adorned with a Madonna on a console, located under a baldachin in the middle of the tympanum. In contrast to the men's portal, the tympanum here is decorated with blind tracery with fish-bladder forms. The parish portal on the north side, also called the Latin school door, has been renovated. In some respects, it resembles the design of the men's portal, for example, regarding the porch. In the tympanum of the northwestern women's door, there is a pointed arch window. The pinnacled pillars correspond to those of the bridal portal. Next to the north tower is a small pointed arch door, the sacristan's door. The jamb corresponds to that of the sacristy entrance in the choir ambulatory, but a tympanum is missing.

The planned north tower is now connected to the church as a sacristy building. It is topped by a dripstone, below which a frieze runs. All three outer walls have a pointed arch window with iron grating. Above the sacristy, only what directly adjoins the wall of the side aisle was executed. Only in the 16th century was the space above the sacristy made usable by a half-timbered and brick structure. The current building has windows on all sides and has a simple lean-to roof, like that of the church.

The west facade has wall sections with gabled corner buttresses south and north of the west tower. Between the buttresses is a tracery window, which, unlike all other windows, only starts at a height of 10m. North of the west tower is an octagonal stair tower, which has six stories. The first four stories have partly become a unit with the buttresses. The ground floor can be reached from the outside via a staircase. Stories 1 to 4 are adorned with small pointed arch windows; the fifth story also has such a window. The sixth story is separated by a cornice. The free-standing sides here are provided with blind windows. The top is a stone spire with a finial. The west tower has six stories of different heights with a square cross-section. Above it is a balustrade and finally a two-story octagonal structure. In the years 1220/30, the lowest part as well as the second, third, and half of the fourth story were built. In the 14th century, the fourth story was completed and the 5th story was built. The sixth story was added in the 16th century, which forms the bell story. Inside the tower, there is still a treadmill from the time the tower was built.

Altars

High Altar

Opposite the organ is the high altar, donated in 1636, completed in 1642, and replaced with neo-Gothic carving during the 1856 restoration. The current high altar was erected in 1892 and integrates the original altarpiece, which shows a Gothic crucifixion group and is dated around 1490. Here, the connection between painting and sculpture is striking: the crucifix emerges from the painted altarpiece, thus dividing the image into four fields. The altar relief shows Saint George with the dragon, and like the predella, takes Nuremberg and Dormitz as models. The predella shows the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi.

Joseph Altar

The painted predella with Saint Anne Selbdritt, surrounded by saints, dates from the late Gothic period around 1480/90. In addition to this late Gothic part, there are also neo-Gothic works, such as the altar shrine, which was made in 1862, and the wooden figures.

Cross Altar

Five figures are visible: Catherine, Florian, and Agatha, framed by Popes Gregory and Urban. On the inner sides of the wings are four paintings: Annunciation and Nativity on the left, Circumcision and Adoration of the Magi on the right. Donated around 1470, the Cross Altar is the only one from the time of the church's construction; the paintings date from the 15th century. It was renewed in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Cross Altar is neo-Gothic in structure, but the wooden sculptures and paintings refer to the late Gothic period.

Trinity Altar

As with the Cross Altar, late Gothic figures and paintings are incorporated into the neo-Gothic structure. The altar was donated in 1470 by the tanners and shoemakers of the city. A total of eight carved figures can be identified: in the shrine, Saints Peter, Damian, George, and Cosmas, flanked by Lawrence and Sebastian, and in relief form on the inner sides of the wings, Valentine and Ursula. The four paintings on the wings show scenes from the lives of Crispin and Crispinian, the patron saints of the donors: the saints give shoes to the poor. They are slain or doused with boiling oil until a heavenly fire redeems them and punishes their persecutors.

Sebastian Altar

The paintings of the Sebastian Altar are dated to 1520–30. The main image of the central panel is divided into three fields; in the middle, Saint Sebastian is seen on a tree, surrounded by crossbowmen standing and kneeling on the sides. These probably symbolize the archers' brotherhood, which is said to have donated this altar. On the wings, legends of saints are depicted: the death of Saint Afra, the justification of heretics before the Pope, the conversion of a criminal by Saint Sebastian, and the discovery of the crucifix in the bed of Saint Elisabeth, who cared for lepers there. The burial of Saint Sebastian is depicted on the predella panel. The closed wings show Saints Christopher and James the Elder.

Ciborium Altar

The Gothic ciborium altar is located behind the high altar in the choir ambulatory. Its former location was on the west side of the first southern choir pillar. Here it had been set up as a counterpart to the sacrament house. In 1856, it was then moved to its current location. The altar is enclosed by a stone baldachin supported by four columns. A net vault here supports the four pointed arch arcades inside. A pointed arch frieze with a battlement, running horizontally, serves as the outer conclusion. The arcades are closed by an iron grille of rod work with tendrils. The donor's coat of arms from 1724 is located above the access. Late Gothic stone figures adorn the corner pillars. A Pietà is on the altar.

Other Facilities

Pulpit

The pulpit with its hexagonal chalice, whose parapet rests on a pointed arch frieze, terminates on an octagonal base. The corners of the parapet are adorned with the four Church Fathers. In between are the symbols of the Evangelists. Overall, rich ornamentation of decorative tracery is found. A stone staircase was added to the sandstone pulpit in 1869/70.

Baptismal Font

The baptismal font is also carved from sandstone. It is chalice-shaped and octagonal and has many plant ornaments. The eight sides are adorned with pinnacles and ogee arches. The corners are rounded, and the transition from the plinth to the rim of the basin is fluid. The plinth is surrounded by four lions, an old Romanesque motif. The original location of the baptismal font was in the south aisle. In 1978, it was then moved to its current location.

Sacrament House

The monstrance-shaped sacrament house is located at the northern beginning of the choir. The donor's plaque from 1480 is behind the four statuettes of three prophets and Moses. On the pillar, where the donor's plaque is also located, two angels and the kneeling donor couple can be seen. Chalice-bearing angels and small dogs and lions, sitting on the plinth, frame the octagonal casing. The tracery spire is late Gothic, only its four inserted figures of prophets and saints are not. Originally, the spire was wooden. In 1890, it was then replaced with a stone one. The sacrament house, like the baptismal font and pulpit, is attributed to the Dinkelsbühl lodge. Next to the baptismal font on the right wall is a Gothic crucifix, which was erected as a mission cross and originated in the early 15th century. In expression, the carving is very moderate and appears to be strikingly thinly designed.

The Organs

The Main Organ

The main organ of the minster was built in 1997 by the Austrian organ building company Rieger (Schwarzach/Vorarlberg). The massive instrument (approx. 14 meters high) has 58 stops on three manuals and pedal. The total number of pipes is 3939. The key action is mechanical with slider chests, the stop action is mechanical with an electronic setter system and sequencer.

The Historic Portable Organ

In the choir area stands a portable organ from the 17th century. It has six stops, the old bellows system, and is in high pitch.

The peal of bells of St. George consists of six bells. The oldest bell dates from 1373, the youngest from 1786.

1. Stürmerin bell: The Stürmerin is tuned to E flat and was cast in Nuremberg in 1373, damaged in 1633 during the Thirty Years' War by Dinkelsbühl Protestants on the orders of the Swedes, and recast in 1642. It bears the inscription S. Luccas. S. Matheus. S. Marcus. S. Johannes - Gaspar. Melchior. Balthasar – O rex gloriae veni nobis cum pace. Ave Maria gratia plena Dominus tecum. Honoratus Bosier u. Joh. Reichard gossen mich 1642. Its weight is 1,450 kilograms.
2. Zwölferin bell: The Zwölferin is tuned to E and was cast in 1642. It bears the inscription Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. Laudamus te o rex gloriae veni cum pace 1642 and weighs 1,000 kilograms.
3. Elferin bell: The Elferin is tuned to F and was cast in 1642. On it are the four Evangelists and the year 1642. It weighs 680 kilograms.
4. Dreierin bell: The Dreierin is tuned to B flat and was cast in 1652. It bears the inscription Fusa Maria voco per me mala pelitur aura. Laudo Deum verum, satanum fugo, convoco plebum. Dinkelsbuhl anno 1652. Its weight is 370 kilograms.
5. Messglocke (Mass bell): The Messglocke was cast in 1786 to the note C. It bears the inscription Die glock genannt Sebastian – Zum gottsdienst rufet jedermann. Wans rufft laufe du schnell behendt - Ehe dir der todt den weg abrenth. It weighs 300 kilograms.
6. Sterbeglocke (Death bell): The Sterbeglocke was originally called the Council bell. It was cast in 1725 and is tuned to the note G. Its inscription reads Pro beata agonIa LegaVI Ioannes FranCIsCVs BozenharDt paroChVs aC DeCanVs LoCI 1725. As the smallest bell in the St. George's peal, it weighs 100 kilograms.

The master builder of St. George's Church was Niclaus Eseler the Elder. He had already worked on several important church buildings of the 15th century in Nördlingen, Rothenburg, and Schwäbisch Hall. He is only mentioned in a Dinkelsbühl city account in 1456, but the uniformity of the church and the exact planning suggest that Niclaus Eseler the Elder was involved from the first design to the execution of this building. His son, Niclaus Eseler the Younger, worked in his lodge and took over the management of the church's construction from 1471 until its completion in 1499. In the choir ambulatory of St. George's Church, there is a painting showing the two master builders. The panel is considered a copy intended to replace two original portraits from the 15th century, which are considered lost. Many master stonemasons also worked on St. George's Church. Hans Böhringer's stonemason's mark is on the bell storey of the west tower. The two-story octagonal structure and the copper dome of the west tower were executed by master stonemason Mathes Baur, master carpenter Veit Steingruber, and roofer Hans Jörg Feßler.