Klosterkirche Comburg, Baroque church in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany.
St. Nikolaus and St. Maria on the Comburg in Schwäbisch Hall is a baroque free-pillar hall built from 1706 to 1715 to designs by Joseph Greissing, court master builder in Würzburg. Three Romanesque towers were kept and worked into the new building; because a planned baroque raising was never carried out, they stand out of proportion to the church. The interior is shaped by abundant light and balanced proportions, with forms recalling the Renaissance.
A Benedictine monastery was founded on the Comburg in 1078 with St. Nicholas as patron; its first church was consecrated on 21 December 1088, a three-aisled basilica with two choirs and a western tower. From 1706 to 1715 the Romanesque building was demolished and replaced by a Baroque hall church designed by Würzburg court architect Joseph Greissing, who kept the three Romanesque towers.
The church keeps its medieval name day customs: the Romanesque wheel chandelier is lit and hoisted during the Easter Vigil, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve services. The baroque high altar of 1712/13 by Balthasar Esterbauer sets five gilded statues against white-glazed east windows, with Mary Immaculate flanked by St. Nicholas and St. Benedict.
The church stands on the Comburg hill above Schwäbisch Hall and is still used by the Catholic parish for services. The baroque interior is entered from the west; the three Romanesque towers are best seen from outside, where their height no longer matches the nave. The wheel chandelier is lit and hoisted only during the Easter Vigil, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve services.
The pulpit, delivered as a model by Balthasar Esterbauer in August 1713, shows the risen Christ hurling a bundle of lightning bolts like Zeus or Jupiter against the seven deadly sins personified beneath him. Near-naked youths modelled on classical atlantes carry the relief-decorated basket, and an angel with a trumpet tops the soundboard.
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