Klosterkirche Obermarchtal, Baroque monastery church in Obermarchtal, Germany.
Klosterkirche Obermarchtal is a Baroque monastery church with three naves, ornate decorations, and carefully crafted altars framed by a symmetrical facade topped with two bell towers. The interior displays the hallmark features of Baroque design with rich embellishments covering walls and vaulting.
A monastery dedicated to Saint Peter existed here by the 8th century; around 995 the Bishop of Constance consecrated a new church for a canons' foundation renewed by Duke Hermann II of Swabia and Gerberga of Burgundy. In 1171 the canons passed to the Premonstratensians of Rot an der Rot, who built a three-nave basilica consecrated in 1239. Abbot Nikolaus Wierith laid the foundation stone of the present church in 1686; it was consecrated in 1701.
The church is dedicated to the apostles Peter and Paul, and the parish still bears their name. The Premonstratensian canons came from Rot an der Rot in 1171 and established a double monastery here; the women's branch died out after 1273, when choir nuns were barred from admission. The canons kept the church until 1686, when Abbot Nikolaus Wierith laid the foundation stone of the present building.
The church stands high above the Danube and is visible from afar; the two east towers reach 68 m. The interior is a wall-pillar church with galleries running around the whole space, so allow time to walk the perimeter. The west facade is entered through a round-arched portal beneath a segmental gable.
The church is 55.68 m long and 21.84 m wide, with the nave 18.40 m high and the choir 17.40 m. Above the chancel arch a cartouche bears the year MDCXCII (1692), marking completion of the stucco work by Johann Schmuzer and his colleagues of the Wessobrunn school.
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