Wallfahrtskirche Hergiswald ....- kościół pielgrzymkowy w Hergiswaldzie w Szwajcarii Środkowej

Wallfahrtskirche Hergiswald - Pilgrims' Church in Hergiswald in Central Switzerland

Summary: Wallfahrtskirche Hergiswald is a remarkable place among local centres of religious cult in Central Switzerland. Until 1960, it was used as a pilgrims' church by the residents of the cantons of Lucerne and Obwalden and especially of the city of Lucerne and its vicinity. The origins of the church as a pilgrims' church are connected with Johann Wagner, an eremite of the Carthusian Order in Ittingen, Schwaben, who in 1489 arrived in Hergiswald to live in poverty and solitude. On his death, the holy image in front of which he prayed in the chapel and his grave started to attract pilgrims. As their number grew, the chapel was enlarged. Gradually, more motifs which attracted the pilgrims were brought to the place; apart from the grave of the eremite and a miraculous image of 1504, there were a painting representing a patron saint of Lucerne of 1627, the Holy Mother statue of 1624, Our Lady of Loretto Chapel of 1649, and the relics of Saint Felix, which were imported from Rome in 1651. The present artistic value of the church rests with its large number and variety of listed objects of art. These include 323 ceiling paintings painted in 1625 - 1635 by Caspar Meglinger, a famous Lucerne artist, Baroque and Renaissance altar screens and the original architectonic plan of the building in which earlier stages of development can be observed. The situation and surrounding of the church are also interesting.

Peregrinus Cracoviensis, 1998, z.6, s. 87-98.

Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej UJ

ISSN 1425-1922, ISBN 83-907568-5-4

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