Die Katharinenkirche in Oppenheim, Uwe Gast, Volume 5 of Meisterwerke der Glasmalerei, Schnell + Steiner, 2012, German language only, softback, 80 pages, numerous colour illustrations, 12.95 Euros, available from Amazon at discounted prices.
Fig. 1: Die Katharinenkirche in Oppenheim cover
Fig. 2. St Katherine’s church, Oppenhiem
This is the fifth publication in the Meisterwerke der Glasmererei series of books produced by the German Corpus Vitrearum (Freiburg) [Fig. 1]. It includes copious descriptions and illustrations of some of the most important surviving late thirteenth-, early fourteenth-, and mid- to late fifteenth-century painted glass in Germany.
St Catherine’s church in Oppenheim was built in three campaigns: the choir and transepts between 1260/70 and 1300, the nave between 1317 40/50 and finally a large western choir extension during the fifteenth-century [Fig. 2].
The highlight of the choir glazing was three tall lancet windows at the eastern end of the church dating to 1276-91. Originally this showed a typological or bible story window in the centre, the life of St Catherine in the right hand (south) window, and a unique scheme of donors and their coats of arms in the left (north) window. Although the St Catherine scheme is lost, two of these original windows survive, albeit in slightly different arrangements with the previous central window now installed in the vacant right-hand (south) opening and the central window now filled with scenes of the Passion of Christ painted c.1435-40 and originally made for the west window of the western choir [Figs 3 and 4]. The Donor window remains in situ [Fig. 5].
Fig. 3. The eastern end glazing
Fig. 4. Scene from the Bible window, c. 1276-91
Fig 5. Scene from the Donor’s window c 1276-91
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This rearrangement was part of a much larger restoration campaign in the mid-nineteenth century, which saw the insertion of thirty-three medieval panels from two different sources installed in the north transept window and the over-restoration of many ornamental or grisaille windows in the nave [Fig. 6].
Most of the north transept window panels come from the cloisters of a former monastery of the Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross at Schwarzenbroich (near Duren in the Rhineland), and date to 1480–85. The remaining panels in this impressive arrangement are also the product of a Cologne-based workshop, albeit working slightly later, c.1500. Unfortunately their original location is unknown.
Fig. 6. The north transept window
Fig. 7. Scene from North transept window
Fig. 8. The Rose window
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The final example of medieval glazing in the church is the wonderful rose window on the southern side of the nave which includes the arms of Oppenhiem city council members for 1332-33 [Fig. 8].
Fig. 9. Die mittelalterlichen Glasmalereien in Oppenheim, Rhein- und Südhessen
Further details of these windows can be found in the same author’s major CVMA volume published in 2011: Corpus Vitrearum medii Aevi Deutschland / Die mittelalterlichen Glasmalereien in Oppenheim, Rhein- und Südhessen [Fig. 9].
Apart from its original medieval glazing and a number of nineteenth-century windows painted in a ‘medievalising’ style, the church also has some outstanding modern glass windows at the western end, including work by Heinz Hindorfe (1909-1990).
In addition to its medieval glazing and a number of nineteenth-century windows painted in a ‘medieval’ style, the church also has some outstanding modern glass windows at the western end, including work by Heinz Hindorfe (1909–1990).
As with other volumes in the same series, Die Katharinenkirche in Oppenheim, is a wonderfully written, beautifully produced and delightfully affordable book.
