Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers

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Church in Bad Staffelstein, Germany

Basilica of the Fourteen Saints
Basilika Vierzehnheiligen
The Basilica of the Fourteen Saints
Basilica of the Fourteen Saints
Location	Bad Staffelstein
Country	Germany
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Dedication	Fourteen Holy Helpers
Architecture
Architect(s)	Balthasar Neumann
Style	late Baroque-Rococo
Years built	1743-72

The Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers (German: Basilika Vierzehnheiligen) is a church located near the town of Bad Staffelstein near Bamberg, in Bavaria, southern Germany. The late Baroque (Rococo) basilica, designed by Balthasar Neumann, was constructed between 1743 and 1772. It is dedicated to the Fourteen Holy Helpers, a group of saints venerated together in the Catholic Church, especially in Germany at the time of the Black Death. The interior has been nicknamed "God's Ballroom".

Location

The Basilica overlooks the river Main in Franconia. It sits on a hillside, and on the hillside opposite is Schloss Banz, a former Baroque abbey. Together they are known as the Goldene Pforte or golden portal, an entryway to the historic Franconian towns of Coburg, Kronach, Kulmbach, and Bayreuth.

Legend

On 24 September 1445, a young shepherd Hermann Leicht saw a crying child in a field near a Cistercian monastery in Langheim. As he bent down to pick up the child, it abruptly disappeared. A short time later, the child reappeared in the same spot along with two floating candles and Hermann reported it to the Cistercians. The next summer, he saw the child a third time. This time, the child bore a red cross on its chest and was accompanied by fourteen other figures. The child said they were the fourteen helpers and would help others if a chapel was erected for them. The two candles descended and the vision disappeared, after which the healing miracles began.

18 days after the third apparition, a fatally ill maid from Langheim was cured after she invoked the help of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Langheim abbey, which had been previously skeptical concerning the apparitions, recognized them and a pilgrimage was soon begun.

The altar depicts the Fourteen Holy Helpers.

Diagram showing the geometry of the floor plan: ovals and circles meet rectangles.

The Cistercian brothers to whom the land belonged erected a chapel, which immediately attracted pilgrims. An altar was consecrated as early as 1448. Pilgrimages to the Vierzehnheiligen continue to the present day between May and October.

Construction

The present church was built from 1743 to 1772. Its unique interior, in the style of Rococo, is due to an irregularity in the construction. Langheim Abbey wished for the costs of construction to be lowered and thus changed the architectural plans, despite the foundational stone already being laid. When this was discovered by Neumann, the architect, the walls of the three apses had already been erected. The Altar of Grace (which being the site of the apparitions could not be moved) would no longer be located in the center of the crossing as originally intended but in the nave. Neumann thus split the room into three ovals and placed the Altar back in the center by making it the center of the largest oval rotund in the middle, surrounded by four columns on each side.

The Mercy Altar of the Vierzehnheiligen

The Mercy Altar, also known as the Gnadenaltar, marks the site where the apparition of the Fourteen Holy Helpers occurred. The fourteen statues adorning the altar are:

On the balustrade:
- Blaise (also Blase and Blasius) (February 3), bishop and martyr, invoked against illness of the throat
- Cyriacus (Cyriac) (August 8), deacon and martyr, invoked against temptation on the death-bed
- Denis (Dionysius) (October 9), bishop and martyr, invoked against headache
- Erasmus (Elmo) (June 2), bishop and martyr, invoked against intestinal ailments

St Blaise with a mitre and crozier, holding crossed candles
St Cyriacus holding the palm of martyrdom
St Denis beheaded
St Erasmus with a mitre and crozier

In the altar niches:
- Barbara (December 4), virgin and martyr, invoked against fever and sudden death
- Catherine of Alexandria (November 25), virgin and martyr, invoked against sudden death

St Barbara holding the Host and Chalice
St Catherine holding a sword and the palm of martyrdom

On the buttresses:
- Agathius (or Acacius) (May 8), martyr, invoked against headache
- Christopher (Christophorus) (July 25), martyr, invoked against bubonic plague
- Eustachius (Eustace, Eustathius) (September 20), martyr, invoked against family discord
- Giles (Aegidius) (September 1), hermit and abbot, invoked against plague, for a good confession

St Agathius in centurion armour holding a cross
St Christopher carrying a stick and the Christ Child
St Eustace holding a stag with a crucifix between its antlers
St Giles holding a crozier and comforting his arrow-shot doe

On top of the baldachin:
- George (April 23), soldier-martyr, for the health of domestic animals
- Margaret of Antioch (July 20), virgin and martyr, invoked in childbirth
- Pantaleon (July 27), bishop and martyr, for physicians
- Vitus (June 15), martyr, invoked against epilepsy

St George dressed in crusader plate armour and holding a lance
St Margaret wearing a crown and holding a cross and dragon
St Pantaleon

The High Altar of Vierzehnheiligen

The central scene of the unobstructed and towering high altar is a larger-than-life painting showing the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The statues depict her spouse Joseph, her father Joachim, and David and Zachariah.

Pulpit

Free-floating white putti bear the pulpit, ornamented with the golden reliefs of the Evangelists which are surrounded by shellwork. The pulpit tester (sound board) is made of rays in a spherical shape.

Gallery

Northern tower of the Basilica
Close up of spire from the northern tower
Overhead view of the Basilica
Main entrance
Ceiling of interior
Nave of the Basilica
Fresco adorning the ceiling above High Altar
Closeup of the Mercy Altar
Statue of the Child from the apparitions
Main fresco
Pipe organ
Pulpit of Basilica
Ceiling of Basilica
Crucifix on the High Altar
Altar of St Anthony
Gate behind the Mercy Altar
High Altar
Confessional booth

References

Citations

^ "Catholic Bamberg: Vierzehnheiligen". Retrieved 2023-12-05.
Wilson 2016.
Hlaváček 2015, p. 90.
^ Michelin 1967.

Sources

Hlaváček, Petr (2015). "Konrad Konhofer († 1452) as an Opponent of Jan Hus and the Bohemian Reformation" (PDF). The Bohemian Reformation and Religious Practice. 10 (2). Translated by Zdeněk, V. David. Prague: Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic: 60–105. ISBN 978-80-7007-446-6.
Wilson, Andrew L. (2016). Here I Walk: A Thousand Miles on Foot to Rome with Martin Luther. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press. p. 240. ISBN 978-1-493-40576-3.
Michelin Green Guide to Germany (reprint ed.). The Dickens Press. 1967. p. 264.

External links

v t e Basilicas of Germany
Catholic Church
Germany	St Michael's Basilica St Ann's Basilica St Martin's Basilica Basilica of SS Peter and Alexander Basilica of SS Ulrich and Afra Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers Imperial Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul and St George St Benedict's Basilica, Benediktbeuren Abbey Basilica of St John the Baptist Patron of Breslau St Hedwig's Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, Steglitz (Rosenkranz Basilica) Basilica of St Mary Mother of Seven Sorrows St Martin's Basilica Minster Basilica of St Martin St Gereon's Basilica St Ursula's Basilica St Severin's Basilica St Mary in the Capitol Basilica Basilica of the Holy Apostles St Cunibert's Basilica Basilica of SS Peter and Paul Basilica of SS Andrew and Mary Magdalene, Knechtsteden Abbey St Suitbert's Basilica, Kaiserswerth St Lambert's Basilica St Margaret's Basilica, Gerresheim Abbey St Vitus Basilica St Ludger's Basilica, Werden Abbey Minster Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption, Ettal Abbey St Peter's Cathedral Basilica Minster Basilica of the Assumption, Maria Laach Abbey Holy Trinity Basilica St Clement's Basilica St Godehard's Basilica Basilica of the Assumption Basilica of SS Potentinus, Felicius and Simplicius, Steinfeld Abbey Basilica of St Lawrence, the Assumption and SS Gordian and Epimachus Basilica of St Mary, Comforter of the Sad Basilica of SS Dionysius and Valentinus St Castor's Basilica Minster of Our Lady's Nativity, SS Pelagius and Conrad Minster Basilica of SS Martin and Kastulus Basilica of the Visitation, Marienweiher Minster Basilica of St Vitus Minster Basilica of St Quirinus Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and SS Peter and Paul, Ilbenstadt Abbey Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St Stephen St James's Basilica Basilica of the Assumption, Marienstatt Abbey St Matthias Basilica, St Matthias Abbey Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption St Paulinus's Church Basilica of the Assumption Basilica of the Assumption, Birnau St Martin's Basilica, Wiblingen Abbey Basilica of the Assumption and St John the Evangelist Basilica of St George and the Holy Blood Basilica of St Martin of Tours and St Oswald, Weingarten Abbey Maria Brünnlein Basilica Basilica of the Visitation Imperial Basilica of SS Peter and Paul St Victor's Cathedral
Basilicas list

50°06′56″N 11°03′16″E / 50.11556°N 11.05444°E / 50.11556; 11.05444

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