The St. Agatha Chapel

Origin:

The church of St. Agatha on Kristberg is the oldest church still standing in Montafon. It was built around the beginning of the 15^th century and owes its existence to mining.

Legend has it that there had been a mining tunnel at that very spot, which caved in while men were working in it, thus burying them alive. Lying under the rubble, the miners had promised to build a church in honour of St. Agatha (patron saint of miners!) if they were ever rescued. They were indeed rescued and kept their promise.

That's the legend. But it is certain that the building of this church on the then isolated elevation had something to do with the spiritual care of the miners.

The building:

The building as it stands today is not the original and first. Extensive work was done and enlargements made in 1507. Back then the altar and choir rooms were created, as shown by the inscription of the year 1507 in one of the arches. With it, the name of the builder "Meister Kasper Schop" and his master trade-mark are inscribed.

The walls of the main aisle seem to have been maintained from the earlier times, maybe lengthend towards the east, as the west portal still bears a Romanesque arch. The entire construction is an architechturally notable church:

A simple rectangular building with a three-sided choir in the east and a vestibule to the west, there is a tower-like two-storey vestry addition on the south side of the choir with a gable-roof and bell-rafter. The pointed arch windows bear bull's-eye glass.

The Vestibule:

One enters the small vestibule, a projecting structure constructed on top of the actual church portal to protect against wind and weather on the west side, via a door which is arched by thick stonework.

The stations of the cross were mounted on the outer wall of the nave (they were moved to the inside of the church to prevent theft!), local paintings with strikingly colorful pictures, a few hundred years old.

These were probably the work of a local farmer, who donated them to the church.

On either side of the church door are two wooden square pilars. Carved into these are many different symbols. They are the "house symbols" of Kristberg, with which mobile possessions also used to be inscribed before the use of house numbers.

The church had its own house symbol, which can be found on the cross-beam above the church portal. It is assumed that someone collected these old house symbols and preserved them here for posterity in order to save them from being forgotten.

The interior of the church:

The nave has no windows on the north and west sides. The old wooden roof is notable for its two steep sides and horizontal middle part.

The panelling is decorated with tracery-like ornamented bands above the entrance, in the middle and around the choir arch.

The ornament bands in Gothic style show pictures of the zodiac signs on light-blue background.

One enters the altar or choir room through the pointed choir arch made of red sandstone.

The fascias of the late-Gothic rib-vaulting are quite crudely constructed and rest on tapered corbels.

On the smooth keystones one can see the name of the builder "Kaspar Schop", his master trade-mark and the year 1507 as well as the "sun cross", a symbol from the sun cult of the Teutons.

The Montafon coat of arms can be made out in the middle of the choir arch.

The legend of the Montafon coat of arms!

Because of the situation in the catholic church in the 15^th century (3 popes!), the "Council of Constance" was called.

Pope John XIII from Rome travelled over the alps - the Arlberg - through the Klostertal to Dalaas, on the foot of the Kristberg. As he could not continue his journey through the Klostertal (the plague had broken out in the neighbouring town of Dalaas), he chose the path over Kristberg to Schruns.

He was able to continue his journey to Constance because some people from Montafon carried him from Dalaas to Schruns.

To show his gratitude for the help, Pope John gave the people of Montafon the right to assume the papal coat of arms.

On the north side of the choir room there are two old frescos in Gothic style that are supposedly as old as the church itself.

The left picture shows the crowning of Maria, the right one shows the Holy Trinity with Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Christ touches the green earth with his feet to show his role as the mediator between God and the world.

The hanging shrine (High altar):

This shrine (casket) was made around 1470. St. Theodul stands in the middle of it and St. Agatha and St. Magdalena at the sides.

Both wings (doors) show pictures of St. Barbara with chalice and the Host, St. Nikolaus, St. Magdalena, St. Jodok and an unknown saint.

It is notable that some saints appear several times, such as St. Barbara, the patron saint of the miners, St. Agatha, the patron protecting against fire and St. Theodul, the patron protecting against avalanches and mining accidents.

The bishop St. Theodul is associated with the symbol of the devil with the bell.

Legend has it that Bishop Theodul once met with a hord of boisterous devils while out on a walk. When he asked them the reason for their joy, he received the following answer: Within the hour, the Pope in Rome would give in to a great temptation and thus come into their power.

Bishop Theodul answered full of horror: "If I were in Rome, I could save the Pope's soul!"

The confident devils then carried him to Rome in order to show him the futility of his plan to save the soul of the Pope.

But Bishop Theodul was indeed able to save the Pope from the temptation.

As a sign of his gratitude, the Pope gave him a valuable bell. And the devils had to carry him and his bell back home.

The back sides of the wings carry simple band and interlaced ornamenting in Gothic style.

The left side altar:

The high altar was built in 1613, around the time the Trinity fraternity, as a devout association of all people from Kristberg and Silbertal, put in a lot of effort towards the fittings of the church.

It is a fantastic example of Baroque work with its twisted pilars, ornamentary gables and rich patterns.

In the middle stands the statue of the Queen of the Rosary, surrounded by three times five roses, the symbols of the joyful, painful and glorious rosary.

On the curved corbels, which stand apart from the altar, under canopy arches, statues of St. Agatha (the church patron) and St. Magdalena stand on either side of this Madonna.

The upper piece of the altar shows the crowning of Mary, topped by the name of Jesus surrounded by rays.

Dedication. Builder (Michael Lorez) and the year 1713 can be found on the Predella.

Right side altar:

This altar is a simple piece of late-Renaissance work from 1633 (date on theleft wing of the altar) with shrine and altar wings as well as an attachment of fragmented gables.

An early Gothic statue of St. Agatha stands in the right shrine.

The head area has been repainted, but the robes in gold are old.

It is among the oldest artworks in this church - even in Montafon - along with the three Roman statues of a bishop, the sitting Madonna with child and St. Helena, which stand in the attachment.

These figures were probably given to the church and this altar built especially to exhibit them.

The altar wings show pictures of St. Barbara (patron of the miners) and St. Katharina. The backs of the wings are covered in simple ornaments.

The high altar:

This Gothic altar is very special, as it is a double-winged altar.

The altar from the beginning of the 16^th century is certainly from the Nikolaus parish church in Silbertal.

In the recess (called Predella!) just above the altar table, the worship of the wise men is shown. The Madonna with child is a substitute figure, as the original has been stolen.

In the middle of the shrine is the statue of St. Nikolaus, on the left St. Mauritius (or Georgius), on the right side St. Theodul with the bell-carrying devil.

In the open wings (doors) one can see St. Barbara and St. Agatha.

On the back - it is assumed that the altar had been "free-standing" - is a painting of the Last Judgement.

People used to do penance or prepare for confession at the back of a free-standing altar. That is why one often finds pictures with serious demeanour on the backs of such altars.

When both wings (doors) of the altar are closed one can see a picture of Holy Mary and the angel Gabriel announcing the birth of Christ.

As it was the custom to close the altars during the times of penance (Advent and Lent) and when no holidays were on, such depictions were often shown.

The magnificent depiction of the shrines and the inside of the wings were only seeen during church holidays.

The crucifixion group:

The crucifixion group on the cross-girder just in front of the choir arch shows a late-Gothic crucifix from the early 17^th century.

On the sides are even older and smaller figures of Mary and St. John.

The stations of the cross:

On the north side of the nave there are the fourteen stations of the cross, hung in a row.

Their origin is assumed to be some time in the first half of the 17^th century, during the time of the Thirty Year War. The text to each of the pictures clearly shows the influence of dialect, e.g. "Muetter".

The bell:

Three small bells hang in the open belfry, above the upper vestry, to which a simple stairway leads from next to the altar.

One is 38cm in diameter and weighs 40kg, carries no date and no inscription. It is assumed to be from the 14^th century.

The second bell bears the date 1687.

The third little bell was donated by Martin Brugger in 1965, as the old one cracked in 1914.

The 105kg bell, which was made in Innsbruck, carries the inscription "Holy Mary and Holy Martin, protect mountain and valley". 

These days, this bell is rung three times a day by a modern mechanism and a church clock on the front.

The small altar:

Originally there was a small altar from 1478 in the church, which almost certainly came from the Silbertal church.

It was a Gothic winged altar with figures of great art-historical value in the shrine. It was gone from the church as early as 1879, showed up at the state trade fair in Bregenz in 1887, was then the property of the artist family "Bertle" in Schruns, sold to Ms. Antonia v. Larcher for 400 Kronen in 1902, despite many efforts of the state government to retrieve it, became property of a Dr. Karl Möser in Innsbruck in 1909, from there to Univ.-Prof. Ficker in Graz, 1911 to Dir. Albert Würth in Körtingdorf near Hannover, later via Munich to Stuttgart.

Despite massive efforts by the Vorarlberg state government, it was sold to another applicant at an art auction in 1960 and was last seen at an exhibit in London.

The journeys of this local treasure show us its art-historical value.

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