ALL SAINTS CHURCH
Introduction
This is the oldest architectural monument in the town of Jáchymov. It was built between 1516 and 1520 as the parish church of the new settlement. Its position on the road to the settlement of Pfaffengrün (Popov) is rather unusual, as at that time it stood completely outside the original built-up area. The earliest depiction of the church comes from a fragment of the upper mining map of 1534. Thanks to this, we know that the church has practically never changed its appearance during its entire existence.
It is a Gothic-Renaissance single-nave structure and one of the oldest timber-framed churches in the Ore Mountains. Particularly interesting is the roof structure: for the most part the original Late Gothic suspended roof truss survives, supported by a single central pillar. As protection against mould and wood decay, the builders used ox blood to impregnate the beams.
In 1530 a miners’ hospital was built beside the church, connected to it at the north-western gable wall by an enclosing wall with an open passage. The adjacent town cemetery was founded in 1533 at the north-eastern edge across the road to Pfaffengrün.
The attic spaces of the church served the hospital as storage for food and supplies (during the 1992 renovation a grain shovel was found behind a beam in the attic). A covered passage at first-floor level, attached to the original enclosure wall, is visible on the mining map of 1593. The hospital building was demolished in 1958 due to its dangerous condition, and an urn garden with a memorial area was established on the site.
On 14 August 1993 the church was solemnly consecrated after restoration. The ceremony coincided with a decree by Cardinal František Tomášek granting Jáchymov the status of a pilgrimage site in place of the destroyed monastery at Mariánská.
Description of the building
The church is a Gothic-Renaissance, non-oriented structure whose axis runs southeast–northwest. Since its construction the building has remained almost unchanged, as confirmed by its depiction on the 1534 mining map. The ground plan consists of the nave for the congregation (14.5 × 13 m) and a chancel formed by three sides of an octagon (depth 5.5 m). Both spaces are connected without separation.
The lower part of the walls is built of rubble stone, the upper part timber-framed. Externally, the timber frame is secondarily clad in stone and the whole structure is smoothly plastered. On the northeast side there are reinforcing masonry additions. The side walls contain three paired round-arched windows with wooden central posts. The chancel windows are shorter and set higher but otherwise identical. The gable wall has four smaller segment-arched windows.
Originally there were three entrances; the southwest one is blocked (at least since 1913) and visible only from inside. Seven steps lead to the northeast entrance, now used as the main doorway. The original main entrance was on the gable side facing the hospital and once had a wooden porch.
The roof is high and gabled, changing to a hipped form above the chancel. It is topped by a small turret with a curved Baroque dome and cross. Above the gable there was originally a wrought-iron cross, now placed inside the church, oriented to the cardinal directions and accompanied by a metal rooster symbolising protection against fire.
A planned mortuary annex between the church and hospital in the 19th century was fortunately never built.
Interior
The floor is made of irregular slate slabs and brick in the chancel. The walls are timber-framed with smooth plaster. The ceiling is flat, boarded with planks nailed directly to the tie beams, with joints covered by moulded strips. It is supported by two pillars; the one before the altar runs through the whole building and carries the roof structure. The date 1533 is carved on its capital, marking the installation of the ceiling boards under mayor Jakob Forster.
Above the congregation area is a three-sided gallery where wooden hooks for hanging paintings have survived. The stairs to the gallery are modern, but the stairs from the gallery to the attic date from 1518. Of the six gallery supports, two are modern.
Building history
After the construction of St Joachim’s Church (1534–1540), the new building took over the parish role and the Church of All Saints became a hospital and cemetery church.
The first major renovation took place in 1780–1782 due to the poor condition of the structure, described by the chronicler as “schlecht und angefault”. The costs were covered by selling iron grave slabs, which were first copied onto wood “for future remembrance”.
From the beginning, the northeast wall showed signs of bulging; this was addressed by adding reinforcing masonry. At the start of the 20th century the church was again in poor condition and the wall continued to lean. Imperial building councillor L. Lábler therefore prepared a project to stabilise the walls externally by tying the buttresses. Grave slabs were removed from the interior to reduce load, leaving only the heavily worn sandstone Renaissance slab of mintmaster Ruprecht Pullacher (†1563) in place.
After World War II the church was no longer maintained and deteriorated. In 1958 the hospital and enclosure wall were demolished. On 18 January 1964 the church was listed as a protected cultural monument. Interior furnishings were removed for restoration, but some were lost; for example, the 18th-century organ was transferred to St John of Nepomuk Church in Nové Hamry, where it remains today. The roof was repaired in July of that year. Minor repairs continued until 1968, after which the church was neglected. By the late 1980s it was in danger of collapse due to vandalism and theft; at that time twelve roof beams were even cut out by an unknown perpetrator.
Amateur rescue attempts began in 1991. The owner, the town of Jáchymov, then undertook restoration, and in several stages between 1992 and 1993 the building was fully restored. The roof truss was repaired and supplemented, wood-rot treated, and an archaeological survey carried out. In 1993 the façade and timber structure were repaired, floor ventilation installed, and part of the interior returned. The original 1520 bell was also returned to the turret after being hidden in Nejdek for several years. The total cost reached 3.5 million crowns.
On 14 August 1993 the church was solemnly consecrated in connection with Cardinal František Tomášek’s decree granting Jáchymov pilgrimage status. The ceremony was performed by Bishop J. Škarvada.
Main altar
The Renaissance altar is a gift from the co-founder of the town and first mining governor Heinrich von Köneritz, as confirmed by the coats of arms on the inner sides of the wings. It is a winged altarpiece consisting of a central shrine with predella, closing wings and a two-storey superstructure. The paintings on limewood come from the workshop of Lucas Cranach.
The central panel shows the Mystical Marriage of St Catherine. On the inner wings are the Annunciation (left) and the Visitation (right). On the outer wings appear St John the Evangelist (left) and St James the Greater (right). The predella depicts the Adoration of the Magi, while the upper section shows the Death of the Virgin and the Coronation of the Virgin.
In 1681 statues of St Joseph, St Joachim and two other saints were added. An angel with a palm branch and a wooden cross were placed at the top. In the 18th century gilded vases and side passages behind the altar were added. Modern restoration returned the altar to its original appearance and removed the Baroque railing in front.
Side altars
On the left side of the chancel there was a suspended three-part altar also serving as the epitaph of J. Pullacher. Its central painting showed the Entombment of Christ influenced by Dutch painting. The upper panel depicted the Ascension of Christ with the inscription “Christus ist aufgefahren in die Höhe”. The predella showed the deceased kneeling before the Lamb of God, surrounded by working miners. The altar bore the signature “AF. Anno Salutis Nativi 1598” and the coats of arms of the Pullacher and Kotreuther families. The antipendium with Christ on the Mount of Olives was added in the 18th century.
On the right side stood another suspended three-part altar functioning as an epitaph for an unknown family. The central painting, signed “A. F. 1598”, depicted the Resurrection in the style of Italian Mannerism. The lower corners carried the coats of arms of the Uttmann and Lerchenfelder families. The predella showed a trial and execution scene. The upper panel displayed the Holy Trinity with the inscription “Sitzet zur Rechten Gottes des Allmächtigen”. The Baroque antipendium portrayed Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene (1730).
Pulpit
This wooden pulpit is a Late Gothic work, as shown by its profiling and cornice. At the end of the 17th century fruit festoons, flowers and scrollwork were added, together with two flying angel figures on the canopy. A dove was placed beneath the canopy and acanthus scrolls rising toward God the Father above. Most later additions have since been removed and are stored in the attic.
Calvary group
The Calvary group originally stood in the cemetery niche chapel. It is a sandstone work from 1544 by the Dresden sculptor Christoph Walter, showing the Crucified Christ, the Sorrowful Virgin and St John the Evangelist. The figures are slightly larger than life, and Mary’s body still shows a Gothic curve. Because of flaws in the sandstone the Christ figure began to crack, and the original limbs were replaced with limewood “prostheses”. The figures were originally polychromed, and the thorns in the crown were real metal nails.
Tombstones and epitaphs
The tomb slabs were originally set into the floor and walls. Because their weight stressed the masonry, they were removed during restoration and now stand along the church walls. Most epitaphs are preserved in the museum.
The only slab left in situ belongs to mintmaster Ruprecht Pullacher (d. 11 June 1563). Measuring 1.7 × 0.85 m, it is heavily worn and its relief, inscription and coat of arms are barely visible. It lies on the central axis between the pews and the supporting pillar before the main altar.
Numerous other Renaissance and Baroque epitaphs commemorate important townspeople, mining officials and mintmasters’ families from the 16th–17th centuries, including the Beer, Lengenfelder, Schedlich, Pullacher, Kadner, Hasler and Imlandt families.
Organs
The original organ from 1520 stood in the middle of the gallery and came from the workshop of Blasius and Anton Lehmann of Bautzen. Later organs were transferred to Nové Hamry and remain today in the Church of St John of Nepomuk.
Paintings
The church once contained several paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries, including depictions of St Francis Xavier, St Francis, and six oil paintings of saints (St Anne, the Holy Trinity, Madonna with Child, St John the Baptist, St Eustace, St Joseph).
A notable work is a panel painting from the workshop of Lucas Cranach (1540) showing St Christopher carrying the Christ Child, rediscovered in the attic and formerly part of a winged altar.
Other furnishings
Other items included a Late Gothic crucifix from around 1500 later complemented by a Baroque statue of the Virgin Mary, a pewter eternal-light lamp from 1610, a six-arm glass chandelier from the mid-19th century, Baroque pewter candlesticks, preserved pews, a marble relief of the Crucifixion from the early 17th century, and additional historical artworks and liturgical objects.
Hospital
A miners’ hospital was founded here in 1530 by the mining official and later mintmaster Wolf Sturz. It was a simple one-storey Renaissance building on an L-shaped plan, connected to the church by a covered passage.
Between 1558 and 1566 the physician Franz Rener worked here, commemorated by an inscription beside the entrance. The building later deteriorated, burned in 1955 and was demolished in 1958. The remains were used as the basis for a terrace with an urn garden and memorial site.
Cemetery
The cemetery was founded shortly after the establishment of the town, at the latest between 1530 and 1533, between the stream and the church, on the initiative of the preacher Christoph Ering. From this period date parts of the enclosure wall with gate and niche chapel. In 1544 the Calvary group by Christoph Walter was installed there; today it is preserved inside the church.
After the re-Catholicisation the original Lutheran tombstones were removed and the cemetery became purely Catholic in 1627.
Paradoxically, the worst condition today affects the section established at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries as a Protestant and children’s cemetery.
Photo gallery:
http://mipalfi.rajce.idnes.cz/Kostel_Vsech_svatych%2C_tez_Spitalni_kostel/
