A building of crystalline clarity was created between 1310 (foundation stone) and 1330 (consecration) following the general plan of the churches built by the mendicant orders in the Upper Rhine area consisting of a basilican cross-section, a nave with a flat ceiling and a vaulted choir under a continuous roof ridge. It was restored in 1983-86. In the nave octagonal pillars separate the central aisle from the side aisles and support the seven Gothic arches without any cross ribbing. The easternmost pair, which are slightly farther apart, supports the rood screen, reconstructed from fragmentary remains. A black marble cenotaph in the central aisle, is the Habsburg’s family tomb of around 1320. In front of it, stairs lead down to the crypt which used to contain eleven burials (transferred to St. Paul in Carinthia in 1807).
The soaring choir consisting of three bays with a five-sided apse is flooded with light and forms a contrast to the box-like nave, enclosed and squat. Engaged shafts support the cross ribs which culminate in carved bosses. The window ledge moulding that runs continuously both inside and outside of the choir, forms the only element of horizontal structuring. To some extend this can be seen in the nave as well. The tracery in the three-lancet windows corresponds two by two. Stylistically it marks a transition between high and late Gothic.
Grosser Rat
