The Tregist village chapel, also known as the or the Chapel of Mary, Untier of Knots, is a Roman Catholic chapel located in the municipality of Bärnbach in western Styria. The chapel, dedicated to Holy Mary, is part of the Voitsberg parish and thus belongs to the Voitsberg pastoral area in the Styrian central region of the Graz-Seckau diocese.
The first chapel on the site was consecrated in 1884, destroyed by a flood in the 1950s and subsequently demolished. Between 1986 and 1989, a new building was erected with the help of the local community and designed by the West Styrian sculptor and painter . Weiss decorated both the exterior walls and the interior as a total work of art using a variety of artistic techniques, and created almost all the artistic design elements of the chapel himself. Only the two stained-glass windows were made by another master according to his designs.
The exterior walls of the chapel are adorned with large, colourful murals depicting biblical motifs with images of saints, popes and people who have rendered outstanding services to the proclamation of the Christian teachings. In addition to saints such as Martin of Tours, Mother Teresa and Hélder Câmara can also be seen. A regional reference is repeatedly made in the motifs, for example with houses from the area surrounding the chapel where Jesus carries the cross. The Pope's visits to Austria are also depicted. The main image on the altar shows Mary untying knots from a ribbon. An inscription on the ribbon and the depiction of the power station refer to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. At Christmastime, a nativity village is set up around the chapel, consisting of six panels with motifs from the Christmas story. The entire building is a protected monument.
Location The village chapel is located in the part of the dispersed settlement of belonging to the municipality of Bärnbach, at an altitude of around 470 metres above sea level, on the left bank of the stream. The Tregistbach flows past the chapel about 5 metres to the west, while the Altsteigbach flows about 5 metres to the south. The Altsteigbach runs into the Tregistbach immediately to the south-west of the chapel. Both watercourses form the municipal boundary to the municipality of Voitsberg.
The , which leads from to Tregisttal and ends in this village, runs directly to the east. The inn, which dates back to the former alum factory, is located 10 metres to the east in the municipality of Voitsberg. About 50 metres south-east of the chapel is the former Tregist primary school, which has been converted into a museum of the work of Franz Weiss.
History
To the south of the present village chapel, on the left bank of the Tregistbach stream, was originally a simple chapel from the nearby former alum factory, consecrated in 1884, destroyed by a flood from the Tregistbach around 1955 and subsequently demolished. The artist Franz Weiss lived near the old chapel and cherished it as a place of worship. As a young student of , Weiss already wanted to paint the old chapel. Shortly after its destruction, he undertook to rebuild the monument in his own style.
Construction of the new place of worship began in the 1980s, with a site better protected from flooding being sought in the immediate vicinity of the old chapel. Like the old chapel, the new one was built on the left bank of the Tregistbach. Annemarie and Engelbert Pignitter donated the land for the new building, which was blessed on 29 June 1986. On the occasion of the blessing, Franz Weiss erected a plaque with a model of the church and the date of the blessing. Due to the fact that the chapel is located in the municipality of Bärnbach, but in the parish of Voitsberg, the construction was supported by grants from both municipalities. The actual construction of the chapel began in September 1986, and on 5 April 1987 the completion of the building work was celebrated with the blessing of the gable crosses. On 12 April 1987, the two bells donated by the local people were consecrated, and on 15 October 1989, the chapel itself was consecrated. Franz Weiss continued to work on the decoration of the building until 1992.
Architecture and design The chapel has a cruciform floor plan and faces north-west. The layout is created by the transept in front of the chancel. The transept is shorter than originally planned. The architect Anton Walter was responsible for the technical planning, while Hubert Grinschgl was in charge of the construction. Karl and Peter Weiss, two brothers of Franz Weiss, carried out the interior work. Franz Weiss decorated the interior and exterior of the new chapel between 1986 and 1992. The interior walls and ceiling, as well as three exterior walls, are covered with large-scale secco and tempera paintings. Exterior design The plastered exterior walls are smooth and, except for the north-western side, are decorated with numerous murals by Franz Weiss. There is a round-arched entrance door in the south-east. An open ridge turret with the chapel bells rises above the entrance door. Both the nave and transept have tiled gabled roofs that curve slightly outwards towards the bottom. On the south-east side of the nave, the edge of the gabled roof above the entrance is hipped. The roof ridges above the gables in the north-west, south-west and north-east each have a sphere with a cross on top. The ridge turret ends in a sphere with an attached patriarchal cross. On each side of the transept, light enters the interior of the chapel through a high arched window.
The round-arched entrance door to the chapel is decorated with copper and enamel paintings. The lower door panel depicts Michael the Archangel standing before a disc of the world with his sword raised. The world disc is surrounded by the inscription "Who is like God. Saint Michael". The arched panel of the door shows Our Lady of Mariazell in a mandorla above the inscription "O MARY ALWAYS HELP". The two panels are separated by a mullion, through which it is possible to see the interior of the chapel.
In front of the chapel, on the municipal border between Bärnbach and Voitsberg, there is a border plaque designed in enamel by Franz Weiss. On it stands an angel with one hand on each of the coats of arms of the two municipalities. At his feet are the coats of arms of Austria and Styria as well as the coat of arms of Pope John Paul II, which, however, has silver (white) instead of gold (yellow) colouring.
Murals Except for the west wall, all the exterior walls are decorated with secco paintings, which also divide the walls. They were all painted by Franz Weiss between 1986 and 1992, and the colourful murals can be described as unusual.
East wall The east wall of the chapel is divided into eight panels by bands. These boundaries are fluid and are partially crossed by the figures depicted. The main picture above the entrance depicts Jesus as Pantocrator or ruler of the world in a mandorla. He has raised his right hand in blessing, in his left hand he holds an open Bible and with his feet he stands on a globe. Instead of sitting on a throne, Jesus is seated on a rainbow in the Austrian national colours of red, white and red. The mandorla is painted dark red and framed in gold. Circles with stars are painted around the wide frame. Jesus is flanked by two kneeling angels, Archangel Gabriel with white lilies on the left and Archangel Michael with a sword in his hand on the right. Below the image of Jesus, directly above the entrance, is the sentence "GOD IS THE LORD ALSO OF OUR TIME". Diagonally below the image of Jesus, six of the twelve apostles are depicted on each side of the entrance and the inscription. The rainbow throne on which Jesus sits reaches down to the apostles, where it takes on the Styrian colours of white and green. The apostles hold Bibles in their hands and are partly depicted with speaking gestures as proclaimers of the Holy Scriptures. Below the apostles is the lowest pictorial level with other saints, who are seen as witnesses of living faith. Two saints are depicted on each side of the entrance door. On the left-hand side is Nicholas of Flüe, a Swiss hermit with political influence, wearing a brown habit and leaning on a stick. He holds a rosary in his left hand. The face of Christ the King hovers in a circle above his head. Next to him stands Teresa of Ávila in the habit of the Carmelite nuns. She is holding an open book. Her depiction is a reference to the nearby Carmelite convent on the Holy Mountain near Bärnbach. These two saints are representatives of the , who dedicated their lives to the study of the Holy Scriptures. On the right are two representatives of the , in other words, faith lived in deeds. The first representative to the right of the entrance door is Hemma of Gurk, known as church founder, who is holding a chapel model in her hands. The final figure on the right is Martin of Tours. He is cutting up his cloak and giving part of it to the beggar kneeling before him.
North wall
The north wall is divided into seven panels. It continues the series with personalities of faith in more recent times. The wheel of heaven with golden spokes hovers above the figures in the upper panel of the nave. Drops of grace fall from the wheel to the figures. In the centre of this panel is a depiction of Mary. In her lap lies the open Bible, over which the Holy Spirit hovers in the form of a dove. Like the dove's wings, Mary is also spreading her arms. Franz Weiss incorporated personal references in the design of Mary and gave her the facial features of his mother. At her feet are yellow gladioli. To the right of Mary is a depiction of Pope Paul VI's meeting with Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople on 5 January 1964 in Jerusalem. This meeting led to a breakthrough in relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. The depiction shows both of them making the gesture of greeting peace. On Mary's left is Mother Teresa, the Indian nun known worldwide for her commitment to the poor, the homeless, the sick and the dying. In her left hand she is holding a bowl of soup, symbolising the feeding of the poor, and a drop of grace touches her heart. Next to Mother Teresa is the archbishop and liberation theologian Dom Hélder Câmara, who campaigned for social justice and human rights in Brazil. The lower part of the picture is criss-crossed by streaks of light; they appear to radiate downwards from the celestial wheel in the upper part of the picture. On the left-hand edge stands Brother Roger Schutz, the founder of the ecumenical Taizé community, where thousands of young people seek religious introspection every year. He is wearing a light-coloured habit and is in conversation with a youth. Next to him stands the Swiss doctor, mystic and spiritual writer Adrienne von Speyr. She is flanked by two sunflowers and holds up a book as a symbol of her numerous writings. Next is Father Werenfried van Straaten, also known as the "bacon priest" and founder of the aid organisation Aid to the Church in Need. He stands in front of a globe, holds up a chalice with his right hand and carries an upturned bowler hat in his left hand, which he used to collect donations for his aid organisation. The final figure on the right is the Hungarian Archbishop József Mindszenty, who is behind bars and has been imprisoned several times for speaking out against injustice. He is considered a symbolic figure of resistance against soviet rule in Hungary.