Tegernsee: Solution for psallier choir is getting closer

Created: 08/20/2022, 16:00

By: Christina Jachert-Maier

Four paintings by Tegernsee abbots are to be placed in the psallier choir.

For public use, however, an escape route must first be created.

© Thomas Plettenberg

District master builder Christian Boiger describes the latest talks regarding the psallier choir as “very productive and constructive”.

If all goes well, the magnificent room could soon be opened to the public.

Tegernsee – High arched windows let in a lot of light, a magnificent stucco ceiling spans the room.

Here, in the psallier choir, four life-size paintings of important abbots of the Tegernsee monastery are to be given a worthy place.

The pictures are still with the restorer who has preserved them until now.

And there is still a lot to be clarified before the psallier choir can finally be made accessible to the public.

But the most recent on-site visit has brought the project a good deal forward, to the delight of district master builder Christian Boiger.

"The appointment was very productive and constructive," says Boiger.

Tegernsee: Solution for psallier choir is getting closer

As reported, the psallier choir, once part of the Tegernsee Church of St. Quirinus, needs a second escape route.

So far, the 150 square meter room can only be reached through the high school.

There is also a problem with fire protection in the church itself: the church also needs an escape route.

Both paths can possibly be created in one go.

What makes the realization so difficult are the monument protection and the large number of owners.

State, church, the ducal family and the Kreissparkasse Miesbach-Tegernsee as the owner of a "perpetual right of use" for the psallier choir must come to a consensus.

After the negotiations have not progressed for years, district master builder Boiger has turned on as a moderator.

One step has already been taken under his direction: in June, the district committee accepted the donation of a total of eight historical paintings by Duke Max in Bavaria.

These include the four abbot images that are to adorn the now bare walls of the psallier's choir.

However, the paintings need to be restored, and the psallier choir also needs renovation.

Boiger found a solution for creating the escape route that makes public use possible in the first place.

It should lead through the upper Gothic sacristy of the church via an existing staircase into the inner courtyard of the castle.

At the most recent appointment, it was no longer a matter of whether, but of how.

"The next step is for the architects and specialist engineers to clarify the general technical conditions," says Boiger.

The Tegernsee pastor Walter Waldschütz asked for private law issues such as noise protection for the church and easements for the escape route would still be "finally agreed".

Preliminary meetings have already taken place.

The financing of fire protection was not an issue at the appointment, according to the district master builder.

Estimated cost: 850,000 euros

Negotiations are still underway as to who will bear the costs of the escape route and the renovation and maintenance of the psallier choir.

The district savings bank had already paid 1.5 million euros to Duke Max in Bavaria for the perpetual right of use in 2010 and is also willing to submit the planning application for the escape route.

Years of attempts to sell the expensive rights of use to the church were unsuccessful.

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Things are different when it comes to creating an escape route for the church itself - which is primarily about the use of the gallery.

St. Quirinus belongs to the Free State, and the Rosenheim State Building Authority is responsible for fire protection.

The office is now calling a timetable.

"Construction is scheduled for 2023," says press spokeswoman Ursula Lampe.

The implementation plan will be drawn up in 2022.

The measures do not refer to the psallier's choir, but to the main room of the church, explains the state building authority.

Estimated cost: 850,000 euros.

The escape route for the church also has its end point in the inner courtyard of the castle, which suggests a joint solution with the psallier choir.

The district initially wants to exhibit the four images in their current state, combined with an appeal for donations to support the restoration.

After the psallier's choir has been renovated, the restored paintings will be on permanent loan there.

A usage concept for the psallier choir is currently being worked on in coordination with all those involved, explains Boiger.

He wants to be “actively involved”.