141 4 Neuburg an der Donau, Schlosskapelle, Inneres mit Blick nach Südwesten Neuburg an der Donau, Castle Chapel, interior with a view to the south-west columns. Unfortunately, the interior of the church, dominated by a large Cranach retable, which was Catholicised as early as 1624, burned to the ground in 1873. It was then rebuilt in neo-Gothic style on the basis of plans by Josef Mocker, whereby the original surrounding walls were preserved (fig. 2). However, as the former character of the interior has been altered completely, factual evidence of its former status as the oldest newly built town church dedicated to Lutheranism no longer exists. The third church building, on the other hand, namely the castle chapel of Elector Palatine Otto Henry in his residence in Neuburg an der Donau, the construction of which commenced in 1538, has been carefully restored and is now largely as it was after its completion in 1543 (fig. 3).4 Otto Henry introduced the Reformation in his principality on 22 June 1542 and, as a symbol of this, formally handed over the splendidly furnished chapel for use just under ten months later on 25 April 1543, a ceremonial act accompanied by a sermon by the Nuremberg Reformer Andreas Osiander, which was also published in print. As in Torgau, a representative bronze dedication plaque from 1543— here with a depiction of Christ taking leave of His Mother after Albrecht Dürer—still refers to this event in Neuburg today.5 The rich painting, dating from the period of construction, which is now regarded as the first comprehensive example of Reformation iconography in monumental art, accentuates the status of this castle chapel. Explicit dates of 1542 on the gallery parapet and 1543 at the apex of the central eastern lunette confirm the chronology of the building and its fixtures. However, the chapel was Catholicised in 1614, and the Protestant artwork was painted over. Dates play an important role as points of reference for developments and shifts in ecclesial, art and cultural history alike, which is why their verification is often of crucial importance for insights into absolute and relative time-related sequences. However, the chronology of the first new Lutheran church buildings erected prior to the Torgau Castle Chapel proves that these cannot be dovetailed neatly to a linear historical narrative, but are the results of a theological innovation that assumed different structural forms and manifestations in different locations. The chronology of the buildings is therefore not an absolute variable, but must be viewed in the context of other factors that characterise their genesis or development. How did the structure and fixtures of the castle chapel in Neuburg|Donau influence the genesis of Protestant sacred art? When Otto Henry of the Palatinate had a new castle chapel designed on the ground floor of the imposing west wing of his residence in Neuburg an der Donau, which was rebuilt from 1537 using older structural elements, he set the highest standards for its design and decorative fixtures.6 Located to the north of the entrance to the castle courtyard, the chapel occupies a vaulted room on a trapezoidal floor plan of approx. 22 and 13 metres, which extends over two storeys and is accentuated on the outside by arched windows. The chapel itself opens behind the portal in the gateway, dated 1538, and the gallery is supported by two mighty red marble columns, served by a spiral staircase in the north-west corner. The space, which is enclosed by rendered barrel vaulting with lunettes, impresses with its steep proportions and, apart from the stylised tracery in the windows, bears no relation to the late Gothic period.7 Opposite the entrance is an alcove in the form of a narrow, rectangular, raised altar niche with a stuccoed coffered barrel vault, which protrudes into the inner courtyard. The revolving gallery set on red marble corbels, interrupted only by the altar niche, boasts a magnificent parapet with rich relief decoration including grotesque figures, dating and the builder’s coat of arms (fig. 4).
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