Restoration of the Chapel of the Langue of Germany

The chapel of the Langue of Germany in St John’s Co-Cathedral will soon receive complete restoration sponsored by the Federal Foreign Office of the Republic of Germany on the initiative of the German Ambassador to Malta, Dr Hubert Ziegler.

Although in dire need of restoration, the chapel of the Langue of Germany remains one of the most splendid chapels within St John’s Co-Cathedral. The Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Dr Angela Merkel, during a visit to St John’s in January this year, took special interest in the chapel and commented on the overwhelming beauty of the church stating that this was one of the most impressive monuments in Europe.

The President of The St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation, Mr Paul A. Attard, said that one of the major aims of the Foundation is to generate revenue for the maintenance and restoration of the Co-Cathedral’s works of art and artefacts.  However, Mr Attard added that Foundation funds are never enough to satisfy requirements and the initiative of the German Ambassador towards this project is certainly much appreciated and highly commended.

Mr Attard encouraged other entities, especially benefiting from tourism, to contribute towards the preservation of this unique and precious monument. This restoration project will further propel the initiative of The Foundation in restoring the aesthetic appeal of the entire monument and do justice to this supreme gem of the High Baroque.
Dr Hubert Ziegler highlighted the admirable work of The St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation for its effort to preserve this impressive edifice. The restoration of the German chapel will be financed through the cultural preservation program of the German Federal Government. The German chapel is an important symbol of Germany’s and Malta’s common history and St John’s Co-Cathedral with its chapels representing various nations of Europe at the time of the Knights “a forerunner of the European Union” as Chancellor Angela Merkel admiringly put it during her visit to St. John’s Co-Cathedral in January this year. The restoration of the German chapel by an equally strong effort of Germany and Malta is in this context another symbol for the growing German-Maltese partnership in a continuously merging Europe.

Ms Cynthia de Giorgio, the curator of St John’s Co-Cathedral, said that this project will consist of the restoration of the elaborately carved dome and wall-carvings within the chapel, the restoration of the main altar, the altar piece and the paintings fitted into the lunettes.  Ms de Giorgio added that the chapel had sustained severe deterioration from the infiltration of rain water from the dome which caused the erosion of some of the carvings and the irreparable loss of the gilding.  The lower strata of the walls also suffered similar damage caused by rising damp. The carvings are covered by a thick layer of dust and candle soot deposits that accumulated over the years.
Ms Cynthia de Giorgio explained that the first stage of the restoration process shall consist of removing the layers of dust and candle soot and other stubborn encrustations with appropriate cleaning solutions. A layer of linseed oil applied during the twentieth century will be removed using poultices of alkaline solutions. This will be followed by the consolidation of the loose stone carvings and mortar joints. The walls will then be prepared for regilding, adopting the same gilding process used in the seventeenth century. The paintings will also receive restoration.

The chapel of the Langue of Allemagne, as it was referred to during the time of the Knights, is the first chapel in the north aisle of St John’s Co-Cathedral. The chapel was originally assigned to the Langue of England.  It was however reassigned to the Langue of Germany in the Chapter General of 1603 when the Church of England was established.

The elaborately-decorated wall carvings were executed following the bequest of Knight Fra Christian Von Osterhausen who bequeathed 1200 scudi for the adornment of this chapel in his will dated 28th June 1664. A further sum was put forward by the Prior of Hungary Fra Francis de Sonnemberg. The altar painting depicts the Adoration of the Magi whilst the paintings fitted into the lunettes on either side of the chapel depict The Nativity of Christ and The Massacre of the Innocents executed in the seventeenth century by the Maltese artist Stefano Erardi (1630-1716), who studied in Rome. They were the gift of the knight Fra Giovanni Ernesto Conte della Torre in 1667.  Amongst the wall carvings are the coat-of-arms of the members of the Thun family Fra’ Franz Sigmund Graf von Thun and the Archbishop and Prince of Salzburg John Ernest von Thun.