Postcard Apollinariskirche Remagen on the Rhine, neo-Gothic pilgrimage church, Stengel Dresden

German postcard from the early twentieth century showing a hand-coloured phototype of the Apollinariskirche near Remagen on the Rhine in Rhineland-Palatinate. The image shows the neo-Gothic pilgrimage church in its elevated position on the Apollinarisberg, with its characteristic four slender spired towers on the west façade. Below the church extends the broad valley of the Rhine, with the vineyards of the Apollinarisberg in the foreground and on the river several inland shipping vessels visible. The sky is executed in the typical Stengel palette with warm peach and ochre gradients fading into light blue. In the upper right, the caption "Remagen a. Rh. - Apollinariskirche" in red lettering. Published by Stengel and Co., G.m.b.H. in Dresden, catalogue number 52243, with divided back bearing the oval Stengel trademark. The verso is unwritten and unposted. The card is in good condition.

The Apollinariskirche was built between 1839 and 1843 to designs by the architect Ernst Friedrich Zwirner, who as master builder of Cologne Cathedral during those same years was responsible for the completion of that medieval cathedral after six centuries of interruption. For the Apollinariskirche, Zwirner adapted the neo-Gothic formal language to a compact pilgrimage sanctuary with a double-transept form and four finely divided towers, intended to be visible from afar above the Rhine. The church was consecrated in 1857 and received its fresco decoration from the painters of the Nazarene school, including Ernst Deger, Karl and Andreas Müller and Franz Ittenbach, whose work makes the interior a highlight of nineteenth-century German religious painting. The high altar contains a relic of Saint Apollinaris of Ravenna, who according to medieval tradition is said to have washed ashore at this place. Since 2002 the Apollinarisberg with its church and vineyards forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage site Oberes Mittelrheintal. The publisher Stengel and Co. in Dresden was among the largest German postcard producers of the period 1894 to 1938 and was renowned for the high technical quality of its colour cards and its extensive series of European tourist destinations and art reproductions.