Interior design at St. Michael, Vöhringen

The wide and barrel-vaulted nave of the church has a clear width and a height of twelve metres. It looks spacious and flooded with light.

Except for the central aisle, the entire nave space is used for seating. Side access to the pews is relocated to the low aisles. Arcaded arches open the entrance. A wooden double gallery forms the end of the room in the entrance area.

The interior design could only be completed after the First World War thanks to a government grant. The walls are not divided sculpturally. This is done by decorative painting based on Zell’s designs. The arcaded arches and vaulted lunette caps are framed with floral shapes in baroque and popular motifs in Heimatstil.

Painted flower vases in mock niches divide the wall surfaces between the round-arched windows. The decorative painting was carried out by Georg Fuchs based on Zell’s design. The figurative ceiling paintings are by Waldemar Kolmsperger (1881-1954).

The original and still preserved furnishings are designed by Franz Zell. The floor was originally covered with dark green linoleum. Linoleum became established as a resilient floor covering at the end of the 19th century and was considered a modern furnishing compared to wooden floorboards. The high and side altars were supplied by the Oberammergau company Georg Lang sel. Erben. Zell had designed the Oberammergau Museum for the then managing director of the company from 1905 to 1908.

Michaela Thomas