JOHANN FUCHS, DESIGNER OF THE LATE BAROQUE PARISH CHURCH IN PREGRADA

Na temelju povijesnih okolnosti i stilske analize autorica zaključuje da je mariborski kasnobarokni arhitekt Jochannes Fuchs projektant župne crkve u Pregradi građene 1803. - 1818. Komparativnom analizom djela istog autora u Mariboru, Dravogradu, Slatkoj gori i Austriji, crkva u Pregradi može se ubrojiti među najmonumentalnija Fuchsova djela, a tipski je najsrodnija isusovačkoj crkvi u Mariboru. Inače tip crkve u Pregradi javio se na području Hrvatske već znatno ranije, sa župnom crkvom Sv. Lovre (1575.).In 1775 the parish priest S. Augustić decided to build a new church of the Holy Virgin Mary of Kunagora, after the old Gothic church was damaged by an earthquake. As the parsonage was built by masons from Maribor, the parson commissioned a mason from Maribor to establish the condition of the old church. One more estimate had to be made for his successor, the parish priest Karlo Tutkan, before the building of a new church was finally commissioned in 1794. As funding was available, the Hungarian authorities approved the project which, however, was contested by the Keglevia family who had rights of patronage. Therefore Bishop Maximilian Vrhovac formed a regional commission headed by the architect Ignatius Beischlag from Vara\u27-din and including the aforementioned "builder from Maribor". After this commission found that the old building could not be restored, the building of a new church was sanctioned in 1800, and the foundation stone laid in 1803. The building of the church was completed in 1818. The original projects and contracts have been lost, but there is no doubt that the design originated from the Styrian circle of church builders and can be attributed to the architect from Maribor Johannes Fuchs. Originally from Schleswig, he settled in Maribor about 1763. There he built the Jesuit church of Saint Aloysius and the steps leading to the Maribor fort. Also attributed to him are the church of Saint Peter in Kronska Gora near Dravograd, the church in Vurberg near Ptuj, another in Ehrenhausen in southern Austria, as well as the church of Saint Johann in the Saggatal valley. He is also credited for inventing the type of church built in Sladka Gora. In style and typology the church in Pregrada is one of his most monumental achievements and closest to the Jesuit church in Maribor. On our territory this type of church appeared even earlier, after the building of the church in Saggatal: it is the parish church of Saint Laurence in Vivodina, completed in 1757. The architect Joseph Fuchs belongs to the Late Baroque tradition, and was most directly influenced by W. Hagenauer from Salzburg. For some forty years his was the leading studio in Maribor and Fuchs himself was mentioned as the most notable architect in the region from 1797 to about 1800