St. Annakapelle, Altdorf

The Chapel of St. Anna is a Roman Catholic chapel in Altdorf in the canton of Uri. Built in 1596, the building originally served as an ossuary, stylistically it can be attributed to the late Renaissance. The chapel stands in front of the southern facade of the parish church of St. Martin and is classified as a cultural asset of national importance. The Altdorf church district also includes the cemetery and the Chapel of the Mount of Olives behind the parish church.

The master builder of the church was most likely the Lucerne master stonemason Anton Isenmann. The chapel dedicated to St. Anne has two floors; both levels have their own entrance, but are not spatially connected. The architectural design stylistically belongs to the late Renaissance, but the tall and slender structure without buttresses indicates the early Baroque, which first came into full effect in the following decade when the parish church was rebuilt. A continuous roof ridge connects the structure with the recessed polygonal choir.

The upper floor has lancet windows on the long sides, the entrance portal is round-arched. Inside, the nave and the choir are separated by tongue walls, the resulting opening looks like a high-dimensioned open gate. On the west wall hangs a painting by the Flemish painter Denys Calvaert, who was working in Bologna at that time; the commission in Altdorf came about through the mediation of Jakob Arnold. The motif of the painting is the Lamentation of Christ. Particularly noteworthy is the closing balustrade against the descent into the lower chapel, designed by sculptor Johannes Dub in 1596. The balustrade, executed as a memento mori, is unique not only in Switzerland, but far beyond. In the large central field there is a memorial inscription for the builder: "CASPAR ROMANVS/BESLER. DERZIT/KILCHENVOGT VND/BAWMEISTER.DES/GOTSHVS.1596".

Due to its location on a hillside, the lower floor is only visible from the church square further down. The low hall is vaulted by an almost round-arched barrel. A forged iron grille separates the front part of the room; it is decorated with the alliance coat of arms of the two donors: Landammann Emanuel Stanislaus Püntener and his wife Maria Anna Katharina Lusser.