English: The two wide-format stained glass windows in the Villinger-Böcklin Chapel of the
Freiburg Minster are copies by
Fritz Geiges of originals now located in the
Augustinermuseum of Freiburg. An inscribed plate under the pictures identifies the donors and the date of the donation (or origin): “Jakob Villinger von Schönenberg Rö[misch] key[serlicher] Maj[estät] Schatzmeister in T[e]utschen Landen und Ursula Adlerin sin ehlich husfrow in dem jor do man zalt nach Christi gepurt 1524” (Jakob Villinger von Schönenberg, Treasurer of His Roman Imperial Majesty, and Ursula Adler, his wedded wife, in the year 1524 counted after the birth of Christ).
Jakob Villinger, one of Freiburg’s most noteworthy and richest individuals in the early 16th century, was Emperor Maximilian’s treasurer as of 1501. In 1504, Maximilian dubbed him a knight, and from this time he called himself Villinger von Schönenberg. His wife, Ursula Adler, was a well-to-do woman with whom he jointly financed the construction and outfitting of the chapel.
The name of the painter of this window painting is not preserved, but art historians have suggested that the architectural forms point to an
Augsburg artist, a proposal bolstered by long-term residency of the donors in Augsburg, which was furthermore the birthplace of Ursula Adler. The window was probably made in the Ropstein workshop in Freiburg.