Old Johannes Church (Heidelberg-Neuenheim)
The old Johanneskirche was the original village church of Neuenheim , located on Ladenburger Straße. Today only the tower and the choir remain .
history
The village of Neuenheim goes back to the 8th century. In 1137 the Capella Sanctis Johannis Baptistae was consecrated by Bishop Burchard II (also Buggo ) of Worms . This chapel, consecrated to John the Baptist , was subordinate to the Handschuhsheim parish of St. Vitus . It has been rebuilt several times, the remains come from a Gothic building from the late 15th century, whereby the formerly pointed triumphal arch has been renewed. Together with the village of Neuenheim, the church was badly damaged in the Landshut War of Succession , the Thirty Years War and the Palatinate War of Succession ; after 1693 only the tower and the choir remained. It was not until 1728 that the nave was rebuilt in a simple baroque style . Since the Reformation , which was introduced in the Electoral Palatinate and thus also in Neuenheim in 1556, the Johanneskirche has been Protestant.
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With the incorporation of Neuenheim into Heidelberg in 1891, the new district grew rapidly and the church soon became too small. Plans for a structural expansion were soon abandoned in favor of a new building of a larger church outside the old village center. In 1902, the new Johanneskirche on Handschuhsheimer Landstrasse was inaugurated, which took the name from the old church. The old church was left to the Catholic community, which had also grown rapidly and had previously had to go to church in St. Vitus in Handschuhsheim. However, the Catholics also built a new building for which the foundation stone was laid in 1903. In 1905, the St. Raphael Church was consecrated and the old Johanneskirche was thus inoperable. In 1906 the nave was demolished to make way for the market together with the former churchyard, which was in use until 1857. The original floor plan is now marked with dark stones in the pavement on the market square.
Building description
From the original church only the 15 m high late Gothic church tower with a square floor plan and the choir with a round arched triumphal arch are preserved. The structure consists mainly of hewn field stones, the corners are supplemented with bricks. The traces of various additions and modifications are visible on the masonry. The tent roof of the tower and the saddle roof of the choir are covered with roof tiles.
In closed by a grid choir is since 1949 a crucifixion group for the Catholic part of the cemetery of the 1767 Peter Church created and later on the mountain cemetery was transferred where today a copy stands.
literature
- Ilona Appel: A short story of the Johanneskirche on the market square . In: Neuenheimer Nachrichten No. 09, April / May 2012, p. 18.
- Hans Gercke: Churches in Heidelberg . 1st edition. Schnell and Steiner, Regensburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-7954-2413-8 , pp. 17-19 .
- Adolf von Oechelhäuser: The art monuments of the district of Heidelberg . Verlag JCB Mohr, Tübingen 1913, p. 357 ( digitized version )
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 24 ′ 53.3 " N , 8 ° 41 ′ 25.8" E