Christenruhkapelle

Christenruhkapelle, west side

The Christenruhkapelle is the cemetery chapel of the Evangelical Lutheran parish of St. Margareta (Windsbach) , which belongs to the Windsbach deanery .

history

Since the cemetery around the town church offered too little space, a new cemetery was laid out in Retzendorfer Strasse in 1556. Under the then city bailiff Georg Reissenreuther, a small, not massive chapel was built in 1569, which had to be expanded in 1590. In 1680 the chapel was so dilapidated that a new building had to be considered. In 1702/03 this was built on behalf of the High Princely Chamber after the financing was secured by a collection approved by Margrave Wilhelm Friedrich in the dean's offices in Langenzenn, Schwabach and Weimersheim. Extensive restorations were carried out in 1762, 1890 and 1959. Since the 19th century this chapel has been called Christenruh .

In addition to funeral services, the Christenruhkapelle also holds passion services, evening services during the sacrifice week of the Inner Mission and communion celebrations.

Building description

The chapel has a rectangular floor plan of about 15 × 10 meters and a height of about 8 meters and consists of plastered quarry stone masonry. Originally an octagonal bell tower with a French dome stood in the middle of the hipped roof. This was replaced in 1975 by a sheet-metal roof turret with an electric bell. The original sacristy extension in the south was relocated to the east in 1959. On the west side the chapel is accessible through a round arch portal, in the middle above a stone baroque angel with the inscription “Soli Deo Gloria” and above it an ox eye. There are three axes with arched windows on the north and south sides. On the south side of the church there are several grave slabs made of Treuchtlinger marble from the years 1740 to 1847 and a bronze grave slab for Maria Dorothea Wüstendörffer, née. Rehmin († 1754) attached.

The single-nave hall has a trough-like wooden coffered ceiling with a Dutch roof structure above it, which was made by master carpenter Johann Michael Mezz. A wooden gallery has been drawn in on the west and north walls. On the west gallery there is a slider-door organ, which was built in 1864 by the Heilsbronn organ builder Vogtherr.

The high altar in the east dates from the early 18th century. Above the stone canteen there is an altarpiece with high pedestals in Corinthian column order and segmented gable with the donor's double coat of arms. In the middle is a painting by the Ansbach court painter Anselm von Feuerbach from 1733, which shows the raising of the young man to Naïn ( Lk 7.11–17  EU ). To the right of the altar hangs a painted epitaph for the town carpenter Mezz († 1707). The frame is provided with a twisted column arrangement and rich gold-plated carving decoration. The painting shows the deceased, in the predella his family is shown kneeling.

On the south side is the pulpit, marked 1705, which was donated by the pastor Anton Ulrich Engelhardt and his brother Heinrich, Richter zu Wendelstein. A polygonal basket with reddish-gray marbling and rich flower and leaf carvings as well as a coat of arms and slogan in the front rests on a modern wooden post. The sound cover also has carvings and a crown-like finish. In 1959 both the pulpit and the sound cover were lowered.

literature

• Karl Dunz : Windsbach - home and cultural history of the city with all districts . Neuendettelsau 1985, p. 167-168 .
• Günther P. Fehring : City and district of Ansbach (=  Bavarian art monuments . Volume 2 ). Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1958, DNB  451224701 , p. 157 .
• Horst Heissmann (Ed.): ... in the midst of you: 200 years of the Windsbach deanery . History, Parishes & Institutions. Erlanger Verlag for Mission and Ecumenism, Neuendettelsau 2009, ISBN 978-3-87214-801-8 , p. 82 .
• Manfred Jehle: Church conditions and religious institutions on the upper Altmühl, Rezat and Bibert: Monasteries, parishes and Jewish communities in the Altlandkreis Ansbach in the Middle Ages and in modern times (=  Middle Franconian Studies . Volume 20 ). Historical Association for Middle Franconia, Ansbach 2009, ISBN 978-3-87707-771-9 , p. 179 .
• Heinz Seifert; Karl Lechner: Christian rest in Windsbach . In: Deanery info for the congregations in the Evangelical Dean's District Windsbach . Autumn, 2016, p. 2 ( PDF ).
• Günther Zeilinger with e. Working group d. Dekanates (Ed.): Windsbach - a deanery in Franconia (=  series of portraits of Bavarian deanery districts ). Verlag der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Mission, Erlangen 1987, ISBN 3-87214-220-8 , p. 98 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ H. Heissmann (Ed.), P. 82.
2. ↑ M. Jehle, p. 179.
3. ↑ G. Zeilinger (Ed.), P. 98.

Coordinates: 49 ° 14 ′ 43.1 ″  N , 10 ° 49 ′ 37.5 ″  E