Christ Church (Absberg)

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The church
Interior, view of the choir
The late renaissance altar
Interior, looking west
Wooden epitaph by Hans Konrad von Absberg on the north wall of the choir
Coat of arms of the Lords of Absberg above the choir arch
Detail from the Zedwitz epitaph

The Evangelical Lutheran Christ Church is a parish church of late Gothic origin in Absberg in the central Franconian district of Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen . It stands in the eastern area of ​​the village, which extends on a mountain spur, near the former Teutonic Order Castle .

Building and Church History

The first church in the village, made of wood and consecrated in honor of Saints Cyriakus and Ottilie , stood on today's cemetery grounds. During the Hungarian invasions it was burned down in 955 and later rebuilt in stone. The consecration of this first stone church in "Abbatesberc" was carried out by Eichstätt Bishop Gundekar II between 1057 and 1075, as reported by the Gundekarianum pontifical under him . In 1327 Absberg, previously a branch of Pfofeld , became its own parish, with Chunrat von Absberg being enfeoffed by Konrad and Gottfried von Hohenlohe with the parish, the Pfarrwidum and 1/3 of the large and 2/3 of the small tithe at his request . In a document from 1458 of a parish church “S. Otilie ”and in 1480 from a church“ S. Ciriaci et Otile ”with the right of presentation by the von Absbergs.

There was another sacred room in Absberg: In 1488 Heinrich IV. Von Absberg - Rumburg , Bishop of Regensburg , had a chapel consecrated; it stood in the area of ​​today's cemetery. In 1604 it was renovated and in 1805/06, when it had become dilapidated, it was demolished.

The Christ Church was rebuilt as the first purely Protestant church in the region in 1597/98 at the suggestion of Hanns Konrad von Absberg and mostly at his own expense; the Reformation was introduced in 1533 under Hans Christoph von und zu Absberg. When, on July 11, 1652, five years after the Lords of Absberg died out, the Teutonic Order took over the rule of Absberg in exchange, the church also served as a Catholic sacred space ( simultaneous church) from around 1660 with interruption until 1834 - “a source of countless disputes ". For 1732 we learn that of the subjects of the Teutonic Order in Absberg, 24 are Lutheran and 31 are Catholic. After the Catholic parish Absberg was raised to a parish in 1809, it bought the castle chapel in 1834 and expanded it for its religious purposes. The Simultaneum was ended on August 14, 1834 with an amicable settlement, as a result of which in 1835 the previously shared church building was completely handed over to the Evangelical Lutheran Church with a ceremonial handover of the keys. In 1826 the church had been subjected to a "thorough repair", another took place in 1851; During this time the Protestant Christians were able to hold their services in the Catholic castle church.

From 1884 to 1886 the windows of the Christ Church were reorganized and the interior was redesigned in the neo-Gothic style, which was largely withdrawn in 1958. When a fire in the former castle in 1969 badly affected the Catholic castle church from extinguishing water, the Catholics were able to use the Christ Church again during the renovation.

Building description

The south-west-north-east oriented building consists of a flat-roofed, inside 13.55 m long and 9.20 m wide nave with three window axes and a drawn-in, inside 7.35 m long and 6.30 m wide choir with a three-sided end; there is a window in each of the final fields. The choir arch is round. All windows close in a pressed pointed arch . On the outside of the choir, panels can be seen that extend up to a round-arched frieze on carnies consoles - a Romanizing motif that is often found in the post-Gothic period . The arched portal on the north side is lined with a broad, diamond-coated stone band; The coat of arms of the Lords of Absberg and the year "1598" are attached to the top.

The three-storey choir flank tower in the north of the church is closed off by a short octagon with arched sound openings and - since 1721 - with a copper sheet-covered dome , ending at the top in the knob and weather valve. A round stair tower is added between the bell tower and the eastern end of the nave, which leads to the upper floors of the bell tower. A barrel-vaulted room used as a sacristy is located on the tower ground floor .

Furnishing

  • The altar is a late Renaissance creation ; it was made in limestone in 1599. From 1886 to 1958 it was replaced by a neo-Gothic altar with a painting of the “Sermon on the Mount” by the Nuremberg painter Rall. The original altarpiece, which was re-erected in 1958, consists of two Ionic pillars with flat fittings and an architrave that ends with a triangular gable with the von Absberg coat of arms and the year "1599". In the field formed by the pillars there is a crucifix with Mary and John - a "crucifixion group worth seeing". On the predella is a saying in Latin from the 53rd chapter of the book of Isaiah .
  • On the right Choir inner wall, a place Epitaph of limestone with two columns of red marble for Hans Christoph von Absberg († 1562), which the Eichstätter sculptor Wilhelm sardine attributed whose main relief the knight praying before a crucifix in front of the silhouette of Jerusalem shows. God the Father is depicted in the elevator, flanked by the allegorical figures of faith and hope.
  • The epitaph on the left in the choir from 1606, carved and painted in wood, commemorates Hans Konrad von Absberg († 1611), who founded the church, and his wives Maria von Ellerhofen († 1596) and Eleonore Senft von Sulburg († 1631) and their children.
  • Six heavily worn tombstones of members of the Absberg family, including the last Absberger Hans Veit († 1647) with the "overturned coat of arms", were removed from the pavement in 1922 and placed on the choir walls.
  • In the nave there are continuous galleries on the north and west sides; on the south side the gallery extends from the west to the middle of the nave. They rest on pillars.
  • In the nave, on the left side of the eastern front side, there is an epitaph for Endres von Zedwitz zu Windsbach , the prince-gregarious councilor and caretaker zu Sandsee bei Pleinfeld († 1602), a wooden panel with paintings showing, among other things, the knight kneeling before the world judge . The tombstone underneath was attached for the child Hans Ulrich von Absberg († 1601).
  • A neo-Gothic pulpit, modified several times, stands on a pillar in the southeast corner of the nave. The pulpit paintings attached in 1958 are probably from the previous pulpit from the 16th century; they were used as murals in the choir during the Neo-Gothic period. The pulpit lid, crowned by a neo-Gothic figure of the Risen One, was created in 1990.
  • On the south wall you can find the neo-Gothic former altarpiece "The Sermon on the Mount". A miniature epitaph for the “robber knight” Hans Thomas von Absberg († 1531) has been hanging on the back wall of the church since 1958 .
  • In the southwest corner of the staircase to the organ and gallery hangs a picture of Luther, also painted by Rall.
  • A round ceiling picture with a stucco edge depicts the Ascension of Christ , painted in the 19th century by the architect and church painter Böhner.
  • Of the two presentation crosses set up on the choir stalls , the older one was repaired in 1840.
  • The three-part Neo-Gothic prospectus has been preserved somewhat simplified from the Steinmeyer predecessor organ. In 1991/92 today's instrument from Hey Orgelbau from Urspringen / Rhön was installed.
  • Three new bronze bells from the Bachert bell foundry , Bad Friedrichshall , have been hung in the tower since 1990 , replacing the steel bells from the 1920s. Two of the latter stand in front of the church today.

literature

  • Absberg. In: Karl Gröber, Felix Mader (arrangement): The art monuments of Middle Franconia. VI Gunzenhausen district office. R. Oldenbourg, Munich 1937, pp. 11-20.
  • Alfred Schnek: The Catholic parish Absberg. In: Festschrift der Marktgemeinde Absberg on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary on July 5 and 6, 1958. Absberg 1958, p. 10f.
  • Gerhard Nierlich: The Evangelical Lutheran parish Absberg. In: Festschrift der Marktgemeinde Absberg on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary on July 5th and 6th, 1958. Absberg 1958, p. 12.
  • Robert Schuh: Gunzenhausen. Former district of Gunzenhausen . (Historical book of place names of Bavaria. Middle Franconia, vol. 5). Commission for bayer. Regional history, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-7696-9922-X .
  • René Richter (responsible): 400 years of the Christ Church Absberg 1598-1998. Evang. Parish, Absberg 1998.
  • Brief historical outline of the cath. Parish Absberg and small church leader through the parish church of St. Ottilia. Leaflet. no year (after 1999)
  • Georg Dehio : Handbook of the German art monuments. Bavaria I: Franconia. The administrative districts of Upper Franconia, Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia. Edited by Tilmann Breuer and others. 2nd, revised and supplemented edition. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-422-03051-4 , p. 3.
  • Johann Schrenk, Karl Friedrich Zink: God's houses. Church leader in the district of Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen. wek-Verlag , Treuchtlingen / Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-934145-64-1 , p. 8f.

  • Detail from the small epitaph of the "robber baron" Thomas von Absberg († 1531)

  • Detail from the stone epitaph of Hans Christoph von Absberg

  • Detail from the wooden epitaph of Hans Konrad von und zu Absberg

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schnek, p. 10.
  2. ↑ Short historical Demolition, p. [2]
  3. ↑ a b c Gröber / Mader, p. 12.
  4. ^ W. Huber: Market Absberg. In: Landkreis Gunzenhausen , 1966, p. 180; Schuh, p. 3.
  5. ↑ Schuh, p. 3.
  6. ^ Richter, p. 10.
  7. ↑ a b Short history Demolition, p. [3]
  8. ↑ a b Nierlich, p. 12.
  9. ↑ Gröber / Mader, p. 12; Schnek, p. 10.
  10. ^ Richter, p. 48.
  11. ↑ Schuh, p. 4.
  12. ↑ Schnek, p. 10; Richter, pp. 48, 52.
  13. ^ Richter, pp. 51, 54.
  14. ^ Richter, p. 16.
  15. ↑ Schrenk / Zink, p. 9.
  16. ↑ Gröber / Mader, p. 12; Richter, p. 21.
  17. ↑ Gröber / Mader, p. 13.
  18. ^ Richter, p. 23.
  19. ↑ Gröber / Mader, p. 13f.
  20. ↑ Gröber / Mader, p. 16; Richter, p. 21.
  21. ↑ Gröber / Mader, p. 16.
  22. ^ Richter, p. 28.
  23. ^ Richter, p. 26.
  24. ↑ a b Richter, p. 17.
  25. ^ Richter, p. 27.
  26. ↑ Richter, p. 30f.

Web links

Commons : Christ Church  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 49 ° 8 ′ 38.8 "  N , 10 ° 52 ′ 53.6"  E