Church of the Redeemer (Gerolzhofen)
The Erlöserkirche ( ) in Gerolzhofen in Lower Franconia is the focus of the young Protestant community. It is located on the edge of the old town on the state road St2272. Today she is part of the Deanery of Castell .
history
The history of a Protestant community in Gerolzhofen begins as early as the 16th century. At this time, more precisely in 1538, Jakob Pfeffer preached the new doctrine in the village. He came from the nearby Volkach and was sent to Gerolzhofen by the reformer Argula von Grumbach . Here he became a pastor and held this office for a total of thirteen years. The place of his sermons was the Gothic Johanneskapelle right next to the parish church.
From 1573 onwards, the Counter Reformation also began to take place in the Würzburg monastery . Bishop Friedrich von Wirsberg sent a delegation to the official city. She was supposed to lead the Reformed in the city back to the “true” faith, but her efforts had hardly any measurable success. Under Wirsberg's successor Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn , the evangelicals were expelled from the city in 1586. They emigrated to nearby Prichsenstadt, among other places.
After the end of the Protestant community in the 16th century, it took several centuries until Protestants lived in Gerolzhofen again. At the turn of the 20th century, the church in Bimbach took care of around 80 evangelicals . In 1898 the association for the acquisition of a prayer room was founded, initially they were given a small room in the old town hall. The young community soon acquired a plot of land on the edge of the old town.
The evangelicals gathered grain in neighboring villages in order to sell it. After the First World War they received a loan from the Fürstlich-Castellschen Bank. At the same time, emigrants even raised money for the community in Chicago . On August 6, 1922, the foundation stone for the small church could be laid. Just one year later, in 1923, the church was completed and consecrated. In the meantime the community had grown to over 130 people.
Before the Second World War , the community moved from Bimbach to Krautheim in 1934 . On March 1, 1955, the evangelical parish of Gerolzhofen was converted into an exposed vicariate. The reason for this was the influx of refugees from the eastern areas. After 1945 the community had grown to over 1000 people. It was not until 1962 that the community received its own pastor and was finally parished out from Krautheim.
The year before, in 1961, the parish hall was added to the church. In 1982 the municipality stabilized the tower by adding a steel base. Extensive interior renovation began in 1984. The Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation classifies the church on the edge of the old town as a monument with the number D-6-78-134-35. The Church of the Redeemer is now part of the Evangelical Lutheran Dean's Office in Castell .
The community hall from the 1960s was replaced by a new building from 2010 to 2012.
architecture
The church presents itself as a hall church with a polygon choir. It is geosted and ends at the top with a gable roof. A simple roof turret was added on the west side . It is eight-sided, slated and contains the belfry of the building. The outer skin of the nave was decorated with rubble stones. Several arched windows ensure that the building is illuminated.
In connection with the extension of the parish hall from 2010 to 2012, the north wall of the nave was broken open so that the church and parish hall merge. The interior of the church was completely redesigned and also reoriented. The altar is now no longer in the choir, but in front of the south wall of the nave.
Furnishing
The oldest element of equipment in the church is the tombstone of the first Protestant pastor in Gerolzhofen. The clergyman can be recognized with the raised hand of the oath over the cup of communion. The inscription reads: "CHRI MDLXVIIII IIII D AUG COMPL AN AETATIS XXXXVI COB PFEFFER E STAT VOLKACH PASTOR ECCLAE GEROLTZO AD ANN XIII" (lat. [In the year] of Christ 1569 on the 4th day of August fulfilled the years of his age [were] 46 [Yes] cob pepper from the town of Volkach, pastor of the Gerolzhofen church for 13 years).
In 1988 the parish bought an organ . It was built by the Bautzen organ building company Eule and is equipped with 13 stops , two manuals and a pedal . In 1972, a three-part bell was purchased to replace the little bell in the roof turret. When the church was consecrated in 1923, a large crucifix was placed in the church. It came from a workshop in Oberammergau in Upper Bavaria .
The modern artistic and liturgical equipment from 2012 comes from Christian Hörl from Ruderatshofen.
literature
- Rüdiger Klein: Evangelical Lutheran Community Center Gerolzhofen . Baukultur Guide No. 69. Büro Wilhelm Verlag. Amberg 2013.
- Catholic parish office Gerolzhofen / Evang. Pfarramt Gerolzhofen (Ed.): The churches of the city of Gerolzhofen . Church leaders. Kunstschätze Verlag. Gerchsheim 1999.
- Rudolf Kniewasser (Ed.): Castell-Grafschaft and Dean's Office . Erlangen 1991.
- Karl Treutwein: From Abtswind to Zeilitzheim. History, sights, traditions . Volkach 1987.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Kniewasser, Rudolf (Ed.): Castell. County and Deanery . P. 72.
- ^ Kniewasser, Rudolf (Ed.): Castell. County and Deanery . P. 65.
- ^ Treutwein, Karl: From Abtswind to Zeilitzheim . P. 97.
Evangelical Church (Abtswind) | St. Marien (Altenschönbach) | Evangelical Church (Bimbach) | Evangelical Church (Brno) | St. John (Castell) | St. Stephanus (Eichfeld) | Evangelical Church (Feuerbach) | St. Laurentius (Feeding Lake) | Church of the Redeemer (Gerolzhofen) | Evangelical Church (Greuth) | To the Good Shepherd (Hague) | Evangelical Church (Krautheim) | Evangelical Church (Prichsenstadt) | Evangelical Church (Rehweiler) | St. Peter and Paul (Rüdenhausen) | St. Michael (Volkach) | To the Holy Cross (Wiesenbronn) | Gnadenkirche (Wiesentheid) | St. Sigismund (Zeilitzheim)
Coordinates: 49 ° 54 ′ 11 " N , 10 ° 20 ′ 40.6" E