Evangelical Church (Abtswind)

The church in Abtswind

The Evangelical Church in the Lower Franconian Abtswind is the center of the Evangelical Lutheran congregation. The parish church is part of the Castell dean's office .

history

The history of a Christian community in Abtswind began as early as the 7th century AD. At this point in time, so the legends report, the Franconian apostle Kilian is said to have preached and baptized in a nearby original settlement. At the place where this is said to have happened, a small chapel was built, which was dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel . Soon after, the Kleinabtswind settlement was built around the small church.

Großabtswind, the neighboring settlement did not appear in the sources until 819. At this point in time the Münsterschwarzach monastery had fief rights in the place, the Counts of Castell owned the bailiwick . There, too, a small church was built for the faithful. The monks of the nearby monastery soon forced the elevation to the parish there , which they succeeded in before 1364. The location of the original church is disputed.

The St. Michael chapel in the neighboring village was parish in 1364 from the parish of Rüdenhausen and added to the neighboring community Großabtswind. The thus enlarged parish soon began to erect a new, more representative church building. In the first half of the 15th century, the predecessor of today's church was built in the Gothic style . At that time the building was consecrated to the Virgin Mary.

Section of the helmet of the parish church

In the 16th century the community was exposed to some changes. Initially, in 1525, the community itself took over the church patronage, as the Fuchs von Dornheim , the village lords at that time, withdrew from this responsibility. In the middle of the century, in 1546, the Reformation began to take hold in the village. Under the influence of the Counts of Castell, who had borrowed the rulership of the village from the Fuchs, Abtswind, now a village, finally became Protestant in 1559.

In the late Middle Ages, several witches were burned in Abtswind. In 1617 a total of 29 people, mostly women, fell victim to the witch trials . The Thirty Years War did not spare Abtswind either. In the course of the many marches of foreign armies, the population was decimated and the church fell into disrepair. The village also had to hand over church patronage to the Counts of Castell, who held it until 1969.

After the war, the reconstruction of the church was pushed. Only the old choir remained, while the nave and tower were rebuilt towards the end of the 17th century. The population increased in the 18th century when the community took in several persecuted Evangelicals from the Salzburg region . Later, a new Pietist worked there with master tailor Wolfgang Mümpfer, who founded the local church community .

The wars of the 20th century largely spared the church. In the second half of the century, backups had to be made on the existing building. In 1974, a comprehensive exterior renovation was therefore carried out. It was followed by a major interior renovation in 1987/1988. The Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation classifies the church as an architectural monument today. Underground remains of previous buildings are registered as ground monuments. The church is also an important part of the Hauptstrasse ensemble.

architecture

The church is a late Gothic hall church with a retracted choir . It is geosted with a tower to the north. The building is a very compact facility. It is illuminated through several rectangular windows with drilled frames. Two portals, also with drilled rectangular frames, lead into the interior of the church. On the south side there is a stone staircase for the stairs to the galleries.

Inside the church has a flat ceiling . Only the choir has a rib cross vault. The tower is 47 meters high and has five floors. The lower floors are only provided with loopholes, the fourth floor has pointed arched windows with acoustic arcades . On the top floor, which is also recognizable from the outside through a cornice, there are arched windows. A Welsh hood with a double lantern closes the tower at the top.

Furnishing

Winged altar

The open winged altar

The most important feature of the church is the Gothic winged altar. It is described as an important work of art in the surrounding area and came into the church around 1500 along with two other similar altars. The builder is controversial. While some scholars ascribe the altar to the so-called Marthameister from Nuremberg , others assume a Bamberg master. The panel paintings on the outside are assigned to the Michael Wolgemut school .

In the center shrine, a high relief depicts the painful seated Mother of God with the deceased Jesus on her lap. This picture is believed to be of higher artistic value than the two wing pictures. Both side wings are unequal in size, on the right, Saint Barbara with her attributes crown and chalice can be seen on a bas-relief , while Dorothea and Katharina are depicted on the left. Thistle ornament was attached above.

When closed, the panel paintings from the life of the Virgin are visible. The Annunciation , the Visitation of Mary , the Adoration of the Child by the Wise Men and the Appearance of the Risen One are painted in bright colors . The original colors have been used since the last renovation. The altar is incomplete, the cracks and predella are not preserved.

Further equipment

The organ with the prospect from 1705 is located above the winged altar in the choir. Behind the altar is an epitaph in the choir with an almost life-size representation of a woman. The simple stone pulpit hangs on the right choir arch , the body of which bears the year 1573 in Roman numerals. In addition, a chalice and a snake indicate the legend of Benedictus.

In front of the left choir arch is the simple baptismal font . Around 1705, two-story wooden galleries were added on three sides of the nave. A choir gallery spans two sides of the choir. The sacrament niche in the choir has been reopened since the last renovation .

literature

• Hans Bauer: District of Kitzingen. An art and culture guide . Market wide 1993.
• Georg Dehio : Handbook of the German art monuments. Bavaria I: Franconia . Munich and Berlin 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

Commons : Evangelical Church (Abtswind)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rudolf Kniewasser (ed.): Castell. County and Deanery . P. 35.
2. ^ Karl Treutwein: From Abtswind to Zeilitzheim . P. 8.
3. ^ Georg Dehio : Handbook of German Art Monuments . P. 4.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Karl Treutwein: From Abtswind to Zeilitzheim . P. 7.
5. ↑ See Rudolf Kniewasser (ed.): Castell. County and Deanery . P. 37.
6. ^ Hans Bauer: District of Kitzingen . P. 79.

Coordinates: 49 ° 46 ′ 15.8 "  N , 10 ° 22 ′ 22.8"  E