Evangelical Church (Ehrstädt)
The Evangelical Church in Ehrstädt , a district of the large district town of Sinsheim in the Rhein-Neckar district in northern Baden-Württemberg , still has Romanesque double windows from the 12th century on the church tower and elements from the 14th century in the nave with the Gothic tracery window in the east on. The nave was renewed in 1793 and renovated in 1894.
history
A first church in Ehrstädt probably existed immediately after the town was founded. The original burial site in Ehrstädt was also around the church. By the high Middle Ages at the latest, the original wooden church was expanded into a well-fortified stone church, which the loopholes in the tower base from that time still testify to today. The church was probably also walled and were located within the Gaden walling , in which the population seeking protection in the event of a defense could store their belongings.
In the first third of the 16th century Ehrstädt was reformed by the lords of Gemmingen , who held the local rule at that time. In the late 16th century Ehrstädt came to the Lords of Degenfeld , who renovated Neuhaus Castle , which was outside the village, and also built their own castle church there in 1602, in which their relatives were buried and which was also cared for by the local clergy.
In the 18th century, the various branches of the Lords of Degenfeld were at times very divided, which also had an impact on the development of the church. For a long time there was a dispute with each other as well as with the community about the building load of the church. There was also disagreement about the right of patronage and the salary of the pastor. The church fell into decline as a result of the long quarrels. In 1784 the Degenfeldschen condominium owners had the dilapidated nave of the church torn down. Due to further disputes and some years of hunger, natural disasters and epidemics, the new building was delayed until 1793. The building site was increased after the old church was too deep and repeatedly susceptible to moisture damage. Because the old tower choir was still used, the triumphal arch to the choir looks very low today due to the raised ground. The old cross vault of the tower was destroyed by the installation of false ceilings. All the grave monuments of the former local lords erected in the old church fell victim to the demolition and reconstruction of the nave. Due to the lack of quarries in the Ehrstadt district, the large stone grave slabs have probably been used as welcome floor slabs for the new nave. Because of the base of the tower, which was very deep in the ground after the leveling, the tower was also raised in 1793.
As early as 1815 there were again complaints about the structural condition of the church, rectory, cemetery and schoolhouse. Although the question of the building load had been decided to the detriment of the manorial rule in the previous disputes, the Barons von Degenfeld tried again by legal action to escape their structural obligations. Again a decision dragged on for years. The Grand Ducal Court in Mannheim finally ruled in 1819 that the landlords had to carry out the necessary repairs immediately. In the course of the replacement of the manorial rights, the construction work came to the parish in the middle of the 19th century.
Bells
There is only fragmentary and contradicting information about the historical bells in Ehrstädt up to the early 20th century. During the First World War, a 142 kg bronze bell was delivered for armament purposes. What remained was a larger bronze bell, cast by Barthels and Mappes in Frankfurt am Main in 1850, which was a cast around a "large bell". This contradicts a report from the Neckarbischofsheim dean's office to the Evangelical Higher Church Council in Karlsruhe from 1917, in which the Ehrstadt bells are described as "iron" and one would therefore refrain from delivering them.
In 1923 the citizens and the daughters of Baron August von Degenfeld and his wife Anna von Degenfeld, Hertha von Gemmingen and Ruth Thumb von Neuburg, each donated a new bronze bell. Both bells were cast at the Bachert bell foundry in Karlsruhe. The larger one has the strike note c '', a diameter of 75 cm and a weight of 235 kg. Her inscription reads ABOVE HOME LIES NEED AND SORRY, LORD LET ME TELL YOU BETTER TIME. CAST IN 1923 BY GEBR. BACHERT KARLSRUHE IB , the names of various donors were also engraved after the casting, including the Mennonites H. Funk and Ch. Glück and the new baptist family Bär vom Eulenhof. The smaller bell has the strike tone `` es '', a diameter of 62.9 cm and a weight of 131 kg. Their inscription gives the names of the founders and their parents, the year of casting and the foundry, as well as the phrases HERR MACH UNS FREI and EX DURIS GLORIA on the donor's coat of arms.
During the Second World War, the oldest bell from 1850 had to be delivered. The Fallen Bell and Our Father's Bell, cast by Bachert in Bad Friedrichshall- Kochendorf in 1956, came as a replacement . It has the strike note b ', a diameter of 86 cm and a weight of 345 kg. Its inscription reads O LAND, LAND, LAND, HEAR THE LORD'S WORD .
Individual evidence
literature
- Adolf von Oechelhäuser and Franz Xaver Kraus [eds.]: The art monuments of the Grand Duchy of Baden (Volume 8.1): The art monuments of the districts of Sinsheim, Eppingen and Wiesloch (Heidelberg district) , Tübingen 1909, p. 11/12. ( Online edition )
- Friedrich Hub : Ehrstädt and Neuhaus Castle. Ehrstädt 1967.
- Norbert Jung: ihesvs maria + ano + m + cccc + xli - A contribution to the history of bells in the city of Sinsheim , Heilbronn 2009, pp. 15–17.
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 14 ′ 38.9 ″ N , 8 ° 58 ′ 50.6 ″ E