Patronage Lodge

A patronage lodge - different from region to region, also patronage chair , prince's chair or count's chair - is a box in churches, usually closed with windows , which the noble landlord used for his visits to the church.

The patronage boxes were often accessible via their own entrance so that the landlord or castle owner did not have to enter the church with the common people or their servants. The boxes represent the patronage's estate. They are often placed so high that they are higher than the pulpit of the respective church. They are mostly glazed, which is also related to their heatability - compared to the otherwise mostly unheated churches. In terms of artistic design, too, they usually do not take a back seat to the design of the altar and pulpit.