French Church (Schwabach)
The Franzosenkirche is the parish church of the Protestant Reformed community in Schwabach in Middle Franconia ( Bavaria ). It stands in the western old town of Schwabach , called Boxlohe.
architecture
Although it was built in the Baroque period, the simple building with a bell tower has no ornamentation whatsoever. The only external decoration is the coat of arms of the Margrave of Christian Albrecht von Brandenburg-Ansbach above the entrance door .
The church was built in 1686/1687, consecrated in 1687 and is the first completed church that was built by Huguenots in what is now Germany . See also Huguenot Church . The tower with the baroque dome and the bell were added in 1774, the first organ not until 1801.
inner space
As is common in Reformed churches, there is no altar as in Lutheran or Catholic churches. At the front there is a large table with a Bible on it. The pulpit at the front is flanked on the left and right by two tapestries from Michel Claraveux's manufacture, which contain quotations from the Bible in French , embroidered in gold on a black background . A flag donated to the community by Margrave Carl Wilhelm Friedrich in 1729 is one of the church's few pieces of jewelery.
History of origin
After the Calvinist Huguenots were expelled from France, many of them found acceptance in the Protestant areas of Germany. The margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach also took in the religious refugees . This was done with economic ulterior motives, because the newcomers brought with them new manual skills (braid maker, glove maker) that were previously unknown there. The first refugees arrived in Ansbach and the surrounding area in 1685. In 1686 Schwabach was designated as the place of residence for all Huguenots in the Principality of Ansbach. The newcomers were allowed to build a church. The foundation stone was laid on September 24, 1686. The consecration took place on November 13, 1687. The government in Ansbach provided stones from the demolition of Kammerstein Castle for the construction . French instruction was given until 1813, and services were held in French until 1857. Towards the end of the 17th century, around 500 of the 3800 inhabitants of Schwabach were of French descent.
Web links
- The official homepage of the evangelical reformed community Schwabach
- The parish on reformiert-bayern.de
- The organ of the French Church in the free organ database Organ index
literature
- Schwabach, On the history of the city from 1648 to the present, series of publications by the History and Homeland Association, 1986
Coordinates: 49 ° 19 '46.32 " N , 11 ° 1' 1.09" E