Januarius Church (Erdmannhausen)
The Evangelical Januarius Church in Erdmannhausen is of medieval origin and the landmark of the place.
history
The origins of the Januarius Church are in the dark. Its oldest component is the high medieval tower stump, which with its large area and small windows certainly served as a protective retreat for the village population in times of war. A little later than the tower, the choir is likely to have been built in the 13th century, for which structural arrangements were made when the tower was built. There is no information about the medieval nave . The current nave was built from 1493. Its foundation stone , dated 1493, was found in 1994 when the church forecourt was redesigned under the south-west corner of the church.
The church was originally subordinate to the Murrhardt monastery . The patronage of St. Januarius came from this, especially since the Murrhardt Monastery had relics of the saint and the west choir of the Murrhardt Monastery Church was once used to worship Januarius. In addition to the church in Erdmannhausen, the church in Oßweil , another Murrhardt property, received the Januarius patronage. The church in Erdmannhausen came under Württemberg sovereignty in the course of the Reformation and the dissolution of the Murrhardt monastery and was reformed with the churches of the state. The first Reformation pastor at the Januarius Church was Peter Gscheidlin, who sided with the farmers during the Peasants' War in 1525. There are only incomplete records about the pastors in Erdmannhausen before the Reformation, because the archive of the Murrhardt monastery burned in the peasants' war.
The church seems to have survived the Thirty Years' War without major damage. It appears for the first time in the local archives in 1661, when it is succinctly attested: "The church is good" . However, the parsonage was completely burned down and the pastorate was vacant from 1644 to 1665.
After the condition of the church was also not criticized in 1677, the dilapidation of the roof structure is noted in 1684. In 1690 the roof structure was renewed. In 1702 the roof was re-covered and there was criticism that the tower was also damaged. In 1706 the church was renovated. Most of the time no defects were reported in the church until 1745. At that time Johann Kaspar Bockshammer was pastor in Erdmannhausen. He had previously been superintendent and court preacher to Count von Spoeck in Mömpelgard .
In 1751 there were complaints that the church had become too small for the number of parishioners, whereupon it was decided to enlarge the gallery. In 1754 the sacristy was built. From 1758 to 1773 the roof of the church was in danger of collapsing and the church clock and tower were also damaged at that time. In 1788 the lead-framed windows were changed so that more light penetrated into the interior of the church. In 1790 it was planned to increase the number of pews, but this had not happened until 1797. The dilapidated church tower was also initially unrepaired because the high taxes of the Napoleonic wars did not allow the financing of construction work. It was not until 1801 that the tower was finally repaired as an urgent danger defense and received its current Welsh hood instead of the previous pyramid roof. In 1802 and 1810 broken windows were replaced. The Reformation Festival in 1817 brought about a thorough cleaning of the church. However, some repairs planned in this context could not be carried out for cost reasons.
Among the pastors of the 19th century, Friedrich Karl Ludwig Reichenbach stands out, who held the office from 1808 to 1839. He was a brother of the painter Ludovike Simanowiz . Another sister was Johanna Franziska Reichenbach, who ran the household for her brother in Erdmannhausen and was made the first honorary citizen of the place.
In 1831 a cracked bell had to be cast over. In 1882, damage to the roof of the church tower was reported again. In 1909 a new church clock was purchased.
In the First World War three bells had to be delivered. In 1920, the Bachert bell foundry in Kochendorf ( Bad Friedrichshall ) supplied a replacement .
In 1924 the church was extensively renovated. The organ was moved from the choir to the gallery. Sculptor Dietl from Sinsheim delivered a new pulpit, figurative jewelry was created by sculptor Wolff from Marbach am Neckar . New colorful choir windows came from the glass painters Jahn and Gaiser from Stuttgart . In addition, new stalls with 450 seats were set up.
The church once again lost its peal when the bells were delivered again during the Second World War . Three new bells with weights between 278 and 658 kg were procured in 1950, and in 1965 the 1166 kg prayer bell was added as a fourth bell .
Another renovation of the church took place in 1963. The church received a new organ from Walcker in Ludwigsburg . The new instrument, however, was so big that it could no longer be placed on the gallery, but instead found its place in the choir of the church.
The last extensive renovation of the church took place in 1993/94, whereby one limited itself to conservation measures and a redesign of the outdoor facilities.
description
architecture
The Januarius Church is a single-nave church with a retracted, east-facing Gothic choir with ribbed vault, to which the massive church tower with a Welsh dome is attached to the south, the basement of which serves as a sacristy .
The nave is spanned by a wooden coffered ceiling. To the left of the choir arch and on the west gable, a double-sided gallery has been inserted. To the right of the choir arch is a Gothic canopy , which is spanned by a net vault, the keystone of which is painted in color and shows the Evangelist John with a chalice. In the pre-Reformation period, the canopy once covered a side altar and is now used as a baptistery. To the left of the choir arch there was once a second such canopy, which had to give way to the gallery extension. Its keystone, which shows the crowned Mara with the baby Jesus, was preserved in the church and was set into the wall of the northern gallery.
A corner stone of the outer wall functions as a stone chronicle . Various outstanding events from history that preoccupied people are carved into it. It is reported that 1517 was a year of hail, that the Peasants' War occurred in 1525, that there was a cold winter in 1608, that 1570 and 1626 were years of plague and that in 1634 the battle of Nördlingen raged. In addition, the year 1564 is on the stone without any associated event. The south side of the stone has recently been supplemented with the dates of the two world wars.
Furnishing
The font in the baptistery is dated 1494 and was created immediately after the new nave was built. The abbot's staff and the letter M indicate that it belonged to the Murrhardt monastery at that time , the coat of arms of Württemberg and the Uracher Horn as a sign of the Counts of Württemberg-Mömpelgard denote the secular rule.
The pulpit of the church was created in 1924 by the sculptor Dietl from Sinsheim and the sculptor Wolff from Marbach. It shows the four evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the parapet.
The organ in the choir was built in 1963 by Walcker in Ludwigsburg. Architect Walter Zoller designed the organ prospect in the style of a winged altar.
The church treasures include a silver communion chalice , which the sisters Johanna Reichenbach and Ludovike Simanowiz, née. Reichenbach donated in 1827. The church also has a tin made host box from 1719.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jasch 1996, p. 14.
literature
- Willi Müller: Erdmannhausen. Topography, history and folk life. Erdmannhausen 1975, pp. 76-89.
- Susanne Jasch (Ed.): I love the house in which you live. The Januarius Church in Erdmannhausen. Erdmannhausen 1996
Web links
- Website of the Evangelical Church Community Erdmannhausen with information on the Januarius Church , accessed on September 28, 2015
Coordinates: 48 ° 56 '32.7 " N , 9 ° 17' 44.3" E