Weinsberg church district
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Regional Church : | Evangelical Church in Württemberg |
| Prelature : | Heilbronn |
| Area : | km² |
| Structure: | 23 parishes |
| Parishioners: | approx. 31,900 (2005) |
| Address of the Dean's Office : |
Kirchstaffel 6 74189 Weinsberg |
| Dean : | Georg Ottmar |
| map | |
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The previous Evangelical Church District Weinsberg has been merged with the previous Church District Neuenstadt am Kocher to form the new Evangelical Church District Weinsberg-Neuenstadt since January 1, 2020 , and within it one of 44 church districts or church districts of the Evangelical Church in Württemberg . Its area is congruent with the deanery Weinsberg.
geography
The church district Weinsberg is located in the north of the Württemberg regional church. Its area includes the so-called "Weinsberger Tal", through which the Sulm flows, i.e. the east of the Heilbronn district with the political cities and communities of Eberstadt , Ellhofen , Lehrensteinsfeld , Löwenstein , Obersulm , Untergruppenbach (Unterheinriet only), Weinsberg and Wüstenrot and the municipality of Bretzfeld in the west of the Hohenlohe district .
Neighboring church districts
The church district of Weinsberg borders the following church districts (starting clockwise in the west): Heilbronn , Neuenstadt am Kocher , Öhringen , Schwäbisch Hall and Backnang (all Heilbronn Prelature) and Marbach ( Stuttgart Prelature ).
history
The dean's office (then called Spezialsuperintendentur) was established in Württemberg shortly after the Reformation. It changed its borders several times or did not exist between 1586 and 1714. At that time the area around Weinsberg belonged to the Möckmühl dean's office and from 1612 to Neuenstadt. In 1714, however, a separate deanery was founded again in Weinsberg. At the beginning of the 19th century, its area was identical to the old Württemberg Oberamt Weinsberg . Even when this was dissolved, the church district remained. The Deanery Weinsberg has belonged to the Heilbronn Generalate since 1823, from which today's Heilbronn Prelature emerged.
As a result of the dissolution of some districts or higher offices in Württemberg in 1939, the church administrative districts were also partially restructured. With effect from April 1, 1939, the Mainhardt parish was reclassified to the Schwäbisch Hall church district.
Head of the church district
The church district is managed by the district synod , the church district committee (KBA) and the dean . The dean is also one of the pastors at the Johanneskirche in Weinsberg. The current dean Georg Ottmar was elected on June 5, 2008 and took office on September 1, 2008.
Deans of the church district Weinsberg
not yet complete
- ? Johann Dieterich (?)
- 155? –1572 Wilhelm Binß (?)
- 1573–1586 David Bab (?)
- 1586-1710 there was no church district Weinsberg
- 1710–1714 Johann David Hermann (1667–1714)
- 1714–1727 Joseph Malblanc (1654–1727)
- 1727–1742 Friedrich Wilhelm Schmid (? –1742)
- 1742–1752 Philipp Gottfried Faber (?)
- 1752–1759 Friedrich Christoph Oetinger (1702–1782)
- 1759–1761 Friedrich Christoph Steinhofer (1706–1761)
- 1761–1770 Sixt Jacob Kapff (1714–1770)
- 1770–1795 Johann Albrecht Klüpffel (1727–1795)
- 1795–1799 Philipp Christoph Gratianus (1742–1799)
- 1799–1812 Franz Christian Neuffer (1755–1835)
- 1812–1836 Friedrich August von Heyd (1749–1840)
- 1836–1857 Ferdinand Ludwig Immanuel Dillenius (1791–1871)
- 1857–1864 Carl Gottlieb Fr. Hegelmaier (1804–?)
- 1864–1872 Hermann Bauer
- 1872–1881 Otto Schmoller (1826–1894)
- 1881–1896 Johann Wilhelm Philipp Ammon (1829–1897)
- 1897–1913 D. Johann August Friedrich Baur
- 1914–1920 Johann Georg Horn (1858–1936)
- 1921–1926 Theophil Laissle
- 1927–1939 Hermann Konrad Zeller (1883–1953)
- 1939–1952 Erich Weismann (1885–1970)
- 1953–1959 Otto Mörike (1897–1978)
- 1959–1968 Christoph Duncker (1914–1998)
- 1968–1983 Paul Veith (1918–2007)
- 1984–1997 Christoph Planck (* 1932)
- 1998–2008 Otto K. Friedrich (* 1952)
- Since 2008 Georg Ottmar (* 1957)
Parishes
There are a total of 23 parishes in the Weinsberg church district. Four of these parishes have merged to form a total of two total parishes, but remain independent corporations under public law.
The area of the church district Weinsberg belonged mainly to Württemberg, through which the Reformation was introduced from 1534. Therefore, the area is predominantly evangelical. There is therefore a Protestant parish and mostly an old church in almost every village. Most Catholics did not move to all places until after the Second World War and some of them built their own parishes and churches there.
Verbundkirchengemeinde Obersulm See
The composite parish Obersulm See was formed on December 1, 2019 by the parishes Affaltrach , Eschenau and Weiler-Eichelberg .
Affaltrach parish
The Affaltrach parish includes the Affaltrach part of the Obersulm community . The center of the parish is the Johanneskirche Affaltrach , which probably dates from the 15th century. Due to the ownership history of the place with shares owned by Catholic ( Order of St. John or Order of Malta ) and Protestant rulers, there has been a Catholic and a Protestant parish in Affaltrach for centuries. Around 1755 a new choir was built and the tower was extended. The church was given its present form through a neo-baroque redesign in 1903. From 1706 until the construction of the Catholic church in 1898/99, the church building served as a simultaneous church . An equal and considerate relationship between the denominations did not develop until 1806 when the clerical rulers, including the orders, lost their sovereign rights. Affaltrach came to Württemberg as a whole. Since 1889, the Catholic community planned to build its own church. After the completion of the Catholic Church of St. Johann Baptist in 1899, the Protestant parish became the sole owner of the old parish church, which they then expanded and renovated with a transept with architect Theophil Frey until 1902. In 1991/92 the church was renovated outside and in 1996/97 inside. The choir window with the motif Jesus blesses the children was designed by the Stuttgart artist Theodor Bauerle , and it was executed and installed in 1902 by the Stuttgart glass painting workshop Waldhausen & Ellenbeck . In 1997 the painting Christ as World Ruler from 1812 was donated by the Viennese artist Heinrich Friedrich Füger from Heilbronn .
From time immemorial, the Protestant residents from the Eichelberg district belonged to the Affaltrach parish. By the announcement of the upper church council on August 28, 1984 these were assigned to the parish of Weiler. Both parishes (Affaltrach and Weiler) formed the overall parish of Affaltrach until 1989. However, by an announcement by the Upper Church Council on March 20, 1989, the entire parish of Affaltrach was abolished.
Eschenau parish
The Eschenau parish includes the eponymous district of Obersulm . Until 1573 Eschenau was a subsidiary of Affaltrach. The Wendelinskirche has a medieval base of the octagonal tower structure, the baroque nave was given its present shape in the 18th century by the master builder Johann Michael Krauss from Windsheim, probably based on plans by Philippe de la Guêpière , but has been restored by the architect Hannes Mayer in 1959 designed more simply. In 1790 the local rule of the Barons von Killinger had a crypt installed under the base of the tower , which was only used for burials for a few decades in the second half of the 18th century and then closed, but has recently been made accessible again. In 2006/08 the west gable of the church received a renovation. Three colored standing figures made of limewood come from the late 15th century. On the right of the choir arch wall are the tombstones of the Gemmingen-Fürfeld couple († 1597 and 1601). The wooden baptismal font from 1706 and a stylistically matching large candlestick are reminiscent of the earlier baroque furnishings of the church with their colors and ornamentation . The organ was built by Karl Schäfer in 1879 .
Parish of Weiler-Eichelberg
The parish of Weiler-Eichelberg comprises the districts of Weiler and Eichelberg of the municipality of Obersulm . The village of Weiler, which belonged to Sülzbach until 1480, has an old church "Our Lady of Hamlet". It is a choir tower from 1399 and was expanded in 1758. The ship had to be rebuilt in 1931 because of damp subsoil and masonry. The architect was probably Emil Weippert from Stuttgart. A sacristy was also added to the east and a small stained glass tower choir window decorated with Christian symbols: Alpha and Omega, the Christ initials Chi and Rho and the Eye of God. The church contains two bells from the 15th century and funerary monuments of the Lords of Weiler. In the cemetery chapel, a former pilgrimage chapel, is the crypt of the Lords of Weiler.
Through the announcement of the Oberkirchenrat on August 28, 1984, the Protestant residents of the Eichelberg district of the Affaltrach parish, to which they had belonged since ancient times, were assigned to the Weiler parish. Both parishes (Affaltrach and Weiler) formed the overall parish of Affaltrach until 1989. However, by an announcement by the Upper Church Council on March 20, 1989, the entire parish of Affaltrach was abolished.
Bitzfeld parish
The parish of Bitzfeld includes the district of the same name in the municipality of Bretzfeld and the Verrenberg district of the city of Öhringen . The Protestant parish church of St. Laurentius was mentioned when the place was first mentioned in 1255. The late Romanesque basement of the tower dates back to the Middle Ages and today contains the sacristy, while the east-facing Gothic choir with cross-ribbed vaults in the 15th century and the nave, extended in the Renaissance style, as a transverse church with the pulpit on the southern long side and corresponding orientation of the Stalls and the tower structure were built in 1624 by Friedrich Vischlin , the ducal church builder from Stuttgart. The baptismal font dates from 1727. Land architect Johann Adam Groß the Elder raised the nave in 1747 so that circulating galleries, some of them two-story, could be built. The gallery with the "official or gentleman's chair" was accessed from the south side with an external staircase that has since been removed. The organ gallery was built above the choir arch. In 1750, Johannes Stiegler from Prague painted the interior of the church in the style of rural baroque: the pulpit, the gallery parapets with themed images from the Old and New Testaments, the covings and the ceiling painting in the style of French bandwork. This design was whitewashed in 1860 and exposed again in 1956 during the total renovation and restoration under the architect Heinz Klatte. During the renovation in 1956, the late Renaissance pulpit from 1624 was moved from the center of the south wall to its current location (directly south of the east gallery), with the base of the pulpit and staircase removed. Architect Hans-Joachim Wiegand carried out the last renovation in 1992. - Until 1993, the parish of Bitzfeld and the parish of Bretzfeld formed the entire parish of Bitzfeld. With effect from July 1, 1993, the Bretzfeld parish was separated from the Bitzfeld parish and has since formed the Bretzfeld-Rappach parish with the Rappach parish. The entire parish of Bitzfeld was dissolved at the same time.
Bretzfeld-Rappach parish as a whole
The entire parish of Bretzfeld -Rappach comprises the core town and the Rappach district of the Bretzfeld community . It was formed on July 1, 1993 from the two independent parishes Bretzfeld and Rappach. Both parishes have a common rectory in Bretzfeld. Until 1993, Rappach belonged to the overall parish of Waldbach (today Waldbach-Dimbach) and Bretzfeld was part of the overall parish of Bitzfeld.
Bretzfeld parish
Bretzfeld originally belonged to Bitzfeld. The Johanneskirche Bretzfeld goes back to a Gothic building, first mentioned in 1357 , which was rebuilt in 1723 while retaining the older tower base. The choir of the single-nave church, spanned by a cross vault, is located on the ground floor of the east tower. In the 1960s, frescoes from the middle of the 13th century were uncovered. A two-seater church chair from 1588 and apostle painting on the gallery parapet have been preserved. The passion window in the choir was created in 1960 by the Stuttgart glass painter Adolf Valentin Saile . The parish in Bretzfeld also looks after the neighboring parish of Rappach. Until 1993, the Bretzfeld parish was part of the Bitzfeld parish as a whole, which was dissolved with effect from July 1, 1993.
Parish of Rappach
The Protestant church in Rappach forms the historic center of the village on a mountain spur. The church, which can be seen from far and wide, dates back to the Staufer period : at the outer corners of the nave a head with eagle wings, a lion and two grimaces as eaves consoles, the tower base made of humpback blocks typical of the time, and inside a wide, square tower choir with a Romanesque window. Shortly before 1500, the fortified church in the walled cemetery was consecrated to Our Lady, St. James and St. John (in 1499 Rappach belonged to the parish of Waldbach, with which it was reformed in 1534 by the sovereign Württemberg). In the 17th century the building was supplemented by a sacristy, the choir arch, the choir gallery and the west portal, and the tower was raised by a half-timbered floor and provided with a pyramid roof. In the choir there is a wall tabernacle with a Gothic lock; the Altarmensa is still medieval. The interior renovation from 1966/67 uncovered well-preserved frescoes (Passion and Easter story in 16 fields) from the 14th century and a later depiction of Christ. The colored glazing of a small window with a Pentecostal motif dates from the 1960s. The flat ceilings in the choir and nave are also modern. The church was probably always a branch church of Kilian's Church in Waldbach , but today it belongs to the Protestant parish of Bretzfeld-Rappach.
Eberstadt parish
The parish Eberstadt includes the eponymous community Eberstadt with the district of Holz . A church of St. Ulrich (wrongly called Lukaskirche until 1964 ) was first mentioned in 1247. Today's Ulrichskirche is a high Gothic choir tower church with ribbed vaults in the choir. The ship was extended in 1586 and renovated in 1892 and by architect Heinz Klatte in 1964/65. As early as 1953, after war damage by architect Hannes Mayer, the dilapidated sacristy was rebuilt in a smaller form, the choir renovated and its three windows provided with colored glazing.
In the district of Holz there is the Johanneskirche, of which only the choir tower has been preserved. The choir was demolished from the Romanesque church in the 19th century. Relics of St. John, the Apostle Bartholomew and St. Stephen as well as the year 1208 were found in the altar. Instead of the demolished church, a schoolhouse was added in 1842, which was replaced in 1978/79 by a municipal multi-purpose house for events (including church services). Until 1931, Holz was an independent branch parish which, together with the mother parish of Eberstadt, formed the entire parish of Eberstadt. By the announcement of the upper church council on April 22, 1930, the branch church community of Holz was dissolved and merged with the mother community of Eberstadt. With this, the entire parish of Eberstadt also went out.
Ulrichskirche Eberstadt
Former Johanneskirche Eberstadt-Holz
Evang. Parish church Ellhofen
Evang. Wendelin Church Obersulm-Eschenau
Evang. Leonhardskirche Weinsberg-Gellmersbach
Evang. Christ Church in Lehrensteinsfeld
Evang. City Church Löwenstein
Lichtenstern monastery church
Parish of Ellhofen
The parish Ellhofen includes the eponymous municipality Ellhofen . A chapel was first mentioned in 1303. It later became a pilgrimage chapel that belonged to the parish of Sülzbach. In 1592 a branch parish was established, which was later looked after from Weinsberg. Ellhofen, however, formed its own branch parish, which was detached from the mother parish of Weinsberg and raised to an independent parish through the announcement of the upper church council on October 13, 1955. The Church of the Holy Cross, Saint Peter and Genovefa was mentioned as early as the 14th century. The core of today's building is a Romanesque choir tower church, the construction of which - presumably on the site of an earlier chapel - should have begun no later than 1380 according to the frescoes preserved in the tower choir. According to a building inscription, the choir tower was completed in its current form in 1498. The late Gothic carved altar still preserved today, the Ellhofen Altar , was probably brought into the church in connection with this expansion. In 1837 the church was extended to the south by adding a transept with removal of the south wall and the interior was designed as a transverse church . In 1960 wall paintings were uncovered in the cross-vaulted choir of the east tower. Between 1971 and 1977, the Stuttgart building historian and architect Walther-Gerd Fleck (1926-2014) thoroughly recorded the building history and, in conjunction with a structural widening of the nave (new building of the nave widened to the north and south to a transverse rectangular church space with a reinterpretation of the Transverse church concept) and renovated according to the principles of the Wiesbaden program . The church houses the important carved altar from the 16th century, which is attributed to the environment of Hans Seyfer and shows the adoration of the kings as fully plastic carved figures in the center . The baptismal font from 1677 and the pulpit , which is stylistically reminiscent of the Baroque, date from the same time. After that, up to the second half of the 18th century, the 18 paintings on the former gallery parapet were created, which have been placed on the west wall since 1977 after the old galleries were removed. The exposed concrete wall outside north of the west entrance has had a bronze sculpture by the sculptor Ingrid Seddig since 1982 . It thematizes the words of Jesus “Come to me, everyone who is troublesome and burdensome; I want to refresh you ”( Mt 11:18 LUT ).
Gellmersbach parish
The parish of Gellmersbach includes the Weinsberg district of the same name, Gellmersbach . Until 1843 Gellmersbach was a branch of Eberstadt, then the place received its own pastor. However, a church has existed since the late Gothic period. The Gellmersbacher Leonhardskirche , formerly consecrated to St. Leonhard, was built in 1544 after the introduction of the Reformation in Gellmersbach (1535). The late Gothic reticulated vault in the choir is the oldest component today. The tower dates from 1667 and was raised in 1749. At that time, the nave was also enlarged and the outer wall was raised to accommodate a north gallery. The most striking characteristic of the Leonhardskirche is the chain around it, which makes it one of the chain churches to be found in southern Germany and Austria and with this attribute refers to the traditional prisoner care of the church patron Leonhard . He is depicted in a (not datable) wooden wayside shrine on a pedestal on the choir arch wall as a monk, in front of whom a freed prisoner kneels. Much can be assumed about the origin and age of a glass picture in the pulpit window with the Adoration of the Three Kings in Bethlehem , a so-called cabinet window. It has an exact duplicate in the Johanneskirche Weinsberg .
Parish of Lehrensteinsfeld
The parish Lehrensteinsfeld includes the eponymous municipality Lehrensteinsfeld . The place formerly belonging to Sülzbach received its own parish church of St. Laurentius in 1466, the (defense) tower of which is still preserved, but the ship was abandoned at the beginning of the 20th century due to its condition and has been demolished since 1969. Today's Christ Church was built in 1903 in a neo-Romanesque style based on plans by Heinrich Dolmetsch . A baroque crucifix and a baptismal font from 1759 were taken over from the old Laurentiuskirche, which was later demolished and which is reminiscent of the still-preserved fortified tower and whose ship was abandoned at the beginning of the 20th century due to its condition and demolished in 1969. The patronage rule of the Dietzsch family of Schloss Lehrensteinsfeld, which existed back then and until 1963, is expressed both in the patronage box opposite the pulpit and in some foundations (choir window, baptismal bell, main entrance door) for the new building. The beautiful church window in the choir, which shows the biblical scenes of the blessing of children, the wedding at Cana and the raising of Lazarus as well as Christ on top as the ruler of the world, was designed by the Stuttgart church painter Theodor Bauerle (1865-1914) and by the Munich court glass painting Gustav van Treeck running. Theodor Bauerle also provided the walls and ceilings in the nave and in the choir with stenciled "symbolic painting" typical of the time and with the medallions (Johannes, Paulus, Petrus) still preserved on the choir arch. The organ from 1903 was replaced in 1982 by master organ builder Tzschöckel.
Parish of Löwenstein
The parish of Löwenstein includes the city of the same name Löwenstein with its associated districts. A church in Löwenstein is mentioned as early as 1345 as a branch of Sülzbach. At that time it was elevated to the parish church of St. Nicholas and Mary. Today's town church was renovated in the Baroque style from 1760 to 1763 as a five-aisled nave with a curved west facade and a tower on the east side with an eight-sided upper floor, onion roof and lantern . After it was destroyed in the war, the church was rebuilt from 1946 to 1953 under the architect and head of the Heilbronn Building Department, Hannes Mayer, following the baroque model.The tower dome was initially given an emergency roof and was renewed in the early 1970s in connection with a church nave renovation and further equipping of the bell cage. The Stuttgart art professor Rudolf Yelin the Elder. In 1949 J. created the large altar wall painting with the motif "Jesus as Judge of the World at the Last Judgment", which was frequent in contemporary history after 1945. A Weigle organ was installed in 1959 and consecrated again fifty years later after a major cleaning.
In the associated hamlet of Lichtenstern , remains of the former Cistercian monastery still exist . The Gothic choir and parts of the cloister have been preserved from the monastery church of St. Mary, Benedict and Bernhard. There is also a chapel. The former monastery area has been caring for disadvantaged and disabled children since 1836 (with interruptions during and after the Second World War) and is now the headquarters of the Lichtenstern Evangelical Foundation .
Another preaching point of the Löwenstein parish is the chapel in the Löwenstein Clinic.
There is also a chapel in the Evangelical Conference Center in Löwenstein, but it does not belong to the parish. The ETL is one of the oldest church conference venues in Germany. It was inaugurated on July 4, 1971. The association of the church districts Besigheim , Brackenheim , Heilbronn , Marbach and Weinsberg-Neuenstadt is responsible for the conference site . The ETL organizes meditative, creative, theological, lifelong and socio-political conferences and seminars.
Maienfels parish
The parish of Maienfels includes the eponymous district of Maienfels of the municipality of Wüstenrot . In 1433 a castle chapel of St. Maria, Georg, Nikolaus and Adelheid was donated, which was elevated to a parish church after the Reformation. This Maienfels castle church was extended in 1613 as a single-nave hall church to form a transverse church . Today it has around 300 seats, both in Gothic style ( tracery windows ) and in Art Nouveau. The interior of the flat-roofed nave is characterized by a three-sided oval gallery , which spans the east choir and altar with the organ. The year of construction 1613 speaks in favor of a transverse church concept that has been maintained to this day with an alignment of the stalls and the galleries on the south pulpit. After several restorations in the 19th century, the building was rebuilt and expanded in 1914/15 by the Stuttgart architects Böklen and Feil . This resulted in the sacristy attached to the south , through which a south entrance was lost, and the small bell tower above the west facade with a Welscher dome . Another renovation under Hannes Mayer followed in 1956. The pulpit column from the Renaissance period is now outside, as is the old baptismal font as a fountain on a landing. The painter Ernst H. Graeser created the parapet painting above the altar in 1915 with the motif Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob's fountain .
Parish Neuhütten
The parish of Neuhütten comprises the districts of Neuhütten and Finsterrot of the municipality of Wüstenrot . Both places belonged to Maienfels ecclesiastically until 1851. Then a separate parish administration was set up in Finsterrot, which was moved to Neuhütten in 1857. After the former school and town hall in Finsterrot had been converted into a church, the Neuhütten parish administration was raised to a parish in 1862. The Neuhütten church was built in 1863 at state expense by the Heilbronn master builder Albert Barth . Even today the church belongs to the state of Baden-Württemberg. Originally with 600 seats, it is a stately building in neo-Romanesque style, according to the principles of the Eisenach regulation as a three-aisled hall church with a choir apse and a three-sided gallery. There have only been minor changes since then: a dilapidated bell carrier was replaced by a turret in 1973, the sacristy was relocated during the overall renovation in 1988, the pulpit was lowered and the middle choir window was decorated with a glass painting Deluge by the artist Karola Schierle from Wüstenrot-Kreuzle .
The evangelical church Finsterrot was built in 1981 by the Maienfels architect Schilling. It was urgently needed because the building, which was commissioned as a prayer room in 1857 and renovated as a church in 1957, had to be abandoned in 1975 due to the risk of collapse. The church also offers a group room. The free-standing pyramid church tower with clapboard cladding had to be replaced in 2003, including the bells, after a fire that had broken out in 2002 due to a technical defect.
Parish Schwabbach
The parish of Schwabbach comprises the districts of Schwabbach and Siebeneich of the municipality of Bretzfeld . In church terms, Schwabbach was a branch of Sülzbach until 1481. The Sebastianskirche goes back to a chapel that already existed in the 14th century, which was converted and renovated several times. The base of the tower is the oldest part of the building. The church received its present form mainly through the expansion of the nave to the south in 1655, the reconstruction in 1804 and the tower increase in 1850. The interior was renovated in 1891 by the well-known architect Heinrich Dolmetsch , with the nave in particular by the Stuttgart church painter Theodor Bauerle painted in a neo-Gothic style and provided with a Christ medallion on the choir arch, a galvanoplastic sculpture by the company WMF (Geislingen / Steige). The neo-Gothic space was removed during the thorough interior and exterior renovation in 1955, the last time the church was carefully renovated inside and outside in 2010/11.
In the associated place Siebeneich a chaplain formed, which initially belonged to Waldbach. In 1481 it was assigned to the newly established Schwabbach parish. Occasionally, services were held in the St. Urban Chapel, but this was canceled in 1839.
Parish of Sülzbach
The parish of Sülzbach comprises the district of the same name in Obersulm and the Grantschen and Wimmental districts of the city of Weinsberg. The Kilian's Church is the original church of the Weinsberger Valley, founded towards the end of the 8th century under the influence of Würzburg. The previous wooden church was replaced by a Romanesque stone building around 1150, which was later expanded into a fortified church complex with a fence and converted into a Gothic style in the 14th century. In the substructure of the choir tower there are Romanesque and Gothic stonemason's marks. The church was rebuilt in 1619 by the ducal church builder Friedrich Vischlin in the Renaissance style and in the 17th century it was richly decorated on the inside with scrollwork and fittings and decorative woodwork. The most important art treasure of the church is an entombment group carved in high relief on the altar from around 1480, also noteworthy are the ornate Oettinger epitaph from 1626 attached to the north wall and the masterful, but repair-prone supporting structure of the needle-pointed church tower. The glass painting in the choir window was designed and executed by Christian Heinrich Burckhardt in the Munich workshop in 1895 and shows the crucifixion of Jesus.
The current branch of Grantschen (municipal part of the town of Weinsberg ) of the parish of Sülzbach was an independent branch parish until 1933, which together with the parish of Sülzbach formed the entire parish of Sülzbach. Through the announcement of the upper church council on September 15, 1933, the Grantschen branch parish was combined with the mother parish of Sülzbach to form a simple parish, thereby abolishing the previous total parish of Sülzbach. In 1963/64 the Protestant Church of Peace in Grantschen was built by the architect Hans Schäfer (Ilsfeld; 1933–2016). The tower with a steep gable roof is only connected to the church building through the sacristy. In 2001 an annex was added to the north for community work. The artistic design of the church was taken over by Hans Epple (Flein; 1927-2006). The north gable wall, clad on the inside with irregular polygonal natural stone slabs, contains a large round window with the radiant Easter sun glazing above the altar, and the baptismal window below behind the baptismal font. The other colored windows are also predominantly made of Dall or concrete glass and also thematically specified with wrought-iron symbols: the west side, in the classical church building the sphere of calamity and evil, is assigned to the biblical discord (snake, flood, crown of thorns). The east side, facing divine salvation, contains symbols of peace that are due to Christ (manger, rainbow, dove of peace, bread and wine under the crown of life). The principles (altar, baptismal font, pulpit) made of concrete elements are also decorated with wrought-iron symbols according to their meaning.
Evang. Obersulm-Sülzbach church
Tower of the Evang. Obersulm-Sülzbach church
Evang. Friedenskirche Weinsberg-Grantschen
Evang. Parish church Unterheimbach
Parish Unterheimbach
The parish of Unterheimbach comprises the districts of Unterheimbach and Geddelsbach of the municipality of Bretzfeld . The Protestant parish church of St. Georg and Nikolaus in Unterheimbach was initially a Gothic choir tower church, the nave of which had to make way for a new building in 1621 and again in 1757. This last version has survived to this day: a closed tower choir, used as a sacristy, and the so-called Markgräfler Wand , a combination of pulpit altar and organ loft as the eastern end of the church, plus a three-sided loft with Baroque parapet paintings. The 19th century organ no longer towers over the pulpit, but stands on the west gallery. The ceiling painting Ascension from 1952 in a baroque stucco frame in the nave is by Professor Rudolf Yelin the Elder. J. Until 1613, Adolzfurt also belonged to the parish. Today this place forms together with Scheppach the parish of Adolzfurt-Scheppach in the parish of Öhringen .
Parish of Unterheinriet
The parish of Unterheinriet includes the suburb of the same name in the parish of Untergruppenbach , while the core town itself belongs to the Heilbronn parish . The Protestant Nikolauskirche has a Gothic choir tower from 1250 and was first mentioned in 1359. The narrow choir with ribbed vaults was rebuilt in 1578, and the nave in its current form was extended to the south in 1722. The extension of the church in 1722 served to install the original three-sided gallery with initially a leg for the organ, which spans the choir arch, and a sweeping south pore including the gain in space below. The roof ridge moved from the center of the tower to the south as a result of the roof, which was necessarily wider. The main entrance was also laid out from the south and the parterre and south pore stalls were oriented across the room axis with considerable depth to the pulpit opposite on the north wall. This spatial arrangement with an L-shaped gallery on the west and south side corresponds to a transverse church concept that has often been encountered in Württemberg since the Reformation , which incidentally attaches little importance to the altar in the narrow choir, but rather prefers the pulpit as the source of the proclamation. Since the east organ gallery was abandoned in 1887, the new organ by the Stuttgart organ builder Carl Gottlieb Weigle has been in the south pore above the main portal. The pulpit and baptismal font date from 1759. The furnishings with paintings are largely baroque , especially the gallery paintings in the parapet fields, as well as a painting with the baptism of Christ from 1688. In 1998 the painter Rut Hanselmann , then Heilbronn, and Mares Schultz (Stuttgart; 1920 - 2013) with a picture frieze. In 1997/98 they also created the four ship color windows with the motifs Bird in the Nest , The Vine , Annunciation to Maria and Ruth and Naemi .
Waldbach-Dimbach parish
The parish Waldbach-Dimbach comprises the districts Waldbach and Dimbach of the municipality Bretzfeld. From 1994 to 2019 it was an overall parish formed from the two parishes Waldbach and Dimbach. Until 1993, the parish of Rappach also belonged to the then total parish of Waldbach. With effect from July 1, 1993, this was spun off and since then has formed the Bretzfeld-Rappach parish together with the Bretzfeld parish. In addition, Scheppach was also part of the entire Waldbach parish until 1951. However, through the announcement of the Oberkirchenrat on January 10, 1951, the Scheppach parish was separated from the Waldbach parish and assigned to the Adolzfurt parish and thus to the Öhringen parish.
The Kilianskirche Waldbach was named after predecessor churches in wood and stone as early as 1264 as a church of the deanery Weinsberg. It was the mother church for the places Dimbach, Rappach, Scheppach, Schwabbach and Siebeneich. The choir of today's Kilian's Church is Gothic, the nave was rebuilt in 1616/18 as a transverse church . In 1748 it was increased. Kilian's Church is a fascinating example of a living building that was shaped by the respective epochs of art and piety and designs from early Gothic (tower choir), Gothic ( sacrament house , former high altar), Renaissance (nave architecture, picture panels, ornaments), Baroque ( Nave elevation, second gallery, stucco ceiling with painting), an impressive testimony to how people in their time have valued the church space and designed it according to their beliefs. Places that used to belong are now mostly independent parishes or parishes. B. Scheppach has belonged to the parish of Adolzfurt and thus to the parish of Öhringen since 1951.
The community Dimbach was always a branch of Waldbach, from where it is looked after by the parish until today. A small chapel was mentioned as early as 1562. It was consecrated to St. Sebastian. In 1839, however, it was demolished except for the tower and profaned.
Weinsberg parish
The parish Weinsberg includes the core town of Weinsberg . The Gellmersbach district forms its own parish, and the Grantschen and Wimmental districts belong to the Sülzbach parish. Ellhofen used to belong to the parish of Weinsberg as a branch parish until it was detached from the mother parish of Weinsberg on October 13, 1955 and raised to an independent parish.
The Protestant Johanneskirche on Ökolampadiusplatz, a Romanesque basilica and choir tower church , is the church of the Evangelical parish of Weinsberg. The construction of the church began around 1200/1210, probably on behalf of the Lords of Weinsberg. The main entrance was in the west, towards the east the building was closed off by a wall until the choir tower was added there, probably around 1230/1240 - square below, octagonal further above. As the last construction phase, the Gothic east choir was added around 1350 . To the south of this, another two-bay room was later added, which is now used as a sacristy . The basically classic design of a basilica "oriented" from west to east underwent a remarkable change that is no longer perceptible today. In accordance with the Reformation priority of the sermon over the altar service (Last Supper), it was now aligned with ground floor chairs and galleries on the long side of the nave to the pulpit, which is attached to the central south pillar, as a place for the preaching of the Gospel - a transverse church . It was not until 1947 that the west-east orientation corresponding to the Romanesque architecture was taken up again by interior renovations. There are contemporary and modern sculptures in the form of building sculptures (vaults, capitals, choir arches, dwarf galleries ), as crucifixes, in tombstones and as modern sculptures (deaconry figure shrine, Christ torso). The numerous glass paintings in the Johanneskirche all date from the 20th and 21st centuries. More on this in the main article Johanneskirche Weinsberg . When the town was destroyed in the Peasants' War in 1525, the church burned down and was then rebuilt. The church survived the later destruction of the city by fires in 1707 and 1945 unscathed.
At the Klinikum am Weissenhof there is a church on the northern edge of the clinic area, the church on the Weißenhof . It was built in 1915 as a so-called simultaneous church.
Evang. Johanneskirche Weinsberg
Weissenhof Institution Church in Weinsberg
Evang. St. Georg Obersulm-Willsbach Church
Evang. Church of St. Kilian Wüstenrot
Willsbach parish
The parish of Willsbach includes the district of the same name in Obersulm . The Protestant St. George's Church reached its present size in 1486, among other things by expanding an older chapel to the south. It has baroque furnishings from 1683 (font, pulpit) and has a characteristic onion dome built in 1732. During the major interior renovation in 1962/63, the side galleries and a few rows of seats below were dismantled, the pulpit was moved from the right to the left to the choir arch, thereby creating space for the Bornefeld organ from 1973. Nine wooden panel paintings are attributed to the Prague painter Johannes Stiegler, who was active in some churches in the region around 1750. The eight colored glass image fields in the large pulpit window were designed by the artist Lydia Jost-Schäfer in 1928 . The choir window from 1970 comes from the artist Wolf-Dieter Kohler and illustrates the mission command Mt 28: 18-29 Lut . In the center sits the risen Christ in his glory ( Majestas Domini ), surrounded by angels. His mission for mission, which he gives to the disciples, is expressed in the lower part of the window through baptism, sermon and Holy Communion. Before 1571, Willsbach belonged to the parish of Sülzbach.
Entire parish of Wüstenrot-Neulautern
The two parishes of Wüstenrot and Neulautern have formed a single parish since 2013.
Wüstenrot parish
The parish Wüstenrot includes the nucleus of the homonymous municipality Wüstenrot . The parish church of St. Kilian was mentioned as early as 1247. After a Romanesque chapel from the 11th century that had merged into the east tower choir, it was given its present form in 1732 by a considerable extension to the south (today still 450 seats) and after the fundamental redesign of the interior in 1966 shows only remnants of the Baroque furnishings, including from 1784 the font and the organ (by Joseph Nepper from Schwäbisch Gmünd). A neat octagonal half-timbered bell house with a final Welsch hood sits on top of a square, multi-storey tower masonry .
Parish of Neulautern
The parish Neulautern includes the same district Neulautern the municipality Wüstenrot and the small hamlet Stockberg the city of Beilstein . The place belonged to Löwenstein ecclesiastically until 1852, when it became its own parish. The Protestant Martin Luther Church Neulautern was created by government instigation and from funds from the Protestant church property as the Martin Luther Church and parsonage from 1865 to 1867 according to plans by the Heilbronn building councilor Albert Barth . The north-western long side was badly damaged by the effects of war in 1945 and then simply restored. An interior renovation in 1971/72 largely changed the original character of the room by removing the old furnishings and adding a U-shaped gallery . The color glazing of the three choir windows by the renowned glass artist Hans-Gottfried von Stockhausen also contributed to the friendlier design : in 1951 he created the center window with the resurrection motif to commemorate the dead of World War II, and the other two windows in connection with the renovation in 1972 (Birth and Passion of Jesus).
In Stocksberg there has been the Resurrection Chapel in the middle of the small cemetery since 1963 , both a foundation by Elisabeth and Gerd Stieler von Heydekampf / Heilbronn, with regular church services.
Individual evidence
- ^ Website of the Evangelical Church District Weinsberg-Neuenstadt
- ↑ Website of the composite church community Obersulm See
- ^ Website of the Affaltrach parish
- ↑ Website of the parish of Eschenau
- ^ Website of the parish of Weiler-Eichelberg
- ^ Website of the parish of Bitzfeld
- ^ Website of the Bretzfeld-Rappach parish as a whole
- ^ Website of the parish of Eberstadt
- ^ Website of the parish of Ellhofen
- ^ Website of the parish of Gellmersbach
- ^ Website of the parish of Lehrensteinsfeld
- ↑ Website of the parish of Löwenstein
- ^ Website of the Maienfels parish
- ^ Website of the Neuhütten parish
- ^ Website of the Schwabbach parish
- ^ Website of the parish of Sülzbach
- ^ Website of the parish Unterheimbach
- ^ Website of the parish Unterheinriet
- ^ Website of the Waldbach-Dimbach parish
- ^ Website of the Weinsberg parish
- ^ Website of the parish of Willsbach
- ^ Website of the entire parish of Wüstenrot-Neulautern
- ^ Website of the Wüstenrot parish
- ^ Website of the Neulautern parish
literature
- The Evangelical Württemberg - Its church offices and clergy from the Reformation to the present, collected and edited by Christian Sigel, pastor in Gebersheim, 1910.
- The state of Baden-Wuerttemberg - official description according to districts and municipalities (in eight volumes); Edited by the Baden-Württemberg State Archives Department; Volume IV: Stuttgart District - Regional Associations Franconia and East Wuerttemberg, Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-17-005708-1 .
- View from the Weibertreu - churches in the district of Weinsberg , Verlag Wilhelm Röck, Weinsberg 1960
- Otto Friedrich: Evangelical churches in the deanery Weinsberg - picture reading book ; ed. Ev. Deanery Weinsberg, 2003