Fortified church Einersheim

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The town hall with the entrance to the former fortified church

The church castle Einersheim (also Kirchenburg Markt Einersheim ) includes the fortified areas of the churchyard around the Protestant parish church of St. Matthew in Markt Einersheim in Lower Franconia .

location

The fortified church is located in the middle of the old town of Einersheim, the center of which it forms. It is surrounded by the streets Marktplatz, Schockengasse, Frankenbergstraße and Am See. The facility was built on a hill nose that slopes steeply to the southeast. Because of this mountain location, the walling on this side was given a kink. The Einersheim fortified church is part of the building ensemble of the town center of Markt Einersheim.

history

The Einersheimer Kirchenburg was first mentioned in 1414. At that time you had to pass a gate tower to get into the churchyard. There was already the previous building of the parish church . In general, the fortified churches go back to the military threats in the Middle Ages . While cities and richer villages surrounded each other with a curtain wall, poorer communities only fortified the churchyard, which previously served as a cemetery.

The complex in its present form was built in the 16th century at the latest. The gatehouse was replaced between 1567 and 1568 by a representative half-timbered house with a gateway that still provides access to the fortified church from the market square. The coat of arms of the Limpurg taverns on this building refers to the rulership of the village over Einersheim. The oldest alleys in the courtyard of the complex are marked with the year "1596". This is where the people of Einersheim stored their supplies in peacetime.

In the years 1734 and 1735 the walling of the fortified church was renewed, although this defense system had long since lost its defensive function with the advent of large artillery in the 17th century. In the following centuries, large parts of the complex were rebuilt, so that only a few remains remind of the former fortified church. In 1945 American tank bombardment destroyed other fortifications in the last days of the Second World War . The underground remains of the fortified church are classified as a ground monument .

description

Matthew Church

The Einersheimer Matthäuskirche is located in the middle of the fortified church. It is considered to be one of the oldest churches in the area and provided pastoral care to a huge parish in the Middle Ages . The village lords of Einersheim, the taverns of Limpurg-Speckfeld, introduced the Reformation in the 16th century and rebuilt the church in the 17th century. In 1700 the striking tower was raised, which also served as a lookout point for the fortified church and had a battlement.

St. Matthew is an east-facing choir tower church . The oldest components go back to the Romanesque era and thus to a time when the fortified church probably did not yet exist. The nave has five axes and is therefore longer than that of many other places of worship in the area. Inside the church there is a walled up tomb in which the members of the family of the taverns were buried. Most of the grave slabs are placed in the inner courtyard of the fortified church.

Town hall, karner, defensive wall and epitaphs

Due to the destruction since the 18th century, only a few remains of the former fortified church have survived. Today's town hall is particularly impressive and serves as a gatehouse and entrance to the churchyard fortifications. It is a two-story hipped roof building with an ornamental framework on the upper floor. The coat of arms of the Limpurg-Speckfeld taverns is emblazoned in the center of the market square.

The former soul measurement chapel same as Karner or ossuary served the community is changed and is used as a garage. Only a few Gadenhäuser have survived. Originally they probably moved around the churchyard, the basements of these houses still partially exist. On the west side there are still remnants of the defensive wall with a height of approx. 2 m. Five grave slabs from the church crypt are placed in the inner courtyard . They are largely weathered and mostly bear the arms of the taverns. Originally the fortified church had two entrances, the town hall passage and the so-called little church church in the south.

See also

literature

  • Hans Bauer: District of Kitzingen. An art and culture guide . Market wide 1993.
  • August Bomhard, Fritz Ortner, Franz Vogel: General description of the entire church system in the ev.-luth. Parish market Einersheim . Einersheim Market 1997.
  • Karl Kolb: Fortified churches and fortified churches in Franconia . Wuerzburg 1977.
  • Ursula Pfistermeister: Defensive Franconia. Castles, fortified churches, city walls. Volume 2: Around Würzburg . Nuremberg 2001.

Web links

Commons : Kirchenburg Einersheim  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Pfistermeister, Ursula: Wehrhaftes Franken . P. 77.
  2. ^ Kolb, Karl: Fortified churches and fortified churches in Franconia . P. 136.
  3. ^ Bauer, Hans: District of Kitzingen . P. 138.
  4. ↑ Bomhard, August (among others): General description of the entire church system . P. 16.
  5. ^ Kolb, Karl: Fortified churches and fortified churches in Franconia . P. 136.

Coordinates: 49 ° 41 ′ 12.9 "  N , 10 ° 17 ′ 33.3"  E