Sonnefeld Monastery Church
The monastery church Sonnenfeld was the church of the former monastery of Cistercian nuns in the Upper Franconian municipality Sonnenfeld . It has been an Evangelical Lutheran parish church since 1540 .
Building history
A fire in 1286/1287 destroyed the founding building of the Cistercian monastery in Ebersdorf, about five kilometers away . The monastery was rebuilt near the neighboring village of Hofstädten in a floodplain on the Biberbach, a right tributary of the Main . The low nave was probably first built around 1300. After its completion, the construction of the high choir followed with a temporary interruption, as evidenced by a construction seam in the facade, from around 1327 onwards the construction of the high choir, which lasted until 1349. The stonemason Heinrich was involved in the work. The church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. A fire destroyed the nave and the cloister in 1380 . The Hussite Wars in the middle of the 15th century resulted in looting and pillage.
As a result of the introduction of the Reformation in Saxony-Coburg , the monastery was dissolved in 1526. Sonnefeld became a Protestant parish, financed from the income of the monastery office, and the monastery church in 1540 parish church.
During the Thirty Years' War another fire damaged the church in 1634. At the end of the 17th century, bulk floors for grain were installed in the western part of the nave. In 1856 the community had an extensive rebuilding and renovation carried out. The floor in the choir was raised by 60 centimeters. The nuns' gallery and a partition wall were removed and the crypt church was demolished. By shortening the nave by seven meters, a neo-Gothic western facade with a gable was created under the direction of the ducal district architect Karl Daniel Julius Girtanner from Coburg . The interior was also redesigned. The colored glass window in the choir was built at the beginning of the 20th century.
The municipality initiated further renovation measures between 1975 and 1978.
Building description
The single-nave, high-Gothic monastery church stands on the road from Mitwitz to Coburg . The structure consists of light-colored sandstone blocks. A high long choir with no entry and a significantly lower nave with a gable turret characterize the church. Presumably the older nave was supposed to be raised at a later date to match the east choir.
The slender, polygonal long choir has three bays and closes with five sides of the octagon. A window cornice is circumferential. Except for the three-lane, colored east window, the high, pointed-arched tracery windows have two lanes. The buttresses between the windows are structured by three additional cornices and small gables and pinnacles . Four cross vaults with pear ribs span the 18.5 meter high, 9.4 meter wide and 18 meter long interior. The first two keystones of the vault show a head of Christ and a lamb of God. The two-storey roof, each with a double chair , probably dates from the 14th century . In the south side there is a stair tower, protruding in a half octagon and with a stair spindle that opens up the roof structure. The tower entrance is about three meters high and was probably accessed via the no longer existing cloister . There is an entrance door under the last window on the north side. A gable closes the west side high above the ridge of the nave. Below that, a deep, pointed triumphal arch separates the choir from the nave.
The nave is 9.5 meters wide, 18 meters long and 11 meters high and spans a wooden flat ceiling that is divided into large fields by two longitudinal and three transverse beams. The roof construction dates from the 18th century. No buttresses stabilize the facade. The north side is divided into five high lancet windows with tracery. There is an entrance door between the second and third window. The three western windows were only extended downwards in 1856. The six pointed arch windows on the south side are shorter due to the cloister that used to stand in front of it. Among them are arched windows that were made in the last third of the 18th century. The west facade, built in the middle of the 19th century, is characterized by the neo-Gothic entrance portal, a rose window and a stone gable turret. The relatively high gable head first has a square, then an octagonal floor plan. It is characterized by pointed arched windows and a slim helmet.
Originally there was a crypt in the western part of the nave on the ground floor as a burial place for the nuns, which was occasionally used as a side church, and above it the nuns gallery. A wooden roof turret was arranged in the middle. Since the renovation in 1856, there have been two-storey lofts on both long sides ; on the western transverse side, this is one-storey and carries the organ. In addition, the nave at the western end was divided into an anteroom and the community room by a wooden wall with a pointed arched door.
The sacristy is located on the south side of the long choir, in the east wing of the claustrum. It is connected to the choir via a pointed arched door. The 7.6 meter long and 6.3 meter wide room is spanned by two ribbed vaults.
Furnishing
A renaissance crucifix hangs in the choir room . There are three grave sculptures on the east wall. A sandstone sculpture from around 1400 depicts Countess Anna von Henneberg . A knight sculpture in the middle could be dedicated to the benefactor of the monastery knight Hans von Schaumberg and the figure on his left could be dedicated to his wife. The works were created around 1370/1380. Duchess Anna of Saxony , who died in 1613 and the first wife of Duke Johann Casimir, rests under a tombstone in the choir . The furnishings with wooden paneling of the choir walls and choir stalls as well as the pulpit, baptismal font and lectern in neo-Gothic form come from the renovation in 1856. The wooden pulpit on the southern triumphal arch rests on a decorated central pillar. As with the galleries, the parapets are adorned with tracery .
organ
In 1709 Margarethe Schammbergerin donated a new organ . In 1781 the positive organ was sold to Weidhausen and the organ builder Johann Michael Wagner from Schmiedefeld built a new organ for 1200 guilders . This late baroque organ stood in the high altar house. After the church was rebuilt in 1856, the Neustadt organ builders Christoph Hofmann and Sons installed a new organ on the west gallery. They also used parts of the old Wagner organ that was on the opposite side during the construction. The instrument has 18 stops on two manuals and a pedal . The neo-Gothic prospect comes from Nicolaus Feyler. It is two-storey, five-part, flanked by pinnacles and crowned by finials. In the middle of the basement is the built-in play cupboard, with eleven tabs on each side. A restoration took place in 1980.
Parish
In addition to Sonnefeld, the church district includes the neighboring village of Bieberbach and the village belonging to the municipality of Weidhausen near Coburg . Weidhausen was parish in 1555 and became independent in 1958.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Claudia Mohn: Medieval monastery complexes of the Cistercian women. Architecture of the women's monastery in Central Germany . Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2006, ISBN 3-86568-030-5 , p. 230 f.
- ↑ a b Jürgen Grünberg: A path through the former Sonnefeld monastery complex . Church leaders.
- ^ Christl and Jürgen Grünberg: Sonnefeld and Trübenbach . In: Evangelical parishes in the Coburg region. Verlag der Ev - Luth. Mission Erlangen, Erlangen 1984, ISBN 3-87214-202-X , p. 184 f.
- ^ A b Lothar Hofmann: Monuments Region Coburg - Neustadt - Sonneberg: Places of contemplation and prayer. Historical sacred buildings. A guide through the churches in the districts of Coburg and Sonneberg . Verlag Gerätemuseum des Coburger Land, Ahorn 2007, ISBN 3-930531-04-6 , p. 91.
- ↑ a b c d e Richard Teufel : Architectural and art monuments in the district of Coburg . E. Riemann'sche Hofbuchhandlung, Coburg 1956, p. 136 f.
- ^ A b c d Paul Lehfeldt : Architectural and Art Monuments of Thuringia, Booklet XXVIII, Duchy of Saxony-Coburg and Gotha, Landrathsamt Coburg. Jena 1902, p. 85 f.
- ^ Hermann Fischer, Theodor Wohnhaas: Alte Orgeln im Coburger Land, Part I. Yearbook of the Coburg Landesstiftung 1971, p. 120.
Coordinates: 50 ° 13 ′ 18.7 ″ N , 11 ° 8 ′ 3.2 ″ E