Untersuhl round church
The Untersuhl round church is one of the most unusual Evangelical Lutheran parish churches in the Wartburg district in Thuringia because of its peculiar construction . It is located in the center of the listed location, in the Gerstunger district of Untersuhl .
Building history
On the edge of the Werra floodplain near Untersuhl, an important branch of the old military and trade route Via Regia ran as early as the 12th century . To control this street, a customs collection point or a control room is said to have been present here, from which the current church could have been built around 1580 through renovations. The adjacent field name Am Ritter and old traditions support this thesis.
The church and tower appear to be made of one piece - the church building is a so-called central church , in the massive, now white plastered round wall of the substructure, the choir niche sits in a three-quarter arc in the east. All the stone on the windows and portals are made of bright red sandstone. Two large rectangular windows were broken into the wall to the west and east and lead daylight into the interior. The main entrance is also from the west. The upper floor consists of exposed framework, which was completely hidden under the plaster until 1954; on top of it sits the mighty eight-sided spire from around 1615. Four spiers attached to the sides, only used for decoration, adorn this spire, which was newly delivered in 1688. The year 1615 on a walled-up window is taken as the date for a renovation. The access to the galleries is from the south via a double-sided wooden external staircase.
Inside there are two baroque galleries built in, the frescoes are by the local church painter Johann Caspar Wahnes , he lived in the neighboring town of Berka / Werra in the 18th century and also worked on the St. Hubertus Church in Marksuhl and the Dicel Church in Seebach . The picture program shows the apostles in the lower gallery, the prophets were depicted on the upper gallery . It is noteworthy that when depicting these figures, Wahns used the people living in Untersuhl as models. The once-existing vault of heaven was decorated with angels and stars, but it disappeared after the restoration in 1956.
During the renovation of the tower in 2013, new bells were also cast in the Maria Laach Abbey .
Immediately in front of the church is an oval square enclosed by a low wall as a village green . Today's cemetery of the community of Untersuhl is on the eastern edge of the village.
Furnishing
The church organ was purchased in 1877 and expanded in 1901. The bronze bells were removed during World War I and replaced by inferior steel bells in 1921. Pulpit and baptismal font as well as stalls in baroque setting. A chandelier was removed in 1956.
Views
Basement
Tower dome
Outside staircase
portal
literature
- Karl Heinz Schmeding: The historic round church in Untersuhl, a remarkable building with many puzzles. In: EP-Report 2, Heimatblätter des Eisenacher Land, Marburg 1992, pp. 105-107.
- Herbert von Hintzenstern , Klaus G. Beyer (Photos): Dorfkirchen in Thüringen , Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Berlin 1982, pp. 163–164.
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 57 '15.3 " N , 10 ° 3' 25.6" E