Simultaneous church Gau-Odernheim

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Simultaneous church Gau-Odernheim: on the left the bell tower and the Protestant nave, on the right the Catholic choir

The Simultankirche Gau-Odernheim is a late Gothic two-aisled church building, which is separated in the middle by a wall into a Catholic and a Protestant part.

history

St. Rufus von Metz, around 1450, nave, side aisle

A Romanesque predecessor church can be traced back to the middle of the 9th century. Its foundation walls were discovered around 1965 and scientifically examined. It belonged to the Metz Cathedral Monastery of St. Stephan . Around 850 the bones of St. Rufus , an early Metz bishop, were transferred here . There was a pilgrimage and later the important new Gothic building of today's Simultankirche.

The Rufus relics were in a high grave, the stone sarcophagus and figure-decorated lid (from 1418) have been preserved. Under the Mainz diocese administrator Adalbert von Sachsen , graves and relics were examined in detail and inquiries were made in Metz. Since a positive report was issued, he permitted the ceremonial opening of the coffin and the exhibition of the bones on two days a year with a certificate dated September 23, 1483; he also granted an indulgence for the pilgrims.

The qualitative representation on the coffin lid (now in the Catholic choir) was badly damaged during the Reformation; Face and other parts are chipped off. The relics are considered lost. According to an unsecured report by the historian Valentin Ferdinand Gudenus (1679–1758), the Spaniards are said to have brought the body of the saint to Bruges in the Spanish Netherlands during the Thirty Years' War to save it from destruction.

In the nave of the church there is a medieval mural of St. Rufus. One window of the choir shows a 19th century depiction of Rufus, which is based on the image on the coffin lid.

Building history

The Gothic construction took place between 1415 and 1420 under the architect Johann von Diepach . The choir was designed by Master Arnold between 1497 and 1507. When the Palatinate church was divided in 1705, the Protestants received the nave, the Catholics the choir of the church. This division continues to this day. Initially divided by a board wall, today's dividing wall was built between the two parts in 1891.

use

The Church from the East
Choir with connection to the nave

The Protestant community uses the main nave (nave) of the church and the Catholics hold their services in the choir. The Catholic part is still dedicated to St. Rufus and is called “St. Rufus Church ” ; the Protestant "former town church" .

Furnishing

Choir

The choir has two bays with five-eighths , the net vaults were repaired in 1535 and 1589. The damaged grave slab of St. Rufus is currently located there. The double tomb there for Eberhard Vetzer von Geispitzheim († 1520) and Lisa von Ingelheim († 1519) came from the master of Wolf von Dalberg's tomb in Oppenheim . These are life-size portrait figures under a double arcade above Lisa von Ingelheim there is an angel holding a coat of arms.

The pulpit dates from around 1720. The high altar dates from 1773, and the Adoration of the Shepherds altarpiece was probably made in the Seekatz workshop. The picture above shows the 'presentation of a scapular to a nun' supposedly comes from a Mainz monastery.

One of the figures represents Saint Wendelin , it belongs to the Rococo .

The choir has a Stumm organ from 1773. It was restored in 2001 as part of a renovation of the Catholic part of the church. The tracery windows are divided across.

A two-storey vaulted sacristy adjoins the north side . The stone sarcophagus in which the Rufus relics once lay is set up on the upper floor .

  • High altar in the choir

  • Damaged Rufus grave slab (1418) in the choir

  • Rufus depiction from the 19th century, window in the choir

  • Double grave for Eberhard Vetzer von Geispitzheim († 1520) and Lisa von Ingelheim († 1519)

Longhouse

Longhouse

The equipment in the evangelical nave includes an eight-sided stone pulpit over a baluster column which is marked IB and IWB 1543. The apostle figures in the niches come from the Hans Backoffen School. The baptismal font dates back to 1500 but the foot is newer. The organ was made in 1775. There are significant remains of a medieval painting from the 15th century.

  • Nave, medieval mural, St. Stephanus (left), St. Rufus (right)

  • Nave, medieval mural "Adoration of the Magi"

  • Longhouse, medieval passion cycle

Bell tower

Bell tower seen from the cemetery parking lot

The original tower stood on the south side of the nave and was built in 1344. It partially collapsed on February 17, 1799, with seven men of the Reformed community perishing during the service. The present-day tower was built by the bourgeois community between 1830 and 1833, under the direction of district builder Augustin Wetter , with an octagonal bell storey and stone helmet. It now connects to the west of the Protestant nave. The bell tower belongs to the local community of Gau-Odernheim to this day. Both parishes have the right to ring the bells.

Due to its white paint, the bell tower stands out very well from its surroundings and is also visible from a greater distance, e.g. B. from the Wartberg tower in Alzey about 10 km away .

terrain

The area around the Simultankirche belongs to both churches. There was originally a cemetery there, which has now been converted into a green area. The large base of the former cemetery cross is still preserved. The (already heavily washed out) grave slabs of Gerhard Vetzer von Geispitzheim († 1392) and the Electoral Palatinate magistrate Siegfried von Oberstein († 1413) are embedded in the outer wall of the choir .

  • Gravestone of Gerhard Vetzer von Geispitzheim († 1392)

  • Gravestone Siegfried von Oberstein († 1413)

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Franz Falk : The grave of Bishop Rufus von Metz zu Gau-Odernheim , in: Der Katholik , 51st year (1871), 1st volume, pp. 751–757; (Digitized version) .
  2. ↑ From the Gau-Odernheimer "Disgrace to become French" ( Memento from September 3, 2003 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

Commons : Simultankirche Gau-Odernheim  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 49 ° 47 ′ 2.5 ″  N , 8 ° 11 ′ 26.2 ″  E