St. Erhard (Geutenreuth)
St. Erhard is a Roman Catholic church in Geutenreuth , a district of Weismain in the Upper Franconian district of Lichtenfels . The church is consecrated to Saint Erhard von Regensburg . Like its parish, the church belongs to the Archdiocese of Bamberg .
Building history
The oldest parts of the choir tower probably date from the 12th / 13th centuries. Century, the choir vault can be dated to the 14th century. Construction work on the tower took place in 1686. A thorough renovation took place in 1743.
Building description
The simple, white plastered, single-nave choir tower church stands in the north of the village on a hill. It has a steep gable roof, the choir tower on a square floor plan is positioned centrally in the facade. Its two-storey, four-sided part is plastered on the outside, only on the north side of the first floor there is exposed sandstone. On the first floor “FTAL 1686” (Brother Thomas [Wagner] Abbas Langheimensis [Abbot of Langheim]) can be read on a sandstone slab. Above the lintel of the entrance is the year "1743", the year the church was last renovated.
The choir has a cross vault with throat ribs that rest on pyramid brackets. The nave has a flat roof. Swelled wooden pillars support the galleries on the north and west walls . On the high altar , next to the former rotating tabernacle, there are two worshiping angels and the statues of St. Bartholomew, St. Wendelin and St. Sebastian. The Holy Trinity is placed above the altarpiece with the Madonna . The two side altars were acquired from Rothmannsthal in 1774 . In the middle niche of the left altar there is a large cross, on the right niche a figure of the Mother of God .
The pulpit with the four evangelists comes from Johann Bernhard Kamm. On the side walls there is a statue of Mary and the statue of Saint Paul .
Bag fund
The citizens of Geutenreuth have been called "bag fund" for many generations. Behind this name, strange at first glance, lies a story from the time of the Reformation. A figure of a saint, which had been taken out of service in a Protestant church, found its way into the church of Geuteneuth in a curious way, hidden in a sack from a bulk floor for grain.
At the time of the Reformation about 400 years ago, the inhabitants of many villages and communities in the upper Main Valley had become wavering or had accepted the new creed. This also included the neighboring parishes of Buchau and Thurnau . The saints were no longer in demand with the new teaching and were cleared out in many Protestant churches and often carelessly stored in attics.
When a coachman from Geutenreuth poured grain onto a large granary in the margravial Kastenhof in Melkendorf , he discovered a figure of a saint. The figure lay with its back on the floor and stretched its hands upwards. Since the coachman was a devout Catholic , the sight made him very sad. He interpreted the outstretched arms as an invitation: "Take me with you". One day the coachman gathered all his courage and put the almost life-size figure in a spacious hop sack and took it with him. It was hidden on his wagon among other sacks and transported nicely padded. The coachman from Geutenreuth knew that a pedestal was empty in his church. He said at home that he had not stolen the figure but found it in a sack. The saint was placed on the empty pedestal and initially named "Sack Fundus". This is how the citizens of Geutenreuth got their nickname.
The figure was later made into Saint Erhard , who then became the patron saint of the church. When a renovation was recently carried out in the church, the expert realized that the figure could not be Saint Erhard, but rather it was Saint Paul. But in order to keep the patron saint, Saint Boniface was transformed into Saint Erhard at the altar. Instead of an ax he was given a book as a sign of the message of faith. Two eyes were also placed in the miter as a sign of miraculous healing in which a princely lady was healed of her blindness. Later the healed woman became an abbess in a monastery in Alsace . The patronage festival in memory of St. Erhard is always celebrated in Geutenreuth on January 8th.
Web links
- Image and basic data (stadt-weismain.de)
Coordinates: 50 ° 5 ′ 25.4 ″ N , 11 ° 17 ′ 12.6 ″ E