St. Johannes Baptist (Hirschwald)
The St. Johannes Baptist Castle Chapel is located in the Hirschwald district of the Upper Palatinate community of Ensdorf ; the chapel belongs to the parish of Ensdorf. The patronage of the eponymous John the Baptist is celebrated on St. John's Day, June 24th.
history
In 1456 a church belonging to the Hirschwald hunting lodge is mentioned here, but it is probably older because of its Romanesque remains. This St. Johannes Baptist chapel is called today's hunting chapel . Since the end of the 15th century, a church service for the "Waidhaufen" (= hunting party) has been held on the 4th Sunday of each month by a priest from the Ensdorf monastery . During the first big hunt in the deer forest in 1538, the hunting lodge soon turned out to be too small, so an expansion was considered. As a solution, new living space was created in the attic of the church, which was previously connected to the hunting lodge by a covered corridor.
Even after the castle was sold in 1738 to forester Carl Huber , the church remained in the possession of the forest administration. During the reconstruction of the castle building, the corridor to the church floor was torn down and the door leading into the church was bricked up. A walled-up gap in the door can still be seen from the attic above in the western gable wall of the church; from the outside, however, it is covered by the plaster. In 1736–1738 a thorough renovation was carried out and in 1740 the church was rededicated. In 1786, the forester Carl Huber donated a way of the cross for the “electoral hunting chapel”; he was also buried here († 1755).
The church has a recessed square choir with a ridged cross vault . The nave has a barrel vault with stitch caps that rests on yokes . The church is crowned by an onion dome .
Over the years, the church has been renovated several times, the last renovation took place in 1968–1972. At that time, a previously unknown brick vault was found in the chancel under the floor slabs, in which an intact pine wood coffin with the remains of a 145 cm tall girl was found. There is no reliable information about its origin. Presumably it belonged to the electoral family, otherwise it would not have been buried in the church. The crypt, which is located immediately in front of the altar on the left, is 1.90 m long and about 60 cm wide. The coffin is painted a light blue paint. There are three white crosses on it.
Interior
The main altar with two columns is decorated with foliage and bandwork ornaments, the skin depicts the patron of the church. On the side are the saints of St. Hubertus and St. Eustachius . There is also a depiction of Anna Selbdritt in the church .
A coat of arms of the Electorate of the Palatinate from 1730 is attached to the cornice . The organ is decorated with acanthus carvings.
There are several epitaphs inside the church : One is to Johann Adam Thanhauser († May 13, 1687), electoral forest master, and his wife Anna Christina, b. Dachröden, († 1686) dedicated. Likewise, the is here Raymund Thannhauser († 1669), the above father and 40 years of forester thought of Hirschwald. A second gravestone has been erected for Walb Aloysia Countess von Butler († 17 ///, 3 years old).
literature
- Zitzelsberger, Hans: Chronicle of Ensdorf. Salesianerdruckerei Ensdorf, Municipality of Ensdorf (Ed.) 1991, pp. 165–166.
Web links
- Mader, Felix (ed.); Bavaria / State Ministry of the Interior for Church and School Affairs (Ed.): Art monuments of the Kingdom of Bavaria (2.15): District Office Amberg . Munich 1908.
- Anton Dollacker: The history of the castle and village Hirschwald and its predecessor Gumpenhof with 6 pictures and 2 plans. Amberg 1928.
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 49 ° 21 ′ 10.1 ″ N , 11 ° 52 ′ 15.9 ″ E