St. Johannis (Bechhofen)

Exterior view of the Johannis Church

Nave of the Johannis Church with Art Nouveau stucco

The Johannis Church is an Evangelical Lutheran church in Bechhofen (Middle Franconia) .

Emergence

Until the beginning of the 20th century, Bechhofen belonged to the parish of Königshofen . It has existed as an independent parish since 1902, initially as a vicariate, and since 1909 as a separate pastoral office. St. Georg (Sachsbach) , which was previously also a branch of Königshofen, was repared to Bechhofen in 1902.

With the population development in the second half of the 19th century, the medieval Katharinenkirche soon became too small. As early as 1886 plans were made to build a church, but could not be realized. When the Kingdom of Bavaria bought itself out of the construction burden for the Katharinenkirche with the sum of 60,000 gold marks, this amount could be used as the basis for the construction of a new church. Pastor Johann Hopfengärtner was involved in the construction work over the years, during which the bell tower was built by 1914. The outbreak of the First World War then prevented the continuation of the construction. After the end of the war, construction could continue. The local population made a remarkable contribution with donations and work. On December 17, 1922, the St. John's Church, which seats 1000, was inaugurated.

In addition to Bechhofen , the parishes include Burgstallmühle , Fröschau , Heinersdorf , Voggendorf , Waffenmühle and Wiesethbruck . It had 2,100 parishioners in the early 1990s.

layout

The architect of the church was Prof. Jäger from Munich. The stucco ornaments in the barrel vault mark the building as Art Nouveau . The stained glass windows of the nave illustrate stations from the life of Jesus. In the choir there are wooden statues of the four evangelists, which were created by Maximilian Josef Heilmeier, professor of figural design at the Nuremberg University of Art and History. The statues as well as the altarpiece by Hans Röhm and a crucifix were made available from the state art fund. There is a four-part bell in the tower of the church.

organ

The previous organ was built in 1922 by the Wilhelm Holländer company (Feuchtwangen). It had 30 registers spread over two manuals and a pedal . After this instrument had shown major deficiencies for several years, a new organ was commissioned from Rensch (Lauffen / Neckar). The dismantling of the old work began in December 2010. The new work (op. 264) was inaugurated on November 6, 2011.

I main work
Bourdun	16 ′	V
Principal	8th'
Harmony flute	8th'	V
Gamba	8th'
Octave	4 ′
flute	4 ′
Fifth	2 ² ⁄ ₃  ′
Octave	2 ′
Mixture IV	1 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′
Trumpet	8th'

II swell
Viennese flute	8th'	V
Salizional	8th'	V
Vox coelestis (from c ⁰ )	8th'
Covered	8th'	V
Principal	4 ′
Transverse flute	4 ′
Flautino	2 ′
third	1 ³ ⁄ ₅  ′
Mixture IV	2 ′
oboe	8th'

Tremulant

pedal
Contrabass	16 ′	V
Sub bass	16 ′	V
Octavbass	8th'
cello	8th'
Octave	4 ′
trombone	16 ′
Trumpet	8th'

annotation

V = stops from the previous organ

Bells

The bell of the Johanniskirche consists of 4 bronze bells. Together with the smaller bell of the Katharinenkirche - only 150 m away - they form a 9-part extensive bell, which is a specialty for a market town.

^Does the Johanniskirche Bechhofen ring ^{? / i}

The four bronze bells of the Johanniskirche sound during the recording in this order until the full peal:

Baptism bell - g sharp ¹

to

Annunciation bell - f sharp ¹

to

St. John's Bell - e ¹

to

Martin Luther Bell - c sharp ¹

The nine bells of the two churches have the tones cis ¹ - e ¹ - f # ¹ - gis ¹ - / - a ¹ - h ¹ - cis ² - e ² - f # ² .

No.	Surname	Casting year	Foundry, casting location	Weight (kg)	Diameter (cm)	Nominal	inscription	Portrait
1	Martin Luther bell	1954	Gebhard, Kempten	1,600	147	cis ¹	"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"
2	St. John's Bell	1972	Bell foundry Heidelberg	1,050	121	e ¹	“Verbum caro factum est, alleluja, et inhabitavit in nobis, alleluja. St. John, I am called Evangelist, I carry God's call into the land. I ring sorrow, I ring joy, I ring time and eternity. "	St. John Evangelist with eagle
3	Archangel / Annunciation Bell	1972	Bell foundry Heidelberg	750	107	f sharp ¹	“See, I proclaim great joy to you. Glory to God on high, and peace on earth a pleasure to men. "	Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary
4th	Baptismal bell	1972	Bell foundry Heidelberg	600	97	g sharp ¹	"One Lord * One Faith * One Baptism - I will lift you up, my God, you King, and praise your name forever and ever."	Presentation of Jesus in the temple

5	Dominica / Christ Bell	1970	FW Schilling, Heidelberg	460	91	a ¹	“O Rex Gloriae, Christe, veni cum pace. All who have fallen in sea and land have fallen into God's hand. All who died in the wide field are at his mercy. All who cry in the dark are guarded by his kindness. "	Crucifixion group
6th	Market bell	1970	FW Schilling, Heidelberg	359	81	h ¹	“Protect us Lord from adversity. Give us the daily bread. Help us keep your commandment. The 7 market days of Bechhofen: Candlemas, Judica, Exaudi, St. Peter and Paul, St. Bartholomäus, St. Gallus, St. Wunibald. "	Bechhofen coat of arms with four pitch rollers
7th	St. Catherine Bell	1970	FW Schilling, Heidelberg	314	76	c sharp ²	"St. My name is Katharina, in God's honor I ring the bell. "	Martyr Catherine of Alexandria
8th	St. John the Baptist	1970	FW Schilling, Heidelberg	258	71	e ²	“I am the voice of a preacher. Prepare the way for the Lord. "	John the Baptist
9	Angel bell	1970	FW Schilling, Heidelberg	184	63	f sharp ²	"You angels up there, help us praise God"	Wreath of praising angels

literature

Johannis-Kirche Markt Bechhofen an der Heide, published by Ev.-Luth. Bechhofen parish, Bechhofen 2005.
75 years of Johanniskirche in Bechhofen 1922–1997. Festschrift and Heimatbuch, published by Ev.-Luth. Bechhofen parish, Bechhofen 1997.
50 years Johannis-Kirche zu Bechhofen 1972, Festschrift, published by Evang.-Luth. Bechhofen parish office 1972.
Hans Karlmann Ramisch: District Feuchtwangen (= Bavarian art monuments . Volume 21 ). Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1964, DNB 453909426 , p. 25 .
Hans Sommer with e. Working group d. Dean's office (ed.): It happened in the name of faith: Protestant in the Ansbach deanery (= series of portraits of Bavarian deanery districts ). Verlag der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Mission, Erlangen 1991, ISBN 3-87214-248-8 , p. 84-89 .

Web links

Commons : St. Johannis - collection of images, videos and audio files

bechhofen-evangelisch.de

Individual evidence

↑ H. Sommer (Ed.), P. 85.
↑ H. Sommer (Ed.), P. 86.

49.157786 10.551Coordinates: 49 ° 9 '28 " N , 10 ° 33' 3.6" E

[1] H. Sommer (Ed.), P. 85.

[2] H. Sommer (Ed.), P. 86.