St. Leo the Great (St. Leon-Rot)
The Roman Catholic parish church of St. Leo the Great in St. Leon-Rot was built in 1955. It replaced an older church, the origins of which were still in the Middle Ages.
history
The canonical monastery of St. Leo existed in St. Leon until the high Middle Ages . Then the place was still the seat of a deanery . A parish was founded in 1219, one dedicated to St. Leo consecrated church first mentioned in 1289. The old church got a wooden tower in 1701/02, which was demolished again in 1726. In 1751 a new tower was completed. In 1807 the nave was renewed.
Around the church was the original St. Leon cemetery. In 1840 today's cemetery was laid out on the outskirts.
By 1900 the old church had become too small and dilapidated. Not least because of the hardship of the two world wars, the discussion about the expansion and partial demolition of the old church lasted five decades. Although parts of the old structure were under monument protection and at least the tower for the new church should be preserved, it was decided in 1954 to demolish the entire old church and build a completely new one. An old epitaph for the local pastor Johann Michael Weller (1678–1734), which was once in the choir of the old church, has been preserved in the parish garden.
Albert Boßlet made the plans for the new church . The topping-out ceremony was celebrated on August 8, 1955, the consecration of the church took place after six months of construction on November 25, 1955 by Bishop Eugen Seiterich . After Boßlet's death the church was placed under monument protection.
description
The church is oriented to the northeast, the nave opens into a lower, triangular choir and has a transept, also triangular on both sides, which protrudes only a little over the side aisles, but protrudes from the height so that it is almost in the roof landscape results in a cross shape. In the south-east, on the side of the south aisle, which forms a connecting tract, is a bell tower on an approximately square floor plan. On the western side of the gable, above the main portal, in a round arched niche, there is a four meter high relief sculpture of the church patron Leo, at whose feet there is a model of the old church.
The nave of the church has three naves , which are divided in the style of a basilica by dividing walls with wide openings with flat round arches. All ships are spanned by a flat coffered ceiling. The interior of the church is deliberately kept relatively unadorned in order to take up the clear formal language of the exterior. The pulpit to the right of the altar was also designed by the architect Boßlet. The crucifix above the main altar was created by the Würzburg painter Gastl, the side altars are the work of an Offenburg carver.
The stained glass windows of the church show u. a. the legend of St. Christopher and various saints.
literature
- Antje Buhtz and Karl Frischauer: The church, center of the community , in: Community St. Leon-Rot (Ed.): St. Leon-Rot then and now , St. Leon-Rot 1994, pp. 315–381.
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 15 '58.8 " N , 8 ° 36' 8.7" E