St. Margarete (Hohenfeld)

The church on the outskirts of Hohenfeld

The Church of St. Margarete (also Bergkirche Hohenfeld ) is a church in Hohenfeld, Lower Franconia . It stands on the outskirts of the village on a hill and has long been the destination of pilgrimages from the area. The church belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Dean's Office in Kitzingen .

history

There is evidence of a church on the mountain as early as the first half of the 13th century. The cemetery around the church was first mentioned in the sources in 1251 . In April of that year, the Würzburg Bishop Hermann I von Lobdeburg confirmed the exchange of a foundation. Irmgard, the widow of the knight Rudolf von Hohenfeld, bequeathed goods in Schwebheim "et tribus iugeris vinearum ante crimiterium in Hohenvelt" (vineyards in front of the cemetery in Hohenfeld) to the Ebrach monastery .

In 1281 the church was mentioned for the second time. In a comparison between Friedrich von Hohenlohe and the abbess of the Kitzingen Benedictine monastery at the time, Otto Plebanus is the first mention of a priest in Hohenfeld. In 1329 the Würzburg bishop Wolfram Wolfskeel von Grumbach received the right of patronage for the church from the German master Ulrich von Stetten , from Heinrich von Zupplingen and from the church caretaker Conrad.

The foundation of an early mass is passed down from the year 1336. In addition to a few other donors, a colonel of the Beginenklause in Hohenfeld is also mentioned. As in the nearby Volkacher Kirchberg , a monastery-like community of single or widowed women was founded in Hohenfeld. Increasing numbers of pilgrims to the mountain led to this foundation, among other things. In 1436, the lay monastery was closed again by Bishop Johann II von Brunn and given to the Augustinian provost in Heidenfeld.

In 1512 a small chapel began to be built in the village because the mountain church was too difficult to reach. The Margaretenkirche was rebuilt around 1520, during the German Peasants' War only the buildings of the Beginenklause were destroyed, the church was not damaged. At the same time, the Hohenfelder accepted the teachings of the Reformation , so that the pilgrimage to the mountain church ended by the end of the 16th century.

In 1601 the church was extended to the south. From then on, the outside was not changed, in the years 1679, 1685, 1703, 1739, 1773, 1783 and 1815 only renovations were carried out. In 1823 the demolition of the church was discussed. In the 1970s, several previous buildings were uncovered below the church, some of which date from the Carolingian era. The church is listed as an architectural monument ; the previous buildings are classified as a ground monument.

architecture

The choir and the north side of the church

The church presents itself as a hall building . The choir, tower and nave come from different eras. The mountain church is east . The choir is well structured and has a five-eighth ending . Two-lane, strongly profiled, pointed arch windows decorated with late Gothic tracery ensure that the choir is illuminated. In the northeast there is a walled-up former entrance to the church.

The oldest element of the mountain church is the brick tower at the southeast corner between the nave and the choir from the first half of the 13th century. It has a square floor plan with a side length of 4.6 meters. Only the upper floor has larger windows. A pointed helmet closes the tower at the top.

The nave was built in its current form in 1602 when it was expanded to the south so that it now appears almost square. At the same time, the main entrance was moved to the south side. The nave is lit on this side by three window axes, in the west there are four small windows; the north has only a small window. The roof of the nave is plain tile covered -Ziegeln.

The nave is spanned by a wooden barrel vault. It has a cassette and is located in the north on a profile beam on the wall, while in the south a beam with a toothed frieze forms the end. The interior of the choir has a flat roof , the ceiling, which is also coffered, is structured by templates with roller and fittings . The tower is vaulted with an ogival barrel.

Furnishing

The richly decorated pulpit is entered via a narrow passage between the choir arch and the north wall. It came to the church in 1602 and is therefore assigned to the Renaissance . An octagonal body is supported by a carved wooden post on a stone base. On the side there are blending fields in the form of an aedicula and Hermes pilasters. An inscription below the cornice of the pulpit reads: " PSALM CXIX SINT NOBIS TUA VERBA DEVS DMNA LVCERNA IN TENEBRIS NE NOS DEVIVS ERROR AGAT".

In the choir there is a sandstone altar with a simple wooden crucifix. In the northeast of the choir is the sandstone epitaph of Anna Dorothea von Crailsheim , who died in 1639. Further epitaphs in the choir are dedicated to Friedrich Joachim von Seckendorff, who died in 1573, and to pastor Jodokus Falk, who died in 1633. The font , created by the Würzburg artist Matthias Engert, did not enter the church until 2004.

Surroundings

The church is surrounded by a small cemetery, which is documented as early as 1251. The Frankish sculptor Richard Rother (1890–1980) rests there as a famous deceased . A bronze sculpture shows the patroness of the mountain church, St. Margaret , and the dragon she killed.

See also

• List of places of pilgrimage in the district of Kitzingen

literature

• Hans Bauer: Blessed Land. Paths through the Evangelical Dean's Office Kitzingen am Main . Kitzingen 2012.
• Hans Bauer: District of Kitzingen. An art and culture guide . Market wide 1993.
• Georg Dehio: Handbook of the German art monuments. Bavaria I: Franconia . Munich and Berlin 1999.
• Harald Knobling: The mountain church St. Margarete zu Hohenfeld . Regensburg 2005.

Web links

Commons : St. Margarete (Hohenfeld)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Bauer, Hans: Gesegnetes Land . P. 90.
2. ↑ Knobling, Harald: The mountain church St. Margaret to Hohenfeld . P. 24.
3. ↑ Knobling, Harald: The mountain church St. Margaret to Hohenfeld . Ibid.
4. ^ Hans Bauer: District of Kitzingen . P. 54.
5. ↑ Harald Knobling: The mountain church St. Margarete zu Hohenfeld . P. 26.
6. ↑ Knobling, Harald: The mountain church St. Margaret to Hohenfeld . P. 34.
7. ^ Bauer, Hans: Gesegnetes Land . P. 91.

Coordinates: 49 ° 43 ′ 12.6 "  N , 10 ° 9 ′ 42.7"  E