St. Marien (Altenschönbach)

The church in Altenschönbach

The Evangelical Lutheran parish church of St. Marien in Altenschönbach in Lower Franconia is one of the sights of the Prichsenstadt district. It is located on the main street of the village and is now part of the Castell dean's office .

history

The history of a church in Altenschönbach does not begin until the 14th century. The village had previously been mentioned for the first time in 1230, but the sources are silent about the church conditions at that time. Around 1350, a church in the village became tangible. At that time it was eleven meters long and seven meters wide. The church stood in the same place as the current building, but was not equipped with a tower.

In 1496 the old church had become dilapidated and most of it was torn down. During the new building, the basic shape of today's church and next to the construction of the tower emerged. In 1525, the farmers burned the church down when they attacked the castle of the hated Lords of Crailsheim , the village lords of the time. The reconstruction proceeded rapidly, so that the building could be consecrated again soon afterwards.

At the same time, Lutheran congregations emerged in the vicinity of the village. In 1545 the Lords of Crailsheim also introduced the Reformation to the community. At the beginning of the 17th century another renovation was necessary. In 1604 the flat ceiling was built in with the painting and the galleries were added . The characteristic pointed helmet was placed on the tower.

Even before the village was devastated in the turmoil of the Thirty Years War , the community established the school in 1619. The church was damaged during the war, but was soon repaired. In 1732 several evicted Protestants from the Salzburger Land moved through the town, they were housed in the nearby Gochsheim . In the baroque period, some new furnishings came into the church.

In 1839 and 1857, two waves of emigration to the American St. Louis, Missouri rocked the community. Nevertheless, renovations were carried out around 1850. In 1929 several Darbysts , members of the Brethren Movement, were accepted in Altenschönbach. During the Weimar Republic, Andrea Ellendt made an appearance in Altenschönbach , inaugurating a plaque for soldiers who died in the World War.

The years 1960 to 1964 then brought another extensive renovation. The church was also repaired from 1988 to 1991. Altenschönbach has not had its own pastor since 1968, but is also supplied from Prichsenstadt . The Bavarian State Office classifies the church as a monument, the underground remains of the previous buildings are listed as a ground monument.

architecture

Ground plan and elevation of the parish church

The east-facing church is located in the middle of the village square, has a polygonal choir and is surrounded by a meadow. The tower was added south of the choir. It is three-story and ends at the top with a Julius Echter helmet . The top floor can also be seen from the outside through a cornice. Four rectangular windows on the upper floor are equipped with sound arcades. An ossuary used to be housed in the basement of the tower .

The nave with an almost square floor plan and the rectangular portal in the north is lit in two rows by rectangular windows. Also in the north, east of the portal, a staircase leads to the gallery. The choir of the church is also equipped with rectangular windows. A flat ceiling completes the interior.

On the outside of the tower a plaque from the time of its construction bears the inscription: “Praise God, Mariae der Virfrauen, this church with the cor durn and one side has been lengthened and widened by Peter Esel as the builder of Kirchen Gut and his other people Help accomplished in 1496. “It is unclear whether Peter Esel was really the master builder or the village master at the time, Peter von Esel.

Furnishing

Epitaph from 1596

The largest epitaph in the church fills the larger south side of the choir arch in the east of the church. It was created around 1596 after the death of Georg Wolfgang von Crailsheim, whose sister had it made in his honor. The master stonemason is unknown. The structure of the memorial stone is similar to that in the St. Laurentius Church in Fröhstockheim .

An altar-like structure with fully plastic figures form the focus of the work. On the left the deceased Georg Wolfgang von Crailsheim kneels under a cross. On the right is his wife, née Geyer von Giebelstadt , shown praying with their twelve children. An architrave with the ancestral coat of arms completes the epitaph. The coat of arms of the Crailsheim and Geyer families frame a large crucifix .

Three writing plates bear the following inscriptions: “LIVE LIKE AN OLD DEVTSCHER FEIN / HIELT HOCH TRAVWEN VND GLAVBEN BEIN / DARVMB ER AVCH BRED DAVON / PRAISE, HVLDT VND GVNST BEY EEDERMAN”, “DIS DENKMAL VON STEIN SEIN / ZVECHT AVNFFENFFER ALSO BAR / AVF YOUR OWN COSTEN GAR "and" GOTT MERCY THE HIGHLY BORN LIFE / WANT VNS TO GIVE ABUNDANTLY TO ALL / DVRCH CHRISTVM HIS DEAR SON / THE HEAVENLY FREVDT VND ETERNAL CRON ".

Coat of arms

The brightly painted flat ceiling of the nave by an unknown artist was installed in 1604 as part of the redesign of the church on behalf of the Lords of Crailsheim. It probably represents an ancestral test because it bears different coats of arms . It was renewed and renovated around 1850. The beam in the middle of the ceiling divides the painted surfaces into two parts. The boards were painted with glue paint. They show, framed by tendrils, several coats of arms of the Franconian noble families.

List of noble families on the coat of arms
south
Westerstet	Ostheim	Berlich	vulture	Redwitz	Giech	Leyneck	Grailsheim
woodpecker	Doing	Koenigshofen	Wolfskel	Lichtenstein	Schaumberg	Wank stone	Seckendorf
hamlet	Eberstein	Mitzhaim	Dettelbach	Truchsess from Pomersfeld	Gotsfelden	Wallenrot	Simar
stone	Marshal v. Ostheim	Steinau	Schenck v. vulture	Bibra	Fox	Streitberg	Willmersdorf
north
sable	Bibra	Vinsterlohe	Schaizerer	Wetzheim	Masbach	Muenster	Rosenberg
Lichtenstein	Seckendorf	Doing	Wengkheim	Marshal von Ostheim	Sweeping	Giech	Fronsberg
Schenk von Seldeneck	Bar	v. Baldersheim	Mersfeld	Voit v. Salsburg	Schaumberg	Lichtenstein	Helmet stat
Hostel	Vestenberg	Wolfskel	Dimar	Herbilstat	Hostel	Marshal v. Level	Rechberg

Bells

The tower of the church has a three-part bell . The smallest bell dates back to the 15th century, the two large bells were purchased after the Second World War to replace the melted down bells.

number	volume	Caster	Casting year	diameter	heading
1	H'	Karl Hamm	1950	860 mm	“To the memory of the fallen and abandoned - Be faithful to death so I will give you the crown of life. K. Hamm Regensburg poured me in 1950 "
2	cis ''	Karl Hamm	1950	680 mm	“Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done. K.Hamm Regensburg poured me in 1950 "
3	fis ''	Hans Hall	15th century	550 mm	Gothic minuscules

Further equipment

The altar in the center of the choir in the Rococo style is decorated with shell work and came into the church in 1790. The excerpt is an eye of providence. A pulpit had already been installed in 1680 . It has a polygonal body and is equipped with two twisted corner columns. Acanthus fillings are used as decorations.

In addition to the large epitaph, the walls of the church bear other memorial plaques. They are dedicated to the children of Georg Wolfgang von Crailsheim, who were buried before their father. There is a grille behind the altar, which was probably part of a former mansion that was removed in 1701. The organ was placed on the west gallery in 1967.

literature

• Hans Bauer: The Kitzinger Land. Valuables, monuments, curiosities. Volume I . Volkach 2004.
• 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.
• Rudolf Kniewasser (Ed.): Castell-Grafschaft and Dean's Office . Erlangen 1991.
• Wilfried Reinhardt: The noble coat of arms in the church of Altenschönbach, Gerolzhofen district. Allow . Wuerzburg 1972.
• Karl Treutwein : From Abtswind to Zeilitzheim. History, sights, traditions . Volkach 1987.

Web links

Commons : St. Marien (Altenschönbach)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Kniewasser, Rudolf (Ed.): Castell. County and Deanery . P. 80.
2. ^ Kniewasser, Rudolf (Ed.): Castell. County and Deanery . P. 81.
3. ^ Dehio, Georg: Handbook of German art monuments . P. 18.
4. ^ Bauer, Hans: The Kitzinger Land . P. 14.
5. ^ Treutwein, Karl: From Abtswind to Zeilitzheim . P. 17.
6. ↑ See: Reinhardt, Wilfried: The noble coat of arms in the church of Altenschönbach .
7. ↑ Church tower inspection and YouTube video
8. ^ Bauer, Hans: District of Kitzingen . P. 71.

Coordinates: 49 ° 49 '24.1 "  N , 10 ° 23' 53.4"  E