St. Martin (Kellmünz)

Church of St. Martin in Kellmünz

St. Martin is a Catholic parish church in the Altenstadt (Iller) parish community in Kellmünz an der Iller in Central Swabia in the Bavarian district of Neu-Ulm . It belongs to the diocese of Augsburg .

location

The church is located on the southeast corner of the former Roman castrum Caelius Mons on a 35 meter high hill in the Illertal , roughly in the middle of the village.

history

A church was built in Kellmünz on the site of a former late Roman assembly hall at the latest in the 8th century AD, from which time an Alemannic terracotta relief has been preserved. In the outer area around the east-facing church, the foundations of the former Roman assembly hall, which faces south, were made visible through colored paving.

The lower part of the tower is likely to come from the late medieval construction that followed the first. An exact dating could not yet be made. The external structure of the tower, however, points to the time around 1620. At the same time, the barons von Rechberg had the church completely rebuilt. The church essentially dates from this period and belongs to a group of churches of the same type that were built in the Iller area in the 17th century.

In later times the church was furnished in a baroque style. This equipment was lost with the complete interior renovation in 1875 when the church was furnished in a new Romanesque style. In 1917 and 1918 the frescoes in the church were repainted by Oswald Völkel . A recent exterior restoration was carried out in 2010.

Furnishing

Ceiling frescoes

The eastern fresco in the nave depicts Maria as Patrona Bavariae . Maria is seated on a throne with the baby Jesus under a brown canopy . She is shown as a queen and holds a scepter in her left hand. Mary's blue robe relates to the three open arched windows against the blue sky. The coats of arms of the eight parts of the kingdom, which fell in 1918, are incorporated into the back of the throne .

On the left , the Genoese Pope Benedict XV kneels in front of the throne . having hands folded in prayer. Ludwig III is kneeling on the right . of Bavaria , the last king of the Kingdom of Bavaria. A courtly dressed page holds the king's cloak. Pope and king have placed the crown and tiara , insignia of their power, on the steps of the throne. Behind the Pope is Maximilian Ritter von Lingg , the 78th Bishop of Augsburg . Bishop Lingg has put down the crook in his hand and the miter as a sign of humility before Mary like Pope and King. Next to the bishop, in a black cassock, stands the local pastor of Kellmünz, Pastor Grohe, who was a popular pastor at the time. Furthermore, a monk with a book in hand and a nun are shown.

On the right side people of worldly life are depicted: a farmer with a sheaf of wheat , on his right a craftsman with a hammer. Immediately afterwards follows a soldier in the uniform of the infantryman with the diamond flag of the kingdom. In front of the throne, a couple kneels devoutly with folded hands in the clothes of the time.

The fresco depicts the estates of the Kingdom of Bavaria during the difficult war, shortly before Bavaria was declared a Free State in 1918 and belonged to the Republic of Weimar . The farmer, craftsman, soldier and the couple kneeling behind the king were all residents of Kellmünz, some of whose descendants are still resident in the village today.