Mauritius Church (Oedheim)
The Mauritius Church in Oedheim in the Heilbronn district in northern Baden-Württemberg is a Catholic parish church.
history
The church, located on a hill roughly in the middle of the historic center of Oedheim, is the original church of the place. A first church at this point was probably built during the founding of the town during the Franconian conquest . The church has probably been consecrated to Saint Mauritius from ancient times.
The oldest evidence of the church date back to the period before 1300, when the Church and the place wine bergische Reichslehen were. A Konrad von Weinsberg donated the church to the Schöntal monastery in 1328 . An ensuing dispute about the membership of the church was decided in 1342 by Emperor Ludwig IV by resigning in favor of the monastery. In 1345 the monastery was owned by Pope Innocent VI. approved. The list of pastors in Oedheim can be fully traced back to that time. The base of the tower is still preserved from the church building from that time. The original cemetery of the place was around the church.
When the number of inhabitants in Oedheim doubled from around 400 to 800 in the 17th century, a new church was necessary. In 1719 there was an agreement on the construction costs, which were borne not only by Schöntal Monastery but also by the Teutonic Order and the parish. The construction was carried out by the Wimpfen master builder Ignatius Jochum and his Oedheim cousin Christian Jochum and consecrated on October 7, 1725 by the Würzburg auxiliary bishop Bernhard Mayer. The main altar was consecrated to the patron saint Mauritius, the side altars to Our Lady and the Archangel Michael . A new high altar was purchased as early as 1777.
In 1874, after a renewed increase in the population, the church had to be enlarged, the nave was extended and a side aisle was added. The then local pastor Friedrich Laib (1819–1903) planned the church expansion and donated a late Gothic altar of Mary. On the occasion of the expansion, the Michael's altar was also replaced by an emergency helper altar and the old cemetery was given up. Earth and bones were moved to the new cemetery which was acquired in 1798 and has been in use since then.
In 1949 the church received a new high altar. In 1957/58 frescoes from around 1450 were uncovered in the basement of the tower . The Gothic vault of the tower base shows the evangelist symbols : angel, lion, bull and eagle. Biblical representations can be seen on the tower walls, from the Annunciation to the life of Jesus to the Resurrection and the Last Judgment.
In 1978 a new organ was built by Richard Rensch , Lauffen am Neckar .
Historical grave slabs of pastors from Oedheim are embedded in the side walls of the church.
Grave slab of Pastor Georg Ritter († 1620)
Pastor Jehlin's gravestone
Mary Altar
The most important art treasure of the church is the Marien altar attached to the front of the aisle. The 115 cm wide and 139 cm high shrine contains three colored, fully plastic standing figures of the apocalyptic Madonna made of linden wood, flanked by the saints Ambrose and Hieronymus under a segmented arch decorated with little foliage in the corners. The insides of the wings show Maria Magdalena and Barbara, each as colored relief carvings. The painted outer wings show an annunciation scene that extends over both wings. Like the shrine, the predella niche is closed by folding wings. The predella and inner wings of the predella show colored relief busts of the twelve apostles. The outside of the predelle wings are not painted.
The origin of the altar is unknown. The pictorial program is neither thematically nor stylistically self-contained, so that the altar was probably assembled from independently developed components. The reliefs and figures probably date from around 1500, although a different hand can be assumed for the holy figures of the shrine and the inner wing than for the apostle reliefs in the predella. The annunciation scene on the outer wings is dated to the 19th century. It is possible that the shrine was completely painted over at the time, but it is also possible that the shrine was only newly built then.
literature
- Anton Henkel: Our churches . In: Oedheim. Contributions to local history . Oedheim community, Oedheim 1975.
- Josef Heim: The Mauritius Church in Oedheim - the center of the Catholic parish . Catholic rectory in Oedheim, Oedheim 2000.
- Hartmut Gräf: Unterländer Altars 1350–1540 , Heilbronn 1983, pp. 76–79, No. A 17 (Marienaltar).
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 14 ′ 23.5 " N , 9 ° 15 ′ 23.5" E