St. Nazarius (Adelshofen)

St. Nazarius in Adelshofen

St. Nazarius is a Protestant parish church in Adelshofen , a district of Eppingen in the Heilbronn district in northern Baden-Württemberg .

history

A first church with the patronage of St. Nazarius is documented in Adelshofen in 1496. This patronage suggests a very old origin of the church in connection with the Lorsch monastery . The old church, safely located in the middle of the original cemetery due to bone finds, was probably destroyed in the Thirty Years War . The place recovered only slowly from the devastation of that war, so that a new church was not built at the old location until 1717/18. This church was located between the current church and the rectory (demolished in 1962) and had a wooden barrel roof . The church must have been small and simple, as it had to be repaired as early as 1763 and at the beginning of the 19th century was no longer sufficient for all believers. In the 1820s, the church was damaged again, so that in addition to repairs, considerations were made about a new building. The Graflich Neippergsche Rentamt supported the new building plans with the approval of lumber and the political community gave money.

The current church was built between 1830 and 1834 next to the old church. It is the work of the Baden building officer Karl August Schwarz , who, among other things, also built the town hall in Eppingen . The hillside location of the new property was an architectural challenge, but it led to an extraordinary solution with the semicircular floor plan and a result that shaped the townscape. The old church was demolished after the new building was completed.

The current conditions at the church were created in the course of the expansion of the Adelshofen through-road in 1962. The old rectory from the 18th century had to give way to the thoroughfare, a new rectory and a community center were built in the vicinity of the church. The slope west of the church was redesigned with new stairs and the war memorial. During the renovation of an old paved path, some old tombs were found that had been laid with the picture side down as paving stones. One of these tombstones was walled into the west gable of the church, where he added a tombstone found in 1950/51 when a pit was excavated behind the lap bar.

In 1964 the interior of the church was renovated. Another renovation took place in 1984.

description

Grave slab of Anna Maria von Neipperg

The church of St. Nazarius towers over the village on an elevated point and has a nave consisting of half a rotunda . It is covered by half a cone , and on the front is the church tower .

On the back, the unusual shape of the rotunda impresses with the not too steep conical roof. The symmetrical portal facade has a long triangular gable on pilasters . The slate roof matches the silver-golden shimmering yellow sandstone . The facade is laid out on two floors, separated by a belt.

On the gable side facing the place , two doors to the right and left of the central tower lead into vestibules, from which stairs can be used to access the galleries . The upper part of the semicircular church service room has pilasters around the entire building with strong corner pilasters. The windows are arched, with the middle window of the rotunda being bricked up.

On the gable side there are historical grave slabs and inscription stones. The statue of a knight shows Ludwig von Neipperg († 1570), bareheaded and standing on a lion. At the top left you can see the coat of arms of the Lords of Neipperg (three rings), on the right that of his wife, a born von Hornstein. The children's grave is that of Anna Maria von Neipperg († 1571), daughter of Reinhard von Neipperg. The third grave slab is that of Anna von Neipperg, geb. vom Stein († 1582), wife of Georg Wilhelm von Neipperg. The coat of arms stone above shows the alliance coat of arms Neipperg / Hornstein and the year 1564. This fragment is probably the building inscription of an abandoned manorial building.

The church in Adelshofen is one of the most interesting classical churches in Baden. Inside, the stylishly simple wooden benches and the wooden galleries complete the overall impression.

organ

The church received an organ from Wilhelm Overmann on the occasion of the new building around 1830 . In 1968 a new organ from the Ahlborn company was installed.

literature

Edmund Kiehnle : The church at Adelshofen . In: Kraichgau. Contributions to landscape and local research , volume 10, 1987, pp. 205–212.
700 years of Adelshofen. 1287-1987 . Published by the city of Eppingen, Eppingen 1987 ( Eppinger city history publications ).