St. Peter and Paul (Gnodstadt)
The Church of St. Peter and Paul is the Evangelical Lutheran house of God in Gnodstadt in Lower Franconia . The church is on Pfarrer-Geyer-Straße in the south of the village. She belongs to the Deanery Uffenheim .
history
The history of the Gnodstädter Church is closely linked to that of the village. In the Middle Ages the place was part of the sphere of influence of the Würzburg Collegiate Foundation Haug . As early as 1308, a vicar from the monastery was mentioned as the first pastor in the sources. There was therefore a church of its own for several years. The sound arcades of today's tower go back to the 13th century.
During the Middle Ages Gnodstadt was probably the destination of a pilgrimage . Evidence of this is provided by the church, which until the 19th century was equipped with an outside pulpit in order to read mass outside for large numbers of pilgrims . The pilgrims' goal was a miraculous miraculous image, a Madonna . Around 1400 the church received a larger choir and the Romanesque apse was demolished. This expansion is another indication of a growing stream of pilgrims. In the 16th century, the pilgrimage ended abruptly with the introduction of the Reformation . Since 1448 the Margraves of Ansbach were village lords in Gnodstadt by inheritance. They introduced the new confession from 1528. In Gnodstadt people were initially critical of the new denomination and Pastor Hans Hofmann did not appear to visit the margraves. Under pressure from the new masters, he had to leave the village for Würzburg in the spring of 1529 . The new Pastor Fresh Eisen was the first Lutheran preacher.
The pastors of the place were important representatives of the margravial authorities in Gnodstadt. For example, around 1577 Niklas Riemenschneider, the uncle of the carver Tilman , preached there for a time and founded an early mass. During the Thirty Years' War , Gnodstadt was ravaged by enemy troops like the towns in the vicinity. However, the archives and the treasures of the parish church were not looted because they had been stored in a hiding place below the church.
The medieval appearance of the Peter and Paul Church was largely preserved until the beginning of the 20th century. The Gnodstädter pastor FW Geyer planned to extend the building. Galleries were built into the church to accommodate the growing number of believers. Pastor Geyer did not succeed in realizing his plans. A renovation failed in 1974 due to objections to the monument protection . The church was last renovated in 2014. It is listed as an architectural monument .
architecture
The Peter and Paul Church today presents itself as a simple hall building with components from several eras. The 25 m high tower from the 13th century can be considered the oldest element. At that time it was already at its current height, as indicated by the capitals of the sound arcades on the third floor. They are decorated with grimaces and animal heads, which were probably used to repel evil spirits. In 1577, Margrave Georg had the spire renewed, as indicated by an inscription on the tower. Today's flat helmet was created in 1978 based on an older model.
The tower is attached to the nave in the north . The church is not face to face , but was oriented to the northeast. Probably, this orientation is related to the originally present there Kirchenburg together, the last remains were removed to the 1875th The dimensions of the nave also largely go back to the Middle Ages. This is indicated by the consecration crosses , which were uncovered during a recent renovation and reveal the original outline of the church.
The youngest part of the church is the late Gothic choir . It dates from around 1400 and was built in place of a previous Romanesque building. It is a slightly indented polygonal choir. It is dominated by the elongated pointed arched windows with tracery , which are interrupted by buttresses. Inside, the choir closes with a pointed arch vault. The keystones are figurative, for example with the relief of a Büttner .
Furnishing
Bells
The Gnodstädter Church has a variety of furnishings. A special feature is the five-part bells in the church tower. All bells were created before 1528 and survived the two world wars in which most of the village bells were melted down. The oldest of the Gnodstädter bells is called "Stürmerin". It was created around 1300 with reliefs of the four evangelists .
The twelve o'clock bell dates from 1482 and bears the inscription "Soft hail and wind, help us Mary and her dear child." The bas-reliefs of Saints Peter and Paul mark this bell. The death bell was created around 1500 and bears the Bible verse Luke 4:30. The inscription on the eleven o'clock bell from 1509 reads: “ Regina caeli letare. Alleluia. Que tu meruisti potare. Alleluia ". A small quarter-hour bell bears the inscription “Ave Maria Gracia plena Dominus tecum”.
Further equipment
The destination for the pilgrims was a Gothic Marian altar to the right of the choir arch with the seated Madonna. The Madonna was sold to Frickenhausen am Main in the 19th century and later came to Düsseldorf. The altar blast was painted on and was not exposed again until 1950. It shows Jesus at the hostage column , which is framed by hostage tools . Gothic columns with figures of angels rise above it. Originally there was also a painted altar on the left side. The picture program is reminiscent of the Herrgottskirche in Creglingen .
Since the redesign in the spirit of the Reformation, two portraits of the reformers Luther and Melanchthon have been hanging on the south wall . A new pulpit in the Renaissance style moved into the center of the liturgy. It experienced several changes in the period that followed. In 1738 it was leaned against the choir arch, in 1866 the evangelists were painted. Today the cover is missing .
The six epitaphs of the local pastors are also a symbol of the Reformation. They show clergymen from between 1606 and 1708. Three of the works were created by Philipp Niklas, who worked in Gnodstadt from 1610. All pastors are shown with the then customary black robes and a white choir shirt . Only one tomb has a coat of arms. Stonemason Niklas also created the sacrificial stock from 1625. It was originally intended as a base for a wayside shrine in Ochsenfurt .
At times there were three baptismal fonts in the church . After the renovation in 2014, the oldest from 1597 is in use. It is covered with stonemason's marks. In the 18th century the new main altar was added to the church choir. It shows a Lord's Supper scene that is reminiscent of the painting of the same name by Peter Paul Rubens . Simple acanthus decorations frame the altar. Instead of an extract, it bears an inscription. The organ on a gallery above the altar dates from 1977.
Another special feature are the many galleries. After the Reformation, people began to equip the church with it because the sermons now took longer to complete. Sebastian Öchsner from Creglingen created a painting with passion scenes in 1663 . The last fields of the middle gallery bear the coat of arms of the Margraves of Ansbach. A second, probably the coat of arms of the Oettingen family , was deleted.
Pilgrimage
The pilgrimage history of Gnodstadt can only be guessed at by means of clues, since no written evidence is available. Initially, three of the five bells were consecrated to Our Lady, and in 1477 an Altar of Mary was donated. On the west side of the church there was an outer pulpit that was removed in 1844 . It was comparable to that at the Herrgottskapelle in Creglingen, which was also visited by pilgrims.
There was probably a paved pilgrimage path that led from Eichelsee via Hopferstadt to Gnodstadt. The pilgrimage probably drew pilgrims to the village between the 14th century and 1528. The Reformation then ended this tradition. The pilgrims' goal was a miraculous image from the second half of the 15th century. Today this Madonna is kept in the Andreas Church in Düsseldorf , where it was sold in 1915. The Dominican convent resident there venerates her as Maria with the pear from Gnadenstadt .
See also
literature
- Hans Bauer: The beautiful Madonna of Gnodstadt. In: Yearbook for the district of Kitzingen 2011. Under the spell of the Schwanberg. Dettelbach 2011. pp. 167-174.
- Hans Bauer: District of Kitzingen. An art and culture guide. Market wide 1993.
- Hans-Ulrich Hofmann: Church leader through the Peter-and-Pauls-Kirche Gnodstadt. Leaflet. Gnodstadt 2014.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Bauer, Hans: District of Kitzingen . P. 93.
- ↑ Bauer, Hans: The beautiful Madonna of Gnodstadt . P. 167.
- ↑ Hofmann, Hans-Ulrich: Church leaders through the Peter and Paul Church Gnodstadt . P. 7.
- ↑ Hofmann, Hans-Ulrich: Church leaders through the Peter and Paul Church Gnodstadt . P. 6.
- ↑ Hofmann, Hans-Ulrich: Church leaders through the Peter and Paul Church Gnodstadt . P. 11.
- ↑ Hofmann, Hans-Ulrich: Church leaders through the Peter and Paul Church Gnodstadt . P. 2 f.
- ↑ Hofmann, Hans-Ulrich: Church leaders through the Peter and Paul Church Gnodstadt . P. 4.
- ↑ Hofmann, Hans-Ulrich: Church leaders through the Peter and Paul Church Gnodstadt . P. 3.
- ^ Bauer, Hans: District of Kitzingen . P. 93.
- ↑ Hofmann, Hans-Ulrich: Church leaders through the Peter and Paul Church Gnodstadt . P. 8.
- ↑ Bauer, Hans: The beautiful Madonna of Gnodstadt . P. 167.
Coordinates: 49 ° 38 ′ 12 ″ N , 10 ° 7 ′ 18.1 ″ E