St. Stephanus (Eichfeld)
The St. Stephanus Church is the Protestant parish church of Eichfeld in Volkach in the Kitzingen district . It towers over the center of the small town.
history
The history of the parish is closely linked to that of the Grafschaft Castell. At first the counts only exercised the rule of the village before they also took over church rule with the Reformation and the introduction of Protestant teaching in 1556.
The Eichfeld parish
In the 10th century, Eichfeld was already a branch of the original parish on the Volkacher Kirchberg . The distant mountain was still the seat of the pastor and the destination of the faithful in 1158. At the same time, however, a chaplain could already have provided services in a small Romanesque chapel in the village. On November 16, 1339, Eichfeld separated from the Volkacher Kirchbergkirche. The Würzburg prince-bishop Otto von Wolfskeel made the chapel in the village a parish church and installed Heinrich von Schweinfurt as the first pastor.
The church building was expanded in the course of this upgrade in the 14th and 15th centuries. It was a choir tower church with a small nave . The Gothic choir, which can still be seen, was added later. A stepped gable and an entrance in the west divided this church. In 1481 the name "ecclesia sancti Stephani" (parish church of St. Stephen) appeared for the first time. A foundation from Stefan Zollner von Halberg has come down to us from 1505 , who donated five guilders to the church annually.
In the thirties of the 16th century, all of Eichfeld came into the possession of the Counts of Castell . A short time later the church was devastated by the troops of the prince-bishop, as Castell had stood on the side of the Ansbacher Albrecht during the margrave war. In 1556, Eichfeld became Protestant as a castell property. Magister Philipp Hein from Volkach was the first Protestant pastor there from 1556–1563. In 1606 the village received its own parish register .
Eichfeld as a Protestant parish
The Thirty Years' War did not spare Eichfeld. From 1636 to 1645 the place was without a pastor. The armies passing through devastated the village and the church several times. Many religious refugees from England, France, Austria and the Sudetenland were accepted in Eichfeld. In 1648 the also Protestant Krautheim was parish off to Eichfeld. After the cruel war, the population in the village tried to live peacefully with the Catholic minority, which did not always succeed.
At the beginning of the 18th century, in 1703, the tower roof of the church was renewed and the helmet pole with the tower knob was attached. The interior of the church also changed. In 1709 Krautheim became independent again, but in the years 1750–1796 Eichfeld had to take care of it again. In the seventies of the 18th century a collection trip was started to Holland and Lower Saxony to finance the new building of the church. However, this trip failed. In 1780, another tower repair was carried out in Eichfeld.
After secularization and mediatization at the beginning of the 19th century, Eichfeld became a royal Bavarian rural community in 1814. In 1818 the village was added to the General Deanery of Ansbach, and in 1824 it became part of the Deanery Rüdenhausen . In the 1840s the church was extensively renovated. Twenty years later, in 1863, most of these renovations were reversed. A new ceiling was put in, windows replaced and the interior of the church repainted. In 1887 Eichfeld received a new tower clock from the Mannhardt company in Munich .
The new church building
The construction of the new church, which was planned at the same time, stalled in 1890 when the state government rejected an architect's design. In 1897, preliminary security measures were intended to ensure the safety of churchgoers. In 1902 nothing stood in the way of a new building, which the architect Kieser from Nuremberg planned while retaining the tower and the choir. The new building was inaugurated on November 26, 1902 by the Konsistorialrat Beck.
After the church survived the two world wars unscathed, it was extensively renovated in 1969–1978. Even before it was completed, the Protestant Christians from Volkach came to the Eichfeld parish. The church building is managed by the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation under the number D-6-75-174-190, the remains of previous buildings in the ground under the number D-6-6127-0243.
architecture
The church is an east-facing hall building and has a gable roof. The nave was built in 1902 and is neo-Gothic , while the choir and the tower attached to the south represent the Gothic of the 15th century.
In the west, the stepped gable is decorated with fittings. The corners of the church are reinforced with buttresses . The facade is structured by square windows at the bottom, arched windows in the middle and slot windows at the top. A central round stair tower for the stairs to the gallery breaks through the side. Half of its conical roof ends in the facade. It is structured by arched windows and ends with a tower knob.
The nave sides in the north and south each have five arched windows . In the north there are smaller, square windows below. The south side is dominated by long arched windows. A central portal forms the main entrance to the church. An inscription in the gable reads: “How lovely are your apartments, Mr. Zebaoth! Ps. 84,2 ".
The east side of the nave and the choir form the front side of the church. Slit windows structure the nave, which protrudes over the choir. The central choir is divided by three arched windows with Gothic tracery . A hipped roof with a tower knob closes the choir from above. To the north there is a round tower with a portal.
The church tower connects to the choir in the south. Its four floors can be recognized by cornices on the outside. Slotted windows structure the tower. Only the sound hatches on the upper floor, which also contains the bell chamber, are designed as arched windows. In the east and north, clocks are attached outside on the upper floor. A pointed helmet with a ball and a cross as a weather vane complete the tower at the top. Inside, the tower, the former choir of the church, has ribbed vaults.
Furnishing
When the church was rebuilt in 1902, many of the old furnishings fell victim. Today the neo-Gothic elements in wood predominate inside. Some other pieces still come from the old church.
Baptismal fonts
The first baptismal font was placed in the church in 1610. During the renovation of the church in 1902 it was brought to the local cemetery . After being renewed there in 1917, he was brought back to church in 1973. He is in the choir today. The other baptismal font was donated in 1902 by the village teacher Seubelt. Today it is located to the left of the choir arch under the gallery.
The old font is badly weathered due to its location in the cemetery. On the upper edge you can see the year 1610, below are putti heads and a relief of the crucified. The round shaft is decorated and merges into the wide base. The new baptismal font, however, has a square base. It turns into an octagonal tower, which is richly decorated by cornices. A wooden lid that tapers towards the top and the edge of which is red and green is located on the stone.
Organ and gallery
An organ in the Eichfeld church was first mentioned in 1705. At that time the instrument was on a gallery that took up two thirds of the interior of the church. This instrument was removed in 1902. It was replaced by a work by the Nuremberg organ builder J. Strebel. An organ from the Baumgartner company from Neuenrath has been in the church since 1978. It is a mechanical slide organ that is played with a pedal and two manuals.
The gallery , supported by seven pillars , now occupies the north and west sides of the interior of the church. The simple, wooden substructure is slightly surmounted by a cornice. There pilasters and medallions divide the gallery. The western part cantilevers due to the organ.
Bells
The first bell in St. Stephen's Church was the so-called Apostle Bell . It came into the house of God in 1401 and was inscribed "Lukas, Markus, Johannes, Matthäus + Anno Domini Millesimo CCC · LXXXXXI DBI". In the same century, in 1490, the Marienbell, which is still in the church, was created. Its inscription reads: "Hail, mother of grace". In 1878 the apostle bell was cast in two new bells. After one of the two was lost in World War I , a replacement was provided in 1933 and a bell from the Franz Schilling company from Apolda was placed in the bell room. But already at the beginning of the Second World War you had to give up two bells and only the Marienglocke from 1490 was allowed to keep. After the war, the church received two new bells in 1948, so that the ringing is complete again today. Their inscriptions read: “A strong castle is our God” and “Glory to God in the highest”.
| Chime | Caster | Casting year | diameter | Weight | inscription | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bell 1 | ges¹ | Czudnochowsky | 1949 | 1070 mm | 572 kg | a solid castle is our God |
| Bell 2 | b¹ | Czudnochowsky | 1949 | 830 mm | 357 kg | Glory to God in the highest! |
| Bell 3 | des² | and | 1490 | 747 mm | Hail, mother full of grace |
Further equipment
The oldest elements inside the church are the remains of the sacrament house , which was built around 1400 . It is colored, a Christ's head forms the center of the eyelash. An inscription below reads: "Christe fili dei misere mei". The sacrament house is made of sandstone. A rectangular sacrificial cane dates from 1738 and bears the inscription "Johann Lorenz Schiemer: donated this sacrificial cane · ANNO 1 · 7 · 3 · 8". The wooden pulpit is to the right of the choir arch. It came into the church in 1902 and replaced the old pulpit, which had been donated by G. Schimmel in 1564. A wooden crucifix hangs above the arch , a remnant of the old altar of the church. A chandelier in the nave goes back to a foundation by Kaspar Dittmar in 1902.
Buried in the church
In the 17th and 18th centuries, some personalities were buried in the Stephanuskirche. In particular, aristocrats from the area and higher-ranking soldiers were buried in the church.
| Surname | Year of burial | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Hans Friedrich Zöllner | 1630 | |
| Afra Zöllner | 1667 | née Eib, wife of Hans Friedrich Zöllner |
| Wilhelm Kuff | 1675 | lieutenant |
| Johann Graf | 1691 | Captain |
| Johann Dietrich von Sparenberg | 1709 |
Pastors
Almost all of the clergy who worked in the community have been known since 1339. Evangelical pastors have been responsible for the community since 1556. During the Thirty Years' War the pastorate remained vacant for a few years.
| Surname | Term of office | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Heinrich (from Schweinfurt) | 1339 | |
| Hans Model | 1377 | |
| Conrad of Coburg | 1410 | |
| Johann Heppel | 1421 | |
| Georg Ruppert | 1481 | |
| Hans Hamer | 1496 | |
| Wilhelm Schröter | 1508-1516 | |
| Georg Arnold | 1517-1518 | |
| Johannes Sigrün | 1519 | |
| Kaspar Hefner | 1521-1525 | |
| Nikolaus Bauer | 1525-1539 | called Rustikus |
| Georg Ulrich | 1540-1556 | |
| Philipp Hein | 1556-1563 | first Protestant pastor |
| Samuel Marstaller | 1563-1566 | |
| Kaspar Hahn | 1567-1586 | called Gallus |
| Johann Eydenbach | 1587-1611 | |
| Johann Georg Scipio | 1611-1616 | |
| Simon Buchner | 1616-1636 | |
| unoccupied | 1636-1645 | Wolfgang Braunwald from Rüdenhausen provides the parish |
| Johann Gütlein | 1645 | |
| Johann Lorenz Göbel | 1645-1689 | |
| Christoph Adam Zembsch | 1689-1697 | |
| Johann Adam Lorenz Drohleberger | 1697-1721 | |
| Arnold Johann Mädet | 1721-1729 | |
| Philipp Konrad Linde | 1729-1742 | Introduction of confirmation |
| Johann Heinrich Ziegler | 1742-1749 | |
| Johann Christoph Thaut | 1749-1765 | |
| Wolfgang Christian Adam Englert | 1765-1794 | |
| Georg Heinrich Gerber | 1794-1808 | |
| Johann Heinrich Diez | 1808-1820 | |
| Karl Friedrich Hermann | 1821-1826 | |
| Friedrich Wilhelm Beck | 1827-1855 | |
| Friedrich Immanuel Philipp Popp | 1855-1869 | |
| August Gustav Wagner | 1869-1870 | Parish administrator |
| Johann Friedrich Schmitt | 1870-1889 | |
| Weickmann | 1890 | Parish administrator |
| Georg Deininger | 1890-1897 | |
| Leonhard Biemüller | 1897-1913 | New building of the church |
| Friedrich Brunner | 1914-1955 | |
| Georg Eisen | 1956-1966 | |
| Helmut Schneider | 1966-1988 | |
| Heinrich Thum | 1979-2000 | |
| Hartmut Kühnel | 2000-2008 | |
| Susanne Ress | 2008-2015 | |
| Christiane Rüpplein | 2015– |
literature
- 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.
- Gerhard Egert: 1100 years of the local church. 650 years of the parish. Eichfeld . Eichfeld 1989.
- Gerhard Egert: The pastor from Eichfeld, Johann Lorenz Göbel (1645–1689) . In: Ute Feuerbach (Ed.): Our Main Loop. 1978-1992 . Volkach 2008.
- Ute Feuerbach: The Protestant Congregation . In: Ute Feuerbach (Ed.): Volkach 906-2006 . Volkach 2006.
- Karl Kolb: Fortified churches and fortified churches in Franconia . Wuerzburg 1977.
- Herbert Meyer: An Eichfeld Chronicle . In: Ute Feuerbach (Ed.): Volkach 906-2006 . Volkach 2006.
- Karl Treutwein : From Abtswind to Zeilitzheim. History, sights, traditions . Volkach 1987.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Culture trail of the Counts of Castell: Eichfeld , accessed on April 9, 2013.
- ↑ Feuerbach, Ute: The evangelical community . P. 263.
- ^ Egert, Gerhard: 650 years of the parish . P. 60.
- ↑ Geodata: Monument number D-6-75-174-190 ( Memento of the original dated December 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed April 9, 2013.
- ^ Dehio, Georg: Handbook of German art monuments . P. 312.
- ^ Kolb, Karl: Fortified churches and fortified churches in Franconia . P. 134.
- ^ Egert, Gerhard: 650 years of the parish . P. 68.
- ^ Egert, Gerhard: 650 years of the parish . P. 67.
- ^ Bauer, Hans: District of Kitzingen . P. 20.
- ^ Egert, Gerhard: 650 years of the parish . P. 19.
- ^ Egert, Gerhard: 650 years of the parish . P. 69 f.
Evangelical Church (Abtswind) | St. Marien (Altenschönbach) | Evangelical Church (Bimbach) | Evangelical Church (Brno) | St. John (Castell) | St. Stephanus (Eichfeld) | Evangelical Church (Feuerbach) | St. Laurentius (Feeding Lake) | Church of the Redeemer (Gerolzhofen) | Evangelical Church (Greuth) | To the Good Shepherd (Hague) | Evangelical Church (Krautheim) | Evangelical Church (Prichsenstadt) | Evangelical Church (Rehweiler) | St. Peter and Paul (Rüdenhausen) | St. Michael (Volkach) | To the Holy Cross (Wiesenbronn) | Gnadenkirche (Wiesentheid) | St. Sigismund (Zeilitzheim)
Churches: Dreifaltigkeitskirche (Gaibach) | Evangelical Church (Krautheim) | Mariä Schutz (Vogelsburg) | Maria in the vineyard | St. Andreas (Koehler) | St. Bartholomäus and St. Georg (Volkach) | St. Georg (Rimbach) | St. Johannes Baptist (Escherndorf) | St. John Baptist (Fahr) | St. Johannes Evangelist (Astheim) | St. Maria de Rosario (Dimbach) | St. Michael (Volkach) | St. Nikolaus (Obervolkach) | St. Stephanus (Eichfeld)
Chapels: Field Chapel (Volkach) | Cemetery chapel (Fahr) | Holy Cross Chapel (Gaibach) | Jesus on the Wies (Rimbach) | Kreuzkapelle (Fahr) | Lourdes Chapel (Escherndorf) | Michaelskapelle (Obervolkach) | Round Chapel (Astheim)
Profane churches: Klosterkirche (Astheim)
Coordinates: 49 ° 50 ′ 31.5 ″ N , 10 ° 18 ′ 3.7 ″ E