Our Lady (Merkendorf)
| Our Lady | ||
|---|---|---|
 Our Lady in Merkendorf |
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| Data | ||
| place | Merkendorf | |
| Client | Heilsbronn Monastery | |
| Construction year | 1478 | |
| Coordinates | 49 ° 12 '17.2 " N , 10 ° 42' 5.2" E | |
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| particularities | ||
| Burned out twice | ||
Our Lady is the Evangelical Lutheran town church of the city of Merkendorf in Schulstrasse 3 in the Franconian Lake District ( Middle Franconia ).
history
Late Middle Ages
The foundation stone for the late Gothic square construction was laid on the Sunday before St. Michael in 1478. This is evidenced by the foundation stone on the south side of the choir : “In 1478 Jar on the Sunday before Michael, the first stone is laid.” The church was consecrated to Mary , the mother of Jesus. The builder of the church was the Heilsbronn monastery . The steeple, which was initially planned on the northeast side of the church, was built on the north side and completed in 1528. The first Protestant service was held in 1524 by Pastor Matthias Pauer (or Bauer).
17th century
On March 12, 1648, towards the end of the Thirty Years War , almost the entire city was burned down by Protestant Swedes , including the church. The church was consecrated again in 1655 with makeshift furnishings .
20th century
Over time, some renovations were made to the church. The last renovation before the Second World War took place in 1932. On April 18, 1945 , the town and the town church again fell victim to the flames due to the shelling of approaching Americans . The church burned down completely. Only the altar figure of Luke could be saved by the parish priest Wilhelm Boß. Only the Bible verse from the Book of Jeremiah , painted on the church wall, was not destroyed. There it says: "O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord" (Jeremiah 22:29).
After 1945
On August 16, 1947, the topping-out ceremony for the reconstruction was celebrated. The ceremonial consecration took place on October 31, 1948, Reformation Day . During the reconstruction, the services were celebrated in the TSV gym. In 1950 the choir vault was built. In autumn 1953 the installation of the new organ from Göttingen began. The stained glass windows in the choir were installed in December 1980 and March 1981 by a Regensburg glazier.
The Windsbacher boys' choir used the Merkendorf town church for radio recordings because of the good acoustics.
The ringing was extended from three to six bells in 1975.
The figure of the Evangelist Luke has been hanging on the right in the choir since the church was rebuilt. On April 18, 2010, 65 years after the city was destroyed, the statue of John the Evangelist was donated to the church.
On Pentecost Sunday 2011, the church windows with six biblical motifs on the right in the choir, which were partly destroyed and renewed in the fire of the town church in April 1945, were consecrated. Originally there were 15 motifs. The church windows by the Nuremberg glass artist Alfons Abel were installed in the 1930s. The motifs are the Good Shepherd , Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane , the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples , the resurrection of Christ and Pentecost .
Dean's office
In 1524 the Evangelical Lutheran congregation Merkendorf came under the patronage of the Principality of Ansbach . From 1797 to 1806 she was part of the Gunzenhausen deanery and of the Windsbach deanery until 1867 . The parish has belonged to Gunzenhausen again since 1876.
Evangelical Lutheran Parish Merkendorf
The Evangelical Lutheran parish of Merkendorf has around 2,500 parishioners in the following places:
- Merkendorf with the Weißbachmühle
- Adelmannsdorf
- Bammersdorf
- Dürrnhof
- Gerbersdorf
- Heglau
- Kleinbreitenbronn
- News
- Reuters
- Selgenstadt
- Triesdorf train station
- Willendorf
and the evangelical residents of
Großbreitenbronn has been pasture to Weidenbach since 1810 . Hirschlach forms its own parish. Until the second pastor's position was dissolved in 1952, the second pastor of Merkendorf looked after the community. Since then, this has been in the hands of the first pastor.
Parish priest
Prominent city pastors
- From November 1, 1836 to March 27, 1837 Wilhelm Löhe (founder of Diakonie Neuendettelsau ) was parish administrator in Merkendorf
- 1837–1842: Friedrich Layriz (author of the third and fourth stanzas of the Christmas carol Es ist ein Ros sprung ) performed the second pastoral service in Hirschlach
- At the beginning of the 20th century, Simon Schöffel (regional bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Hamburg state ) was vicar in Merkendorf
City pastor since 1940
- 1940–1952: Wilhelm Boß
- 1952–1974: Christian Lechner
- 1974–1991: Karl Schrems
- since 1991: Detlef Meyer
literature
- Wilhelm Koch , Heinrich Helmreich: The Evangelical Lutheran town church . In: Merkendorf - historic small town in the Franconian Lake District . Merkendorf 1988, pp. 172-181.
- Heinrich Helmreich: Merkendorf 1945 - 50 years later - contemporary witnesses remember . Merkendorf 1995.
- Wilhelm Koch: Destruction and reconstruction of the city church . In: War and Peace - Merkendorf 1944–1949 . Merkendorf 2006, pp. 69-82.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Wilhelm Koch: Merkendorf 1945 . In: Stadt Merkendorf - historic small town in the Franconian Lake District . Merkendorf 1988, pp. 73-82.
- ^ Wilhelm Koch, Heinrich Helmreich: The Evangelical Lutheran City Church . In: Stadt Merkendorf - historic small town in the Franconian Lake District . Merkendorf 1988, pp. 172-181.
- ^ Wilhelm Koch, Heinrich Helmreich: The Evangelical Lutheran City Church . In: Merkendorf - historic small town in the Franconian Lake District . Merkendorf, 1988, pp. 172-181.
- ^ Wilhelm Koch, Heinrich Helmreich: The Evangelical Lutheran City Church . In: Stadt Merkendorf - historic small town in the Franconian Lake District . Merkendorf 1988, p. 181.