In need of God (Erbach)
Zur Not Gottes , also known as St. Jakob Zur Not Gottes , is a former chapel near the town of Erbach in the Odenwald . Directly to the west there was a small cemetery for centuries , but the complex was ultimately forgotten and largely fell into disrepair , despite occasional burials even after the Reformation . Nevertheless, from around the 13th to the 16th century, it was a not insignificant pilgrimage destination . For a little over 100 years it has been used again for religious purposes a few times a year. The entire complex is listed .
Place of pilgrimage and cemetery
The beginnings of the plant are unknown. It is assumed, based on the place name of the surrounding, narrow gorge west of Erbach Brudergrund , that a high medieval hermitage could possibly have been located there. It is pointed out that an adjacent meadow was called "Brother Jacobs meadow". Based on the construction findings of the remains of the chapel, it is assumed that this building was originally built around 1200, which corresponds well with the first documentary mention of 1439, when it was beginning to deteriorate.
The Gothic foundation walls have the square dimensions of five by five meters in the former chapel nave and run out polygonally in the slightly indented choir with a width there of 3.75 m and another length of five meters, the construction concept is a simple hall chapel . Originally, according to the place name, it was probably dedicated to St. James . The above-mentioned bull of the Basel Council of 1439 granted indulgence in the event that donations were made for the continued maintenance of the building, which is at risk. The literature concludes from this and from other circumstances that the place must have been a very important place of pilgrimage.
Two factors led to the later, but parallel function of the pilgrimages as a cemetery chapel. Once the parish church of the middle Odenwald was only the town church Michelstadt until 1497 , only there the deceased could be blessed and buried in sacred soil. On the other hand, the construction of a cemetery, even after the town church of Erbach had been elevated to a parish church with the associated burial right, was impossible directly next to the church. On the east side of the church, the Mümling flowed past and continues to this day , and the surrounding area of the Erbacher Städel was far too tightly built up for a cemetery to be built. Therefore, Schenk asked Erasmus von Erbach , who knew the situation, in his request from 1496 to Pope Alexander VI. this in the same letter both to elevate the church in Erbach to a parish church and to approve the construction of the cemetery outside the city or away from the church. This latter decision was delegated by the Pope to the responsible Archbishop of Mainz , probably due to a lack of local knowledge. The archbishop, Berthold von Henneberg , approved the project and a few weeks after Pentecost 1498, in the presence of an auxiliary bishop from Mainz , the cemetery was consecrated. From the circumstances, Schenk Erasmus describes it in great detail, that the Erbach deceased had to be buried in Michelstadt, explains the second name Zur Not Gottes . It could happen that, especially those who died at night, could not be buried in Michelstadt in time, for example because the city gates were simply locked. Theological connection point here is the plight of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane , cf. Gospel according to Matthew , chapter 26, verse 36 ff.
Reformation and Decline
About a century after the consecration and the beginning of the use of the cemetery and the chapel as a cemetery chapel, it became clear that the little space in the Brudergrund would not be enough to continue to accommodate the deceased. Count Georg II von Erbach donated a large piece of land to the community in 1590, at that time it was located behind the manor house to the east of the city. The construction of the local cemetery chapel began in 1596 and was completed in 1601. The cemetery and the chapel are still in use today.
Introduced in 1540, the Reformation of the County of Erbach-Erbach under Count Eberhard the Younger was completed in 1544.
Both events, the establishment of the new cemetery and the introduction of the Reformation, resulted in the facility no longer being used, the cemetery no longer and thus also the cemetery chapel, not even as a pilgrimage chapel. The last burial took place in 1598. The devastation of the Thirty Years War in the Odenwald contributed to the fact that the chapel fell into disrepair. In 1747 the remains were finally removed at the behest of Count Georg Wilhelm and the stones were used for other buildings. Parts of the extensive cemetery wall were still removed towards the end of the 18th century, partly for the construction of private houses, and used for other purposes. The grave monuments from later centuries still in the former cemetery are of unknown origin.
Detection and current use
The foundations of the chapel were only exposed again in 1881, but the people buried here or their remains were never recovered, they are still in the ground.
The crucifix that is now in place of the former altar of the chapel is a foundation of Countess Erika zu Erbach-Erbach from 1905, the figure was made in Oberammergau . On this occasion, the foundations were secured and brought to the state that is visible today; the facility was last renovated in 1965.
Since just 1905, some services of the Evangelical Church community have been held as so-called forest services. Every year, beginning with Ascension Day , church services take place once a month until September, on the first Sunday of the month.
See also
literature
- Wolfram Becher: Michelstadt and Erbach - Two romantic cities in the Odenwald , published by Herman Emig, Amorbach 1980.
- Peter Weber: Pictures from the history of our district town Erbach , series: From the history of town and county Erbach , Volume 2, published by the historical association for the district town and former county Erbach, Erbach 1989.
- Count Ernst zu Erbach-Erbach: From the history of the city of Erbach , in: From the history of the city and county of Erbach , Volume 1, published by the historical association for the district town and former county of Erbach, pp. 25–84, Erbach 1989.
- Georg Dehio: Handbook of German Art Monuments - Hesse II The Darmstadt District , 1st edition 1900, continued new edition, Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich and Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-422-03117-3
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse (ed.): Ruins of the chapel “St. Jakob zur Noth Gottes “ In: DenkXweb, online edition of cultural monuments in Hessen
- ↑ a b c d Weber: Pictures from the history of our district town Erbach , p. 48
- ↑ Georg Dehio: Handbook of German Art Monuments - Hesse II The administrative district of Darmstadt , p. 224
- ^ A b Count Ernst zu Erbach-Erbach: From the history of the city of Erbach , p. 63
- ↑ Becher: Michelstadt and Erbach - Two romantic cities in the Odenwald , p. 164
- ↑ a b Weber: Pictures from the history of our district town Erbach , p. 49
- ^ Dehio: Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler , p. 221
- ^ Count Ernst zu Erbach-Erbach: From the history of the city of Erbach , p. 67
Coordinates: 49 ° 39 ′ 21.8 " N , 8 ° 58 ′ 35.9" E