St. Laurentius Church

	St. Laurentius Church

On the basis of the reference to Roßtal as early as in the year 954 by Monk Widukind from the monastery of Corvey, it is assumed that Roßtal had already had a church in those days.

Apart from the crypt from the Early Romanesque period, which was possibly built around 1020, only little remains of the original church were discovered during excarvations in the graveyard.

The massive building clearly shows different periods and styles of architecture. The nave, which partly still has Romanesque windows, is probably from the 12th or 13th century. On account of the great damages resulting from a war in 1388, a tower and the gallery were added during the re-construction phase in the 15th century, later also portals and new windows, which changed the character of the privious Romanesque church.

Historical references from the 16th century describe the interior of the church as effusively rich, full of precious altars, and also mention the graves of its donator Irmingard von Hammerstein and her husband. The altars and the graves were, however, destroyed by a lightning in 1627, which also caused the collapse of the vault of the nave. When reconstructed, the nave had to be supported by buttresses at the outside of the church. The new vault, which is existent until today, is a wooden construction.

The tower has a height of 52 metres and shows a frieze decorated with heads at its south side. One of them depicts Countess Elisabeth of Nuremberg (1401-1442), who probably wanted to document that the church was re-constructed with her support.

	Nave

Any visitor who enters the church will immediately notice the double-storey gallery along the north aisle of the nave. The lower gallery was especially intended for parishioners of high rank and therefore shows the coats of arms of the Hohenzoller, the Brandenburger and the Wittelsbacher family as well as the coat of arms of the Count of Nuremberg.

Altar

The altar in the chapel - it is estimated to be from the 17th century - shows below the cross Maria and John, further down the Lord's Supper, and at its back a depiction of angels holding Veronica's veil. The three modern stained glass windows were added in 1963. In the choir, there is also a sculpture of St. Lawrence from the 15th century and a casting of a Madonna with child from about 1300, the original of which was given to the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg in 1879.

Among the epitaphs you can find those of the last Catholic priest and of the first Protestant parish priest of Roßtal.

The font was created in 1520, but not decorated in several colours until 1630. The impressive but unadorned choir stalls presumably originate from the 17th century. The pulpit was decorated in the 18th century with a floral decor and biblical scenes such as Moses on Mount Sinai, Noah's Ark and Jesus' christening in the river Jordan. A generally acknowleged piece of modern art is the chandelier depicting Jerusalem with its twelve gates.

Crypt

A sign leads the way to the crypt, the oldest part of the church, which has a length of 12m and a width of 10 m. It is one of the oldest buildings in all Franconia. The ceiling of the crypt is supported by twelve pillars. The east wall originally had three apses, of which only the middle one is still existent. The alcove in the west wall once was open and offered pilgrims the view at Irmingard von Hammerstein's grave. Her final resting-place, similar to the graves of the Emperor Heinrich II and his wife Kunigunde in the Bamberg Cathedral, was located just in front of the stairs leading to the choir.

If you leave the crypt and walk around the church outside, you will notice the late Gothic vicarage, which was first mentioned in 1410 as a bulwark of the former fortress. The height of the parapet walk at the vicarage and at the northern gate also proves the massiveness of the fortress.

Especially at the south wall of the church, there are striking scratches in the wall. One possible explanation is that before the Reformation small wooden rods were rubbed at the wall on Easter morning to light the bonfire.

Along the outside of the nave several graves of former priests of Roßtal can be visited.

Simone Steinheimer