Buchschwabach and its church Maria Magdalena

In a description of its properties the monastery St. Emmeran in Regensburg mentions in the ninth century a place called "puchsuapach", meaning "stream with beech trees" as its northern boundary. Consequently, it can be assumed that as early as in that time there was also a small settlement, although the village is not mentioned in a record until 1306.

Buchschwabach, where a lot of farmers had commitments to Nuremberg, became involved in the war between Count Albrecht and the city of Nuremberg. The rampart around the church could not protect the farmers against the assailants and was quickly taken by the Count's soldiers. The church was raided and completely burned down. These incidents were described by a leader of the Nuremberg corps who was personally affected by the war, because he had obtained half of the land in Buchschwabach as feoffs.

The church in Buchschwabach was not mentioned as a daughter church of St. Laurentius before 1482 and did not have its own priest.

There are no reports about the actual re-construction of the church. But from the different styles of the tower it can be deduced that the lower part of the choir originates from the early 14th century, whereas the upper part was probably built during the re-construction phase somewhen in the years after 1449. Because of the bad condition of the church apart from the tower, the nave had to be completely re-built in 1882/83.

Thirty years later the remains of the altars and sculptures that had been stored in an attic were re-arranged and exhibited in the church again. So the visitor gets the idea of a late Gothic village church and hardly notices the fact that the nave was not built before the end of the 19th century.

The late Gothic main altar in the choir, which was used as a side altar before, is from about 1500. Its centre shows the crucified Christ with Mary and John, the sidepieces depict St. Stephanus and St. Lawrence. The backs of the sidepieces are damaged, but scenes from the saints' lives can still be recognized.
Opposite the entrance door is another wing altar, which has been completely preserved. It is consecrated to Virgin Mary, who is the centre of the altar, whereas the two sidepieces show scenes from her life.

The former third altar, which is said to once have been the main altar, is only partly preserved. In its shrine it shows the figure of Maria Magdalena from 1500. The only remaining sidepiece shows depictions of biblical scenes referring to Maria Magdalena.

The pulpit was not added before the building of the new nave in 1882, but it is adorned with late Gothic figures: the saints Stephanus and Maria Magdalena and archangel Michael. Above the entrance a Madonna figure from about 1400 and another figure, probably St. Laurentius, which is the oldest piece of art in the church, can be seen.

The wall outside the church still shows old building stones from the Middle Ages, recognizable from the small holes for tonges used for the transportation of the stones, which proves that the wall had originally been a rampart. The graveyard was not used before 1863; until then the inhabitants of Buchschwabach were buried in Roßtal. The finding of human bones suggests that there must have been a graveyard before, but all the reports and records that could give some information were lost in the Thirty Years' War.

Simone Steinheimer

[Top]