City Church

City Church old-new
City Church - 1867 – 1872 erected by Karl Kaufmann as a neo-gothic sandstone building. Six previous constructions; Replanning 	and placing of the tower on the western façade after the last city fire.

Building Number 2 in the printed brochure
"Historic Buildings in Münchberg".

The sign is in the middle of the Church Square building side.

The history of the churches reaches back to the first mentions of Münchberg. The local researcher Fritz Gollwitzer suggests a first church around 1240. A separate parish is documented by Walter dictus Hornbeck as “vicarious ecclesial parochialis” in 1308.

In the course of the centuries (1430, 1534, 1631, 1701, 1728, 1837) warring groups or city fires destroyed the laboriously erected church building. On September 8, 1872 the current church was dedicated. According to Gollwitzer it is the seventh church on this site. The different churches were dedicated to different saints: Our Dear Lady; Peter and Paul and all of the twelve apostles. Preserved is Peter and Paul Church or it is simply named City Church.

The five piling church with wood barrel vaults built later is 45 meters long and 25 meters wide. The two side lofts and the organ loft rest on stone columns. The choir is spanned by its original cross-ribbed vault. Two of the five choir windows represent two evangelists. The colors were melted in 1870 in a new process. The altar shows the crucifixion with Mary and John. The cross that fills the frame represents the world-affecting event. The choir seats are to the left and right. The pulpit has been set in the nave on the south side next to the choir section. Three angel representations are part of the church’s decoration, one of them as the “baptizing angel”.

Archeological surveys in 2012/13 brought no noticeable signs of fire to the fore. The excavations, however, freed two graves with well-preserved partial coffins.

The existing Steinmeyer organ was brought over by the church community in Remscheid in 1969. It was built by Walcker in 1894 and reworked by Steinmeyer in 1954. It has over three keyboards and 36 registers.

The church tower is 71 meters high and accommodates four bells. The city fire of 1701 had severely damaged the bronze bells. Master Christoph Solomon Graulich from Hof gave them the current shape in 1729 and 1731 respectively. The largest has a diameter of 1.40 meters and weighs 1,409 kg.

Originally a cemetery surrounded the church. For reasons of space a new churchyard was opened in 1556 outside the city walls at the present site.

In the summer of 1660 the Margrave George Albrecht arranged for the new church district in the Margrave and established a superintendancy (later called deanship). From this time the respective city church were also deanship’s church.

In the years 2005 to 2015 the church was refurbished inside and out. With a seating capacity of about 1,200, it serves and the meeting- and divine worship place for the Evangelical Lutheran Church community with its around 6,500 members. Sacred music concerts are given here and are guided by Johann Sebastian Bach’s motto: Soli Deo Gloria: To God alone the glory!


Video: Aerial view City Church


Copywriters, authors, photographers, rights holders or sources:
Rainer Fritsch, Sandy Schroeder, Very Referend Erwin Lechner, city archives
HMW station: H16 City Church - Address: Kirchplatz 1