Stadtkirche - Waltershausen, TH, Germany - This Old Church on Waymarking.com

It houses the largest Baroque organ in Thuringia. The church is the parish church of Waltershausen and one of about 20 churches, which were rebuilt after the destruction in the Thirty Years War under Duke Frederick II.

In the Middle Ages here stood the first mentioned in 1326 Liebfrauenkirche, a late Gothic hall church. In 1458 the tower was built. From this time, the lower half of today's tower is preserved. During the Thirty Years' War, the Protestant Waltershausen was taken several times and desecrated the church and used as a horse stable. The inventory was damaged or robbed. Only under Duke Ernst the Pious, the church was restored in 1667 and re-consecrated. However, the building no longer lived up to the needs of the Gotha court society, and the space available at the nearby Schlosskapelle on Schloss Tenneberg was not enough.

First drafts for the project of a new church were submitted in 1716 by the Gotha Oberbaudirektor Wolf Christoph Zorn of Plobsheim and 1719 by the Hofbaumeister Johann Andreas Tütleb, both were however rejected by the Waltershäuser city council because of the financial situation of the city. With a revised design, 1719 Plobsheim managed to convince both the City Council and the Duke. On October 9, 1719, the foundation stone was laid by the Tenneberger bailiff Georg Christoph Röhn. On November 8, 1719, the duke personally laid the cornerstone. On December 19, 1720, the straightening bouquet was placed on the lantern of the church tower. Since the lantern did not like, it was replaced in 1722 by the present bell-shaped. In the presence of the court, the court clergy and the clergy of the Diocese of Waltershausen took place on November 24, 1723 the solemn inauguration. From Plobsheim could not live this event, he had died in 1721. His work had been continued and completed by his deputy and the construction supervisor, Johann Erhard Straßburger (1675-1754), and the superintendent Wurm. Laying of the foundation stone and inauguration were documented by commemorative coins and medals.

After some fires, which also damaged the upper part of the church tower, this was last renovated in 1865 by master builder Beauregard after the Baroque model of Plobsheims and got its present form.

Source: Wikipedia (visit link)

Date the Church was built, dedicated or cornerstone laid: 11/08/1719 Age of Church building determined by?: Church website If denomination of Church is not part of the name, please provide it here: Lutheran Primary website for Church or Historic Church Building: [Web Link] If Church is open to the public, please indicate hours: Not listed If Church holds a weekly worship service and "all are welcome", please give the day of the week: Not listed Indicate the time that the primary worship service is held. List only one: Not Listed Street address of Church: Not listed Secondary Website for Church or Historic Church Building: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   08/06/2018 jotheonly visited it