Photo: Matthias Ernst
“The Kulturverein Wittighausen is looking forward to the publication of a new book about the Sigismundkapelle near Oberwittighausen, which is expected to be available in autumn”, said the chairwoman Doris Dürr at a press event during the book launch.
Club member Karl Endres spent many years researching his home book “Poppenhausen, a farming village in the Gau” and repeatedly found documents and archival documents on the Sigismund chapel in various archives. He found that even recognized historians were unaware of some of the archive material or that it was not evaluated.
One of three still existing octagon chapels
Together with the Ulrich chapel in the Standorf district of Creglingen and the Achatius chapel in Grünsfeldhausen, the Sigismund chapel is one of three still existing Romanesque octagon chapels in Tauberfranken; originally there were four. They were built between 1220 and 1230. It is highly likely that the legendary chapel (hammer throw legend) was built on the site of a former pagan spring sanctuary from the Celts.
Photo: Matthias Ernst
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Almost 30 burial mounds in the nearby forests indicate a larger settlement in this era. Like many pagan places of worship, it was reinterpreted in the course of Christianization in order to gently introduce the new religion to contemporaries. There were several centuries between the missionary work and the construction of the stone chapel. It can therefore be assumed that the chapel had a predecessor church, probably a small wooden pilgrimage site, which was very popular with the people and which required the construction of the monumental chapel, which in the course of its history has been in decline several times, according to Karl Endres in his book .
Photo: Matthias Ernst
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In around three years, he looked in various archives, for example in Freiburg, Aschaffenburg, Würzburg, Karlsruhe and Bronnbach, for other materials specifically for the Sigismun chapel. He noticed that many of the previously published items could not be kept. For example, the original chapel was not destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War, as was often assumed, but had been in ruins for around 70 years from around 1600 after being destroyed, before it was largely rebuilt in its current form around 1668.
It was once up for auction – and was threatened with demolition
When the Sigismund chapel was up for auction in 1827, it even threatened to be demolished. Endres has found out that the municipality of Oberwittighausen has only waived this request. In 1846 the church was fundamentally renewed, primarily through a generous donation from the Grand Duke Leopold of Baden for 500 guilders. There were also renovations in later times, most recently in the 1970s.
Photo: Matthias Ernst
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Karl Endres has described all of this in detail in his new book, with plenty of source material. It was supposed to be presented to the public on Sigismundtag on May 1st, but that was not possible due to the initial restrictions of the corona crisis. Now Karl Endres and the chairwoman Doris Dürr are hoping for a presentation on the “Open Monument Day” on September 13th.
Book as a contribution to the connection to the homeland
The 200-page work was produced and printed with funds from the Leader funding. “In the current difficult times for clubs, we now have the opportunity to contribute to strengthening regional identity and home ties with this book, even if meetings and other activities cannot take place,” said Dürr.
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Oberwittighausen
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Matthias Ernst
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Auctions and auctions
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construction
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Books
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Monuments
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paganism
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Church buildings
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Press appointments
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ruins
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Association chairman
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Peoples of the earth
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