Station: [7] Treasures in the Display Cases

The display cases and furnishings of the Felsenkirche illustrate just how closely Oberstein and the history of this place are intertwined.

Idar-Oberstein and gemstones have been inseparable for over 600 years. This connection has also left a clear mark on the Rock Church. In the middle of the three display cases in front of the altar area lies the agate cross. It is naturally formed from the stone that has shaped this region like no other. The cross is a gift from the Petsch siblings of Idar-Oberstein. You can see its counterpart at the German Mineral Museum, located right at the foot of the Rock Church.

Then turn your gaze toward the altar. The cross there is made of rock crystal. It was created by the Idar-Oberstein engraver August Schmelzer in 1929. Here, local craftsmanship and local materials come together. Depending on how the light hits it, the cross seems to glow from within.

The display cases hold even more treasures. Particularly striking is a late-Gothic brass baptismal basin. It was crafted in Nuremberg around 1500. It depicts Adam and Eve on either side of the Tree of Knowledge, with a serpent coiled around the tree. To the right of the altar stands the matching hexagonal baptismal font. It dates from the time the church was built.

In front of the pews, you’ll see two heavy oak chests with iron fittings. The older one likely dates back to the 14th century, making it older than the church itself. The congregation once kept its most important documents in these chests; they were best protected from fire inside the rock.

The left display case contains wooden bushels. These are old measuring vessels for grain. They were presumably used to measure the payments in kind that people owed to the church—a precursor, so to speak, to today’s church tax.

Even the bell in the tower has an unusual story. It was cast in 1686. According to its inscription, it was not originally intended for Oberstein at all, but for a Catholic village on the Moselle. No one knows exactly how it came to be here. But one thing is certain: it is the only bell in this church to have survived both world wars.

Thus, the display cases and furnishings preserve not only precious objects but also many traces of this church’s history.