[5] Saint Lawrence church (St. Laurentius-Kirche)
No description
Description
The church had been reconstructed again and again for over 700 years. this is why we can distinguish between 4 different building periods featuring the romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and New Baroque building style. the building styles of the respective time period have always been integrated harmoni cally into the former building. therefore it is justified to call saint Lawrence church the history book of the city.
The former romanesque building was constructed by the Monks from holzkirchen. under the leadership of the counts of Wertheim, Martin Luther’s teachings had already been pro claimed in the 1520’s in heidenfeld. in 1612, after heidenfeld again had become part of the archdiocese Würzburg, prince bishop Julius Echter of Mespelbrunn carried out the catholic reform and had a new church built in 1613/14 as a visible sign. the longhouse of the old romanesque church was torn down. only the choir, the lower part of the tower, is still intact and has been serving as sacristy ever since. the new parish church with only one nave was built in the so-called Echter style, a mix between the styles of the late Gothic and renaissance period. its pointed spire, the landmark of all Echter churches, was visible from a far distance. the tower burnt down in 1805 after it had been struck by lightning and then was replaced by the bulbous spire we see today.
The high altar painting from 1737 portrays the ordeal of the church’s patron saint Lawrence and was painted by Georg sebastian urlaub from thüngersheim near Würzburg. the altar painting includes the larger than life statues of Peter and Paul which, like the whole altar construction, were sculp tured by Jakob van der Auvera, who was a sculptor that had settled in Würzburg. the patron saint Lawrence can be found in form of a statue at the right column in the front as well as above the main church entrance on obertorstraße, where he is typically portrayed holding a grate. According to legends, the deacon Lawrence died a martyr’s death on a red-hot iron grate in the 3rd century.
During the renovation of saint Lawrence church in 1982/83, late medieval frescos were found under the interior plaster of the sacristy. these were uncovered in 2003. images of christ as the judge of the world as well as symbols of the four evangelists appeared. it is assumed that these frescos date back to the early 16th century. Another historical finding was made in 2003. When renova ting the sacristy, two historic grave covers were discovered which show William and Elisabeth of Krichingen (passed away in 1610/1612). William and Elisabeth of Krichingen were descendants of the old counts of Wertheim. the two grave covers, which unfortunately are damaged, are displayed in the back part of the church.
The fair in Marktheidenfeld is called saint Lawrence Fair. Every year, around Assumption Day (August 15) Marktheidenfeld celebrates the Laurenzi Fair with visitors from near and far for 9 days
