Kirche St. Michael

St. Michael’s Catholic Church
 
St. Michael’s Church is arguably the oldest church in the Hunsrück region and certainly the one with the greatest historic significance. The abolition of the shared church system (simultaneum) in 1965 was followed by the first major restoration project. The excavations carried out in 1967/68 revealed that today’s late Gothic hall church was preceded by three stone buildings (8th-11th centuries). Their foundations have been partially exposed beneath the church floor and can be viewed by appointment.
The 43-metre steeple on the west-facing façade was built some time after 1200. The choir and nave were erected between 1460 and 1485. The sandstone main portal on the south side was added in the second half of the 15th century. Some of the oldest parts of the church include the 14th-century bell and the Gothic stone pulpit by the northern choir pillar, which was made around 1500.

Churchyard
 The area around St. Michael’s Church served as a cemetery until 1792. The cemetery cross (with the year 1744 inscribed on its base) still stands in front of the south-facing entrance to the church.
 
Catholic rectory
 The west side of the churchyard is dominated by the stately baroque building of the former Piarist monastery. The modern-day Catholic rectory was built at the behest of the sovereign Margrave of Baden in 1765. It originally served as a monastery for the Piarist monks who worked in Kirchberg as pastors and teachers.

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