Dorfkirche Hausach

The village church ceased to be a parish church more than 100 years ago. This was when the town parish church of St Mauritius was completed in 1894. It took over the function of a cemetery church and also serves as a concert hall thanks to its excellent acoustics.

It is certain that a representative of the first generation of the Lords of Wolva (Wolfach) donated the first stone church towards the end of the 11th century, of which the Romanesque tympanum above the blessing door has been preserved. "When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple standing there....." - the tympanum of Hausach village church is based on this biblical quotation. It is a true Good Friday motif. The village church in Hausach is one of the most important monuments in the Kinzig valley in terms of both history and art history. First mentioned in 1148, it already existed before the town was founded. The "ecclisia Husen", as it was called at the time, was the parish church for the neighbouring farms, which later formed the parish of Einbach. The estates in Sulzbach, Adlersbach and Einbach are mentioned as early as 1091/92. This proves a settlement in the eleventh century, when the village church was also built, one of the oldest in the Kinzig valley.

The relief above the little door of blessing shows Christ on the cross, with his mother Mary on his right and his favourite disciple John on his left. Almond-shaped eyes emphasise their faces, which are rigid and introverted: For Christ, they herald death, for Mary and John the pain they feel. She has covered her head with a veil, her right arm supports her left, whose hand in turn holds her cheek - a compassionate gesture of genuine grief. John has also raised a hand, pointing at Christ and expressing his horror.

On closer inspection, the figures, which appear simple at first glance, become more expressive and emotional, although they are very restrained. This is in keeping with the art of the Romantic period, and the architectural elements in the spandrels also show that the tympanum belongs to this period: round-arched arcades on pillars and columns, as can be found in churches and castles from the 11th to 13th centuries. The sculptor had them in mind, as well as the scene of Christ's death, which he modelled on John 19, verses 26-27: "When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to the mother, 'Woman, this is your son. Then he said to the disciple, 'This is your mother.

Who the artist was must remain unknown: It was not customary to sign works at that time; people worked for the honour of God, before which the individual took a back seat. However, now that the Freiburg art historian Ulrike Kalbaum has dated the work to "around 1170/80", its context can be determined more precisely. At that time, "Einbach with the church of Husen", according to a document from 1179, was owned by the monastery of St Georgen in the Black Forest due to donations made by the nobles of Wolfach, the original owners. The tympanum would therefore have a monastic context and would have been created as decoration for the church belonging to St. Georgen. However, the work could also be linked to a special fate. A high ecclesiastical dignitary, Abbot Konrad, the head of the Tennenbach monastery in Breisgau, lived here from around 1184/85. He got into serious internal conflicts, was banished and found asylum in "Hausen im Kinzigtal" for a long 18 years. It was a time of grief and humiliation for him, perhaps the reason why he sought support and reassurance in the crucifixion of Christ. In this way, the sculpture can also be linked to him, to whom it gave comfort and faith during his exile.

Some uncovered remains also bear witness to the fact that the interior was decorated with frescoes, whereby the Last Judgement on the west wall behind the organ is of particular significance as being unique in the region: in the depiction of the Last Judgement, the damned are thrust into the hellish maw of a giant fish. An angel hovers menacingly over the "damned" with his sword, to whom the right-hand section of the "Last Judgement" fresco is dedicated in the Hausach village church. This part of the biblical depiction based on the revelations of St John in particular makes the church a popular destination among connoisseurs. In keeping with the apocalyptic theme, the first devil is driving eight pale figures in front of him directly below the angel of terror. A similar villain is pulling one of the unfortunates by the hair.

A large devil awaits these "damned" in front of an oversized, open fish maw. His gaze is directed towards them. Next to him, an equally horned man holds the hellish maw open for them with a stake or a pillar. A smaller devil in the mouth of the giant fish seems to be giving the sinners who came before him the final push down into the pit of hell. "Where the round window is today, there was probably a depiction of God the Father or Christ as judge," says Klaus Lehmann. The man from Hausach regularly shows groups around the village church, his home town and has also specialised in guided tours of sacred buildings in Baden-Württemberg beyond the borders of the municipality. However, he rejects too much interpretation of the "Last Judgement" fresco. The picture has not been researched enough.

Unfortunately, almost half of the frescoes of the "Righteous", which adorn the west wall to the left of today's round window, are no longer preserved. A large angel with a clearly visible, long trumpet is probably at the centre of this depiction. The blessed are kneeling beneath his trumpet call. They and the angel are facing God the Father and their judge respectively. The parts of this "Righteous" fresco further to the left are badly damaged.

Nevertheless, this depiction of the "Last Judgement" in the village church is remarkable. It is said that the entire interior of the Catholic church was once decorated with such murals. And probably in three bands arranged one above the other, separated by ornamentally designed strips. At the bottom, the church is said to have been decorated with the mock painting of a curtain. At least that is what the surviving frescoes suggest.

Like the "Last Judgement", only a few other paintings in the colours ochre, yellow, white and black have survived: In the band below the fresco of the "Righteous", a figure resembling Death appears to be striding to the right. Below the fresco of the "Damned", several figures adorn the field: on the left is a crowned female figure, in the centre is the rare depiction of the "Holiday Christ", flanked on the right by another crowned female figure. On the north wall, to the right of this field of vision, a smaller fresco depicts Adam and Eve picking fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Other scenes from the story of creation, such as the creation of the animals, are preserved in other frescoes on the north wall.

All these depictions indicate that the pictorial programme in the Hausach village church once showed the entire biblical story of salvation: from the story of creation, the fall of man and the Old Testament to the New Testament, the childhood of Jesus, the passion, his ascension and ending with the "Last Judgement", the return of the Lord.

However, there are no reliable sources as to when the church was decorated with the frescoes and who painted them. It is thought to have been painted around the year 1500. Some attribute the work to Martin Schongauer or his workshop. The painter and engraver decorated Breisach Minster with a depiction of the "Last Judgement" between 1450 and 1491.

The fact that the Romanesque church also served as a fortified church could be indicated by the high windows and the rather narrow, initially only side door.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the village church underwent a fundamental change under the influence of the exuberant Gothic style. The late Gothic choir with its ornate net vault bears eloquent witness to this. At this time, the church also began to function as a miners' church for the 300 miners working in Hauserbach alone. In 1905, the painter Schilling wrote: "I uncovered a reddish-brown centrepiece, or rather the entire painting of a sacrament box with figures, in the old church in Hausach and added something to it at the time." However, Schilling went quite far in his additions, as restorer Bauernfeind discovered in 1969 in the interior of the church that there were only traces of colour of the figures - Christ and two angels - in the original.

During this major restoration of the village church, some mysterious finds also emerged. "A so-called stone coffin grave with the remains of a human skeleton was discovered roughly in the centre, near the Gothic archway," writes Kurt Klein, adding that many more skeletons were found buried in front of the stone coffin and across the entire width of the nave.

There is no evidence as to whether the skeleton in the stone box grave was the burial place of the founder, his descendants or a clergyman due to the lack of grave goods. However, lime residue on some of the other skeletons indicates that the dead may have been plague victims. They may have escaped the hellish disease by dying in the village church.

The Baroque era also arrived in the village church when the two side altars were erected in 1738 and the gallery was added. The rosary altar on the left-hand side shows the Mother of God, St Dominic and St Catherine of Siena, surrounded by the 15 mysteries of the rosary. In the centre of the right side altar is Mother Anne, the patron saint of the Silberberg people of the Black Forest.

Between the back rows of pews, you can catch a glimpse of the remarkable murals during the day. Sometimes even the door at the end of the two external staircases that lead to the gallery is open. From here, the viewer can look directly into the Dutch fish maw.

The village church is a treasure trove of sacred art and the oldest building in the town.

Guided tours on request by calling 07831-7975

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