St. John's Church Weinsberg, Romanesque church in Weinsberg, Germany
The Johanneskirche is a Romanesque basilica built around 1200/1210, with a rectangular nave and two side aisles linked by arcades of alternating rectangular piers and round columns. The chancel tower, square below and octagonal above, was added around 1230/1240, and the Gothic east choir around 1350. The exterior is decorated with arched friezes and carved faces, while the interior is largely plain.
The building dates to the 13th century as a typical Romanesque construction of that period. After the Reformation, it became the center of Protestant worship in Weinsberg and remained the main church of the local church district until its merger with Neuenstadt in 2020.
The church is dedicated to John the Baptist and was the main church of the Landkapitel Weinsberg, first mentioned in 1291 under the Diocese of Würzburg. Johannes Oekolampadius, later reformer of Basel, preached here from 1510 to 1518. A monument to him stood on the square from 1869 until 1967, when weathering led to its removal; an inscription on the surrounding wall now marks it.
The church sits at Okolampadiusplatz 1 in the northwestern part of the old town and is easily reached on foot. Nearby, visitors can explore the Weibertreu castle ruins and use various hiking trails that cross the local area.
The west portal, once the main entrance facing the castle, is richly decorated; its gable was removed in 1817–1820 when the roof became a hipped roof, and the eagle that crowned it now stands at the foot of the town wall opposite the portal.
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