Pfarrkirche St. Martin, Parish church in Langenargen, Germany.
Pfarrkirche St. Martin is a baroque parish church in Langenargen, built 1720–1722 by Leonhard Gmeiner. Its rectangular nave with a basket-arched apse and cross-ribbed vault is adjoined by a Heilig-Geist-Spital on the street side and a Marienkapelle with a library above on the lake side. The 55-meter north tower was added in 1735; a matching second tower was never built.
The counts of Montfort moved the parish church from the medieval centre to a site near their castle, where it was built from 1720 to 1722 by Leonhard Gmeiner on the spot of the 1479 Fridolinskapelle. The foundation stone was laid in 1718 by Konrad Ferdinand Geist von Wildegg, and Johann Franz von Stauffenberg consecrated the church in 1722. The north tower followed in 1735 under Count Ernst; a matching second tower was never built.
The pulpit is carved from marbled wood and bears a relief of John the Baptist preaching; its back panel shows a Saint Joseph image from around 1660, and a putto blowing a trumpet crowns the soundboard. The stucco of around 1733 forms a pale Regence scrollwork, and Franz Anton Maulpertsch painted the ceiling frescoes.
The church is open daily and sits centrally at the town square, making it easy to visit and locate. Visitors can use the tower as a landmark to orient themselves while exploring the surrounding area.
The church was planned with two identical towers 55 metres high, but money ran out: only Count Ernst's north tower was built, in 1735. The design's authorship is unresolved; the Vorarlberg master builder Christian Thumb is discussed as a possible architect.
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