Pfarrkirche, Catholic church in Marktgraitz, Germany.
Heiligste Dreifaltigkeit is a three-aisled basilica in Marktgraitz, rebuilt in 1958/1959 by architect Lothar Porzelt after a fire. The new nave has a wooden beam ceiling and two lower side aisles, with sandstone-clad reinforced concrete columns carrying the arcades. The square tower rises nearly 45 metres; the Gothic five-eighth choir from the 15th century with its net vault and the Romanesque portal wall of the later 13th century survive from the older church.
A church existed in Marktgraitz, then called Grodeze, by 1128, when Bishop Otto of Bamberg stayed there during a mission to Pomerania. The parish belonged to the Bishopric of Bamberg, but its priest was under the Bishop of Würzburg until the Bavarian dioceses were reorganised in 1808. A lightning strike burned the nave in 1731; a fire on the night of 22–23 February 1958 destroyed the church, rebuilt by architect Lothar Porzelt and consecrated on 15 March 1959.
The parish belonged to the Diocese of Würzburg until 1808, when Bavaria's dioceses were reorganised and it passed to Bamberg. A Protestant pastor, Pankraz Reuß, was installed in 1552/1553 and stayed on after Margrave Albrecht Alcibiades was defeated; a Catholic priest returned only in 1611 under Bishop Johann Gottfried von Aschhausen.
The church can be visited and guests should remember it is an active place of religious life, so respectful behavior and appropriate dress matter. Navigation inside is straightforward since the layout follows a clear traditional church structure.
The 1958 fire destroyed the church, but two older elements survived and were built into the reconstruction: the Gothic five-eighth chancel from the 15th century, covered by a net vault, and the Romanesque portal wall from the second half of the 13th century. The new tower is square and nearly 45 metres tall, replacing a Romanesque predecessor of 36 metres.
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