St. Nikolaus, Lutheran parish church in Wiebelsheim, Bad Windsheim, Bavaria, Germany
St. Nikolaus is a Lutheran parish church in Wiebelsheim, built with a nave added in 1730 to the west of a choir tower whose core dates to around 1350. The tower was raised in 1598 with a timber-framed storey holding the clock and bells, and is topped by an eight-sided bent spire. The choir has a ribbed vault; the nave has a flat ceiling and surrounding galleries. The winged altar was made before 1514, with a shrine figure of Anna Selbdritt and wings painted by Hans Schäufelin; the pulpit dates from 1598, the font from 1890, and the organ from 1869 by Johann Michael Bittner was restored in 1983.
Records show the church has existed since the 14th century as a branch of Windsheim parish. The village adopted Protestant beliefs in 1525 and gained its own congregation in 1728.
The winged altar was carved before 1514; its shrine holds an Anna selbdritt, Saint Anne with Mary and the Christ Child, a subject tied to local family devotion. Hans Schäufelin painted the wings. The pulpit dates from 1598, the same year the tower gained its timber-framed storey.
The church stands in Wiebelsheim, a village part of Bad Windsheim in Middle Franconia. The choir tower, built around 1350, was raised in 1598 with a timber-framed storey holding the clock and bell frame, and is topped by an eight-sided bent spire. The nave added to its west in 1730 is entered at ground level; the choir occupies the tower's ground floor under a rib vault.
The altar features a moving mechanism: its doors close during specific seasons like Advent and Lent to reveal different sacred scenes inside. The painted panels were created by Hans Schäufelin, a noted artist from that era.
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