Schlosskirche Haigerloch, Parish church on rocky outcrop, Haigerloch, Germany
Schlosskirche Haigerloch is a parish church in Renaissance style with baroque elements, built on a rocky spur above the Eyach valley in the town of Haigerloch, Germany. It has a slender tower and an interior decorated with carved woodwork and stone details.
Around 1600, Prince Christoph and Princess Katharina of Hohenzollern had the church built as a burial place for their family. In the following centuries, parts of the building were reworked in the baroque style, while keeping its original Renaissance character.
The name of the church comes from the castle that once stood on this rock and shaped the town's religious life for centuries. Inside, visitors can see stone reliefs and funerary monuments dedicated to the Hohenzollern princes, set into the walls.
The church is reached by climbing stairs cut into the rock, so comfortable shoes are a good idea. Visiting outside of service times gives you the best chance to look around the interior freely.
Directly beneath the rock on which the church stands, there is a former cellar that was used as a secret laboratory for nuclear fission experiments near the end of World War II. This underground space is now open to visitors as the Atomic Cellar Museum, telling a story that few would connect with the church above.
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