Martinskirche, Medieval church in Schönstadt, Germany

The Martinskirche is a church building in Schönstadt featuring sturdy stone construction and a bell tower that dominates the skyline. The interior accommodates gatherings and worship, while its structure has been a defining feature of the village landscape for centuries.

A pleban is documented in Schönstadt in 1263, implying an earlier church; Bernsdorf and Reddehausen were its parishes. The medieval building, a 17 × 8 m hall church, was demolished in 1896. The present church was built on the same site in 17 months and consecrated on 24 October 1897, funded largely by Maximiliane Eduarde Lucius; the cost was 61,500 Mark.

The parish kept the name Martinskirche, and the medieval church held late-Gothic frescoes in the choir, including Saint Catherine with her wheel, uncovered under Ludwig Bickell before the 1896 demolition. They were documented but not preserved for lack of funds; the 1897 church kept the old pulpit and baptismal font. Since 1956 a four-bell peal has rung.

The church stands in the village centre on sloping ground, with the tower set forward on its south side; the rectangular portal in the east annex serves as the sacristy entrance. The building is not oriented to the east: the choir faces north, so the tower and main approach lie to the south. Access depends on the parish of Schönstadt in the Kirchenkreis Kirchhain.

The church is not oriented east as usual: after wall paintings were found in the choir, the new building of 1896/1897 was turned 90 degrees and the choir faces north. The Apolda foundry cast three bells in 1897; they were melted down in 1917, and two of the 1925 set went in the Second World War. The present four bells have rung since 1956.