Protestant Church Burgscheidungen, Protestant church building in Burgscheidungen, Laucha an der Unstrut, Germany.
The Protestant Church Burgscheidungen is a stately hall church with a west transverse tower, nave and recessed choir with a three-eighth close. The tower and parts of the nave survive from the Romanesque building; the chancel dates from 1524, and the nave was rebuilt in 1723–28. The tower has round-arched paired sound openings with small columns, and the south side has a Baroque portal with a coat of arms and a volute gable.
The church began as the chapel of Burgscheidungen Castle; its west transverse tower and parts of the nave survive from the Romanesque building. The chancel dates from 1524, when the nave was also remodelled, and the nave was rebuilt again in 1723–28, the period of the tower's upper storey, slender spire and the Baroque south portal with its coat-of-arms panel and scrolled gable. The interior design is attributed to David Schatz.
Four stone epitaphs for the von Wiehe family line the walls, all attributed to Christoph Weber. The earliest, for Christoffel von Wiehe (d. 1563) and Magdalena von Saldern (d. 1580), is signed and dated 1568 and shows the couple kneeling before a crucifix, with an ancestral coat-of-arms panel above. The 1598 monument to Christoph von Wiehe (d. 1608) and Marie von Bendeleben (d. 1603) is richer in relief, with a free-standing Deësis group crowning the gable.
The church belongs to the parish of Burgscheidungen within the Laucha parish area of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany. Access is arranged through the parish; visitors should contact the Pfarramt Laucha before planning a visit. The building is a heritage monument in Saxony-Anhalt, so interior viewing may be limited during restoration work.
The church began as the chapel of Burgscheidungen Castle, which explains its size and its position beside the former residence. Four large stone epitaphs of the von Wiehe family survive inside; the earliest, for Christoffel von Wiehe (died 1563) and Magdalena von Saldern (died 1580), is signed and dated 1568 and shows the couple kneeling before a crucifix.
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