The Church of St. Sebald, located in the northern half of the old town of Nuremberg, is one of the two large main churches in the city, alongside St. Lawrence. The mother church of St. Sebald was founded by the legendary hermit Sebald in the period around 1050/60, and was initially the Peter and Paul church in the district of Fürth-Poppenreuth. The church was later renamed St. Sebald after miracles were reported at the grave of the holy Sebald, triggering a wave of pilgrimages.
The old Peter chapel was replaced in 1230-40 by a late Romanesque pillar basilica, and the church was consecrated in 1274/75. The church underwent further extensions and heightening in the high Gothic style from 1309-45, followed by the construction of a late Gothic hall choir in the years 1358-79. In the middle of the 17th century, galleries were installed and the church was baroquised.
The Sebaldus sepulchre, created by Peter Vischer the Elder and two sons between 1509-19, is the most important work of art in the church. There are also works by other great Nuremberg sculptors, Veit Stoss and Adam Kraft, and executed designs by Albrecht Dürer for “his parish church”.
During World War II, all the roofs, the chancel arch, and the church’s towers were largely destroyed. The reconstruction, directed by architect William Schlegtendal, lasted a long time and is still ongoing in some partial areas. The main works in the interior and exterior were completed in 1957, while the repair of the western gallery with the angel choir lasted until 1976-77.
Outside the church, there is the Schreyer-Landauer-Epitaph by Adam Kraft, and inside there is the Loeffelholzaltar, works by Veit Stoss and Adam Kraft. The glass paintings mainly go back to foundations of Nuremberg patriciate. The silver shrine of Sebaldus sepulchre was forced open twice by thieves in 1461 and 1506.
The Sebalder rectory, with a very small Sebald choir and the last preserved medieval courtyard of Nuremberg, is diagonally across from St. Sebald. To 1520, the northern place of the church, current Sebald square, was part of the surrounding church cemetery, the “Sebald graveyard”.
Posted by Josef Lex (El buen soldado Švejk) on 2010-05-17 15:10:49