Protestant Churches in Schäßburg

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Church on the Hill
 


The Curch on the Hill, dedicated to Saint Nicholas and located on the "Schulberg" (429 m), is visible from afar, regardless of the direction you enter the city. Its construction dates back to the beginning of the 13th century AD, when the basilica with three naves and a massive western tower was built. A second construction phase spanned the period from 1345 to around 1400, when the choir was rebuilt in the Gothic style. Incidentally, the choir stands on the remains of an older hall church, today the only crypt in Transylvania. The final construction phase ended around 1500; the late Gothic hall, including the south porch, and also the frescoes date back to this period, with two dates bearing witness to this: 1483, on a window of the south façade, and 1488, in the tower porch, which Jakobus Kendlinger from St. Wolfgang identifies as the painter.
The Curch on the Hill was the undisputed parish church of the city of Sighisoara until the Reformation. This changed, however, during and after the Reformation, when the monastery church on the castle plateau (which belonged to the Dominican Order until 1544), which was much easier to access, overtook it in this position. From the middle of the 16th century onwards, the mountain church was used less and less for worship purposes and eventually fell into a kind of Sleeping Beauty slumber. As a result, it became increasingly dilapidated and towards the end of the 20th century it was dangerous to enter. Comprehensive renovation and restoration measures, carried out between 1992 and 2003 and financed by the Messerschmitt Foundation from Munich (Phase I) and the Romanian Ministry of Culture (Phase II), not only helped to secure the building's structural integrity (carried out by specialists from the Karlsruhe University of Technology using the so-called "prestressing process"), but also uncovered true treasures: for example, For example, a number of frescoes that had been whitewashed over time (such as the image of St. Nicholas in the tower vestibule, the Archangel Michael on the vault above the north entrance, the Last Judgment on the east wall of the north aisle, or the sequence of images from the story of St. George on the north wall) were uncovered and restored; in 2004, the Bergkirche even received the EU's Grand Prize "Europa Nostra."

The Bergkirche also contains a number of true treasures from other churches: e.g. These include the altars from Schaas, Meeburg, and Reußdorf, the baptismal font from Schaas, the altarpiece from Felsendorf, the tunnel chests from Henndorf, fragments of pews, etc. All of these valuable sacred objects had to be "rescued" in the 1990s, when, in the wake of mass emigration following the fall of communism in 1989, a number of village churches in the area surrounding Sighisoara were left to their fate, and no parish could care for them any longer. To protect these objects from decay, vandalism, and theft, they were relocated to the Curch on the Hill, where they now have a place of honor.

Services are held in the Curch on the Hill on a few Sundays during the summer; usually at Pentecost and then on the last Sunday of each month. Services are mainly held in the monastery church—during the colder months, in the prayer room there, which has been converted into a "winter church." However, concerts are regularly held in the Curch on the Hill (usually on Fridays during the warmer months). And of course, as a tourist attraction, it's open for tours. The visitor program can be found on this website.

Fresco to the legend of George





 
Monastary Church



The Monastary Church looks like this. After the Mongol invasion of 1241, the Dominicans also came to Transylvania.
We have an indulgence from Pope Boniface VIII dated March 20, 1298, in which the monastery and the Church of St. Mary (in Romanesque style) in the castle are mentioned as already existing. This means that the construction phase must have taken place earlier (1950s, 1960s, 1970s, etc.).
Since the late 15th century must have been economically more prosperous, the monastery could also afford to enlarge the church. The current monastery church, however, is a mixture of Gothic and Baroque, as there was a major fire in 1676 that destroyed almost the entire castle.
In the monastery church, everything made of wood burned, and the vault above the nave collapsed.

During the Reformation period (first half of the 16th century), the Transylvanian Saxons joined the Lutheran Reformation, including the people of Sighisoara.
The monks were expelled, the monastery buildings were secularized, and all sorts of things were housed there (for a long time, they served as schools, and at one time, the city council also met there). In 1886, the monastery buildings were demolished, so that today we only have the (monastery) church. The name, however, testifies to the "monastic" past. Before the Reformation, the Bergkirche was the actual "parish church."
After the Reformation, the Klosterkirche competed with the Bergkirche for this position. From today's perspective, one must say that the Klosterkirche "won," since the climb to the Bergkirche is arduous.
From an architectural point of view, however, no comparison should be attempted. Each of the two churches has its own particular beauty.

Lepers' Church

The Lepers' Church was built around the middle of the 16th century.
The Siechhof was—as the name suggests—a leper colony, where there was also a school for the sick. The "curiosities" of the Siechhof Church include an outdoor pulpit (still in existence today) and a window for the distribution of Holy Communion (now walled up).
Currently, the Siechhof Church is in the care of the Greek Catholic community.