Church Hill with Michaelskirche and Nonnenkirchle

The church compound, formerly surrounded by the churchyard wall, lies outside the old town on a hill above the Rems. It encompasses the late Gothic Michaelskirche, built at the end of the 15th century, and the likewise late Gothic Nonnenkirchle, a two-storey chapel probably built as a burial chamber.


Michaelskirche (St. Michael's Church)

The Archangel Michael as patron of the church relates to the Alamannian church foundation. Old churches were often built on the site of pre-Christian sanctuaries. This sword-bearing archangel was apparently particularly suitable as patron saint to replace the worship of the Germanic sword god Ziu. The location outside the later city can also be best explained by assuming that a pre-Christian sanctuary existed here. Today's Late Gothic Michaelskirche had at least two Romanesque predecessor buildings and was the original or mother church for the entire Lower Rems Valley until the 15th/16th century. It was rebuilt in the late Gothic style by Hans von Ulm the Elder and Peter von Lan, utilizing older walls from about 1440 to 1490. Inside the church the decoration was removed after the Reformation (1535), the pulpit basket from 1484, console heads, keystones and probably the relief of St. Michael were preserved. The former cemetery was occupied until 1837. The inner part was fortified and the remains of the old fortified wall and the shell tower with arrow slits are reminiscent of this. In the outer part, beyond the former defensive wall, stands the former Carolingian School (today "KARO") since 1902. The former schoolyard was redesigned for events and named in memory of the Zeller couple. (see Station 5, Dean's Office)

Nonnenkirchle (Nun's Church)

The two-storey late Gothic chapel is an art-historical gem. It was named after a"nunnery" that once existed in the house of the Beguines, which stood nearby until the town fire. It was built between 1496 and 1510 upon the previously demolished churchyard wall. In the vaulted basement was the charnel house (ossuary) of the former cemetery. The chapel on the upper floor was vaulted and painted in 1510 by Hans von Ulm the Younger. Today, the Protestant parish holds smaller services and celebrations there.