Taufengel der Engelkirche Hinterhermsdorf

The Angel Church () is an

Evangelical-Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

church in

Hinterhermsdorf Sebnitz (; , ) is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in Saxony, Germany. Geography The town of Sebnitz lies in the valley of the river Sebnitz (river), Sebnitz and its side valleys between 251 and 460 m above Normalnull ...

which overlooks this

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

village. Its name, unusual for a Protestant church, comes from the Baroque baptismal angel that decorates the interior.

Description

Angel Church is an

aisleless church An aisleless church () is a single-nave church building that consists of a single hall-like room. While similar to the hall church, the aisleless church lacks aisles or passageways on either side of the nave and separated from the nave by col ...

with a straight apse (''Schluss'') and arched windows. It supports a

gabled roof A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its roof ridge, ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The roof pitch, p ...

with a

flèche Flèche or Fleche may refer to: * Flèche (architecture), a type of church spire * Flèche (cycling), a team cycling competition * Flèche (fencing), an aggressive offensive fencing technique * Flèche (fortification), a defensive work *, ships of ...

that is decorated by a

lantern A lantern is a source of lighting, often portable. It typically features a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle, a oil lamp, wick in oil, or a thermoluminescence, thermoluminescent Gas mantle, mesh, and often a ...

. The interior has a Baroque three-winged altar (probably by a Bohemian master craftsman) dated 1681 to 1692 and by a Baroque baptismal angel, which gives the church its name. The 1846 organ was built by Samuel Heinrich Herold.

History

The Angel Church was built after 1688 on a rise above Hinterhermsdorf. The architect was Hans Hamann from

Tharandt Tharandt () is a municipality in Saxony, Germany, situated on the Weißeritz, southwest of Dresden. It has a Protestant Church and the oldest academy of forestry in Germany, founded as the Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry by Heinrich Cotta in 181 ...

. In 1846 there were numerous modifications that were largely reverted during alterations in 1939. At the end of the 1970s restoration work began that was finished in 1988.''Ev.-Luth. Engelkirche Hinterhermsdorf''
at www.kirche-sebnitz.de. Accessed on 13 May 2011.

References

External links

{{Authority control Hinterhermsdorf AngelChurch Hinterhermsdorf AngelChurch Hinterhermsdorf AngelChurch Hinterhermsdorf AngelChurch Hinterhermsdorf AngelChurch 19th-century churches in Germany