St. Michael's Old Church

Overview:

The beginnings of the church date back to the 7th century. It was a small Merovingian-period rectangular stone church with Alemannic stone cist graves in the church floor. These were discovered during excavations in 1921/22 by the Lörrach district building authority under Baurat Siebold. This means that the church is older than the first documented mention of Schopfheim in 807 AD.

In the 10th/11th century, it was transformed into a late Carolingian/early Romanesque hall church with an apse. This was followed around 1240 by a mighty choir tower, which was built in place of the apse. This tower was probably part of the town's fortifications. A short time later, in 1300, frescoes were painted in the choir, some of which have been uncovered. Since 1482, the church has had a late Gothic nave with net vaults.

In 1768, the old organ was replaced by the new Markus-Stein organ, the sounds of which Johann Peter Hebel had also become acquainted with as a student at the Schopfheim Latin School (1771-1774). In his "Feldhüter" he immortalized a stop of the organ "vox humana" which sounds similar to a singing human voice.

Worth knowing

• You can obtain the key from "im Raumausstattungsgeschäft Lohmüller next to Gasthaus Sonne" next door.
• Organ music at market time is a concert series that takes place every 14 days from May to October on Saturday mornings in St. Michael's Church from 11.00 to 11.30 am.
• There are further concerts in the Schopfheim Organ Summer series. You can find a detailed program HERE.