Morizkirche (or ''Stadtkirche St. Moriz'') is a Protestant church dedicated to

Saint Maurice Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, Maurits, or Mauritius; ) was an Egyptians, Egyptian military leader who headed the legendary Theban Legion of Roman Empire, Rome in the 3rd century, and is one of the favourite and most widely venerated saints of tha ...

Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and is the town's oldest church. Its earliest remaining structures date back to the 14th century, which superseded a church from the 12th century.

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

is known to have given several sermons there in 1530 A.D. This church currently houses the family tomb of the Dukes of Coburg. In modern times, Morizkirche serves as the main church for the congregation of St. Moriz. Due to the height of its towers, the church is one of the landmarks of Coburg. It is also one of the most important Luther memorial sites in southern Germany.

History

An earlier Romanesque basilica from the 12th century stood in the place of the current church as part of an ensemble of ecclesial buildings, including a graveyard and administrative structures. This was a ''Probstei'' of the Benedictinians of Saalfeld Abbey. The existing St. Moriz church dates from the 14th century, which makes it Coburg's oldest existing church. Construction began around 1310. The earliest surviving section is the eastern

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

, completed in 1330. In the 15th century, the west portal with its two towers was demolished and replaced by the current structure with its two dissimilar towers.

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

came early to Coburg, with preaching there in 1518. With Reformation, ownership of the church passed to the town, who took on the cost of operation. During the Easter week of 1530,

gave several sermons at the Morizkirche. In the late 17th century, , a writer of hymns, was parson and deacon at St Moriz. The interior of the late Gothic

hall church A hall church is a Church (building), church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height. In England, Flanders and the Netherlands, it is covered by parallel roofs, typically, one for each vessel, whereas in Germany there is often one s ...

was refurbished in

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

in the middle of the 18th century. Thus most of what is visible of the interior today dates from the 1740-2 renovation. Architect Johann David Steingruber created the current structure with two galleries. In this refurbishment, much of the Gothic interior was destroyed or changed substantially. Most of the rich medieval features, such as 15 altars and valuable figures, had already been lost during the Reformation, however. The church served as the burial place of the Ducal family until it became too small and a new mausoleum on the ' was constructed in the 1850s, with financial support from the Royal houses of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. On 20 October 1932, Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the parents of King

Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. Having reigned since 1973, he is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history. Carl Gustaf was born during the reign of his paternal great-grandfather, K ...

, were married at St. Moriz. On 7 July 2018, Princess Stephanie of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, only daughter of Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha married at St. Moritz to Jan Stahl, an engineer with

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

Architecture and art

The church contains the tomb of the Ducal family. It is dominated by the 13 m (47 ft) high

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

alabaster epitaph for Duke Johann Friedrich II, by sculptor Nikolaus Bergner (finished in 1598).

Organ

The organ by the Karl Schuke Berliner Orgelbauwerkstatt was installed in 1989 into a reconstructed frame originally built by Wolfgang Heinrich Daum (1740).

Today

The church is owned by the town of

, but serves as main church of the Protestant congregation of St. Moriz. As of early 2016, the church is closed for renovation. Church open for visitors in December 2023.

References

External links