St. Andreas City Church (Selb)

It's a big church

St. Andrew's Church was rebuilt after the great fire in 1856

Parish Church of St. AndrewA branch church of Aš was first documented in Selb in 1310. A Gothic town church was built in the town in the 15th century, which was incorporated into the Reformation in 1528. The building was destroyed in the great town fire of March 1856. Work on a new building on the same site began in 1859, according to plans by the Munich architect August von Voit. The church was consecrated on December 6, 1863.
The building was constructed primarily of bricks, which were subsequently plastered. The nave has the floor plan of a basilica. Von Voit adopted Gothic stylistic elements, redesigned them, and placed them in a new context. For the columns supporting the double galleries, he used cast iron, a new technology at the time. He had the iron columns cast in nearby Martinlamitz. The stately building, with its richly structured west façade, measuring 42.25 meters long and 16.50 meters wide, dominates Selb's town center. The 49-meter-high spire has a gallery at the transition to the octagonal bell tower.
The St. Andreas Church has been renovated several times. In 1979/83, a color scheme by the Munich painter Senf was used, which is very close to the original.
The chancel is covered by a cross-ribbed vault. Today, it looks largely as it did at its consecration 150 years ago. The stone structure is made of Bayreuth sandstone, and the altar table and steps are made of Selb granite.
On top of it stands an altarpiece by the painter Julius Mebold from the Nuremberg Art School. The Neo-Renaissance painting depicts the Resurrection of Christ. The chancel contains stained-glass windows depicting Simon Peter, Paul of Tarsus, and the apostles Andrew and John. Further medallions in the windows depict Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon, as well as Margrave George of Bayreuth and Maximilian II, who had championed the church's reconstruction. A larger-than-life crucifix by the Munich sculptor Karl Kroher hangs in the triumphal arch. The oldest work of art in the city church comes from the estate of Dr. Anna Netsch: a late Gothic Madonna and Child. A woodcarver from Ulm, whose name is no longer known, created it from linden wood around 1510. Other church furnishings include two processional crosses that were salvaged from the burned-down predecessor building.Source: Excerpts from the church guide