St. Martin's Church and Karner in Pfaffenhofen

The Karner to the left of the church is particularly interesting. It was probably built in the first half of the 13th century and was redesigned in the early 15th century in the Gothic style.
What was a Karner used for? Karner is the common name in Bavaria for an ossuary, often in spatial connection with a cemetery chapel. If space had to be created for new graves in fully occupied cemeteries, the bones from older graves were exhumed and cleaned. The bones were then stored in the basement of Karnern to save space. There was usually a chapel on the upper floor. The blessing from this consecrated room should also radiate onto the bones below. During the Reformation, first in Protestant areas and then in the Enlightenment also in Catholic regions, Karner came out of use.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the remains of the extensive medieval painting on the inside of the upper floor were uncovered and restored. They show, among other things, the Annunciation and Mary's visit to Elisabeth, flying angels, St. Sebastian, a pope and a bishop. In the final medallions of the vaults, the handkerchief of Christ and Mary with the baby Jesus are depicted.
Karner is no longer very common. In many places they were torn down or repurposed, for example as sacristies or morgues. As a well-preserved example of a cemetery chapel with a crypt for dead bones underneath, the Karner von Pfaffenhofen therefore offers considerable art historical interest.
The chapel is built from dolomite blocks. The wall thickness is 1.30 m on the upper floor and 1.40 m on the lower floor.

St. MartinAs early as 1102, Pfaffenhofen was mentioned as a parish, had a large church district and can be considered the original parish in this area. The church itself is said to have been consecrated in 1060 by Bishop Konrad von Morsbach together with three chapels in Kastl.
In 1310 the church in Pfaffenhofen was incorporated into the Kastl monastery, but Pfaffenhofen continued to be an independent parish. This meant that all chancellors received pastoral care from Pfaffenhofen. All church services, baptisms, weddings, burials etc. had to take place in Pfaffenhofen until 1519.
The nave is Romanesque. In the 15th century the Romanesque apse was replaced by a Gothic chancel. The tower could probably date from the 16th century. In the 18th century the whole church was redesigned, the nave and the sacristy received a new vault. The windows were also changed. Romanesque windows have been preserved on the outside and bricked up on the inside. The Romanesque portal on the north side with a straight lintel deserves a special mention.
The nave is faced with carefully worked ashlars, the ashlars of the choir building are consistently smaller and not so carefully worked. So you must be younger.
The patron saint of the church was originally "Assumption of Mary". An interior renovation took place around 1960. However, a restoration no longer seemed profitable, so that a new altar was planned.
By a fortunate coincidence it was learned that the Vitalis Church in Ettmannsdorf had been severely damaged by the collapse of the bell tower, but the altars were spared. Rebuilding the church from the 12th century was out of the question for cost reasons. The Pfaffenhofen church administration was thus able to acquire an altar with Gothic features from this church. A new altarpiece depicting St. Martin with a beggar parting his cloak was commissioned.
In 1961, the former Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary became a church dedicated to St. Martin.
In 1988 the interior was renovated. The walls were given fresh paint and the figures were restored. The last exterior renovation - tower, truss, roof and belfry - dates back to 1999.Source: www. Kastl.de/historical circular route

The church is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, who was particularly revered by the Franks. For this reason, the origins of the church and the settlement of Pfaffenhofen are traced back to the time of Christianization under Frankish rule. Through a donation from the Augsburg bishop Gebehard (996-1001), Pfaffenhofen came into the possession of the Augsburg noble women's monastery of St. Stephan, in whose possession it remained until secularization in 1802/03. Until 1859 and 1861 respectively, the two neighboring towns of Unter- and Oberthürheim belonged to the parish of Pfaffenhofen. The current church was built in 1722/1724 by the Wessobrunner master builder and plasterer Joseph Schmuzer, who also created the monastery churches of Irsee, Ettal and Rottenbuch. The church tower was raised in 1739.Source: Wikipedia