Fortified Church of Höfgen

evangelical-luth. Church, two iron bells stand on the way to the church

The fortified church in Höfgen looks down on us, clearly visible above the “Village of the Senses”. At the point where it has its place today. A wooden chapel is said to have existed as early as 1100, and a building from the mid-13th century was replaced by a small stone church. In a document from 1275 its existence is documented by its sale to the Marienthron Nimbschen monastery on the other side of the Mulden. Bishop Johann I von Ilsenburg decreed in 1353 that all income should be paid to the Nimbschen monastery. 15 years later, a baptismal font in Gothic tracery was created from our Rochlitz porphyry. The church building was gradually enlarged by additions - 1450 addition of the 16m high tower and 1509 the sacristy.
The Reformation initiated by Martin Luther also left its mark on Höfgen. It was also introduced in Höfgen in 1525 under Bishop Johann VII von Schleinitz, a supporter of Luther's theses. The Evangelical-Lutheran teachings demanded drastic changes from the monastery, it was dissolved in 1533 and since then has only been run as an agricultural business. But this chapter too has long been closed; the ruins of the monastery have become a place of pilgrimage due to the fact that the nun Katharina von Bora made it famous. The design of the facility invites you to linger for a while.But time never stands still, further structural extensions and changes were made to the fortified church in the decades that followed. In 1654 the inner appearance of the nave was changed again with the installation of a gallery. The baroque painting of the gallery fields is very striking. The ecclesiastical facts from the Bible painted on wood have not survived time unscathed. They have been restored in recent years to save this rarity for posterity.
Source: zweimuldenland.de/wehrkirche/Wehrkirche-Hoefgen.html

below is the prism column