St. Ägidius Castle Chapel, Schönfeld

Chapel of St. ÄgidiusThe current branch church and former castle chapel of St. Ägidius is one of the best preserved castle chapels in the Upper Palatinate. It was built around 1160/70 in the style of late Romanticism and has remained almost unchanged except for a window that was enlarged in the Baroque period.
The church, which is faced with massive granite blocks, has a western gallery and a basement. The stonemason's marks on the blocks are remarkable. The unusual thickness of the walls, up to 2 m thick, previously gave rise to the assumption that it was a "fortified church". A staircase in the north wall leads to the gallery and from there another staircase in the west wall leads to what is now the attic.
The windows are Romanesque round-arch windows, 2 m high and only 20 cm wide. Two of these windows adorn the south wall and another in the apse. The lower part of the eastern south wall window was extended in 1809 to create a large round-arch window to improve the lighting conditions, and the upper part was bricked up.
There was probably once a second floor, as we know from other castle chapels. On the walls of the choir arch and the apse, you can see the remains of frescoes, some of which have been whitewashed over, depicting, among other things, the crucified Christ (left) and Saint Christopher (right). A red consecration cross is painted in a ring on the right choir arch, and next to it on the apse wall there are two similar ones in a worse state of preservation, the upper arm of each cross subsequently blackened. A similar depiction can also be found on the left apse wall, but is now barely recognizable.
Nothing remains of the church's original furnishings. On the left pillar of the choir arch is a Madonna and Child from the 15th century. A sculpture of the church's patron saint Saint Giles from the 14th century has since been moved to another location, and a figure of Saint Francis has taken its place. The altar is decorated with a crucifixion group from more recent times.
It is not impossible that Schönfeld was founded as early as the 11th century by the Pabonen, the burgraves of Regensburg, who lived in Stefling am Regen and were wealthy in the Bavarian Vorwald.
The lords of Schönfeld who lived here in the 12th and 13th centuries were servants of the Bishopric of Regensburg. From 1282 onwards, Schönfeld belonged to the Regensburg dominion and Siegenstein Castle. There was no castle in Schönfeld, but rather a well-fortified estate, a residence.Source: information board and excerpts from wikipedia.de