The defiant church of St. Pankratius, built in 1905/06 in the neo-Romanesque style, stands directly on the pretty market square of Falkenberg. In the neighborhood you can stroll through narrow streets and let this beautiful little place, after all a traditional market town, work its magic on you. A little above the village and the Waldnaab, the imposing Falkenberg Castle sits enthroned on a rock.
The parish of Falkenberg was first mentioned in documents in 1297, and in 1326 the parish appeared in the deanery of Kirchenthumbach; it was one of the poorest parishes. In 1595, an application was made to the parish office in Tischenreuth to enlarge the church, and the government in Amberg then approved the reconstruction work. In 1617, the church was extensively renovated due to structural damage.
The long-overdue new building was immediately started by the Waldsassen monastery in 1683-87. The master builder was Georg Dientzenhofer, who also built the chapel near Waldsassen for the monastery. The parish church was built in the Baroque style with an onion dome and the "beautiful vault, which even connoisseurs admire for its lightness and advantageous tension".
1817, the church was too small, and not all churchgoers could find a place. For this reason, a gallery and galleries were built on the side walls. In 1896, the new building was approved, and demolition was decided without regard to the old Dientzenhofer church. The foundation stone was laid in 1905 and the new parish church in honor of St. Pancras was consecrated in 1908.
From 2002 to 2007, the structural condition of the parish church was recorded and extensively renovated.
The old high altar was preserved, only the pedestals for Mary and John, previously made of wood, were replaced with Auerkalk pedestals and the renovated tabernacle was surrounded by a new gold-bronze protective cover. The new winged altar is made of structured glass, gold-leafed, red-backed and sealed. The existing cross is replaced by a glass cross made of red fusing glass, partially gold-leafed and dividing up towards the top and sides. The color of the crucifixion group is adjusted. The new people's altar made of Kehlheim Auerkalk, weighing over 4 tons, is in the center of the chancel.
The two side altars are set up in the apses and designed as chapels. In the Mary Chapel with the revised "figure of Mary with the halo", gilded, structured fusing glass is bent to fit the wall as a background, based on the main altar.
The baptismal chapel with the baptismal font and the Holy Trinity, both also renovated, has the same glass as a background.
Source: Excerpts from the church guide
Translated by Google •
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