St. Cäcilia Church (Balthasar Neumann Church, Heusenstamm)

catholic Church with remarkable ceiling paintings

Baroque church of St. Cäcilia was built in 1739-1741.

Heusenstamm's first church built in 1297 had survived the Reformation turmoil and the Thirty Years War. Over time, however, it was damaged, and after the beginning of Schönbornschen rule in the 17th century, she had also become too small. Count Anselm Franz von Schönborn was therefore very early with the idea of ​​building a new church. In 1717 he corresponded with his brothers about the project, which advised because of lack of money but to a conversion by introducing a transept to expand the space instead of a new building. Even before this plan came to fruition, Anselm Franz died on 17 July 1726.
His widow, Maria Theresia von Schönborn, nee Reichsgräfin von Montfort, soon took up the idea of ​​building a new church. As early as 1735 she had won the spiritual brothers of her deceased husband, Friedrich Karl (Prince-Bishop of Würzburg), Franz Georg (Archbishop and Elector of Trier) and Cardinal Damian Hugo (Bishop of Speyer and Constance) for their plans, in Heusenstamm a new church build, which should also serve as a family vault.
The Schönborn house architect, the famous Würzburg court architect Balthasar Neumann, made the plans. According to a preserved list, there were 15 cracks, which unfortunately have been lost. After 1736 the stones had been broken in the stately trachyte quarry on the Hohe Berg, in 1737 the timber donated by Würzburg arrived and in 1738 the still missing funds were procured, in 1739 after the demolition of the old church with the rough construction can be begun. In the spring of 1739 Neumann traveled to Heusenstamm to stake out the site in the presence of the Countess and to dig the foundations. On April 18, 1739, the solemn laying of the foundation stone took place.
On October 14, 1740, the three new bells cast in Würzburg were brought to the tower and rung for the first time at the Theresienstadt, the name day of the builder. On November 17, 1740, the building was symbolically completed by placing the double-armed cross with the thick gold shiny button. In the button a certificate was laid, which provides detailed information about the time and cause of the formation of the temple. A second document in the form of a speech by the countess to the church, written in verse, was later placed under the high altar.Text taken from the "Stadt Heusenstamm - Bürger & Stadt"