Hannberg Fortified Church

A stone chapel has been found in Hannberg since 1300. The first documented confirmation of the chapel dates back to 1348. In this chapel, a sacristan from the neighboring parish of Büchenbach regularly conducted services for the faithful from Hannberg and the neighboring towns of the Seebachgrund.Triggered by military conflicts between the city of Nuremberg and Margrave Albrecht Achilles von Bayreuth-Ansbach in the First Margrave War of 1449/50, the church had to be fortified. In the period from 1461 to 1486, a fortification was built that is unique in Franconia and southern Germany.[5] In order to prevent the reformation of Catholic churches to Protestantism, Hannberg was made a separate parish in 1574 with the name Nativity of Mary. The Church of the Nativity of Mary became a heavily frequented pilgrimage church with a statue of Mary with the child and a miraculous image of Mary with folded hands. On Epiphany 1865 a lightning strike in the tower caused a fire that burned down much of the steeple and was restored by 1866.de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wehrkirche_Hannberg

Impressive complex, third largest fortified church in Germany.

Impressive church, a look inside is worthwhile