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Founded: 12th centuryCategory: Religious sites in Sweden
Historical period: Consolidation (Sweden)
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Östra Herrestad Church belongs to a group of Romanesque churches built by Carl stenmästare, a master stone mason educated at the building site of Lund Cathedral. The church is richly decorated with 16th-century murals inside.
The church dates from the middle of the 12th century. The church originally consisted of a nave, chancel and an apse. The church was probably commissioned by a local magnate. In the 15th century, the vaults were constructed, replacing an earlier ceiling. Between 1888 and 1889 the church was renovated and rebuilt to plans by Henrik Sjöström. It received new furnishings, was enlarged towards the west and the tower was rebuilt.
Inside, the church has also retained a few fragments of the original Romanesque church. The vaults of the church are profusely decorated with church murals from the early 16th century. In the nave, there are depictions from Genesis, the Coronation of the Virgin, and the Last Judgment. The chancel contains scenes from the life of Christ, and the apse is dominated by a representation of God the Father, holding the crucified Christ. The sacristy contains murals depicting the Twelve Apostles. The furnishings date mostly from the 19th century, with the exception of the baptismal font which was made in the 14th century.
References:Ehrenbreitstein Fortress was built as the backbone of the regional fortification system, Festung Koblenz, by Prussia between 1817 and 1832 and guarded the middle Rhine region, an area that had been invaded by French troops repeatedly before. The fortress was never attacked.
Early fortifications at the site can be dated back to about 1000 BC. At about AD 1000 Ehrenbert erected a castle. The Archbishops of Trier expanded it with a supporting castle Burg Helferstein and guarded the Holy Tunic in it from 1657 to 1794. Successive Archbishops used the castle's strategic importance to barter between contending powers; thus in 1672 at the outset of war between France and Germany the Archbishop refused requests both from the envoys of Louis XIV and from Brandenburg's Ambassador, Christoph Caspar von Blumenthal, to permit the passage of troops across the Rhine.