Mittelalterliche Friedhofskirche

The subsidiary church in Oberschützen was built as a Romanesque choir-square church and is dedicated to St. Bartholomew the Apostle. It is located in the middle of the cemetery and contains valuable frescoes from the 13th and 15th centuries. The floor plans of medieval churches contain a lot of symbolism. The nave (main room) corresponds to the earthly and the choir (sanctuary) to the heavenly part of the church. The choir is oriented to the east, towards the rising sun, the symbol for Christ. The eastward orientation in medieval church building means a precise alignment with the sunrise on the day of the patron saint at that time. In the floor of the Romanesque church, built in the 13th century, foundations of an early medieval predecessor building from the 9th century have been preserved. In 1979, remains of beautiful medieval paintings were discovered: in the nave, scenes from the Old and New Testaments from around 1280-90, and in the choir, remains of a series of apostles from around 1400.