Dielkirchen Churches
The first written record of the village of Dielkirchen dates from 872 A.D. During the Protestant Reformation, Dielkirchen became a Protestant village (ca. 1544), but Catholics also lived there and were allowed, by decree, to worship in the same building as the Protestants.
At least two churches preceded the present-day church at Dielkirchen. The first known building was destroyed during the Thirty-Years’ War (1618-1648). Shown here is a preserved fragment from that building.
Around 1656, the Lutheran congregation built a replacement church with whatever materials they could find in those post-war days. Built as a temporary structure until something more substantial could be built, the building stood for about 80 years, until being torn down in 1738. Married on April 17, 1736, Anna Catharina Engel and Gottfried Bock were probably married in this church.
Although it is known that their son, Johann Georg Bock, was born in 1737, there is no baptismal record for him at Dielkirchen that year, an indication that the family had left the area. Nothing further is known about Georg and Anna Catharina Bock’s whereabouts until about three years later, when their daughter, Johanna Susanna Elizabetha, was baptized at Dürkheim in 1740.
Two clergymen, Johann Hermann Horstmann and his son, Johann Friedrich Horstmann, were pastors at Dielkirchen. Johann Hermann Horstmann, who was pastor from 1697-1740, would have officiated at the marriages of Anna Gerdrauth (Anna Catharina’s mother) and Anna Barbara (Anna Catharina’s sister). Johann Friedrich Horstmann joined his father as adjunct pastor in 1728 and remained pastor of the Dielkirchen church until 1748. Either of the men could have officiated at the marriage of Anna Catharina or that of her brother, Andreas.
Written in both Latin and German, the inscription over the
main door of the Dielkirchen Church reads:
“For
the triune God and for the faithful of the Augsburg Diocese, this Evangelical-Lutheran holy place is built
in the Year of Christ 1738. God, keep this house and all of your faithful safe in your protection. Come to unite
yourself with your people, who pass through these doors. Preserve here, O Lord in your glory your Gospel
and your precious sacraments through the mouths and hands of your teachers.”
Written in the church’s history is that fact that the old church was not torn down until the new one was completed in 1738. Because the congregation was active in building the new church, it is probable that Anna Catharina and her family were involved in its construction. The building materials were reportedly paid for by the congregation, which the farmers offered to transport for free. The neighboring villagers helped with the building of the church by volunteering the services of their horse teams.
As already mentioned, the new edifice was completed around 1738. According to Dielkirchen’s history “… while the old church was still standing and the new one was yet to be completed, the Catholics of the region requested [through permission of the State] that they be allowed to share the building with the Lutherans without having any claim to it. This was agreed upon in order to assure that the minority Catholics had a house of worship.”
The new Lutheran Church at Dielkirchen, erected while Anna Catharina and her husband, Gottfried Bock, were residents of the community.
The construction of the new church was underway when Anna Catharina Engel and Gottfried Bock were married at Dielkirchen on April 17, 1736. Permission given to Catholics to worship in the new church shows religious sufferance as a positive outcome of the Thirty-Years’ War.
Dating from the early years of the 18th century, this is Dielkirchen's oldest house.
