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Church buildings are a feature of many towns and villages. They are known as landmarks, the centre of a town or village, or points of reference. These places of worship are of great significance in terms of architecture, art history and regional history. This time, we are looking at a small but charming church in the Saale-Orla district of Thuringia.
The listed Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Martin in Zoppoten is situated in Zoppoten, a district of the town of Saalburg-Ebersdorf, in the Saale-Orla district of Thuringia. The parish of Zoppoten belongs to the Zoppoten parish area within the Schleiz church district of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany.
History
The church dates back to shortly after 1200. Later, the Teutonic Order commissioned an extension to the church, during which the small chapel – consisting of an apse and chancel – was extended around the nave to form a rectangular hall church. The walls of the eastern part of the building have been preserved. The former semicircular apse was demolished. In the 15th century, the church was rebuilt.
Zoppoten Church. Subbass1, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=133930773
In 1791, it was fitted with the present-day windows and the ridge turret with a lantern, situated to the south on the cross-gabled roof. Until then, the three church bells had hung in a free-standing belfry in front of the church.
The current layout of the interior, which is spanned by a wooden cross vault, dates back to the renovation of 1910. During the repainting of the church interior in the chancel area, wall paintings from the Romanesque period were discovered; however, they were covered up again when the church was repainted.
View from the altar towards the organ. Subbass1, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=133930753
The galleries and the patron’s box rest on carved 17th-century columns. The balustrade of the box is adorned with portraits of Martin Luther, Philipp Melanchthon, Frederick the Wise and King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, as well as the coat of arms of the von Reitzenstein family.
Organ
The organ, with 17 stops distributed across two manuals and the pedal, was built in 1910 by Ernst Poppe & Sohn and overhauled in 2006 by Vogtländischer Orgelbau.
The organ. Subbass1, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=133932565
Recent history
The church was redesigned in 1964 by master painter Treuhard Grimm from Zoppoten in what was then a modern style. From 2003 onwards, extensive renovation and restoration work was carried out in the church. The altar window was restored by Erfurt University of Applied Sciences and fitted with protective glazing, whilst the electrical system was completely renewed by master electrician Erich Kuhn from Pöritzsch. The Müller restoration workshop in Plauen carried out the painting work.
View from the gallery. Subbass1, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=133930709
In 2006, the princely box underwent an extensive restoration by Beate Demold from Sömmerda, restoring it to its original 17th-century condition. On 19 July 2026, the radio station MDR Kultur broadcast the Protestant service from this church, thereby drawing national attention to this place of worship.
Coordinates:
50° 29′ 26.4″ N, 11° 41′ 45.2″ E
St Martin’s Church on Wikipedia:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Martin_(Zoppoten)
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