Jakobuskirche

Jakobuskirche stands as a sturdy church in Germany, with thick stone walls and small Romanesque round-arched windows. Its simple form recalls the working quarter of winegrowers and craftsmen.

Around 1200, the church began as a Romanesque chapel on fourteen-metre oak piles in flood-prone ground. Around 1500, builders raised the ground and church by more than two metres, then added the Gothic choir. A stone on the outer choir wall records the first choir stone, laid on 10 June 1500. Pilgrims, travellers and sick people once found care here, while Catholic and Lutheran communities later shared the building.

Inside, a vaulted ceiling carries Saint James as a carved keystone figure above the worship space. His cloak, shell, staff and hat connect the church with the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. Around the walls, carved stones display concentric circles and bent arms, forming sun discs whose meaning remains unknown.