St. Pankratius

St. Pankratius is a neo-Romanesque church in Germany, completed in 1902 to plans by Stuttgart architect Joseph Cades. Its tower preserves lower levels from 1599. An onion dome crowns the tower above an old clockwork and a belfry with three bells. Originally, Nazarene paintings, stained glass, and three ornate altars filled the interior with colour. Changes after the Second Vatican Council brought white walls, pastel tones, soft arches, and a central altar.

Several works preserve the church’s earlier artistic character, including a late-Gothic Madonna with Child from the Ulm school. A carved crucifix from around 1620 stands among the surviving devotional pieces. The early twentieth-century Pietà adds another strong focal point. In the choir, Hermann Bantle’s Schutzmantelmadonna spreads her protective cloak across the painted scene.

Near the entrance, Anna vom Stain’s richly decorated gravestone dates from 1577. Two bells cast in 1695 still hang beside a third bell made in 1952. Together, the three bells connect the tower’s medieval remains with the church built at the beginning of the twentieth century.