Bescheid Dreifaltigkeitskirche

What you need to know about this church

Dreifaltigkeits-Kirche Bescheid

Where to find this church

Church Information

Dreifaltigkeits-Kirche is located in Bescheid, a village in Rheinland-Pfalz in the Verbandsgemeine Hermeskeil.

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Bescheid Dreifaltigkeitskirche
Church from north-west
Bescheid Dreifaltigkeitskirche
Round tower from south-east
Bescheid Dreifaltigkeitskirche
View into the nave

Visiting Bescheid Dreifaltigkeitskirche

For such a small place as Bescheid with its 400 inhabitants, the Holy Trinity Church is really remarkable in many respects (apart from the round tower, of course, which in Rhineland-Palatinate only Eckersweiler has as well). There is an astonishing number of legends surrounding the church, and the interior is also well worth seeing (at least for lovers of baroque churches, although I am not one of them). On my first visit during the week I found the church open, on our second visit on a Sunday a few years later it was locked. Fortunately, we met a young gentleman on the street in front of the church, and it turned out that his mother had a key to the church, so we were able to visit the inside as well. As mentioned on the site before, this is the kind of luck one often needs (and surprisingly often has…).

About the history of the place and the church: the first mention of the place dates back to the 10th century. According to tradition, the villages of Schleich an der Mosel and Bescheid previously formed a parish together, which had its church on the Schleicherberg. The area on which the church is said to have stood is still popularly called “Kirchenberg”. Bescheid probably became an independent parish in the 9th century and was given a church by the monastery of St. Marien, which remained its collator until the upheaval at the beginning of the last century.

The following legend is linked to this church building:
“The decision-makers could not agree on the site for the building. Some were in favour of the place called Hubertusgarten, where the church stands today, while others were in favour of Gertesgasse. That was also where the timber was taken. But the next morning it was lying in Hubertusgarten. The opponents now believed that it had been secretly dragged there during the night and brought it back. The following morning they found the place empty again. The wood had wandered again. The supporters of the Hubertus Garden were still suspected of having carried the wood there again during the night and were not believed, no matter how much they protested their innocence. The carpenters dragged the logs back and began to hew and trim them. One of them sat down unseen and kept watch. O miracle, the beams and rafters were found the next morning nicely arranged on Hubertusplatz and the carpenter who had been keeping watch had taken part in the hike without noticing. Then it was recognised that a higher will had made itself known for this place, and so the new building came about.”

The present church was built in two periods and in two styles. The round bell tower with its peculiar roof is unusual. The wall is metres thick and has only a small, narrow gap for light. The bells hang in the roof truss. The tower looks more like the defence tower of a castle than a church tower and stands outside the church on the Epistle side.

According to an inscription above the sacristy, the church was built in 1474, probably the second on the same site. Noteworthy and venerable is the sacrament box walled in on the Gospel side, surrounded by ornaments, with its simple lattice door made of iron. It was used to store and display the Holy Host. Sacrament boxes are only rarely found and mostly in ancient cathedrals and churches. The nave of the church dates from 1773 and, like the portal, was built in the Romanesque style. Not much value was attached to the construction at that time, otherwise the nave would have been adapted to the late Gothic architectural style of the choir.

A long time ago, the Bescheid church had 2 bells. There is another legendary tale about the origin of the larger one, which was later recast in the churchyard and then had to be sacrificed to the army:
The bell came from the church on the Schleicherberg and was buried there when marauding enemies approached and then forgotten. A wild boar later rooted it out. In order to find out where it belonged and where it would ring in the future, whether in Bescheid or Schleich, a blind horse was harnessed to a sleigh and the bell was loaded onto it. The bell was to belong to the village where the blind horse dragged it. The horse made its way to Bescheid. There it was hung up. Attentive listeners are said to have heard the words from its sound: “Wild sow is rooting me, blind horse is dragging me”.

After several interior renovations, the church received a new ambo in December 2003, made of the same stone as the existing altar, as well as a baptismal font, for which a separate place was created at the back of the church.

Conclusion: interesting church with a colourful history and interior

Bescheid Dreifaltigkeitskirche
Pulpit
Bescheid Dreifaltigkeitskirche
Altar
Bescheid Dreifaltigkeitskirche
Gallery with organ