A thanksgiving service and the blessing of a wooden cross, which will adorn the spire until it is rebuilt, were celebrated by many believers on friday evening in stadelschwarzach. Bartholomew church in stadelschwarzach. That at the orcantief fabienne on 23. September in the pastoral space around the no people were harmed and the fact that so many helpers were on site was the spontaneous reason for it.
Many churchgoers
The service was well attended and each of those present knew exactly what they had done at the time of the storm. "People will not forget these thoughts", said dean peter gottke in his short speech. The organ at the thanksgiving service was played by ten-year-old christoph schafferhans, who was also playing the organ in the church at the time of the storm and experienced the storm firsthand.
The cross as a symbol
The blessing of the cross was performed by stefan kleinhenz, who was recently ordained as a deacon. The cross connects heaven and earth through the vertical beam, brings people together and connects them like the horizontal beam, said gottke in his remarks. Like a rock on which the church stands, the helpers had also shown themselves in this emergency situation.
Thanks to all helpers
Gottke thanked the relief organizations, the many volunteers and also the companies that did everything possible in the days after the disaster to ensure that no further damage was done to the buildings. Six churches were or are in this pastoral area st. Benedikt affected, stretching from mainbernheim through groblangheim, stadtschwarzach, nordheim, sommerach, wiesentheid, stadelschwarzach and kirchschonbach. The damage to the church in stadelschwarzach is by far the most serious. The emergency roof erected on the tower will keep rain and snow out through the winter. The cross will be placed on this emergency roof in the next few days.
Builders and their plans
The idea of the cross came to the wurzburg carpenter armin wagenbrenner when he was busy securing the tower against rain. The cross is made of new oak wood. The trummer of the collapsed tower could not be used, because they are still needed for the reconstruction of the tower, says wagenbrenner. Plans are no longer available. The builders of that time drew the outlines on the ground, aligned the beams and then swept them away again. Thus the plans had disappeared. A structural engineer’s office will recalculate the tower before it can be executed.
Damage with rough edges
Until the 23. September the world in the region of stadelschwarzach and surroundings was still in order. The area seemed to be resistant to such storms. But what happened here on this sunday evening in a few minutes, people could hardly believe.
Five electricity pylons on the route from grafenrheinfeld to raitersaich, a pigsty in the laub district and numerous houses and halls fell victim to storm fabienne. In the meantime, emergency pylons have been erected, the power can fly again. The storm uprooted trees or broke them down. Streets had to be closed for a few days until the cleanup work was completed. The damage done to the forest is being repaired step by step.