St. Michael’s Church

St. Michael’s Church is a simple and unobtrusive building in a central location on Kirchenplatz.

Dating back to around 1100, it was once just a provincial church. Its unspectacular architecture with nave and spire hints at the real nature and usage of churches at the time. Instead of splendour and gold, houses of god primarily offered people protection.

In the late 14th century, a 45-metre spire was erected and used by residents as a defensive tower. The church was a secure place to which the people of Fürth would flee when threatened by soldiers or looters. Arrow slits on the lower floors bear testament to those violent days of the late Middle Ages.

Often churches were the only structures spared as they were houses of God. St. Michael’s Church is therefore thought to be the oldest church in Fürth as it is the only existing building to have survived the Thirty Years’ War without any major damage.

In 1525 the parish of St Michael’s Church finally converted to Protestantism. It is now the seat of the Evangelical Lutheran Deanery of Fürth and very much worth a visit since its renovation in 2006.

The tower with the west portal, the chancel and the south entrance are from the Gothic period. The interior is 19th century neo-Gothic.