Bergkirche, Bahlingen

The mountain church in Bahlingen am Kaiserstuhl is visible from afar on a hill above the village. Written evidence of the construction of the church does not begin until the end of the 13th century, so that the exact time of construction can no longer be determined today. All that is known is that the original building of the church was erected on a pre-existing cemetery. From the hill on which the mountain church resides today, one has a view of the Freiburg Bay and the ridges of the Black Forest. The church is especially visible in the evening, as it is illuminated by several spotlights.

Around the church plateau, where you can also find the cemetery, wine is grown. Below the church stands the ruin of the late Gothic gatehouse, which was once part of a church wall. The church square was a place of immunity and jurisdiction in the 14th century. It was also a place of refuge for people and animals, since in the Middle Ages the church was usually the only solidly built building in the village.

There is no information about the shape of the original building of the church, we only know that the former nave was directed to the east. The present church is built in the northern direction. In 1454 the new building was started, Romanesque sound arcades on the tower are a remarkable testimony to the tradition of ancient architectural forms in the late Middle Ages. A small sacristy was added as the newest part of the building in 1927. In the interior of the church there is an almost life-size wooden crucifix, which is a work of high quality in late Gothic style. The windows were renewed in 1963 by Peter Valentin Feuerstein, who also worked on the Ulm Cathedral and partly on the Freiburg and Breisach Cathedrals.

The second Bahlingen church, also known as the Lower Church, no longer exists today. The site at the corner of Hauptstraße and Bachstraße, which is now called Ochsenplatz, was bought at auction in 1812 by the owner of the then Ochsen inn as part of secularization. In the middle of the 19th century the last parts of the church ruins disappeared with the tower stump. Even today, however, one can see worn stones and tracery fragments that the Ochsen innkeepers used in their estate in the first half of the 19th century.