History stored for the future in the decoration of the Züntersbach church tower

History stored for the future in the decoration of the Züntersbach church tower

Photographs: Walter Dorr“>

Mental speech – During a storm in the autumn of 2021, the decoration of the tower, the weathercock and the cross were affected, hanging crookedly and were in danger of falling down. The company August Wiesner from Züntersbach was therefore commissioned to carry out the repair work on 28 February 2022. Due to the local situation, the tower could only be accessed with a smaller construction platform and an assessment could be made do the damage.

To examine the construction, the tower decoration, the ball and the helmet cover of copper sheet were removed. The metal spike of the tower decoration at the top of the imperial leg was found to have no support due to wood rot and was therefore crooked. The impact of rainwater over decades caused the imperial shaft to rot. As found today, teeth were formed when the tower decoration was placed on the ball. Therefore the sealing did not withstand the thermal effects. Furthermore, signs of knocking – possibly from bats – were visible. In the transition zone from slate to sheet metal cladding there was a repair area on the old Kaiserstiel. The upper part of the imperial leg was renewed with a wooden connection as a stable leaf

Bad repairs in 1952?

and attached to the rafters with forged metal rings and metal straps. Inside the tower is the inscription “Decked in J.1952” on the form – possibly from repairs at this time. Due to the damage that was found and the lack of use of the building platform, it was not possible to repair the church tower. Therefore, the removed cone cover and the ball were only briefly sealed with adhesive tape and then put back and screwed together. So the regional church reported the current storm damage in Züntersbach to their insurance company. Due to the existing rotting damage, which was seen as a construction defect, the insurance company refused to cover the repair costs.

Insurance does not pay

To determine the extent of the damage, the parish received an offer for a damage report from the engineering company for statics and construction, Trabert Ingenieure, Geisa, on December 17, 2022. Based on the damage report, a request for construction funds worth 48,000 euros for a year was made financial 2023 submitted to the Kinzigtal church district office on April 12, 2023. In a decision dated June 16, 2023, the church district office approved 32,887 euros as a subsidy for building materials . The amount for electronic protection work in the amount of 6,900 euros was excluded from the subsidy because the regional church, with the decision of the property management of the regional church, does not finance electronic protection systems anymore and she no longer supports new construction. However, since the Züntersbach church is in an open area, the local church council decided to finance the installation of an electronic protection system from its own resources, the so-called “forest reserve”.

In June/July 2023, the work was advertised as a general tender for all trades for construction in 2023. Only one tender was received and at 73,659 euros it was well above the estimated cost. Therefore this offer was canceled in coordination with the Gelnhausen parish office and a new offer for 2024 was decided in individual trades and was advertised by the Trabert engineering company in February 2024. On the recommendation of the board of the local church (Iris Müller, Werner Zirkel, Alexander Glück) and Udo Appel from the building committee, the chairman of the building committee of the Evangelical Community of Christ in Sinntal and Marjoß, Hans-Adam Krahle, received offers for the remodeling of the premises wooden shingles and the acoustic shutter windows, including the necessary scaffold extension, as well as the electrical installation work for the bell lights – estimated additional costs of 34,153 euros. The church district board approved a request from the Christ Church building committee and approved additional funding of 34,200 euros.

Manual work required

The assembly of the work and the protective scaffolding could start on 23 July 2024. To remove the damaged Kaiserstiel, the slate and the formwork were removed about two meters in the upper area of ​​the steeple. The imperial handle was cut off in the healthy wooden part about 1.5 meters below the roof and was extended. The new imperial handle has been recreated from old dry oak wood according to the existing structure, hand made and installed. Only at the end of the cover was the cross section of wood increased to 12 centimeters for stability reasons. The appropriate connection to the old timber in the tower was made through four oak lugs. After the work, the previously removed areas were boarded and slated again according to the existing structure.

The acoustic windows were repainted, the windows got a new sheet metal connection made of copper sheet in the lower area, the outer cover boards / sacrifice boards were renewed in larch wood and got a coat of paint suitable The pointed board covering in the upper area of ​​the tower has been cleaned and repainted, and the connecting links between the plastered surfaces and the nave have also been repaired. To better control the connection area of ​​the church tower, three copper roof hooks were installed on each side. Inside the church tower, a ladder with intermediate platforms and fall protection was built from the bell tower and lighting was provided to the tower. The removed tower trim was reworked by hand, the warehouse was made accessible and received a new anti-rust paint and top coat. The weathervane, which had not been painted before but was painted, was also decorated with gold leaf. The tower member and sheet metal cover of the helmet were hand made from new copper sheet. The total repair costs amount to 76,500 euros.

The bell tower of the church as before

The repair of the church tower helmet was organized and managed voluntarily by the chairman of the construction committee Hans-Adam Krahle from Sterbfritz and construction committee member Udo Appelt from Züntersbach. By the way: the damaged, enlarged imperial hand, including the wrought iron metal structure, was stored for the next day on the mezzanine of the church tower. At a celebration ceremony at high altitudes on the tower, in which the mayor of Sinntal Thomas Henfling and Pastor Arne Schmitz were also present, documents were placed in the time capsule and the waterproof seal was placed in the decoration by two employees of the company Petzenberger from Unteralba/Rhön and sealed with the Cross and the gold weathercock on the rear.

The mayor was there during the gathering

Thanks were given to the implementing companies of the various trades: engineering office for statics and construction Trabert Ingenieure, Geisa, Gothaer Gerüstbau Silvio Schneider, Gotha, Pfeiffer construction company, Berlstedt (top), construction plumbing Dieter Petzenberger, Unteralba, electrical protection construction North Hesse , Wildeck, painting company Rainer Eifert, Schlüchtern-Vollmerz, Holzbau KJ Kress, Sinntal-Altengronau, electrical goods store Dieter and Jochen Melk, Sinntal-Sterbfritz, and Holzbau August Wiesner, Sinntal-Züntersbach.