The branch church of St. Jakob and Philipp in Mamhofen has been closed for more than two years after plaster fell from the ceiling.
Now there is hope of a renovation.
The Starnberg building committee has promised 90,000 euros for the repair of the damage.
Mamhofen
- It was only brief information, a single sentence. In a previous non-public meeting, the building committee decided to provide money for the renovation of the branch church St. Jakob and Philipp, explained Vice Mayor Angelika Kammerl in the last meeting of the committee. But behind this there is a great glimmer of hope for all the people who care about the little church in Mamhofen. Because the building committee recommends providing 90,000 euros for repairing damage.
In June 2019, plaster was supported from the ceiling over an area of around one square meter. "Fortunately there were no people in the church," said the Weßlinger pastor Anton Brandstetter. As a result, the Episcopal Finance Chamber of the Diocese of Augsburg finally ordered the church to be closed in October 2019 - "due to a security risk from loose plastering and stucco parts," as a spokesman for the Episcopal Ordinariate explains in retrospect.
Incidentally, the poor ceiling is not the only damage. The clapboard covering on the tower roof must also be repaired, says town hall spokeswoman Marie Babst at the request of Starnberger Merkur. The total cost was “roughly 90,000 euros”. The building committee announced this amount for the 2022 budget. The budget consultations in Starnberg have yet to show whether the money is actually available. If so, “the next steps will be discussed with the State Office for Monument Preservation,” says Marie Babst.
Why the building committee did not speak publicly about the issue has to do with contractual matters. Because the branch church falls under the jurisdiction of the parish Unterbrunn and thus the parish community Weßling, but there is a written agreement between the city of Starnberg and the Catholic branch church foundation St. Jakobus as the owner of the church, according to which the city takes over at least part of the renovation costs. Details of this agreement are not known. On the basis of this agreement, the Diocese of Augsburg had also turned to the city.
“It is very gratifying when something happens there,” says Weßling's pastor, Thomas Ruf. He would love to resume the tradition of celebrating a church service in Mamhofen every one or two months. "There are also many people in Starnberg who are very close to Mamhofen," he emphasizes.
One of them is Marianne Floritz from Hanfeld, who was happy to receive the news from the building committee. The 80-year-old grew up in Mamhofen, her father Romuald Floritz was a forester there, and the family had an official apartment on the estate. Marianne Floritz has been taking care of St. Jakob for more than 20 years, always checking that everything is in order. And so she knows that around two square meters of plaster has now fallen from the ceiling and clapboards keep falling from the roof of the church tower. In 2019, a roofer tried to patch holes from a lifting platform. For the roof around 20,000 euros are necessary, for the ceiling inside around 70,000 euros, says Marianne Floritz, the assessment of the branch church foundation.
Mamhofen is first mentioned in a document in 1083, and there is talk of a church in 1401.
After a hermit named Matthias Feicht had built a small Trinity chapel, the current church was built in the 18th century by five local farmers, says Marianne Floritz.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the current owner family took over the estate in Mamhofen.
Agriculture has been abandoned and the area has been reforested.
