As of: February 27, 2024, 3:35 p.m
By: Kathrin Hauser, Roland Halmel
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The parish church of St. Leonhard in Forst has been scaffolded for a few weeks.
It will stay that way for a while.
© Halmel
The renovation of the parish church of St. Leonhard in Forst, which has been planned for a few years, has now begun.
It turns out to be more extensive than originally thought.
Forst
- At first it was a shock when a routine investigation a few years ago revealed that the parish church of St. Leonhard in Forst needed to be renovated.
“Static defects were discovered in the roof structure and in the galleries,” said the church curator of the Forster parish of St. Leonhard, Johannes Schelle, at a press event in January 2018, when it was announced that more extensive renovation measures were pending to ensure the continued safety of churchgoers is guaranteed.
“We have a serious security problem,” Schelle said at the time.
Some beams in the roof structure and the supports on which the double gallery rests and which protrude into the wall have rotted.
At that time, services could only continue to be celebrated in the church, which was built in 1726, because the gallery was supported with additional wooden beams.
Around this time, donations for the renovation began.
The original plan was for the renovation work to be completed the following year, in 2019.
Get an idea of the renovation work: (from left) Georg Guggemos, Johann Schelle and Andreas Reßler.
© Halmel
Six years have passed since then, during which many donations were collected.
According to an initial cost estimate that an architect made at the time for the pure construction costs alone, it was assumed six years ago that the measure would cost around 300,000 euros.
It was already clear back then that there would be additional costs for the planning and the reports.
The parish now assumes that the renovation of the exterior and interior will cost around 1.5 million euros.
The parish church of St. Leonhard in Forst has been equipped with scaffolding since the end of last year.
It is now clear that the long-planned renovation of the almost 300-year-old church has begun.
“The drainage system has already been brought into shape and the foundations on the west side have been sealed,” reported church caretaker Schelle at an on-site meeting with the mayor of Wessobrunn, Georg Guggemos, and Andreas Reßler, the third mayor of Wessobrunn.
The next step is to renovate the roof
The next step is to renovate the roof.
The exterior facade will then be tackled.
“The tuff stone wall, which was exposed to strong weather influences in the west, is still in a solid condition.
However, it will be reworked if there are any breakouts or defects,” explained Schelle.
But it's not just the outside of the church that needs to be brought into shape.
“Thanks to the great willingness to donate, it was possible to renovate the interior of the church as a second project,” said Schelle happily.
In recent years, the foresters in particular have held so many events and initiated projects that around 150,000 euros have been received in donations for the renovation.
Scaffolding will also be erected in the church over the course of the year in order to renovate the interior and rework two frescoes.
“The church services can continue as normal despite the scaffolding,” explains Schelle.
In addition, guided tours accompanied by the responsible architect Klaus Pilz are also planned in the summer.
“To give those interested an overview of the measures to be carried out,” says Schelle.
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After the outdoor area comes the indoor area
The schedule is to complete the exterior work by fall of this year.
Work on the interior will continue until 2025.
Costs of a good 1.5 million euros have been calculated for the renovation project.
To finance the measure, the lion's share of around 800,000 euros comes from the responsible diocese, the Diocese of Augsburg.
The municipality of Wessobrunn is contributing 100,000 euros.
Almost 350,000 euros are expected to come from the district, the district, various foundations and the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation.
Donations are still welcome, says Schelle, as unforeseen additional work is always possible.
“Our goal is to preserve this historical monument from the creative period of the 'Wessobrunner School',” explains Schelle.
The church caretaker cannot yet say exactly when the work on the St. Leonhard parish church will be completed.
However, he did have a desired date for a reopening celebration of the renovated church: “May 2026 will be the 300th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone, which would be a wonderful date.”