basilika st. martin

The church was similarly beautiful like many of its time. We were hoping to catch a staff person to discuss baptismal records. After several visits we found no one and hope to reach them by e-mail. Still the St. Martin imagery, which is also reflected in the Bingen coat of arms, is always nice to see.

We stumbled upon this church after seeing the spires from the Rhine cruise and from Burg Klopp. It was a large church which was very open. Someone was practicing organ, preparing for an upcoming service, and the sound was great. It oddly added to the ambience making for a very nice experience. I just wish there was some way to walk up into the spires to see other views of the city!

The basilica is huge and large, has many parts, and sorry, due to that I forgot to take pix of the crypt... Built in1666, lots of turmoil was lying ahead for this church. 1689 French troops plundered the chapel. 1698 there was an extension to the building but 1795 the chapel was set on fire and destroyed in the combat between French revolutionaries and German soldiers. After the battle the French withdrew, passed through Bingen and typhus was spread in the town. 10 People remembered the reverence the townspeople had for St Rochus and again the chapel was rebuilt. 14 August 1814 the Rochus Day was celebrated again. In 1889 lightning struck the building, just after elaborate restoration work had been completed. The fire destroyed everything apart from the walls. On the foundations of the former Baroque building a three-nave late Gothic church was built with an exterior choir.

Op loopafstand van het centrale station vind je hier een werkelijk schitterende kerk. De ruimtelijke werking overdonderd en de kerk hangt vol met de meest schitterende kunstwerken, schilderijen, beelden etc. De rust is adembenemend. En het uitzich op de rivier de Nahe mag er wezen. Wat een plekje....