Part 2: Martin Church - Bärstadt, Germany

Reed's next stop in his journey was Schlangenbad-Bärstadt:
The Borges/Burgess family attended church in Bärstadt which is several miles from Fischbach and Ramschied. This is where they christened/baptized their babies and where their funerals were held. The Martin Church as it stands today, dates from the years 1709-1717 although the tower and the foundation walls have earlier Roman elements. The oldest bell was cast between 1200 to 1250. The two younger bells were cast in 1468. The Martin Church stands in a small park that was once the 18th century churchyard. There are remains of some old grave stones. The Martin Church has a beautiful pipe organ. It was built/added about 1770 so Christian and his family were there at the time. 

Here is a German website about the organ:
 http://www.stumm-orgel-baerstadt.de/

Bärstadt Coat of Arms

Over 1000 years old 

Part two of Reed Slack's journey to Hesse-

Reed:
After Fischbach, I drove over to Bärstadt, which is quite open and level compared with Fischbach and Ramschied.

I stopped at the Church, but it was closed, unfortunately

. I took a number of photos, including the three headstones/markers in the yard. I don’t know if you can make out the years well on the marker, but it is from the 1700s.

There is a sandstone “tablet” encased in the stucco just next to the door.

The engravings are so faint that it is impossible to read, but it was interesting anyway. The other headstones are either difficult or impossible to read. I would have loved to see the inside of the church, but wasn’t able.

Panorama -Three photos stitched together

Panorama -Three photos stitched together

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Other pictures of Barstadt taken by Reed:

Message board in front of Martins Church

Inn

Road in front of Inn

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Thank you Reed for sharing with us. Click below to see his visit to the other villages:

Fischbach

Barstadt

Ramshied

Herxheim

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Links:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A4rstadt

http://www.stumm-orgel-baerstadt.de/