March 12, 2017

4310 Rheinfelden

St. Martin's

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche
Rheinfelden, Switzerland

"Rheinfelden is a municipality in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland, seat of the district of Rheinfelden. It is located 15 kilometres east of Basel. The name means the fields of the Rhine, as the town is located on the Hochrhein. It is home to Feldschlösschen, the most popular beer in Switzerland." (Link 2.)

" The church St. Martin is located in the historic center of Rheinfelden.

"An older and smaller preceding church was replaced by one of almost the current size in the late 11th century. This church was mentioned in 1146 by Bernard of Clairvaux. In 1228 the bishop of Basel gave permit to the foundation of a convent of canons that existed until 1870.

"The church was extended and modified several times, 1378 to 1395, 1669 and especially between 1769 and 1772 when the gothic structure was adapted to late baroque, but without touching the basic structure. This is basically the current condition, it was renovated, but stayed unchanged in the late 19th century and again in the 1980s.

"The church was Roman-Catholic until 1873. The majority of the local church members ("all but one") decided to separate from Rome, the community with the church and all its possessions joined the newly founded Christian-Catholic Church. Since then St. Martin is the Christian-Catholic parish church of Rheinfelden. The remaining Roman-Catholics built a new church outside the historic town walls some years later.

"In 1876 Eduard Herzog received his Ordination as the first Christian-Catholic bishop of Switzerland in St. Martin." (Link 1.)

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Photos: Taken by RW while living and working in Basel Switzerland.
Link 1: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMENH7_Stadtkirche_St_Martin_Rheinfelden_AG_Switzerland
Link 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheinfelden

Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)