The St. Catharina Church in the District of Rendsburg-Eckernförde: On Sacred Architecture, Church Life and Death Rites in a Rural Parish on the Shores of the Baltic Sea

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Ulrich Müller; Dr. Donat Wehner
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: from 2015 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 272136226

The St. Catharina Church at Jellenbek (13th century to 1737) is not only the only completely excavated parish church in Schleswig-Holstein but also belongs to the few very well-studied sacral buildings in rural regions of Northern Europe.¿The excavations provided comprehensive data, which enabled a detailed reconstruction of the building design, the specific room features and spatial use of the church complex over time as well as an assessment of cultural and social practices of religious and secular actors at the intersection between church and society. In addition, ca. 70 church burials enable insights into the hitherto little-known sepulchral culture, in particular under the aspect of confessionalisation, and also provide enormous potential insights into the interactions between aDNA analyses and archaeological as well as written sources. Furthermore, the influence of the late medieval rulers on parishes can be contextualized as well as that of aristocratic patronage in the context of the modern establishment of manorial estates, which is of particular interest due to the location of the church in the border region between Danish and Schleswig-Holstein rulership.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants