The monastery of Hofen on Lake Constance was designed and built by Christian Thumb 1695-1702. After the secularisation in 1803 the village of Hofen was united with the larger Buchhorn to become the new town of Friedrichshafen. It came under Protestant jurisdiction from 1812. There was severe bombing damage after the raid on 28 April 1944. The south tower and the nave roof were both destroyed along with the pews, organ and stucco ceiling. It was renovated by 1959 and is now a sparkling Protestant Lutheran Evangelical church. When we visited Friedrichshafen in summer 2018 we could see this landmark large Baroque building way along the lake front and could not resist exploring. THis was after seeing the remarkable Zeppelin museum, the main purpose for our visit/.
It is an ear;y Baroque Vorarlberg type church deriving from buildings like Obermarchtal, which I have covered in a previous post. The sttucco work on the ceiling was originally by Franz Schmuzer and family. and has been beautifully restored. Altar pieces by JM Feuchtmayer. High altar structure also by Franz Schmuzer. It is the magnificent choir stalls that I shall remember and justify this post. To me they seemed outstanding. They are by Martin Hofele and date from 1701. I especially loved the figure of the young abbot.
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| Note restored stucco ceiling |
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| View of choir and altars |
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| Former high altar |
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| Nave with organ |
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| The young abbot |
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| Choir stalls from 1701 |
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| Moses |
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| King David |
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