Brackenheim’s Two Old Churches–Johanniskirche and St. Jakobus

Today we traveled to Brackenhiem, a town near Grossgartach where our Laemmlen ancestors lived. The first Laemmlen to move to Grossgartach was my 2nd Great-grandfather, Leonhard “Heinrich Lämmlen, b. 9 Dec 1836 in Brackenheim. He was a master plumber in Brackenheim. He died 11 June 1868 in Grossgartach. His wife was Maria Magdalena Justine Schelle was born 15 December 1833 in Biberach (which we will also visit) and died 16 July 1897 in Grossgartach.

Most of our other family lines lived and raised their families in Grossgartach for 100s of years, but many family members came from these surrounding farming villages.

There are 2 old churches in Brackenheim. We visited both today to get a feeling for this place. I’m not sure which of these churches our family attended, but I will find out–I have their church records.

Here are some historic pictures of Brackenheim in 1820 and 1875:

This is the Protestant Johanneskirche or St. John’s Church. It’s on the southern side of town, overlooking fertile vineyards and fields. The Brackenheim Cemetery is located next to this church.

This church dates back to the 13th century. We spent about an hour here, wandering around the church grounds and the cemetery. The church was locked, but is still used for church services. There are some interior photos below.

Here are some interior photos from Wikipedia:

Der Chorraum der romanischen Johanniskirche in Brackenheim (Baden-Württemberg) mit Fresken von Propheten und Aposteln, die auf das frühe 15. Jahrhundert datiert werden. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Johanniskirche_(Brackenheim)_Chor_Apsis.jpg

And here are a few pics of the cemetery:

The words on this headstone say, “There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge between them is our love.”

These stones are memorials for those who were cremated. Their urns with ashes are under the stones.

Next we went into town to the other old medieval church, the Protestant City Church, St Jakobus, or St. James. This church is right in the old part of town, with homes, apartments and buildings surrounding it. It was also closed today.