The parish church of St. Matthew, Hiltpoltstein

Built upon and amongst rocks

The church stands near the castle, built on rock, and surrounded by the picturesque rocks of the Franconian Jura. The paths lead steeply up from the houses to the church where the inhabitants of the small market town sought and found refuge time and time again. During the Reformation the castle chapel began to be used as the village church.
The governors who were appointed by the free city of Nuremberg made sure that the church could be restored, enlarged and artistically furnished on several occasions – above all with the most precious item, which formerly belonged to the Nuremberg Dominican monastery.
The altar of the Passion was made around 1420 by an unknown artist, who was named ‘the master of the Hiltpoltstein altar’ because of this work.The inner panels show the Flagellation, Mocking and Crucifixion of Jesus. Later a baroque structure was placed above this, on top of which the sun carries the name of God,’Jahwe’. The font did not have a cover either until around 1700, when the confessional was acquired, and clerk of the court,Herr Hirschdörfer donated the crucifix on the east wall, though the figure itself of Christ Crucified dates from around 1400. The splendidly carved pulpit, with pillars entwined with vines, grapes, bunches of fruit and shells, and crowned with the sun in a halo of rays of light, dates from 1699 -1706.

Discover
the church.

The parish church of St. Matthew
Hinterer Berg 3
91355 Hiltpoltstein

Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat 09:00-18:00
Sun 10:30-18:00
Open on Sunday after the church service until 18.00.

Evang.-Luth. Pfarramt Hiltpoltstein
09192 9918945
pfarramt.hiltpoltstein@elkb.de
hiltpoltstein-evangelisch.de

  • Food and drink
  • Church tours

Explore
the surroundings.

It's worth going a little bit further: many churches lie on lovely cycle, walking and pilgrim paths. You will find an overview of them in the following map, as well as places worth seeing nearby. It also has links to local area, church and tourist information websites.

Bike tracks, pilgrim paths and hiking trails close to The parish church of St. Matthew:

Casanovas Ausritt 191 km Erlangen-Pegnitztal-Radweg 61 km Wanderwegenetz Kulturerlebnis Fränkische Schweiz 300 km Jakobsweg Hof-Bayreuth-Nürnberg 183 km Forchheim Land FO 7 – Brauerei-Tour 36 km Rund um Hiltpoltstein 9 km Zwei-Täler-Wanderung 11 km Zu den Kirschen- und Hopfengaerten 9.6 km Durch Wald und Flur 14.3 km Auf dem alten Kirchenweg 7.5 km Zur Trubachquelle 12 km Rund um den Eschenberg 5.4 km Obstlerrunde – durch malerische Landschaften und Obstplantagen 37.7 km Hildpolds Höhenflug 16 km Markgrafenkirchen und sehr viel mehr
Tour 08: “Fränkische Schweiz Süd”
37 km

Visit the
events.

Find more events on the church's website or the Evangelische Termine portal (Evangelical events portal).