St. Lawrence (Füttersee)

St. Laurentius in Füttersee is an evangelical parish church standing in the centre of the small village. It occupies the site of an earlier chapel built in the 9th century under the influence of a nearby monastic settlement. The present building began in the 14th century under Cistercian monks from Ebrach and was completed around 1350. Later medieval additions expanded the nave, and the Reformation took firm hold in the village by 1527. The church is a Chorturmkirche: a square tower from the 14th century forms the east end, and an 18th-century nave was added to the west. The tower has three storeys, the top one housing bells behind a simple cornice. Three round-headed windows light the nave on each side, and the west door leads inside. The building is listed as a Bavarian monument, as are the remains of earlier structures buried beneath the floor. Inside, the late-Gothic winged altar dominates the chancel. Its central figures include Saints Laurentius, Petrus and Paulus, while the outer panels show scenes from the life of Mary. The pulpit of 1709 stands on a twisted column in the nave, and the 1860 neo-Gothic font and Bittner organ complete the furnishings. The altar’s carvings are attributed to the Würzburg circle around Tilman Riemenschneider.