St Nicholas’s Town Church in Schmölln

A Kalands Brethren organisation, an interest-based network of regional priests, had been working here since 1403. Its formation did not help prevent conflicts with the Dominican convent in Cronschwitz near Weida, which had owned the patronage rights since 1296. The disputes mainly involved charges that the priest had to pay to the convent, but which were often delayed or did not arrive at all. Things came to a head in 1480. The priest had discovered a small chapel outside the town as an additional source of income; he donated indulgences there with the permission of the bishop, but without the monastery knowing about this through “his great greed” and this meant a reduction in the nuns’ income at St Mary’s Chapel on Pfefferberg Hill. The wind and rain have left their mark on the pinnacle, which looks like an ornamental tower – and on the eroded gates. The modern church tower is an annoyance in architectural terms, but only partially impairs the view of the somewhat enchanted building.