Rielingshausen · Baden-Württemberg · Germany
Evangelische Kirche, Rielingshausen
The Lutheran parish church of Rielingshausen, built 1758 — the church the Wildermuths attended for generations before Johann Michael's emigration in 1847. Robert Earl's note on his 1992 print identifies the family patriarch who probably worshipped here as 'Andreus Wildermuth.'
Why this place matters
This is the building the family worshipped in for at least a century before America. Robert Earl returned to it in November 1992 and was followed inside by an old cleaning woman who 'intimidated us so much that we took no pictures' — his own words on the back of the print. Chuck's later photographs are, by that accident of suspicion, the first clear interior images of the church in the family's hands.
Then & now
Robert Earl photographed the church exterior from the south side in November 1992; Chuck framed it from a slightly different angle in 2018.
The Evangelische Kirche from across the square
Across generations
The interior — pews, nave, pulpit — that grandpa could not photograph in 1992. Three additional Chuck frames from the 2018 visit.
Alignment: No 1992 interior frames exist (see Robert Earl's caption); the 2018 interior shots are the first clear photographic record of the inside in the family's hands.
The Evangelische Kirche in Rielingshausen, built in 1758, was the parish church of the Wildermuths through their last German generations. Robert Earl visited in November 1992 on the family pilgrimage that became “Return to Germany,” and his caption on the back of one print is the source for almost everything we know about the visit:
“This is the old Eangelishes Kirche, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rielingshausen, Germany. Church was built in 1758 and was probably used by our family patriarch, Andreus Wildermuth. To the left of the church and up a little hill is the old cemetery. To the right of the church is the Burgermiester’s Haus (Mayor’s office) to the right of this is the city hall. The church inside had beautiful, polished wooden pews and the pulpit was elevated up about 12 narrow and steep steps. No alter. We were closely followed inside by an old cleaning woman who intimidated us so much that we took no pictures. Too bad perhaps on a subsequent visit — note by R.E.W. I”
A subsequent visit is exactly what happened. Twenty-six years later, in 2018, Chuck returned with no shadow watching and made the interior pictures.