Christophoruskirche
The Protestant Christophoruskirche, dedicated to St. Christopher, was built in 1752. It replaced an older church from the 9th century, which had become so dilapidated that in January 1752 parts of the church tower collapsed. The congregation had already contemplated for several years to build a new church, since the old building had become too small. The Baroque architect Anselm Franz von Ritter zu Groenesteyn, who owned property in Schierstein, had donated a site to the church in 1750. In 1748, the Mayor of Frankfurt, merchant and banker Johann Georg von Schweitzer (a member of the Frauenstein Gesellschaft), had allowed the Schierstein curate a collection of 604 guilders in the Free Imperial City, which provided the basis for the construction of the church.
After the blueprints of Johann Georg Bager were rejected by Prince Charles of Nassau-Usingen as too big and too expensive, a cheaper plan was designed by Johann Scheffer, which the prince approved. Von Ritter contributed suggestions, especially for the interior decoration.
Von Schweitzer commissioned Frankfurt sculptor Johann Daniel Schnorr to build pulpit and altar. On the pulpit, Schnorr carved three coats of arms: in the middle was the emblem of Nassau-Usingen, on the right was the Schierstein orb with a cross, and on the left was the crest of von Schweitzer, the Frankfurt benefactor. Above the pulpit are three cherubs: one holding a chalice (representing faith), another holding an anchor (representing hope), and the third - placed higher than faith and hope - holding the Commandments (representing Love). (This is a representation of St. Paul's quotation in 1 Corinthians 13:13 - "But now remain faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love".) The four Corinthian columns of the altar area symbolize the four Evangelists. The twelve Doric columns bearing the galleries represent the twelve apostles.
Scheffer, for reasons of cost, planned a small wooden bell tower instead of a stone tower. The tower was built on the eastern end of the roof, positioned directly behind the pulpit from where the bells could be rung.
The foundation stone was laid on 3 May 1752 and the topping-out ceremony on 9 November 1752. The costs of building of 9006 guilders was nearly double the original estimate, but it was offset by revenue of 9262 guilders obtained from loans, collections (especially from the Frankfurt collection), donations and grants, together with the proceeds from the sale of recyclable materials salvaged from the old church.
The church is a concert venue of the Schiersteiner Kantorei and of the Rheingau Musik Festival.
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