The Town Church of St. James @museum.de

There’s evidence of the presence of a church in Dornburg since the times of the Ottonian palace – in other words, since the 10th and early 11th centuries. Initially, it was probably no more than a modest timber structure. The first solid building was erected here on this site during the Gothic period, in the 12th and 13th centuries. The tower and the adjoining remains of a wall probably date back to that time.

Sadly, the great fire of 1717 largely destroyed the church along with the parish archives, so we don’t know very much about any church buildings prior to the early 18th century. It was only after that devastating town fire that the church took on its present form, with the lantern topping the octagonal tower. On the inside, it’s an elegant single-nave church with galleries on three levels on both sides.

In the early 19th century, an organ was installed at the west end. It’s East Thuringia’s largest surviving historic church organ. The master organ builder responsible was Johann Christian Adam Gerhardt from nearby Dorndorf – a descendant of the poet Paul Gerhardt, who was famous for writing the words to various Protestant hymns.

But that’s not all! Dornburg’s church has yet another treasure to its name: a communion chalice made of fire-gilt silver and lavishly decorated with enamel ornaments. The chalice was presented to the townsfolk by Anna-Maria von Altenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Weimar. The Duchess was widowed at an early age and lived at Dornburg with her court for more than three decades, from 1612 to 1643.

In the middle of the Thirty Years' War, on the 7th of September 1631, Dornburg came under attack. The Croatian cavalry commanded by the imperial General Count von Tilly stormed the town. For her part, the intrepid duchess joined forces with the townspeople, repelled the attack and managed to drive the horsemen towards the cliff, where they plunged to their deaths.

Anna-Maria probably donated the priceless communion chalice in gratitude for the successful defence against enemy cavalry. Until the end of the GDR period, it remained in the care of the pastor (at the parsonage opposite) and was regularly used during church services. Today, the Dornburg chalice is one of the treasures of the City Museum in Jena.