The parish church of St. Matthew, Hiltpoltstein

The church stands near the castle, built on rock, and surrounded by the picturesque rocks of the Franconian Jura. The paths lead steeply up from the houses to the church where the inhabitants of the small market town sought and found refuge time and time again. During the Reformation the castle chapel began to be used as the village church.
The governors who were appointed by the free city of Nuremberg made sure that the church could be restored, enlarged and artistically furnished on several occasions – above all with the most precious item, which formerly belonged to the Nuremberg Dominican monastery.
The altar of the Passion was made around 1420 by an unknown artist, who was named ‘the master of the Hiltpoltstein altar’ because of this work.The inner panels show the Flagellation, Mocking and Crucifixion of Jesus. Later a baroque structure was placed above this, on top of which the sun carries the name of God,’Jahwe’. The font did not have a cover either until around 1700, when the confessional was acquired, and clerk of the court,Herr Hirschdörfer donated the crucifix on the east wall, though the figure itself of Christ Crucified dates from around 1400. The splendidly carved pulpit, with pillars entwined with vines, grapes, bunches of fruit and shells, and crowned with the sun in a halo of rays of light, dates from 1699 -1706.