Hellefeld - St. Martinus

Saint Ludger founded the Werden Abbey (100km west) in 799 and already in 886 Hellefeld is listed being a property of the abbey. Later it belonged to a monastery in nearby Meschede. The parish had an own pastor already in 1179. The connection to the Werden Abbey may give a hint, that Hellefeld was an important place, when, with the strong support of Charlemagne, Saint Ludger and his collegues preached the gospel to the pagan tribes in the mountainous Sauerland.

When during the 19th century the population of Hellefeld grew, the old romanesque basilica was too small for the many parishioners, so the church got demolished and replaced in the 1870s. Only the old tower still exists and now is used as a baptisterium.

When the romanesque basilica got demolished, this baptismal font was saved, as it seemed to be "valuable". At that time, it was believed to be produced within the 12th century. It is very unusual, as it is made from plumb (99%) and tin (1%). This is unique. It has been compared with the baptismal font in Wuerzburg (St. Kilian), but that does not help, as that one (casted 1279) is different in style, technique, alloy. The only common feature is, that it is cylindrical.

The connection from Hellefeld to the Werden Abbey gave room to speculation. Meanwhile historians date this baptismal font into the first half of the 9th century, what connects it to - early evangelisation.

A closer look onto the font. There are pillars and nine arches. The arches seem to consist out of a kind of rope. The capitals have crosses and dots. Over the capitals are small heads (faces, masks). The surface below the arches is covered with scratches, dots and marks, but not in any regular pattern. The only clearly christian symbols are the crosses.
In early times people got baptised in rivers. This was still very common, during the Saxon Wars (772-804) and even later people got immersed completely during the baptism-process. Most romanesque baptism fonts are too small for this - and are dated 12th century. They are way younger than this. So it may be, that during the first half of the 9th century, this font may have been casted for a different usage.