Sponheim - St. Martin und Maria

The church "St. Martin und Maria", now used as the parish church of Sponheim, was part of an abbey, founded by Meginhard of Sponheim and his father. The abbey got consecrated in 1123, the first monks came from Mainz. After the Reformation the monks left the abbey. A try to reestablish monastic life here with the support of the Bursfelde Congregation ended unsuccessful. Another try ended in 1794, when the last monks fled the monastery from the approaching French troops.

The first buildings of the monastary burnt down in 1156. The rebuilding process started soon after. The layout of the church is a Greek cross, what was never planned, but the nave never got completed.

Johannes Trithemius was abbot here between 1483 and 1505. He was not liked by the monks, as he was preferred a very harsh monastic life. Johannes was very popular among the intellectual community in Germany as an lexicographer and historian. As an early cryptographer, he was one of the greatgrandfathers of Alan Turing. In 1516, he published the "Polygraphiae", containing a "tabula recta", a cornerstone of modern cryptography.

Johannes Trithemius is still known for his (very) imaginative "story-telling". So he knew for sure the meaning of an eagle talking to a pigeon on it´s back..