Kirche Stein

A Reformed village church in Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Kirche Stein is the church of the Evangelical Reformed parish of Stein, a village in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in northeastern Switzerland. The parish's own page describes the building, which it calls the Grubenmannkirche, as seating about 320 people: 240 in the nave and 80 to 90 in the gallery. The booking form lists the church at 300 seats, so the practical figure for a seated wedding sits between the two. A parish hall in the rectory takes groups of up to 30.

This is a working parish church, not a commercial event venue. Weddings are one of the life events (the site files them under "Lebenskreis") the parish accompanies alongside baptism, confirmation and funerals, and the pastor, the parish office and the sacristan each have a role in arranging one. The address is Dorf 16, CH-9063 Stein AR, and the parish's site notes that the church stands where it can be seen from far away.

The building's history is well documented on the parish site. The cornerstone, set into the southeast corner of the church, carries the inscription "1749. DEN 2.TAG MAI", and the church was consecrated on 28 November 1749. The large oak communion table has stood in the church since the interior renovation of 1983, and the baptismal font and pulpit were made in 1832/33 by the stucco artist Gebhard Moosbrugger in the neoclassical style.

What the church asks of a couple

The parish's wedding page states two conditions plainly: "Voraussetzung ist die Ziviltrauung" (the civil wedding is a prerequisite), and for a church wedding at least one partner must belong to a Christian Landeskirche, one of the recognized cantonal churches. Those are the church's own terms, quoted from its page. A couple from abroad whose church membership sits outside Switzerland should raise their situation with the pastor early, since the page gives no further detail on how it treats membership of a church abroad.

The registration form, the Trauanmeldung, shows what the parish wants to know. For each partner it asks for name, occupation, parents, date of birth, place of origin (the Swiss Heimatort), denomination and church membership, and whether that person grew up in Stein. It then asks for the date and place of the civil wedding, the date, place and time of the church ceremony, the preferred pastor, and whether the couple wants the organ played. By submitting it, the couple confirms they have read and accepted the parish's information sheets on weddings, tariffs and the use of the village square.

How booking works

The page sets out the order of steps. First, check with the parish office, or through the online reservation system, that the church is free on the date. Second, agree the date with the pastor. Once the registration is submitted, the church is reserved for the couple. The general room request form adds that a reservation only becomes valid once the parish office confirms it.

That room request form covers the practical side. It lets the organizer book the church, the parish hall or both, and tick the infrastructure needed: microphone, electric piano, television or projector, and kitchen. It asks for the time including setup and clearing away. One rehearsal is included in the usage fee. Further rehearsals that need the sacristan present are charged at CHF 80 per hour, or the couple can collect a key from the rectory during office hours against a deposit and rehearse on their own. The form also asks whether the event should appear in the parish calendar, and it states in bold that organizers must contact the sacristan no later than two weeks before the date to go through details.

The rooms and their equipment

The church itself has an organ in the choir, which the parish describes as "wohlklingende Orgel" (a fine-sounding organ), plus an electric piano. A side door gives barrier-free access to the nave, and there is a public toilet in the tower. The parish site explains in a separate note why the organ stands in the choir rather than in the gallery, a legacy of Zwingli's ban on organs that held in Appenzell Ausserrhoden for a long time.

The parish hall in the rectory suits a small gathering after the service: tables, chairs, a small kitchenette, a flat-screen TV, WiFi, an electric piano and two toilets. With a limit of 30 people it works for close family, an aperitif for a small wedding, or a place for the wedding party to gather, not a full reception. The download section also carries a plan and a municipal information sheet for using the village square outside the church, which a couple planning an aperitif in front of the building will need to read.

The bells

The church's four bells were cast in Zurich by Jakob Keller and raised and consecrated in August 1874, replacing an earlier set of three cast in Schaffhausen in 1749. According to the parish, Keller used two old bells from Basel and six decommissioned Japanese cannons among his metal. Each bell is decorated with inscriptions and an upright bear holding a shield marked "ST" for Stein, and together they are tuned to a B-major chord (H-Dur in German notation). The ringing motif follows the line "Vom Aufgang der Sonne bis zu ihrem Niedergang sei gelobet der Name des Herrn!", verse 3 of Psalm 113 (from the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord be praised). How and when the bells ring is set by the Läuteordnung, the ringing regulations, which the parish says are the responsibility of the political municipality, not the church.

Language, prices and access

The whole site, including the registration form and the information sheets, is in German, and it says nothing about ceremonies in English. Couples who need an English or bilingual service should ask the pastor directly before registering. Contact details on the site: Pfarrerin Irina Bossart, +41 71 367 11 25 or +41 79 489 07 35, pfarramt@kirche-stein.ch; the parish office (Barbara Metzger), +41 71 333 13 64, sekretariat@kirche-stein.ch; and the sacristan (Heidi Müller-Aerne), +41 71 367 11 73 or +41 79 413 67 63, mesmerin@kirche-stein.ch.

The site does have a tariffs section, with one sheet for the use of the church and rectory and another for church services in the parish, but the amounts sit in those downloads rather than on the page. The only figure stated on the page itself is the rehearsal rate above.

The pages give no directions by public transport and no parking information for the church. The download section links a flyer on the church as a stop on a cycle route, which is about all the site says on getting there, so guests traveling from Zurich or from abroad will need to plan the journey themselves or ask the parish office.

Who it suits

Kirche Stein suits a couple who want a Reformed church wedding in a rural Appenzell village and can meet the parish's conditions: a civil wedding first, and one partner in a recognized church. It suits a guest list that fills a real church, up to about 300 seated, with a separate reception venue booked elsewhere, since the parish hall holds 30. The caveats are practical: everything runs in German, prices sit in downloadable sheets, and travel is left entirely to the couple.