St. Martin's Church, Biberach

St. Martin's Church, Biberach is a church in Biberach an der Riß, in the Upper Swabia region of the German state (Land) of Baden-Württemberg. It is the oldest still active Simultaneum or shared church in Germany. Its two congregations form part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart and the Lutheran Evangelical Regional Church in Württemberg, respectively.

St. Martin's was built in 1337-1366 and served as the parish church of Biberach before the Reformation. With the conversion of almost the entire population of the town to Lutheranism, the church was used for Lutheran services. Then, in 1548 the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ordered that Catholic services be resumed. The solution was to divide the church, with Catholic services held in the former choir and Lutheran services in the larger nave. The arrangement was made permanent by the Peace of Augsburg.

For centuries, the two denominations' use of the church was regulated by the time of day. Catholics used the church from 5am to 6am, Lutherans from 6 to 8, Catholics again from 8 to 11, Lutherans from 11 to 12, and so on through the day. Catholics could use all parts of the church during their hours, although there were too few in Biberach to fill the church, while Lutherans were restricted to the nave except during the Lord's Supper when they were allowed to use the choir. The tower bells were rung by each denomination in turn.

During times of religious strife, the sharing of the church became tense. in 1638, during the Thirty Years War, someone blew his nose into the Catholic vessel containing Holy water. The Catholics retaliated by locking the door to the choir, making it impossible for the Lutherans to follow their usual custom of having the Lutheran pastor celebrate Holy Communion while standing in the choir. The next year, a Catholic rang the bells to disrupt the wedding of a prominent Lutheran couple underway in the nave. A crowd gathered and a riot ensued large enough to be investigated by an imperial commission, which resolved issues surrounding shared use of the church.

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