From German Girls Genealogy (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin & Debra A. Hoffman): 

In a prior post, I described the Catholic graveyard in Schweighausen. It is connected to St. Romanus Church. In 1132, a chapel was consecrated in Schweighausen to honor St. Romanus. The current building was erected in 1777. After a fire in 2006, it was renovated into the church we see today. 

 

We were able to go inside to look around. The baptismal font dates from 1275. Many of my ancestors were baptized at that font. It’s crazy to think it has seen generations of people whose names I will never know because the earliest baptism dates from 1646. The organ at this church, not nearly as old, was installed in the late 1700s.

 

It was late January, but the Christmas décor still stood. The nativity scene was a unique assembly of natural materials pulled from the Black Forest, of which Schweighausen is part. It primarily consisted of branches, stones, and moss. Our guide explained that he and two other men spent thirty hours building it. And they do it every year. The stones, many containing fossils, are reused, but the other elements are gathered fresh each year. The manger would stay intact until early February.

 

And speaking of fossils. The flooring in the church was made of natural stone pulled from the region. If you look carefully, you will find many examples of fossils quietly witnessing the history that continues to unfold in this church.