Homecoming Thank You Church

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Main portal of the Heimkehrer-Dankeskirche in the evening, 2011

The returnees-Dankeskirche is a Roman Catholic church in Bochum district Weitmar and a memorial to peace and reconciliation among peoples. Since 2009 it has been a branch church of the parish of St. Franziskus in Bochum-Weitmar in the diocese of Essen . The church has been a listed building since 2005. In 2010, during the Ruhr Capital of Culture year, the church was one of 52 so-called “spiritual culture filling stations” in the diocese of Essen. The overall concept of the sacred building is unique in Germany.

history

The themed route board of the route for industrial culture at the Heimkehrer-Dankeskirche, 2016

Vicar August Halbe , a priest prisoner of war in the Urals for five years , took the decisive initiative to establish the church out of gratitude for being saved from prison in the camp. He received support from the pastor of the parish of St. Franziskus Bochum-Weitmar, Adolf Ostendorf. The plan to build the Dankeskirche was presented to the public in 1955. With the support of the Kirchbauverein founded in 1956, 20 returnees were able to break the first sod two years later . On December 12, 1959, the Bishop of Essen, Dr. Franz Hengsbach , the church. It bears the name "Holy Family" and commemorates the return of the family of Jesus from Egypt. The church has been a listed building since 2005 .

The church is a place of remembrance where the historical and religious memory of those involved in the war found its expression. The architectural conception, the crypt and the pictorial program of the windows (“Street of War”) represent a whole. With the large choir window “Song of Praise of the Young Men in the Fiery Furnace”, for example, the painter Wilhelm de Graaf expressed his thanks as a war participant.

From 1960 to 2009, several thousand former war returnees from all over Germany gathered here on the Sunday after Pentecost (Trinity Sunday) for their “Homecoming Thanks Day”.

In 2009 the church celebrated its 50th consecration day. In a greeting from the Apostolic Nuncio in Germany, Nuncio Archbishop Jean-Claude Périsset wrote to the congregation: “ Thanks to God, which is expressed in the 'Heimkehrer-Dankeskirche', is connected ... the grateful memory of Pastor August Halbe and everyone, who contributed to the implementation of the project at the time, but also to those who are committed to the legacy associated with this church. "

On June 2, 2012, Archbishop Dr. Jean-Claude Périsset , Apostolic Nuncio in Germany, also visited the Church of Thanksgiving for those returning home during a visit to Bochum.

Architecture and interior design

The high and wide hall is equipped with a flat gable roof covered. The three-part facade depicts a three-aisled room, but the interior consists only of a high hall to which a short, seven- bayed aisle supported by pillars is attached. The two non-articulated side parts of the facade flank the central section, which is articulated by sturdy, slender concrete supports, in which three high rectangular windows with an ornamental effect due to the square lattice structure open up through three portals.

The bright, simple interior is also illuminated by the high frieze of colored windows on the two long sides of the church and another glass window at the height of the choir , which takes up the entire height of the room and almost a quarter of its length. The iconography of the windows varies the theme of war and imprisonment.

The architecture of the church should be reminiscent of a warehouse barrack . The architectural conception, the crypt and the image program of the windows (“War Street”) represent a whole. With the window “Song of Praise of the Young Men in the Fiery Furnace”, for example, the painter Wilhelm de Graaf expressed his gratitude as a returnee from the war. In the side area of ​​the church there has been a colored protective cloak Madonna by a Val Gardena carver since 1985 .

Memorial with an integrated museum

The memorial with the integrated museum in the crypt of the Heimkehrer-Dankeskirche, 2017

In the crypt of the church there is a memorial with an integrated museum. It shows numerous objects that were created in the camps. There are also impressive paintings and drawings from the everyday life of the camp inmates as well as a reproduction of the so-called Stalingrad Madonna . In 1967 plaques with the names of numerous POW camps in the east and west were placed on the walls of the crypt.

The homecoming memorial with the integrated museum in the crypt of the Heimkehrer-Dankeskirche was opened in 2016/2017 under the scientific supervision of Dr. Angelika Böttcher, art historian, Duisburg, comprehensively redesigned and redesigned. After this extensive renovation, the crypt was reopened on March 12, 2017 and blessed by Bishop Clemens Pickel from the diocese of St. Clemens in Saratow (Russia). The memorial plaque, which was attached to the entrance door after the redesign of the memorial and the museum in the crypt in 2016/2017, was personally blessed by Pope Francis on November 9, 2016 as part of a general audience on St. Peter's Square in Rome.

Abbé Franz Stock memorial

The Abbé-Franz-Stock memorial in the Heimkehrer-Dankeskirche, 2016

On February 21, 2016 (2nd Sunday of Lent), Cathedral Chapter Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Althaus (Paderborn), Archbishop's delegate in the beatification proceedings for Abbé Franz Stock, a memorial in the church, which is there to commemorate the life and work of the faith witness Abbé Franz Stock . In the spring of 2015, the traveling exhibition “Peace as a Mission” about the life and work of Abbé Franz Stock was presented in the church with an extensive accompanying program and numerous speakers.

Pastor

  • Pastor August Halbe
  • Pastor Helmut Martin Jägersberg
  • Pastor Theo Schwens
  • Pastor Norbert Humberg
  • Pastor Thomas Köster

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ “The return home is transformed into thanksgiving” , Diocese of Essen, article from June 4, 2012 on the visit of the Apostolic Nuncio, accessed on May 22, 2017.
  2. ^ "Prayer and address by Nuncio Périsset in the Heimkehrer-Dankeskirche zu Bochum-Weitmar" ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Apostolic Nunciature in the Federal Republic of Germany, article dated June 2, 2012, accessed on May 29, 2017. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nuntiatur.de
  3. ↑ New Ruhr Word Special "Heimkehrer-Dankeskirche" , New Ruhr Word, Volume 4, No. 10, March 11, 2017, special publisher publication, accessed on May 22, 2017.
  4. ↑ Pilgrims give Pope's cross made of GDR border wire , WAZ Bochum, November 18, 2016, accessed on May 22, 2017.
  5. ↑ Reconciling the Nations Behind Bars, Der Westen , article from February 22, 2016 on the dedication of the new Franz Stock Memorial, accessed on May 22, 2017.
  6. ↑ Website of the parish of St. Francis and its branch church of the Holy Family "Habemus sacerdotem - We have a new pastor!" Introduction of the new pastor on January 6, 2017, accessed on May 22, 2017.

Web links

Coordinates: 51 ° 26 ′ 30.2 "  N , 7 ° 12 ′ 38.6"  E