St. Boniface (Wittmund)

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St. Bonifatius in snow, right the rectory, left the Boni house
Church of St. Boniface, view of the window with the seven sacraments, the bell tower on the left, the cloister on the right
St. Bonifatius in Wittmund, inside

The Church of St. Bonifatius in Wittmund , East Frisia is a Roman Catholic church on Bismarckstrasse. It belongs to the Catholic parish community Neuauwiewitt ( New city-Gödens- Au RICH How smoor- Witt mouth) in the Dean's Office Ostfriesland of the Diocese of Osnabrück and the hl. Dedicated to Boniface.

history

Bonus house

Even before the Second World War, thought was given to building a new Catholic church in Wittmund. In 1938 the property on Bismarckstraße was bought by the parish of St. Joseph Neustadtgödens , to whose parish Wittmund belonged. However, no building permit was granted. The Catholic community in Wittmund met for the celebration of church services and for community life from 1940 in a house at Brückstrasse 13.

In 1946, several hundred people arrived in Wittmund who had been driven from their Silesian homeland. The services were not enough more so Pastor Fronober both "Camp West" in Wittmund and in the villages Burhafe , Ardorf and Leerhafe Eucharist celebrated. In 1948 the priest Erich Fischer, who had been expelled from Silesia , set up a chapel in the Protestant rectory in Funnix , where he was housed . Its catchment area also included Carolinensiel. 400 Catholics belonged to this area. On Sundays the service took place in the Church of St. Florian in Funnix. In 1952 the area was incorporated into the Wittmund pastoral care station.

The Catholic pastor in Wittmund, Pastor Fronober, assumed that many of the expellees would not stay in Wittmund, and was therefore against building a new parsonage and church in Wittmund. The pastor of St. Joseph in Neustadtgödens , Pastor Lüning, campaigned for a new building that began after Pastor Fronober had been transferred in 1953.

First the rectory was built, into which Pastor Arnold Terveer moved in March 1954. Then the construction of the church began. The 70,000 DM required for this were v. a. financed by the women's youth of the Diocese of Osnabrück, by the Bonifatiuswerk , through a loan and the sale of the house in Brückstrasse.

The laying of the foundation stone was celebrated on November 21, 1954 and the topping-out ceremony in August 1955 . The church was dedicated to St. Dedicated to Boniface and also considered St. Hedwig , the patron saint of the Silesian expellees. On 13 November 1955, the church by Bishop was John von Rudloff ordained .

Cornerstone
Rooster on the church roof

The church service stations in Carolinensiel , Werdum , Funnix, Burhafe , Ardorf , Leerhafe and Asel as well as later also Dunum and Neuharlingersiel have been preserved. In 1957, the Diocese of Osnabrück bought a building site in Carolinensiel for "a chapel to be built later". The property was sold again in the 1980s. Instead, the Catholics continued to use the cemetery chapel in Carolinensiel for church services. In 1962, the worship stations were abandoned after two cars and a minibus were purchased to bring Catholics to worship. In the 1980s, the Carolinensiel outstation was revived due to the large number of Catholic vacationers. Every week during the main season a Catholic service was celebrated in the Deichkirche .

On January 1, 1981, the past pastoral care district of St. Bonifatius Wittmund of the parish of St. Joseph Neustadtgödens was appointed a parish. The parish area became the area of ​​the city of Wittmund.

Tower and bells

The bell tower , built in the "East Frisian style", was built together with the church. From 1955 on there was a small, hand- rang pewter bell , which was cast around 1400 and weighs 300 kg. It bears the inscription o rex gloria veni cum pace (“King of honor, come with peace”). In 1964 the community received a small bell to ring the angel , which was financed by donations. It bears the inscription St. Bonifatius ora pro nobis (“Saint Boniface, please for us”), was cast by the Monasterium bell foundry in Münster and weighs 824 kg. The bells were consecrated on August 9, 1964.

Fountain in front of the sacristy

While researching the history of the parish, it was discovered that the smaller bell in the bell tower was a borrowed bell from Lower Silesia . In 2004 the parish decided to transfer it to the original parish of St. Mary's Assumption in Leśniów Wielki (Groß-Lessen) v. a. to return as a sign of peace and reconciliation and thus to set a sign “for the global Catholic Church, in which we Christians are the“ body of Christ ”(Rom. 12.4; 1 Cor. 10:17). In this one body, we thought, it must be possible to overcome borders. "(Quoted from the parish report on the return)

Facility

Badge church building

In 1960 a new communion bench , additional pews, a harmonium and some paraments were purchased. During the time of Pastor Otten, a number of new acquisitions began. In 1962, the previous simple wooden cross was replaced by a new life-size cross made of holm oak. It was financed by donations from parishioners. Then a new tabernacle was purchased and in 1963 a new organ from the Alfred Führer company with seven registers , which stood on a small gallery to the right of the church entrance.

In 1964 the driveway to the church was paved and signs for services, a display case in front of the church, a flag for the bell tower, a Sacred Heart statue and new lights were purchased, a garage for the rectory was built and the heating system renovated.

In 1967 the parish erected a cross with a cock on the north gable as a symbolic warning of vigilance and purchased an ambo with the symbols of the four evangelists and new choir stalls.

In 1969 the sacristy was refurbished and a crib was purchased, the 32 small windows were sealed and the church was given a new coat of paint. Due to the changes made during the Second Vatican Council , the church received a new altar made of sandstone, the tabernacle had its own place behind the altar and the eternal light a console. The church entrance was also covered and the church square was repaved.

In 1971 the roof was renovated and a new confessional and in 1972 a statue of the Virgin Mary and a new baptismal font purchased.

The first renovation in 1970 could not eliminate the fundamental defects. Therefore, in 1976, the community began a major renovation. The 300,000 DM required for this were financed by numerous donations, the Vicariate General Osnabrück and the Bonifatiuswerk. The church ceiling, floor and heating were renewed, the altar wall was clinkered and the tabernacle doors were redesigned with blue and green enamel stones with a text from the 1st Corinthians. The renovation was finished in February 1977.

Since the church was often overcrowded in the 1980s, a gallery was built in 1986 . The organ was given its new place there.

In 1996 the next renovation was necessary, which was financed by donations and the local church money. The walls were whitewashed, a runner laid out in the corridor and a carpet in the chancel. The handicraft group founded the new way of the cross . In 1999 the courtyard in front of the sacristy was paved and a fountain was installed. The redesign was done in-house. The large round window with the seven sacraments still exists. The other windows have been redesigned: the 32 small windows have been replaced by large ones. They stand under the motto “God is always close to us.” The right side of the window shows biblical motifs, the left side is oriented towards the present. The large window next to the altar is dedicated to St. Dedicated to Boniface. It shows u. a. the Church of St. Boniface. Theo Landmann from Osnabrück was the designer.

Relics

As part of the anniversary week for the church's 50th anniversary, the altar stone was replaced with a new relic . In 2004 the parish council decided on the relics of St. Marie Amandine ( Pauline Jeuris ). She was born in Belgium on December 28, 1872 and entered the community of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary . From 1899, she and six other sisters looked after a Chinese mission station with an orphanage and hospital and mainly looked after the orphans and the sick. On July 9, 1900, she was beheaded along with other Christians. The 120 Chinese martyrs were born in 1946 by Pope Pius XII. Beatified and canonized in 2000 by Pope John Paul II . Remembrance day is the day of death on July 9th. The parish council chose Pauline Jeuris / Marie Amandine because “she reminds us that today as Christians we are building up generations of Christians who have passed on the faith in word and deed. She bore witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ in joy, poverty and in her diaconal action to which we are all called. The aspect of their diaconal work was (...) an important motive for choosing them. "

More buildings

Parish hall of St. Boniface

The parish hall - attached to the church - was inaugurated in February 1971. It was financed by the diocese and the Bonifatiuswerk. The community room consisted of a group room with 30 seats, a kitchen and toilets.

In 1986 the parish bought a piece of land next to the church. The construction of a community hall began there in 1988 and was inaugurated in February 1990. The 500,000 DM necessary for this were raised by the city of Wittmund, the district, the state, the Vicariate General Osnabrück and the Bonifatiuswerk. The parish hall was connected to the church by an open cloister. The path was paved in-house. A statue of St. Boniface was supposed to find a place there, but this could not be realized for financial reasons.

In 2000 the parish bought the Dübbel joinery site and house next to the church square. The purchase was supported by the Diocese of Osnabrück and the Bonifatiuswerk. It was rebuilt by many community members under the guidance of Theodor Schlünder. The “Boni House” and property were sold to the Stephanswerk in 2018; the house was demolished in April 2018.

Web links

Commons : St. Boniface  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Gerd Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones . Wittmund 2004, p. 39 f .
  2. ↑ Gerd Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones . Wittmund 2004, p. 35 .
  3. ↑ a b c Gerd Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones - 50 years of St. Bonifatius . Ed .: Parish St. Bonifatius, Wittmund. Wittmund 2004, p. 42-44 .
  4. ↑ Gerd Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones - 50 years of St. Bonifatius . Wittmund 2004, p. 22 .
  5. ↑ Gerd Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones - 50 years of St. Bonifatius . Wittmund 2004, p. 46 .
  6. ↑ Gerd Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones - 50 years of St. Bonifatius . Wittmund 2004, p. 24 f .
  7. ↑ a b c Gerd Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones - 50 years of St. Bonifatius . Wittmund 2004, p. 47 f .
  8. ↑ Gerd Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones - 50 years of St. Bonifatius . Wittmund 2004, p. 57 .
  9. ↑ Gerd Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones - 50 years of St. Bonifatius . Wittmund 2004, p. 133 f .
  10. ↑ Gerd Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones - 50 years of St. Bonifatius . Wittmund 2004, p. 98 .
  11. ↑ Florian Schneider: Loan Bells - Chance of Reconciliation !? In: unpublished diploma thesis - St. Georgen University . 2013, p. 36 .
  12. ↑ a b c d e Gerd Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones - 50 years of St. Bonifatius . Wittmund 2004, p. 49-52 .
  13. ↑ Gerd, Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones - 50 years of St. Bonifatius . Wittmund 2004, p. 53 f .
  14. ↑ a b Gerd Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones - 50 years of St. Bonifatius . Wittmund 2004, p. 55 f .
  15. ↑ a b c Gerd Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones - 50 years of St. Bonifatius . Wittmund 2004, p. 58 f .
  16. ↑ Gerd Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones - 50 years of St. Bonifatius . Wittmund 2004, p. 28 .
  17. ↑ Gerd Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones - 50 years of St. Bonifatius . Wittmund 2004, p. 136 .
  18. ↑ a b Gerd Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones - 50 years of St. Bonifatius . Wittmund 2004, p. 60 f .
  19. ↑ Gerd Kock, Hannes Franssen, Florian Schneider: You are the living stones - 50 years of St. Bonifatius . Wittmund 2004, p. 64 .
  20. ↑ Editor: The house is flat. In: Catholic parish community Neuauwiewitt. April 19, 2018, accessed May 14, 2020 .

Coordinates: 53 ° 34 ′ 43.8 "  N , 7 ° 47 ′ 14.4"  E