Old St. Johannes Baptist (Mechernich)

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Old St. Johannes Baptist in Mechernich
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Alt St. Johannes Baptist is a Roman Catholic church in Mechernich in the Euskirchen district in North Rhine-Westphalia . The church was the parish church of Mechernich until 1858 .

The church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist and entered in the list of architectural monuments in Mechernich .

location

The old church is located a little north of the city center on Lehrer-Philipp-Schumacher-Strasse in the city's cemetery.

Building history

The old Mechernich church appears for the first time in writing in the Liber valoris of 1308.

The first known church was built much earlier, namely in the 11th century, but it can be assumed that a place of worship stood on the place of the old church even earlier. The Romanesque bell tower of this church has been preserved to this day . This was followed by a single-aisle, flat-roofed hall building . In the course of the 13th century the nave was demolished, only the tower remained and was rebuilt. The two choir bays result from this building. At the beginning of the 15th century, the central part of the nave was torn down and a new two-aisled nave was built in the Gothic style between the preserved tower and choir. The church has been preserved in this form to this day.

Major renovations took place in 1889 and 1901. The little church survived the Second World War completely unscathed, in contrast to the parish church in the middle of the village, which was completely destroyed. As a result, the old church was used again as a parish church between 1945 and 1953. In 1951 an earthquake damaged the building, the damage could be repaired by 1954. After the reconstruction of the parish church in the town, the old church was initially no longer used. It was only used as a morgue for a short time from the mid-1960s to 1973, and since then has been used regularly for funeral services and weddings.

In 1979 the interior was completely restored, with valuable frescoes in the choir from the 13th century being exposed.

Building description

St. Johannes Baptist is a two-aisled irregular stone building in Romanesque-Gothic forms. The choir has two bays and closes straight, the nave also consists of two bays. The tower is built in front of the nave, the interior is vaulted by gothic ribbed vaults , only in the main nave there is a net vault and in the basement of the tower a star vault .

Furnishing

In the church there is a baroque pulpit from 1771, the remains of a communion bench from the same period and a small baroque altar that originally stood in the chapel of the Nickelstift in Röhe . In addition, the interior is adorned with figures of saints from the 17th to 20th centuries and a mural depicting the baptism of Jesus from 1845.

Bells

In the tower there is a three-part chime consisting of two historical bells from the 15th century and a modern bell.

No. Surname Diameter
(mm)		 Mass
(kg, approx.)		 Percussive
( HT - 1 / 16 )		 Caster Casting year
1 Maria 1,265 1,160 e ' +2 Jan van Alfter 1477
2 Sebastian 1,130 922 f sharp ' +3 Johannes Mark, Eifeler Bell Foundry Mark, Brockscheid 1992
3 John 1,022 625 g sharp ' + −0 Tilman von Hachenburg 1446

Web links

Commons : Alt St. Johannes Baptist (Mechernich)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Episcopal General Vicariate (ed.): Handbuch des Bistums Aachen, Aachen 1994, p. 562.
  2. ↑ Episcopal General Vicariate (ed.): Handbuch des Bistums Aachen, Aachen 1994, p. 562.
  3. ^ Matthias poet: Mechernich (D), cath. old church of St John the Baptist - full bells. In: Youtube video cover text. Retrieved December 19, 2018 .

Coordinates: 50 ° 35 ′ 41.8 ″  N , 6 ° 39 ′ 21.5 ″  E