Barßel-Reekenfeld Baptist Cemetery

The Baptist Cemetery Barßel-Reekenfeld (other name: Evangelical-Free Church Cemetery Reekenfeld ), on which members of other free-church congregations are buried, is owned by the Evangelical-Free Church Congregation ( Baptists ) Elisabethfehn . The cemetery covers an area of about one hectare and is located on Harkebrügger Weg in Barßel-Reekenfeld . The history of its facility goes back to 1924 .

history

Even before the First World War , there was an urgent desire among the so-called extra - ecclesiasticals - a term used at the time for members of free church communities - to build their own burial place in the old Friesoythe office . Reasons for this were, on the one hand, the obstruction or refusal of free church funeral ceremonies in the previously exclusively state church cemeteries and on the other hand the high costs that free churches were charged for a grave site in a Catholic or Protestant cemetery. A place on Harkebrügger Weg was viewed as cheap by those interested in the cemetery. The Oldenburg State Culture Fund responsible for this project initially agreed to a benevolent examination of the application, but then issued a refusal on the grounds that the burial costs had fallen in the church cemeteries and that another Evangelical Lutheran cemetery would be built nearby be.

The events of the war meant that the cemetery plans were initially put aside. It was not until January 1924 that the Evangelical Lutheran parish of Elisabethfehn initiated a so-called public cemetery allocation . It was about a site near the former Reekenfeld school. In this assignment on behalf of the Free Church Cemetery interested the Baptists Lütjen Müntinga and Hensmann Börgers and the were altreformierte Bajo Tammling present. On the spot, they applied for equal burial rights for non- ecclesiastical people or - if that was not possible - the release of a certain part of the planned new cemetery for free church burials. These applications were rejected by the representatives of the regional church authority present . The interested party turned to the Oldenburg settlement office, Geestmoor department, which had succeeded the Landes Kultur Fonds , and renewed the earlier application to make Colonate 48 on Harkebrügger Weg available for the construction of a free church cemetery. This application was granted and the area applied for was made available free of charge. Since those interested outside the church did not have their own legal capacity, the property was registered in the name of the sponsoring association of the local Baptist congregation Eben Ezer Elisabethfehn eV . In an officially certified document, the Baptist sponsoring association Eben Ezer ensured that "all free churches [residing in the old Friesoythe office] as Baptists, Old Reformed, Methodists, etc. are involved in the cemetery with equal rights and duties".

After the ownership and usage conditions had been clarified, extensive cultivation measures began on the cemetery grounds. They were essentially carried out by the interested parties. The inauguration ceremony took place on Maundy Thursday , April 9, 1925, on the occasion of the first burial in the new cemetery. The Baptist preacher Penner from Südgeorgsfehn , the Methodist preacher Schwing from Edewecht and Bajo Tammling from the Reformed Church took part in this service . The first cemetery commission consisted of the following members: Lütjen Müntinga (Baptist, 1st chairman), Bajo Tammling (old reformed, 2nd chairman, cemetery supervisor), Esdert van Santen (Baptist, secretary), and Johann Ottersberg (Methodist, alderman). The treasury was initially incumbent on "H. Börgers, who as treasurer of the Baptist congregation [Elisabethfehn] also manages the money affairs of the cemetery".

Today the cemetery administration consists exclusively of members of the Evangelical Free Church Community of Elisabethfehn. But funerals of members and friends of other free church congregations still take place.

Cemetery use

Burial ground

The current usage regulations of the Reekenfeld cemetery restrict the group of cemetery users to members (including family members) of the Evangelical Free Church Community (Baptists) Elisabethfehn, the Evangelical Methodist Church Community of Edewecht and the Old Reformed Church. In the case of the two last-mentioned free churches, the right of use can only be granted to members "who live in Elisabethfehn and the surrounding area".

However, membership in the municipalities mentioned only includes one right of use . The prerequisite for claiming the right of use is that the interested parties "have contributed to the maintenance of the cemetery". In addition, an annual contribution is required for the intended use, which is to be paid by married couples and families (including children who have not yet reached the age of 21) and by single persons from the age of 21. Since 1996 it has been (converted) € 13 per year. In addition, all male persons interested in using the cemetery up to the age of 65 "must go to the labor service for cemetery repairs or other work assignments. The obligation can also be compensated by paying an appropriate amount". In special cases, the cemetery board decides on the use of the cemetery. Membership fees and labor services mean that a burial place is made available free of charge. Only for the excavation of the grave are the costs of currently € 200 to be reimbursed to the cemetery treasury.

The rest period at the Reekenfeld Baptist Cemetery is at least 40 years.

Individual evidence

↑ The different names result from the merger of the Federation of German Baptist Congregations with other free churches in 1942. The name of the church union has been: Bund Evangelisch-Freikirchlicher Gemeinde in Deutschland since then . However, the denomination name Baptists is still used traditionally and is often added to the new name as a parenthesis.
↑ cf. Erich Geldbach : Free Churches - Heritage, Shape and Effect , Bensheimer Hefte No. 70, Bensheim 2005 (2nd edition), ISBN 978-3-525-87157-7 , p. 158
↑ Ludwig Müntinga / Christa Overlander / Gunda Hoffmann: Cemetery Reekenfeld. Record , Elisabethfehn 1995, p. 14
↑ transcripts , p. 11
↑ The association was entered under the serial number 10 in the register of associations of the District Court of Friesoythe. It existed until 2000, when the Evangelical Free Church Community (Baptist) Elisabethfehn gave up its association rights in order to participate exclusively in the corporate rights of the Federation of Evangelical Free Church Congregations / BEFG . The Reekenfeld cemetery property is now in the trust administration of the BEFG
↑ The property was released on May 26, 1924 before the District Court of Friesoythe (Article No. 1445 Barßel; Minutes , p. 27)
↑ transcripts , page 24
↑ transcripts , p 22
^ Cemetery board : Friedhof Reekenfeld der Baptistgemeinde Elisabethfehn , p. 1
↑ Friedhof Reekenfeld , p. 1
↑ Friedhof Reekenfeld , p. 2

literature

Ludwig Müntinga / Christa Overlander / Gunda Hoffmann: Reekenfeld cemetery. Writings , Elisabethfehn 1995 - The writings are an edited and reproduced edition of the minutes of the negotiations, "which took place on the measures of the establishment of a cemetery for the non-ecclesiastical ( free church ) in Elisabethfehn and the surrounding area." (P. 11)