Christ the King Church (Bockum-Hövel)
The Christ the King Church in Hövel is a Roman Catholic branch church . The formerly independent Christ the King Congregation is now part of the Heilig Geist congregation.
history
The construction of the church became necessary when the population in Bockum-Hövel, especially in the colony of the Radbod colliery , rose rapidly in the 1920s . The existing Catholic churches, the St. Pancras Church and the St. Stephen Church , became too small as a result. It was initially thought about building a large church in the middle of the colliery colony, but this plan was soon abandoned for pastoral reasons. Instead, it was decided to build two smaller churches outside the colliery colony.
The Christ the King Church was finally built on Eichstedtstrasse in Hövel, parallel to the Herz-Jesu Church on Hammer Strasse in Bockum. For this purpose, the St. Pancras parish was initially divided. In the southern area of the village, a separate pastoral care district was set up, which was called "Christ the King". The name was chosen because Pope Pius XI. In 1925 he founded a festival in honor of the kingship of Christ , which should signal the departure of the church after the First World War . The Bishop of Münster approved the two parish churches Stephanus and Pankratius to carry out a house and church collection for the construction of the planned new church building. A considerable amount of a building fund was soon raised, which enabled construction to begin soon.
On October 30, 1927, the foundation stone was laid for the first church planned by the Gelsenkirchen architect Josef Franke . The sacred building was inaugurated on October 25, 1928 by the bishop. It was a simple brick building on a rectangular floor plan with a high pitched roof, a one-story, sixteen-meter-high tower on the narrow side and a recessed rectangular choir to the east. The simple church hall opened to the altar with a triumphal arch. This had a parabolic shape, which was modeled on a longwall underground, after all, most of the male community members were miners. The new parish was initially the rectorate parish of the St. Pankratius parish. The first parish rector was named Kaup.
The church construction survived the Second World War largely unscathed. Under Rector Wansing, the community was elevated to a parish on April 1, 1952. Wansing became their first pastor. Pastor Hoppe followed him, followed by Pastor Küpfer.
Over the years it became clear that the church from 1928 had considerable structural defects. Cracks were increasingly found in the masonry. The influx of visitors has also increased over the years. So it was finally decided to build a new building. Architect Alfons Leitl from Cologne emerged victorious from a limited competition in 1975, but died that same year. Architect Hans Mirbach from Münster took over the further planning of the new building . The church was moved across the street. This ensured that the old building could continue to be used until completion. The foundation stone was laid in 1976; this is marked on the floor in front of the altar island in the new church. The following year, 1977, the church was consecrated. In 1978 the old church was demolished.
Christ the King is considerably lower than the tall, light church buildings in the north of Hammer, the churches Herz Jesu in Heessen and Maria Königin in Bockum-Hövel . The central building, erected on a polygonal floor plan, together with its extensions for the various community purposes forms a semicircle open to Beethovenstrasse, i.e. to the east. Ten years later, in 1987, a stand-alone, hexagonal tower with a height of 25.50 meters was erected in its center. Many parishioners were dissatisfied with the low-rise building; a real church also has a bell tower. The construction proved difficult. The work could only begin after the bricklayers had secured the foundation with concrete pillars, which had to be driven into the ground to a depth of twelve meters.
In Hamm , the Christ the King Church is one of the last major sacred buildings of the Catholic Church. Only one church was built later, the Marienkirche in Heessen-Dasbeck. The fact that the necessary funds could be collected is mainly due to the commitment of the pastor Franz-Josef Küpfer, who tried to attract well-known artists for the construction and design of the church as well as for his community, which is characterized by mining, with an increasing share to arouse understanding for their work in repatriates.
Against the background of the changes in church life and the increasing shortage of priests, Bishop Reinhard Lettmann wrote to the Christians in the Diocese of Munster on June 14, 1999 , asking them to consider cooperation. The parish councils and parish councils of the four Bockum-Höveler parishes then met and agreed on the “pastoral care unit” model. This means that all Bockum-Höveler parishes should be looked after jointly by a pastoral team. The new pastoral care council established in this way met for the first time on October 30, 2000. In this way, the four congregations wanted to work closely together to form a network in which full-time and volunteer workers could live an open church. From January 6th and 7th, 2001, the Sunday masses were coordinated in terms of both number and schedule.
On January 1, 2005, the formerly independent parish of Christ the King was merged with the parishes of St. Stephanus, Herz Jesu and St. Pankratius to form the new Catholic parish of Heilig Geist Bockum-Hövel. The four parishes in Bockum-Hövel were dissolved on December 31, 2004. The new parish church is St. Pankratius, the other churches are used as branch churches. This procedure, implemented against resistance from the traditionally local patriotic parishioners Bockum and Hövel, was due to the shortage of priests, an impending financial gap and a dwindling number of believers due to a decline in population and dwindling church affiliation.
Holy Spirit thus has between 12,000 and 13,000 members. Around thirty services are celebrated in the churches every week. Pastors and full-time employees practice “pastoral care with a face”. Rhetorically, the “four parishes” of the parish Heilig Geist are mentioned to make it clear that they are not only viewed as four “districts” of an artificially created administrative unit.
State of construction and equipment
According to the plans of the architects Leitl and Mirbach, an outwardly diverse, not very high clinker building was created under a consistently flat roof. This only increases slightly in the area of the altar, i.e. H. above the blunt point reaching to the west. From there, the community space spreads like a wing in a semicircle to the southeast or northwest. The wall, which ends to the northeast, opens with a double door to an octagonal agape room, which is used for smaller church services. In addition, there are secondary rooms behind the partition walls, which are necessary for the entrance area, sacristy and confessional room. The building is noticeable because of its irregularity. There is hardly a wall that is the same length or points in the same direction as another. As a result, every corner of the wall is to a certain extent "dematerialized" by window strips that extend from the floor to the ceiling. It turned out to be correspondingly difficult to make the room inviting, which is why the works of well-known artists were used.
Rolf Crummenauer from Düsseldorf sets the tone here . He has worked repeatedly in Westphalia . For example, he redesigned the altar and crypt area in St. Ida Church in Herzfeld , carried out work in the Ludgerus Cathedral in Billerbeck and designed the Cardinal von Galen grave in the ambulatory of Münster Cathedral . Crummenauer arranged the benches in the desired semicircle so that community is symbolized, but everyone can also be for themselves. A wide path leads along the axis of the building through the middle of the bench blocks to the altar island. It ends with the foundation stone set in front of the altar island and begins at the baptismal font designed by Crummenauer. The special feature of this is that the water dries up in the stone and does not have to be drained or skimmed off. The baptism area is screened by a strictly crafted wooden figure standing next door. This shows Barbara of Nicomedia , who, as Saint Barbara, is the patron saint of miners. The goal of the central aisle is the platform raised by a few steps like an island, on which there is a celebration altar made of polished Anröchter dolomite . To the south of it is the ambo , to the north is a column, where there is a Madonna made from the same Anröchter stone by the sculptor Elmar Hillebrand from Cologne . A tall tabernacle stands in front of a narrow window slot behind the altar table that extends vertically from the floor to the ceiling, and to the right of it is the altar cross, which still comes from the old church. As the center of the gathering community, the place, which is prominent for proclamation and sacrifice, has been given an unusual but convincing artistic design. Sediles that have been made by a parishioner fit into these .
On the left, southeast side of the building there is a long wall, which is interrupted by a niche. There is an impressive Pietà by Hillebrand above a fountain with a washbasin . In the far southeast corner of the church building is the large organ in a modern steel and glass case. It was set up in 1984 by the Franz Breil company from Dorsten .
The narrow, floor-to-ceiling windows were designed by the glass painter Ludwig Schaffrath and manufactured by Blaskunst Klinge in Rheine . They light up the simple room, which is coordinated down to the last detail. The slightly rising ceiling with the lamps distributed over it leads to the altar area, which is also illuminated by a number of light domes embedded in the roof. The windows are broken at a shallow angle with a pillar in the middle and each mark a turn of the outer walls. Another special feature are the ribbon windows with their lead-framed panes that are closer and closer to each other. Every hint of regularity is occasionally interrupted by loops and hooks. The direction and quality of the light are increased with the aim of promoting calm and concentration without this being intrusive.
Bells
In 1935 a first bell was purchased, which consisted of three bells (probably f sharp 1 - a 1 - h 1 ). Two large bells were then destroyed in World War II . In 1951 replacement bells were received, which were stored in the parish garden until the new tower was built in 1987 and hung up in 1988. In 1991 a large d 1 bell was purchased. Two clock bells from 1956 and 1995 replaced the older zinc alloy bells.
- 1991 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock, clay d´-6, diameter 1383 mm, weight approx. 1650 kg
- 1951 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock, tone f sharp '-5, diameter 1091 mm, weight about 830 kg
- 1951 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock, clay a´ -5, diameter 900 mm, weight approx. 470 kg
- 1935 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock, tone h´ -5, diameter 803 mm, weight about 330 kg
- 1956 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock, clay d´´ -1, diameter 660 mm, weight about 150 kg
- 1995 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock, tone g´´ -5, diameter 520 mm, weight about 90 kg
organ
Builder: Organ building workshop Franz Breil
Disposition (II / P / 22):
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- Coupling : II-I, IP, II-P
- Playing aids : 2 free combinations, 1 pedal combination, pleno, hand register
Individual evidence
- ↑ HeiligGeist's website on the subject of church music. Retrieved January 5, 2017 .
literature
- Günter Beaugrand, Friedrich Wilhelm Jerrentrup , Hans Gerd Nowoczin, Ilsemarie von Scheven, Claus Peter, Churches of Modern Times in Hamm , Hamm 2002, ISBN 3-924966-31-1 .
- Willi E. Schroeder, Ein Heimatbuch. Two districts introduce themselves. Bockum and Hövel. , Bockum-Hövel 1980.
- Fritz Schumacher, Hartmut Greilich, Bockum-Hövel. From history and local history , Hamm 1956, new edition 2002.
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 41 ′ 43 ″ N , 7 ° 46 ′ 5 ″ E