St. Dionysius (Rheine)
The Roman Catholic parish church of St. Dionysius in Rheine , here also simply called the city church , is a late Gothic hall church from around 1400 to 1520. It is the most traditional church in the city.
prehistory
The easted church had previous buildings, of which no remains are detectable so far. The period of the earliest church construction at this point is uncertain and can only be roughly derived from a deed of gift from Ludwig the Pious , dated June 7, 838 , in which, in addition to other royal goods, he also assigned the Reni estate and its associated church to the Herford monastery.
location
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The church is located directly on the north side of the Rheinenser Marktplatz. The previous buildings were probably also erected on the hill rising high above the Ems. It is the highest point in the old town, a limestone spur 39.97 meters above sea level, a foothill of the Thieberg . A village settlement with the name Villa Reni developed around a predecessor of today's church, and later the city of Rheine.
Naming
The patron saint of the town church is St. Dionysius . He worked as a missionary in Gaul around the year 250, was the first bishop of Paris, became a martyr and later, alongside St. Martin of Tours, became the national saint of Franconia .
Dionysius is to be found particularly often as the patron saint of churches on Franconian royal estates such as the Villa Reni. Its patronage also often points to a very early church foundation.
The saint greets visitors to the church in the tympanum of the south portal (the bridal portal , today the main entrance from the market square) in a figurative representation, together with his companions Rusticus and Eleutherius. These three figures standing side by side formed the model for the city's coat of arms of the city of Rheine (golden background, red bar with three golden stars. The three stars symbolize the three saints).
history
construction time
Work on the late Gothic hall church began around 1400, lasted around 120 years and was completed in 1520 at the latest with the completion of the tower. One of the bells, cast in 1520 and consecrated when it was hung in the tower that same year, bears the name of the patron saint of the parish. Part of the inscription on this Dionysius bell reads “Dionysius protects and drives out lightning bolts”.
The long construction time can be explained on the one hand by structural difficulties. The new church building was only allowed to gradually replace the old church in several construction phases. This was necessary because the congregation naturally had to continue to have a “functioning” church available during the entire construction period. A second problem for the barely 2000 souls in the parish catchment area at that time was the high cost of building the church. It would never have been possible to raise the sum for a complete new building in one go; For this reason too, the building had to be divided into several self-contained construction phases over many decades. The work was often suspended for years due to empty church and city coffers, and church building collections in the city and region of Rheine, but also far beyond, were held for resumption of work. The bishop of Münster granted the city of Rheine a two-year collection to finance the further construction. In return, the donors received u. a. a forty day indulgence .
Throughout the entire city church, the individual building phases can be clearly read from the different stone sizes, different materials, sometimes different architectural styles and unusual dimensions.
Construction stages
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The construction of the town church of St. Dionysius replaced an older previous building of the same name, which according to traditional doctrine was made of wood. Local historians have recently been postulating a previous stone building as early as 1400, which is historically unproven, as the building history of the church before 1424 cannot be reliably reconstructed due to a lack of written sources and records. The local historian Heinrich Krefeld finds an indication that a stone-built church even existed before the year 838 in the deed of donation from Ludwig the Pious, in which the church is assigned to the Herford monastery. About the church it says in the original Latin text “ ecclesiam inibi constructam ” (German: “[the] church built there”). Under Constructam always understood at the time of Louis the Pious but a stone-built church. When describing a wooden structure, the word fabricatam was always used instead of constructam , as can be derived from other documents from the 9th century.
The construction work began around 1400. The first section was the construction of the north aisle , which was completed in 1424 with the consecration of the altar. The choir was then built. The consecration of the high altar of the church on June 7, 1450 shows the completion of the central nave , choir and apse . The construction of the south aisle began in 1464 and ended with the consecration of the altar in 1484. Work on the church tower began in 1494 and was completed with the consecration of the bell in 1520.
Neither the great fire of 1647 at the end of the Thirty Years' War , nor during the world wars, the church was seriously damaged. Since its completion almost half a millennium ago, it has remained largely unchanged to the visitor and has dominated the silhouette of the old town ever since. The 500th anniversary of the completion of the church is to be celebrated in 2020.
Kirchburg
When the city fortifications of Rheines began around 1320, the churchyard was also surrounded by a wall and formed the so-called church castle. A small part of this wall can still be seen today and forms the last remnant of the medieval city fortifications.
Word of God Chapel
In 2016 the old sacristy (closed to church visitors since the new sacristy was built) was opened to the church. Today, under the name of God's Word Chapel , it serves, among other things, as a repository for a particularly valuable gospel book from more recent times (the gospel book as an illustration of the word of God , hence the name of the chapel) and the holy oils that are used during ordinations , baptisms and anointing the sick are used. The originals of the Dionysius figure and his companions can also be found here, which have been replaced by synthetic resin copies on the south portal for conservation reasons.
The three stained glass windows come from the Cologne glass artist Josef Scheuer and represent the so-called theological virtues from the 1st Corinthian letter Faith , Hope and Love with their associated symbols (cross, anchor, heart) and angel figures. The artist had between 1924 and 1939 already designed some windows in the nave of the Dionysius Church.
A special feature of the room is the almost 6 m high ceiling with a star vault , which shows the patron saints of different groups within the community, namely the patron saints of mothers, fathers, virgins, youths, men and women. Each of the representations is the text "Please for her!" attached. One of the pictures shows the mother of Jesus, Maria , in the depiction of the miraculous image of the pilgrimage site Kevelaer . The reason is obvious: the then pastor of St. Dionysius Dechant Pietz worked as a priest in Kevelaer for 18 years before his time in Rheine and was therefore very familiar with the miraculous image of the Consolatrix Afflictorum (comforter of the afflicted). The complete theological concept of the design of the former sacristy also comes from him, the execution was carried out by the painter Ludwig Wenzel. He moved from Münster to Rheine especially for this purpose, where he also died in 1920 (his son Karl Wenzel was involved in the design of the St. Antonius Basilica in Rheine: he was responsible for the painting of the baptismal / Antonius chapel. Karl is also the creator of the sower at the Emsmühle silo building). Shortly before the completion of the sacristy, Wenzel and Pietz fell out, so that the painter abruptly broke off his work. For this reason, some parts of the paintings are still unfinished today.
The floor slab in the transition from church to chapel
The Gospel Book of the Word of God Chapel
The sacred oils
Madonna with child in the form of the miraculous image from Kevelaer
One of the unfinished parts of the ceiling painting
Originals of the Dionysius figure group from the south portal
Window of the Word of God Chapel ; Faith theme
Window of the Word of God Chapel ; Hope theme
Window of the Word of God Chapel ; Theme love
The octagonal chapel, measuring 5.5 m in radius, is the only room in a sacred building in Rheine that has been completely designed in the tradition of the Nazarene style . It was inaugurated in the course of the fundamental church renovation in 2016 in a festive service for the reopening of the building by Auxiliary Bishop Christoph Hegge (a native of the Rhein from the parish of St. Elisabeth , now part of St. Dionysius). In the passage from the church to the chapel, a metal plate is embedded in the floor. On it the text: In the Holy Year of Mercy MMXVI this door was opened to give a place to the Word of God. Below is the logo of the parish of St. Dionysius.
Furnishing
Works of art in the church
The church has a large number of works of art of high standing in the tradition of Westphalian sculpture, both from the time it was built and from more recent times. A striking number of works by the sculptor Bernhard Meyering, who was based in Rheine at the time the objects were created, are in the church. Here is a selection of all works of art in chronological order of their creation:
Baroque furnishings before the redesign (1870–72) in the neo-Gothic style ; Carl Weddige : Album Rheinense , around 1850
The neo-Gothic furnishings before the redesign according to the specifications of the Second Vatican Council
Sacrament house ; 1500-1510; Sandstone; Heavily restored in 1900 after severe deterioration due to installation in the open air
Madonna and Child ; Unknown sculptor from the Münsterland; Sandstone; around 1470
Anna herself third ; Artist unknown; Oak wood frame with oil paints and gold leaf; 3rd quarter of the 15th century
Vesper picture (Pietá) ; Heinrich Meyering; Sandstone; 2nd quarter 17th century
St. Ludgerus ; B. Meyering; Sandstone; 1674
St. John the Baptist ; B. Meyering; Sandstone; around 1674
Annunciation group by Bernhard Meyering, sandstone; around 1680
St. Sebastian ; Bernhard Meyering, sandstone; around 1685; (worked after a dying slave of Michelangelo from the grave of Julius II)
St. Christopher with the Christ child ; Westphalian sculptor; Wood; Beginning of the 18th century
St. Dionysius from the baroque high altar of the church; Joseph Guidobald Licht (Worms); Wood; before 1771
Side altar of St. Joseph (around 1870); Artist unknown; Wood, colored oil / gold leaf; originally on the east wall of the south aisle
St. Joseph with the baby Jesus ; End of the 18th century; Wilhelm Heinrich Kocks; Wood, colored oil and gold leaf
Church treasure
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Furthermore, the church is in possession of an exceptionally extensive church treasure with objects from seven centuries. This stock comprises liturgical device as Monstrances , measurement and supply goblets , Altarleuchter , a very notable Aquamanile from the first half of the 14th century in the form of a lion, relics crosses , censers and -schiffchen , also still vestments from the 16th to 20th Century. The church treasure is one of the most important in Westphalian parish churches.
Choice of liturgical implements. In brackets the number of the object on the picture of the church treasury; When enlarged, the numbering is visible at the bottom left of the individual photos:
- (1) measuring jug; Silver; Maximilian Anton Schmitz (Rheine); 1772.
- (4) lion aquamanile; Bronze; 1st half of the 14th century.
- (5) censer; Silver; Gottfried Storp (Munster); 1757.
- (6) Nuremberg water bowl; 1st half of the 16th century.
- (7) Augsburg measuring cup; Joseph Anton Seethaler; last third of the 18th century.
- (8) Augsburg goblet; Johann Zeckel; around 1715.
- (10) monstrance; Westphalia; before 1599.
- (11) Lecture cross from Italy; Bronze, high-gloss gold-plated, partly silver-plated; 2016.
- (14) vessel for sacred oils; before 1654.
- (17) altar candlesticks; Goldsmith Maximilian Schmitz (Rheine); 1764.
- (18) incense boat; Silver; Goldsmith Maximilian Schmitz (Rheine); 1779.
- (20) Measuring cup of Professor Dr. Mönchmeyer; 1909.
organ
The organ of the town church Sankt Dionysius was built in 1975 by the organ building workshop Johannes Klais (Bonn) with 47 registers on three manuals and pedal and is the fifth organ of the church. The instrument with the imposing height of 14 meters was placed on the east wall of the south aisle. For reasons of cost, however, the instrument remained somewhat unfinished in 1975: On the one hand, a planned additional partial work on the southern choir wall above the so-called Levite's seat, and also a 32-foot bass register, were not implemented.
In the course of a comprehensive renovation, the instrument was partially re-voiced in 2002 by the organ builder Romanus Seifert & Sohn (Kevelaer) and expanded to include two sub-octave couplings and the trompette harmonique register . The Spieltrakturen are mechanically, the Registertrakturen electrically.
In 2018, a generous donation enabled the instrument to be expanded and completed in line with the original concept.
On the one hand, the instrument was expanded to include a manual. This new work was laid out as a remote work and placed in the passage between the choir and the Friedenskapelle. The remote work is designed to be swellable; its front and rear walls can be opened and closed independently of each other. In the daily liturgy, it ensures better acoustics for the apse. In a concert setting, the Fernwerk can create echo- like effects or give the impression that the music is echoing to the listener from far away (from other spheres ). The Fernwerk has 13 registers, including the rare Celesta register , a kind of carillon with 56 small steel plates.
In addition, three registers have been added to the pedal. Particularly impressive is the deep bass register Tonus profundus 32 ' (also jokingly called subwoofer in organist circles ); the very long pipes of this register (the largest measures more than 5 meters) no longer fit into the free-standing organ case from 1975; they were therefore installed horizontally, in front of the south wall, next to the organ, protected by a wooden structure that can be used as a choir pedestal. Sound outlet openings are embedded in the pedestal for optimal distribution of the sound in the room. The row of pipes of the Tonus profundus was extended by 12 additional tones to the Tonus supplementus , so that an additional (extended) 16-foot register was generated in the pedal. In addition, the register Vox balenae 64 (Latin: "voice of the whales") was set up in the pedal ; this very rare organ register does not have its own pipes, but is an acoustic register; the interconnection of the root and fifth of the register Tonus profundus 32 ′ creates the acoustic effect of a 64 ′ register; the underlying principle of residual tones is a widely used technique in organ building.
A new four-manual console was built due to the addition of a manual to the instrument . Like the old console (it is now still in use in the parish church of St. Anna in Neuenkirchen ), the new one is based on console tables by the French organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. It has a number of special electronic functions, including a midi interface and a replay system. In addition, individual coupling and thus additional timbres can be generated for the registers of the new remote mechanism by means of individual tone control.
The organ today has 63 stops on four manual works and a pedal; some of the remote work registers are extensions. Since the end of 2019, the organ can be played from another four-manual console, which can be used in four different positions in the church.
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- annotation
- (N) = New register (2018)
Bells
There are 5 bells hanging in the tower of St. Dionysius, including 3 medieval bells.
| No. |
Surname |
Casting year |
Caster |
Face (kg) |
Diameter (kg) |
Nominal (16th note) |
Notes, inscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trinity | 1958 | Feldmann & Marschel, Münster | 4500 | 192 | a 0 | Pleading: TRINITAS / SANCTUS-SANCTUS-SANCTUS / DOMINUS / DEUS / SABAOTH (Trinity holy, holy, holy Lord God Sabaoth) Circumferential tape on the foot: ACCIPE, SANCTA TRINITAS; HOC TIBI GRATIS ANIMIS DONUM DEDICATUM ET NOSMETIPSOS TIBI PERFICE MUNUS AETERNUM! ME FECERUNT FELDMANN & MARSCHEL MONASTERII AD MCMLVIII. (Accept, O Holy Trinity, this gift which is devoted to you with a pious mind and complete us in yourself for eternal destiny. Feldmann & Marschel in Münster created me in the year of the Lord in 1958.) |
| 2 | Salvator | 1520 | Wolter Westerhues, Munster | 2100 | 160 | c 1 | The bell hangs in the original wooden belfry from 1520, written in Gothic lowercase letters: Salvator, tuba sum ego soter inquit Jesus. Drunthem ac Pastor populus sat terque beatus Mudux. Me resonateviamque affertat olympo. (The Salvator bell speaks: I am the Savior Jesus. Pastor Drunthem and the three times happy congregation. 1520. At my sound, it takes the way to heaven.) |
| 3 | Dionysius | 1520 | Wolter Westerhues, Munster | 1450 | 142 | d 1 | Volume: "Me renis egregio patroni nomine donat. Below tutatur Dionysius atra retorquet fulmina. Wolterus finxit canat omnia Mudux tempus signat. (To Rheine Drunthem gave me the excellent name of the patron. Dionysius is the protector, he stops the ominous lightning. Wolterus poured me, may she sing about everything. MUDUX (= 1520) denotes the time.) |
| 4th | Johann Baptist | 1580 | Hans van Hervorde and Teipe Ottnick, playmakers from Osnabrück | 1180 | 126 | e 1 | Two-part tape in Roman capitals:
JESAIE 40: VOXDNI DICEBAT CLAMA: ET DIXIT QUIDCLAMABO QUIS CARO FOENUM ET ONIS GLORIA EIUS SICUT FLOS VERBU AUTEM THE NOSTRI / STABIT IN AETERNU: ANNO 1580. M. HANS VAN HERVORDE BY TEIPE OTTNICK. (Isaiah 40: A voice of the Lord said, Preach! And he said, What shall I preach? All flesh is grass, and all his glory is like the flower of the field; the grass withers, the flower withers, but the word of the Lord remains Eternity. In 1580. M. Hans van Hervorde and Teipe Ottnick.) |
| 5 | Marien | 1958 | Feldmann & Marschel, Münster | 707 | 103 | g 1 | Inscription: AVE MARIA, GRATIA PLENA! ULTIMA IN MORTIS HORA FILIUM PRO NOBIS ORA BONAM MORTEM IMPETRA VIRGO MATER DOMINA! AD MCMLVIII (Hail Mary, full of grace! In the last hour of death pray for us with your Son. Implore us, Virgin, Mother, Ruler! In the year of the Lord 1958.) |
Others
In 2015 the old tradition of the Church Swiss was reintroduced. The current Swiss in St. Dionysius is continuing a family tradition: his father already performed this service in the Stella Maris church on Norderney .
literature
- Annette Harnitz: St. Dionysius, Catholic parish church, Rheine (= Little Art Guide No. 1926). 2nd edition, Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 1996, ISBN 3-7954-4052-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information board in the Word of God Chapel
- ^ Rheine, Die Kunst- und Kulturdenkmäler in Rheine, Part I, Tecklenborg Verlag 2003
- ↑ The organ of the Catholic parish church Sankt Dionysius, Rheine ( Memento from August 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Renovation of St. Dionysius (PDF)
- ↑ The Klais organ 1976/2018, Stadtkirche Sankt Dionysius, Rheine, March 2018 (PDF)
- ↑ To the bells on the church's website, with additional links to YouTube
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 16 '45.9 " N , 7 ° 26' 17.4" E