Eglise Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption (La Neuveville)

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Church of the Assumption of Mary

The Eglise Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption is the Roman Catholic parish church in La Neuveville , in German Neuenstadt, in the Biel agglomeration in the canton of Bern . The church, built in 1954, is classified as an object worth preserving in the building inventory of the Canton of Bern.

History and parish structure

The pastoral area Biel / Bienne-La Neuveville is part of the diocese region that includes the canton Jura together with the Bernese Jura and the French-speaking Roman Catholic part of the city of Biel. The French-speaking part of the diocese of Basel is called Jura pastoral / Unités pastorales. Reaching from the town on Lake Biel to the villages at the foot of the Chasseral , the Notre-Dame de l'Assomption community has around 1500 Catholic members. The catchment area of ​​the parish includes La Neuveville and the places on the Tessenberg : Nods BE , Diesse , Lamboing and Prêles . After the Reformation there were no Catholic churches in Neuenstadt for a long time. In 1858 a Catholic parish was established again, which was assigned to the Marienpfarrei Biel. The first Holy Mass in Neuenstadt was not celebrated until 1947 in the hall of the city museum. As early as 1946, on the initiative of Father Jean Nicod, the project to build his own church began, which was built eight years later and placed under the patronage of the Assumption . In 1967 the parish of the Assumption of Mary in Neuenstadt was recognized by the state of Bern as an autonomous parish. Father Germain Girard was then appointed pastor by Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Candolfi .

Building description

On October 25, 1953, the pastor of Biel, Othmar Jeannerat, broke ground and inaugurated the building site. A year later, the reinforced concrete construction at 15 Rue des Mornets, on the upper edge of the town, was completed. The profile of the chapel is characterized by the roof with two asymmetrical slopes and a slightly protruding eaves on the street side. The gable side, which faces a vineyard, is divided by the sloping church tower and with the main entrance under a canopy, the east side is distinguished as the main facade. Granite steps lead to the forecourt and the entrance of the church, which can also be reached via a ramp. Adjacent to the west, a glazed gallery connects the chapel with a community room. In 1971 a neighboring plot of land was bought for the construction of a «cure», a rectory.

Furnishing

Church choir

The chapel, which can hold 250 people, had to exist for years without any particularly decorative furnishings. The large, glazed east wall with its white panes offered a lot of light, but not an aesthetic sight. In 1997 the community meeting decided to beautify the church. The Valais artist Isabelle Tabin Darbellay (* 1947) was commissioned to design the neutral windows with stained glass panes. With the collaboration of the Freiburg artist Michel Eltschinger (* 1939), the painted large east window and the small northern side windows were inaugurated in 1998. The tabernacle from 2001, made of invisibly illuminated glass plates, is a work by Isabel Tabin Darbellay. The redesigned choir with a new altar was inaugurated in 2002.

See also

List of Roman Catholic churches in the canton of Bern

literature

  • Robert Aeberhard: Churches in the Zealand . Ed .: Verlag W. Gassmann. Biel 1980, p. 267 .

Web links

Commons : Eglise Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption (La Neuveville)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Property sheet in the cantonal building inventory
  2. ↑ pastoral law
  3. ↑ Division of the pastoral rooms
  4. ↑ Biel / Bienne-La Neuveville pastoral area
  5. ↑ Grand Council resolution on the delimitation of the parishes. In: Website of the Government Council of the Canton of Bern, April 4, 2012 (PDF; 111 kB).
  6. ↑ Report on the 50th anniversary on kathbern.ch accessed on April 27, 2020.
  7. ↑ Description in the Vitraux Jura brochure from 2018, accessed on April 28, 2020
  8. ↑ Robert Aeberhard: Churches in the Seeland . Ed .: Verlag W. Gassmann. Biel 1980, p. 267 .

Coordinates: 47 ° 3 '51.8 "  N , 7 ° 5' 25.7"  E ; CH1903:  573551  /  212656