French Chapel (Soest)
The French Chapel in Soest in Westphalia is a sacred space 7.5 m long and 6 m wide in Block I of the Colonel-BEM-Adam barracks in Soest, designed by French prisoners of war in 1940 . Today the chapel belongs to the Catholic Holy Cross congregation in Soest under canon law, but has de facto become a place of ecumenical encounter . In addition to this Catholic prayer room, there was originally also a Protestant counterpart, which has not existed since October 1944.
history
prehistory
The construction of a total of four barracks in Soest in the first half of the 20th century is closely related to the strong general armament before the two world wars. The youngest of the Soest barracks is the infantry barracks built by the National Socialists from 1938 onwards, which in the 1950s was named "Colonel-BEM-Adam-Kaserne" by the Belgian occupation troops stationed there. It was planned for about 800 soldiers on an area of about 10 hectares.
Use of the barracks as a prison camp
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The barracks had not been completed until the outbreak of World War II on September 1, 1939. Nevertheless, shortly after the beginning of the war, Polish soldiers were housed here as prisoners. On November 15, 1939, the unfinished facility became the main camp for crew ranks, the Stalag VI E. After the first captured officers of Belgian nationality arrived at the beginning of June 1940, it became an officer camp and Oflag VI A from June 5, 1940 renamed (1st prisoner of war camp for officers in military district VI). After the armistice with the Netherlands , the barracks also became a prison camp for Dutch officers.
The first large group of French officers (1,277 in total) reached Soest on July 31, 1940. They had been captured in Lorraine and were taken from Nancy to Soest by train. The barracks subsequently became a purely French officers' camp , because in August 1940 another 600 French officers from Oflag VI B Dössel arrived near Warburg , and in February 1941 another 300 from the dissolved Oflag XVIII C Spittal in Austria .
As of February 1941, the barracks, which had been built for 800 soldiers, housed around 2,000 captured officers and orderlies. In September 1944, the Oflag VI D Münster was relocated to Soest with around 2,500 captured French officers, which resulted in a tight squeeze. The officers of the Oflag VI A, who had previously lived in four crew blocks, had to move together to two blocks. On March 19, 1945, another 1,200 officers arrived in Soest after an almost eight-week march. They came from the dissolved Oflag II B Arnswalde in Pomerania.
The camp was liberated by the Americans on April 6, 1945; in total there are more than 5,000 French and 1,000 Russians. The latter were housed in a separate part of the camp. However, very little is known about them; they probably came to Soest in the last months of the war.
The French chapel
Among the officers who arrived on July 31, 1940, were 32 Catholic priests, probably also a Protestant clergyman, and 110 university professors. The dean of the Catholic priests, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Collin, archpriest from Montmédy , had advocated the establishment of a Catholic chapel after moving into the camp. He relied on Article 16 of the Geneva Convention , which allows officers to freely practice their beliefs. The design of a room in the attic of the first team block, which was made available to the Catholics, was assigned to a group of artists.
Captain René Viellard, field preacher, took over the selection of the iconographic themes for the design of the chapel. René Coulon and Guillaume Gillet , both graduates of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where they studied literature, painting and architecture, painted the room with the help of a few employees.
A theme was assigned to each wall:
- South wall: The risen Christ, surrounded by six angels who carry the instruments of torture of the Passion .
- West wall (sloping roof): The professions from a Christian perspective and the six works of mercy from the Gospel of Matthew.
- North wall: a pietà
- East Wall: A map of France without borders with depictions of the Saints of France.
- The south, west and north walls were designed by Guillaume Gillet, while the east wall was designed by the artist René Coulon.
- The altar and the altar cloth were made by captains de Léger and Jean Catillon.
Blue, white and red were chosen as the predominant colors for the decoration of the chapel, based on the tricolor .
Use today
Today the French Chapel is the center of the “Colonel-BEM-Adam-Kaserne” memorial, which was listed as a historical monument in 1995 because the building and chapel have remained almost unchanged. The French Chapel itself is a unique work of art with a European dimension; it still offers the opportunity to trace the religious feelings of the French who were imprisoned here for five years.
Since 1997, the association “Geschichtswerkstatt Französische Kapelle Soest” has endeavored not only to compile, process and document the history of the prisoner-of-war camp, but also that of the following users: former forced laborers, now displaced persons (1945-1946), expellees from Silesia (1946 –1951) and Belgian occupation forces (1951–1994).
At the beginning of 2018, the further development and use of the museum is a topic of local politics in Soest, especially because of the financing as a possible future museum. Those involved, including the Foundation “Museum of the Belgian Armed Forces in Germany” and the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe LWL, are trying to find a concept for this.
literature
- Gisela Rogge: The Oflag VI A: captured in Westphalia: the story of the French prisoners of war in Soest . Ed .: Geschichtswerkstatt Französische Kapelle e. V. Soest. History workshop of the French Chapel Soest, Bad Sassendorf 1999.
- Barbara Köster: The French Chapel in Soest: Heimat - Heilige - Background . Ed .: History Workshop French Chapel. klartext-Verlag, Essen 2004, ISBN 3-89861-285-6 .
- Joseph Collin, Guillaume Gillet: The Way of the Cross: from the prisoner-of-war camp for officers "Oflag VI A" in Soest / Westphalia . Ed .: German Liturgical Institute, History Workshop French Chapel Soest. German Liturgical Institute, Trier 2011 (French: Le chemin de croix . Translated by Edith Engelbach).
- History workshop of the French Chapel (ed.): Das O-Lager, 1946–1951, East expellees in Soest . 2004.
- Guillaume Gillet - architect, painter, man of letters . Publisher: History Workshop French Chapel, Soest
- Raymond Gangloff: Cinq ans d'Oflags. La Captivité des officiers francais en Allemagne 1940–1945 . Paris 1987
- Georges Hyvernaud: Carnets d'Oflag . Paris 1999; Lettres de Poméranie / Collection “Pour mémoire”, 2002.
- Hans Larive: The man who came in from Colditz . London 1975
- Charles Douw von der Krap: Come back alive if you can. Memories of a Dutch naval officer . Berlin 1991
- Jules Wolf: Dans l'ombre et le silence . Brussels 1977
Web links
- History workshop of the French Chapel Soest
- Without a concept, there would be no solid future for the French band in Soest, with a picture example, Soester Anzeiger , February 28, 2018
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 51 ° 33 '40 " N , 8 ° 5' 28.4" E