Friedenskirche (Wiesmoor)
The Friedenskirche is an Evangelical Lutheran church in Wiesmoor , East Friesland . The church was built between 1929 and 1930. With red brick and a white painted interior, it is kept very simple.
history
The history of the Wiesmoor Church began with the construction of the Nordgeorgsfehn Canal on June 20, 1906. Even before the First World War, there was a plan to create a church center in Wiesmoor, which promised to become more and more an economic center.
In 1913 the parishes of Mullberg and Wiesmoor were incorporated into Marcardsmoor , which had had a church since 1906. From 1914 on, Pastor Janssen from Marcardsmoor held a monthly service in the Wiesmoors school. To do this, he was brought across the moor on rails with a pedal truck . The Wiesmoor confirmands were exposed to disproportionately great strains and strains: They have to walk and in winter on ice skates to take lessons in Marcardsmoor. The church supply of Wiesmoor could only be perceived in a very poor way. As a result, the population of Wiesmoor lived “without ecclesiastical custom” . “The congregation without a church has no heart,” wrote Pastor Janssen in his chronicle.
After long negotiations between church and state, Albrecht Ahlers finally came to Wiesmoor in 1928. Every Sunday a service was held in the school. As organist, teacher Halen accompanied the singing on a harmonium . Pastor Ahlers' task consisted of internal and external church building. He drove the plans to build a church.
On October 14, 1928, a festive church service was held for the consecration of bells with the trombone choir and the young girls' choir. The parish had collected 2000 Reichsmarks for financing; the remainder of 1,000 Reichsmarks was initially covered by the church building fund. The bell was hung in a high wooden frame that had been erected by workers from the NWK (operator of the local peat power plant ) on the meadow next to the school. When the church was later completed, the bell could be moved into the tower.
In 1929 the construction of the church began. Architect was a government builder a. D. J. Berck . He intended to create a structure that could exist next to the Wiesmoor power station. The place on which the church is to be built was given to the parish by the government. Pastor Ahlers wrote in his chronicle that the building site of the church was a horrible sight:
- “It was a bog where peat had been dug haphazardly. A little further south was the peat bank of the high moor, which we only dismantled in the coming years. At a depth of 1.80 m there was solid sandy soil. It had to be drained and excavated up to this depth. The excavated moor was not enough to fill the church square. A lot of earth still had to be driven over until today's square was created. From the ugliest swamp hole the most beautiful place, in the devastated area, the most beautiful building was to be made. We had courage! "
The cost of building the church was around 100,000 marks. To cover them, a house collection had taken place all over East Friesland, which brought in 13,200 marks. On Easter Monday, April 21, 1930, the foundation stone for the church was laid. On November 30, 1930, the 1st Advent in 1930, the church was inaugurated with a festive service. The organ was initially rented from P. Furtwängler & Hammer in Hanover. It was not until 1937, through the intercession of the director Jan Hinrichs, that the missing amount was obtained from the Northwest German Power Plants, which made it possible to purchase an organ of its own. The first bride and groom married in the new church on December 31, 1930. The first baptism took place on January 18, 1931. In 1931 Wiesmoor became an independent parish; Pastor Ahlers became a full-time pastor of Wiesmoor on May 3, 1931. On March 15, 1931, the first church council elections for the new Wiesmoor parish took place.
For the 25th anniversary of the church, two new bronze bells were brought in on May 1, 1955. In 1968 the church got a new organ.
In 1977 the church was renovated. The interior, which was originally painted blue, was given a warm brown tone. In the meantime (2012) the interior has been painted white. A large Polish tapestry was hung over the altar and the benches made more comfortable. Extensive festivities took place from 16 to 26 May 1980 to mark the 50th anniversary of the church.
description
The east-facing brick church is a hall church with a hipped roof. The mighty four-storey church tower , which was built across the nave and takes up its entire width, dominates. The bell tower, whose arched portal serves as the entrance to the church, is closed by a hipped roof and crowned with a cross.
The interior has a flat ceiling and is illuminated by six rectangular windows each on the north and south sides, which start at half height. The windowless east side has a trapezoidal niche in front of which the altar stands and a simple wooden cross is attached to the back. The altar area is raised by three steps. On the left of the altar there is a round baptismal font, on the right a lectern and on the wall the pulpit with a round pulpit and a small round sound cover. Apart from the simple, wood-covered church stalls, organ , lectern and wooden cross, the other furnishings are kept in white, which gives the interior a great deal of unity. The floor is made of gray stone slabs.
The organ was built in 1968 by the organ building company Emil Hammer Orgelbau (Hanover) on the west gallery. The instrument has 15 registers , divided into two manuals and a pedal. The five-axis Rückpositiv is a scaled-down form of the main work and set into the organ gallery, while the pedal work is placed behind the main work.
Parish
With the inauguration of the church in Hinrichsfehn in 1965, the Wiesmoor parish received a branch church. In 1987 the Hinrichsfehn parish became an independent parish. As a result, the Wiesmoor church was named Friedenskirche , the Hinrichsfehner church was named the Church of Reconciliation . In 2005 the 75th anniversary of the Friedenskirche was celebrated. A wooden cross has been hanging over the altar since 2006 - just like in the early years of the Wiesmoor Church.
The peace parish is now divided into two districts, which are looked after by one and a half pastors. An organist, a sexton, a cleaning woman and a secretary are employed part-time. More than 200 other people volunteer in the peace parish. There are numerous groups. There are many special services for young and old. The focus of the church work is on working with children and young people and on church music. The parish now has around 4,300 members (as of 2012).
Pastors
1. Parish office
- Pastor Albrecht Ahlers: 1928–1968
- Pastor Klaus-Peter Urban: 1969–2003
- Pastor Stefan Wolf: since 2004
2. Parish office:
- Pastor Armin Reitz: 1996-2006
- Pastor Anne Ulferts-Tatjes: since 2002
See also
literature
- Hans-Bernd Rödiger, Heinz Ramm: Frisian churches in Auricherland, Norderland, Brokmerland and in Krummhörn , Volume 2. Verlag CL Mettcker & Söhne, Jever (2nd edition) 1983, p. 39.
- Karl-Heinz Frees: The great Wiesmoor . Verlag Soltau-Kurier, Norden 1987, ISBN 3-922365-74-4 .
- Helmut Sanders: Wiesmoor 1906–1996 . Rautenberg, Leer 1997, ISBN 3-7921-0587-X .
- Church council of the Friedenskirche Wiesmoor (publisher): 75 years Friedenskirche Wiesmoor 1930–2005. Wiesmoor 2005.
Web links
- Ev.-luth. Church district Aurich: Wiesmoor Friedenskirche
- Karl-Heinz Frees (local chronicle of the East Frisian landscape ): Wiesmoor (PDF file; 91 kB)
- wiesmoor-info.de: Friedenskirche Wiesmoor
Individual evidence
- ^ Chronicle of Pastor Albrecht Ahlers about the years 1928–1945 (with a look back at the period from 1914 to 1928), quoted after 75 years of Friedenskirche Wiesmoor . 2005, p. 17.
- ↑ Quoted after 75 years of Friedenskirche Wiesmoor . 2005, p. 19.
Coordinates: 53 ° 24 ′ 37.1 ″ N , 7 ° 44 ′ 11.1 ″ E