Holy Spirit Chapel (Quakenbrück)

The Catholic Heilig-Geist-Kapelle in Quakenbrück existed from 1947 to 1954 in a barrack taken over by the Polish occupation and from 1954 as a building erected on the foundations of the former airport headquarters of the Quakenbrück airport. In 1995 the chapel was demolished.

Church barrack

After the end of the Second World War, the former military airfield in the Quakenbrücker district of Merschland developed into an industrial and residential area. After the Polish occupation left in 1947, 78 people lived there; in 1959 there were already 1,700. So it was inevitable that the Catholic parish of St. Marien thought about giving the Catholics who had moved to the new district, as well as the neighboring farmers Borg and Groß Mimmelage, the opportunity to worship on site.

The Polish occupation left a barracks at the confluence of today's Ostlandstrasse with Artlandstrasse, which was initially used as a casino and later as a chapel. The building had a roof turret with a small bell and colored window panes with paper pictures, each wedged between two panes of glass. Two windows with depictions of the evangelists from this barrack are in the Quakenbrücker Stadtmuseum.

After the Polish occupation left, this church barrack was used for around six years from 1947 for the Sunday services of the local population. A joint church service had already been celebrated on the Sunday before the occupiers left.

chapel

In 1951, the responsible building authorities determined that it was in disrepair for the first time. After some time, the destroyed airport headquarters could be acquired by the community of St. Marien to build a chapel. According to the plans of the architect Lipsmeier, a chapel measuring 17 by 12 meters with 250 seats was built on the foundation walls of part of the commandant's office. Only the hand-operated bell was transferred from the barrack to the tower-like extension.

Archbishop Wilhelm Berning consecrated the chapel on January 21, 1954. In 1967 the harmonium was replaced by a Heimbau organ, which in turn was replaced in 1985 by an organ with five registers from the company Kleid in Brackwede.

After the Borromeo Hospital was closed in 1978, three neo-Gothic windows of the hospital chapel from 1909 were built into the Hl.-Geist-Chapel. They show depictions of Saint Karl Borromeo , the confessor Hermann Josef and the Madonna in a halo . Between the windows there were three baroque wooden sculptures from the Jöllemann School around 1750, John the Baptist , St. Francis and St. Joseph with Baby Jesus, which were rescued from the ruins of St. Mary's Church, which was destroyed in World War II. The Jöllemann cross of the old main altar of the Marienkirche was taken over on the choir wall.

In 1965, the building had to be protected from impending dilapidation by reinforcing the side walls and supporting the old basement ceiling. But in 1995 there was further damage to the masonry, which would have required high renovation costs. After the Protestant community was ready to accept Catholic guests in the St. Peter's Church , which had now been built , the Catholic community decided to give up the chapel and the location, especially since the ecumenical chapel at the newly built hospital was in the planning stage.

literature

• Heinrich Böning: St. Marien Quakenbrück. Church between yesterday and tomorrow. Published for the 300 year consecration of the Catholic Church in 1996. Th. Thoben, Quakenbrück 1996, ISBN 3-921176-77-8 .

Coordinates: 52 ° 39 ′ 47.7 "  N , 7 ° 55 ′ 52.5"  E