Holy Spirit Church (Rösrath-Forsbach)
The Heilig-Geist-Kirche is the Catholic church in the Rösrath district of Forsbach .
prehistory
The place name Altvolberg in the Rösrath district of Forsbach suggests that this is the old Volberg, which is documented as Vogelberhc in the Prümer Urbar , a list of properties of the Benedictine abbey in Prüm . In particular, the Forsbacher street name Wiedenhof indicates an old rectory. So it cannot be ruled out that Forsbach already had its own church in 893 . Otherwise nothing has come down to us from this first Catholic church in Forsbach.
Building history
Forsbach belonged to the parish of Rösrath until the middle of the 20th century. The Catholics of the village visited the Rösrath parish church of St. Nikolaus von Tolentino.
After the Second World War there was an increased influx of new citizens. Initially, the services were held in the Forsbacher Hof inn. From 1950 a rented chicken farm served as an emergency church.
On November 29, 1964 the foundation stone was laid for a new, worthy place of worship. The architect was Erwin Schiffer from Cologne. The official inauguration of the church took place on February 11, 1968. The bells were added in 1974. In addition to a rectory and meeting rooms, the building complex also includes a day-care center.
Parish affiliation
Under canon law, it was a branch church of the former parish of St. Servatius Hoffnungsthal from 1968 to 2009 . Since January 1st, 2010 it has been one of four churches in the new Catholic parish of St. Nikolaus Rösrath with the church of St. Nikolaus von Tolentino as the parish church. There is also the Catholic Church of the Holy Family in Kleineichen.
Translocated organ
On November 19, 1995 the church received a new organ. It was from a deconsecrated Protestant church in Wuppertal to Forsbach translocated . The church musician Professor Clemens Ganz participated in the selection of the organ . Since 1998, the former Cologne cathedral organist Clemens Ganz has been giving an organ concert every November in the Heilig-Geist-Kirche.
Special feature in the naming
1964 was the time of the Second Vatican Council . The first ecumenical opening of the Catholic Church began with the decree on ecumenism .
In order to support the idea of ecumenism, it was decided to dispense with the name St. Mary's Church . Instead, it was decided, in addition to the Forsbach Evangelical Christ Church, for the name Holy Spirit Church . The certificate for the laying of the foundation stone says: “In the sign of the Council, the desire was expressed in the faithful to name the Church of the Holy Spirit Church . May the Spirit of God resolve the division in our people ... ”.
The Protestant and Catholic churches in Forsbach are only 350 meters apart.
literature
- Certificate for laying the foundation stone of the Heilig-Geist-Kirche in Forsbach , in: Hans Backhaus: St. Servatius Volberg in Hoffnungsthal , Wiesbaden 1966, pp. 13-14.
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 55 ′ 12 " N , 7 ° 10 ′ 43" E