Holy Family (Offleben)

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Exterior view

The Holy Family Church was the Catholic church in Offleben , a district of the city of Helmstedt in the Helmstedt district in Lower Saxony . The church named after the Holy Family was located in Alversdorfer Straße 56 (formerly Bahnhofstraße 56). The church belonged to the parish of Maria Hilfe der Christisten with its seat in Schöningen , it was the easternmost church in the dean's office Wolfsburg-Helmstedt of the diocese Hildesheim .

history

The first Catholics in Offleben after the Reformation were a married couple who had moved from Eichsfeld . In 1924 a Catholic community was established in Offleben, and a wooden barrack was set up as an emergency church. Before that, services were held in a room that had been converted into a chapel, then in the hall of a restaurant. Initially, the pastoral care took place from Schöningen. In 1926 a vicarie was set up in Offleben , and from then on Offleben had its own Catholic clergyman.

The foundation stone of the church was laid in 1932 and it was consecrated on April 30, 1933 by Bishop Nikolaus Bares . The adjacent rectory was built at the same time.

In 1953 the Church of St. Josef in Barneberg , about four kilometers away , which was already in the GDR, was given a bell by the Catholic parish of Offleben . In 1955 the parishioners built the Kolpingheim attached to the church with great personal contribution . On August 1, 1956, the parish vicarie Offleben, to which the localities Alversdorf , Hohnsleben , Neu Büddenstedt, Offleben and Reinsdorf belonged, was raised to an independent parish ( curate ); The St. Barbara Church in Neu Büddenstedt , built in 1951, also belonged to it .

From 1996 there was a pastoral care unit with the Catholic churches in Jerxheim , Neu Büddenstedt and Schöningen. From November 1st, 2006, the church belonged to the parish of Maria Hilfe der Christisten , based in Schöningen, and to the then newly founded dean's office in Wolfsburg-Helmstedt.

Due to declining financial resources, but also the decreasing number of priests and church members, all churches in the Diocese of Hildesheim were classified according to their future needs. At that time the church was seen as "not absolutely necessary for pastoral development" and was scheduled to be closed. Plans to set up a hospice in the church and the adjacent buildings could not be realized. The last regular service took place on July 27, 2014 , the church has not been used since then due to mold on the organ . On March 3, 2015, the church was profaned by Bishop Norbert Trelle . After St. Maria Goretti (Meinersen) (2014), this was the second profanation of a church in the dean's office in Wolfsburg-Helmstedt.

The approximately 6500 m² property with the church and the adjoining buildings was sold to private customers in winter 2015/16, the church inventory was partly given to churches in Poland . The nearest church services take place today in the churches in St. Barbara (Neu Büddenstedt) and St. Joseph and Augustinus (Hötensleben) , each around four kilometers away .

Architecture and equipment

inside view

The church, located almost 113 meters above sea level , was built as a solid structure according to plans by the Paderborn architect Max Sonnen together with the parsonage adjoining to the west. Its tower, which was designed as a roof turret, had two bells . The Kolpingheim to the east was added later. The church had about 170 seats. The interior decoration included statues of Mary , Joseph and the Sacred Heart of Jesus , as well as 15 images of the Stations of the Cross . There was a confessional and a pietà under the organ gallery .

organ

The slider chest instrument had eight stops on a manual and pedal . It was equipped with a mechanical action and zinc pipes. Presumably in the 1970s, the keyboard was changed from side-playing to front-playing (organist's back to the congregation).

I Manual C–
Principal 8th'
Dumped 8th'
Salicional 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Pointed flute 4 ′
Octave 2 ′
Mixture III
Pedal C–
Bourdon 16 ′

See also

literature

  • KirchenZeitung No. 39/2008 of September 28, 2008
  • KirchenZeitung No. 9/2015 of March 28, 2015, p. 1 (article on profanation)
  • Willi Stoffers: Diocese of Hildesheim today. Hildesheim 1987, ISBN 3-87065-418-X , pp. 164/165

Web links

Commons : Alversdorfer Straße 56 (Offleben)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Episcopal General Vicariate (ed.): Catholic worship in the Diocese of Hildesheim. Hildesheim 1966, p. 70
  2. ↑ Heinz Pohlendt: The district Helmstedt. Bremen-Horn 1957, p. 270
  3. ^ Thomas Flammer: National Socialism and the Catholic Church in the Free State of Braunschweig 1931–1945. Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2013, p. 42
  4. ↑ Willi Stoffers: Diocese of Hildesheim today. Hildesheim 1987, ISBN 3-87065-418-X , p. 165
  5. ↑ Barneberg Church
  6. ↑ Year of construction according to the sales exposure of the real estate agent Engel & Völkers Wolfenbüttel
  7. ↑ Episcopal General Vicariate: Document on the abolition of the Catholic parishes Maria Hilfe der Christisten, Schöningen, Hl. Family, Büddenstedt-Offleben, Maria von der Immerwahrendenhilfe, Jerxheim and about the establishment of the Catholic parish Maria Hilfe der Christisten, Schöningen. Kirchlicher Anzeiger No. 10/2006, pp. 49–51.
  8. ^ Diocese of Hildesheim (ed.): Classification of the parish churches and branch churches in the Diocese of Hildesheim. Hildesheim 2009.
  9. ↑ Braunschweiger Zeitung of January 4, 2012

Coordinates: 52 ° 8 ′ 28.9 ″  N , 11 ° 2 ′ 0 ″  E