Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande

The Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande is a registered and non-profit association based in Erkelenz . In December 2018 it had around 1400 members, these are individuals but also associations such as the construction association Erkelenz.

In addition to the ten-person board , the working group leaders belong to the extended board. The current chairman is Günther Merkens (since 2005). The office is located in the building of the city library . The association operates its own library, it contains around 3300 local history books.

history

The Heimatverein was founded in 1948 with Josef Rick as its first chairman. The predecessor was the Erkelenz History and Antiquity Association from 1920. When the association was founded after the Second World War , the then district of Erkelenz represented the geographical area in which the association was active. In the course of the local government reform, this district became part of the Heinsberg district . At the same time, this meant a deep turning point for the club. The northern district with its forest and water landscape was an important field of activity for the association. The natural scientist Edmund Knorr had led numerous excursions here and campaigned for nature conservation. For the chairman at the time, Friedel Krings, the maintenance of thatched roofs in villages like Schwaam and Rickelrath was also a major concern.

At the local level, new homeland, history and museum associations emerged from 1972, for example in Wegberg , Beeck and Niederkrüchten , the latter now part of the Viersen district , and finally also in Hückelhoven at the turn of the millennium . The Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande maintains friendly contacts with these associations and exchanges documents with them. He is still involved in the historical area of the former district; for example with articles in his publications. In 2012 a separate working group was formed for the city of Hückelhoven.

In 1980 the chairman Friedel Krings resigned after a 30-year term of office, successor was provisionally Käthe Micus. In the same year Franz-Josef Pangels became chairman. In 1982 the association was revitalized, involving representatives of the city administration and members of the city council. Since then, the respective first councilor of the city has been the second chairman and the chairman of the cultural committee has been a natural member of the board. From now on, the city archivist Theo Görtz was in charge of management. This double function, which resulted in considerable synergy effects , existed until his retirement in 2013.

Self-image and goals

The association sees itself as one of the supporting pillars in the cultural life of the Erkelenzer Land. The homeland awareness of the inhabitants should be awakened, strengthened and preserved.

From this, the association derives the following goals for its activities:

Research and presentation of history
Knowledge, protection and care of the landscape and cultural goods
Influence on the design of the home environment
Excursions that serve to further develop art and cultural history
Initiation and promotion of cultural institutions and events
Care of choral singing

Working groups

There are various working groups in the association that implement the goals mentioned above. Research and presentation of history is the oldest working group. His task is also to publish the series of publications. Every month there are exhibition and museum trips as well as city trips to national and international destinations. Numerous hikes and bike tours are offered. Own themed routes are developed and presented with handouts . The Cornelius Burgh Choir is not only dedicated to the works of its namesake. The friends of minerals and fossils come partly from the neighboring Netherlands. They maintain their own museum in their club room at the Franziskanermarkt. In the Erkelenzer Land the dialect differs depending on the place. It is still spoken in regular meetings and thus kept alive. The old cemetery on Brückstrasse is horticultural. His graves and their small monuments are represented in writing and pictures. The history of Hückelhoven and its districts is being researched. The genealogy deals with the families of the region. The youngest working group Virtual Museum of the Lost Homeland , formed in 2015, is developing a virtual museum , initially as an example for the village of Keyenberg , which has to give way to the Garzweiler II opencast mine . The virtual museum was put online in autumn 2018.

Other activities (selection)

Every year lectures - especially on historical topics - take place in the old town hall.

Symposia are organized in cooperation with scientific institutions .

In October 2011 a symposium was held with the Philosophical Faculty of the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf in the Leonhard Chapel and in the Old Town Hall on the subject of pilgrimages and cultural encounters. The Rhineland as the starting point and destination of late medieval pilgrimages.
In March 2013, a three-day conference was held in the former Hohenbusch monastery , led by Ralf Georg Czapla and Harald Horst. The topic was the tradition of knowledge between handwriting and cradle print - the Hohenbusch Kreuzherrenkloster at the turn of the late Middle Ages to the early modern period , cooperation partner was the Archbishop's Diocesan and Cathedral Library in Cologne .
In November 2014 an interdisciplinary conference with international speakers on “Home in Literature, Language and Art” took place in the former Hohenbusch Abbey . Approaches to a problematic term ”instead. The German Institute of the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf was co-organizer . As in 2011, the event was led by Helmut Brall-Tuchel .
The "Erkelenz Museum Talks" have been taking place since 2017 to discuss aspects of the virtual museum. The one-day event is chaired by Professor Hiram Kümper from the Historical Institute of the University of Mannheim .

Exhibitions were organized. Here is a selection: In September 1958, with the help of Hans Kisky, Christian art was shown in the old town hall in the Erkelenzer Land . The occasion was the 500th anniversary of the Lambertiturm. Three exhibitions were held in Haus Spiess. In 2008 and 2012 the historical personalities Arnold von Harff and Anton Raky were presented, the latter exhibition was curated by the association itself . In 2017, an exhibition was dedicated to Erkelenzern sculptors from the 18th to the 20th century; the curator was the art historian Christina Clever-Kümper.

In addition to the internal Cornelius Burgh choir, concerts by other artists were supported.

Bronze memorial plaques were attached to the former sites of historical monuments and city fortifications . A historical city tour has been designated that connects these places.

The route against oblivion receives support , which commemorates the National Socialist injustice at twelve selected stations , and stumbling blocks in Erkelenz. An initiative of the community secondary school . City tours on these topics are offered.

A number of fundraising campaigns to preserve historical objects have been held since the association was founded.

Around the First Advent the association organizes a book exchange in the old town hall. Local literature and other books are offered.

In 2015, the Rhenish Association for Monument Preservation and Landscape Protection was supported when it published the Erkelenz issue, 556 of the Rheinische Kunststätten series .

Special relationships

After the Second World War , the Lambertiturm, the church tower of St. Lambertus (Erkelenz) , was badly damaged and threatened to collapse. In October 1951 the association formed a working group, the committee for the restoration of the Lambertiturm, and published a call for this. With the help of the local population, the tower could be saved, it was finally declared a memorial for all those who died in the Second World War from the area of the Erkelenz district. A bronze plaque - created by Josef Jaekel from Cologne - was installed at the end on the northwest side. It shows the Archangel Michael fighting the dragon and the Lambertiturm, which was damaged in the Second World War. Every year the association lays a wreath on the tower on the day of national mourning.

The association feels, because the historical Erkelenz formerly belonged to the Duchy of Geldern as part of the upper quarter of Geldern , is connected to it. Its emblem is based on the Erkelenz city arms. It shows the Geldern lion and the Geldern rose , a medlar blossom . The association takes part in the Gelderntage , the international meeting of history and local history associations. Medlar trees were planted in all the districts of Erkelenz that belonged to the duchy.

Due to its history and geographical proximity, the association feels connected not only to the Rhineland but also to the Maasland region. B. is expressed in the architecture of the Lambert Tower. This area with its cities is a frequent destination for study trips. Contact and exchanges of documents are maintained with some Dutch and Belgian homeland associations.

Publications

In the Erkelenzer Volkszeitung from January 1949 to 1956 the association published our home as a supplement at irregular intervals . It each contained several essays, sometimes illustrated with drawings or photos.

From 1952 to 1972, the Heimatverein with the district of Erkelenz was the publisher of the home calendar of the Erkelenzer Lande.

The writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande ( series with monographs and anthologies ) were published from 1981 to 2018. So far 31 books have been published in a row.

Erkelenz. Right in the middle and all around. City and country in transition. The illustrated book was published in 2012

Documentation on the two exhibitions about Anton Raky and the Erkelenz sculptors were created as brochures

CDs were produced on various subjects; especially on dialect, genealogy and concerts by the Cornelius Burgh Choir.

Leaflets on selected bike tours and brochures on historical topics were designed.

Historic buildings are offered as cardboard model buildings .

Mathias Baux : Chronicle of the City of Erkelenz and the Land of Geldern was published in September 2016 by Hiram Kümper and a team at the Historical Institute of the University of Mannheim . The new edition in two volumes comprised facsimile, transcription, translation as well as explanations and comments.