Herz-Jesu-Kirche (Visselhövede)
The Herz-Jesu-Kirche is the Roman Catholic church in Visselhövede , a small town in the Rotenburg (Wümme) district in Lower Saxony . It is a branch church of the four churches large parish of Sankt Maria , which has its catchment area in the communities of Visselhövede, Walsrode and Bad Fallingbostel and to which around 4,300 Catholic Christians belong. The Herz-Jesu-Kirche is part of the Verden deanery in the Hildesheim diocese .
history
Predecessor parish in Kettenburg
In 1852 Baron Kuno von der Kettenburg converted from Gut Kettenburg near Visselhövede with his family to Catholicism. For this reason, a castle chapel was set up in the Kettenburg Castle for Catholic masses, which was held by a Catholic priest. Kettenburg Castle thus became a Catholic enclave, the nearest Catholic churches were in Celle and Uelzen . The Catholic Christians in what was then the Rotenburg district (today's southern district of Rotenburg (Wümme) ) have been cared for from here, since 1935 within the framework of the parish curatie Kettenburg - Visselhövede - Rotenburg, based in Schloss Kettenburg. 601 Catholics lived in 120 localities within the jurisdiction of this parish.
Growth and Post War
In the following years there was pronounced growth in the community: During the Second World War, the community included around 4,000 Catholic Christians, some of whom came from Saarland, who were counted among the so-called " Volksdeutsche " or who served in the German armed forces . After the Second World War, the number of parishioners rose again by leaps and bounds due to displaced persons and refugees. Therefore, an emergency chapel was set up in a former workshop in Visselhövede. In Rotenburg, a new parish was established with the Corpus Christi Church , to which Visselhövede was also subordinated as a subsidiary parish.
Construction of the current church building
In 1960 the castle and the chapel there had to be demolished due to sponge infestation. In 1961 the parish was reorganized through which the Visselhövede branch church was united with the neighboring Bomlitz branch church, which previously belonged to Walsrode, to form a separate parish. According to plans by the architect Theo Scholten from Oberhausen, the foundation stone for a new Catholic church in Visselhövede was laid in 1965, which was consecrated to the “ Sacred Heart of Jesus ” on May 21, 1966 by Hildesheim Bishop Heinrich Maria Janssen . The name was derived from the name of the former castle chapel in Kettenburg. The church is located on the property at Gartenstrasse 57 , almost 62 meters above sea level .
Branch church of the large parish of St. Maria
On August 1, 2004, as part of restructuring in the Diocese of Hildesheim, the communities of the Holy Spirit in Bomlitz-Benefeld with the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Visselhövede, the community of the Church of St. Maria of the Holy Rosary in Walsrode and the community of the Church of St. Maria of the seven pains at Fallingbostel united to a single large community with the parish church of Walsrode.
The church today
In addition to the former refugees and their descendants, significant groups within the community now include immigrants from southern and western Germany, late repatriates from Poland and the former Soviet Union, and community members of Italian origin. The care of the Catholic soldiers of the local garrison was important until it was closed.
See also
literature
- KirchenZeitung No. 21/2016 of May 22, 2016, p. 13 (article on the 50th anniversary of the consecration of the church)
source
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 58 ′ 50.6 " N , 9 ° 34 ′ 59.6" E