Hochtaunus (church district)

Deanery Hochtaunus District
Basic data
diocese	Diocese of Limburg
dean	Paul Lawatsch
Residents	219,740 (2007)
Catholics	57.005 (2007)
proportion of	25.9%
rite	Latin rite
Liturgical language	German
Website	http://hochtaunus.bistumlimburg.de/

The Hochtaunus district is one of the eleven deaneries of the Roman Catholic Church in the Limburg diocese . Around 55,160 Catholics live in the deanery (57,005 in 2007, around 60,000 in 2001), which corresponds to a Catholic proportion of 25.94%. The average number of people attending church services is around 12.6% of Catholics.

Territorially, the district covers the largest part of the Hochtaunuskreis . This does not apply to the parishes in the Bad Homburg districts of Ober-Eschbach and Ober-Erlenbach as well as Friedrichsdorf - Burgholzhausen , which belong to the diocese of Mainz , and the parish of Weilrod - Hasselbach , which belongs to the Limburg district. District dean is the Neu-Anspach pastor Paul Lawatsch. The district office is in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe.

history

Historically, the majority of today's district was influenced by Protestants. Only in the east of the district were some places ( Schloßborn , Königstein im Taunus , Reifenberg , Oberursel , Kirdorf ) catholic because they belonged to Kurmainz . After the end of the Old Kingdom in 1806, Catholic communities slowly formed again in the Protestant areas. The Catholic parishes received massive growth after the Second World War . Flight and expulsion from the German eastern areas led to an influx of Catholic new citizens in many places. Many of today's churches in the Hochtaunus district therefore date from the 1950s and 1960s and have the architectural features of that time.

Before the Hochtaunus district was founded in 2005, the Limburg diocese was divided into eleven districts, most of which were based on the districts. The Obertaunus district, the predecessor of the Hochtaunus district, comprised the Catholic communities of the Hochtaunus district with the following exceptions: Königstein (but not Falkenstein and Mammolshain) as well as Oberreifenberg , Niederreifenberg and Seelenberg belonged to the Main-Taunus district. Kalbach , however, did not belong to the Frankfurt district, but to the Obertaunus district.

Catholic institutions and associations in the district

The parishes in the district are responsible for a total of 22 kindergartens and day-care centers. These are linked in the KTK-Regional AG Hochtaunus (Catholic day care centers for children). Furthermore, there are two Catholic schools sponsored by the diocese in the district, the Bishop Neumann School and St. Angela School , both in Koenigstein, and by the Congregation of Jesus led Mary Ward School in Bad Homburg . The Sisters of Divine Providence also run the Oberursel School for Social Pedagogy.

The Caritas Association for the Hochtaunus District e. V. operates various advisory services, several boards, a dormitory for the homeless and offers home care. The Hochtaunus educational center of Catholic adult education has an educational program for the district. The church music coordination at the district level (training of organists, district choir) is carried out by the district cantor. Every two years there is a Misereor solidarity walk, during which numerous believers hike to Königstein to collect aid for developing countries. The Catholic Church provides a course chaplain for the spa guests in Bad Homburg.

Other institutions and associations:

• Office for Catholic Religious Education Taunus, Oberursel
• Catholic office for youth work, Taunus
• Christian educational group 'Rabanus Maurus' Oberursel e. V.
• Kolping district of Hochtaunus

List of churches

image	church	place	Parish	Remarks
	St. Mary	Bad Homburg vor der Höhe	St. Marien, Bad Homburg-Friedrichsdorf	Parish church
	Holy cross	Bad Homburg- Gonzenheim	St. Marien, Bad Homburg-Friedrichsdorf	previously a branch church of St. Marien The subsidy for the church by the diocese has been canceled. The existence of the church is therefore not secured in the medium term.
	Heart of jesus	Bad Homburg (Gartenfeld)	St. Marien, Bad Homburg-Friedrichsdorf	previously a branch church of St. Marien
	St. John	Bad Homburg- Kirdorf	St. Marien, Bad Homburg-Friedrichsdorf	previously parish church, "Taunusdom"
	St. Boniface	Friedrichsdorf	St. Marien, Bad Homburg-Friedrichsdorf	previously parish church
	St. Joseph	Friedrichsdorf- Köppern	St. Marien, Bad Homburg-Friedrichsdorf	previously a branch church of St. Boniface
	Holy Spirit	Glassworks	Assumption of Mary, Koenigstein	previously parish church
0	St. Philip u. James	Glashütten- Schloßborn	Assumption of Mary, Koenigstein	previously parish church
	St. Mary	Koenigstein	Assumption of Mary, Koenigstein	Parish church
	St. Michael	Koenigstein- Mammolshain	Assumption of Mary, Koenigstein	previously parish church
	Christ the King	Koenigstein- Falkenstein	Assumption of Mary, Koenigstein	previously parish church
	St. John the Baptist	Koenigstein-Schneidhain	Assumption of Mary, Koenigstein	previously parish church
	St. Peter and Paul	Kronberg im Taunus	Assumption of Mary, Koenigstein	previously parish church
	St. Alban	Kronberg- Schönberg	Assumption of Mary, Koenigstein	previously parish church
	St. Vitus	Kronberg- Oberhöchstadt	Assumption of Mary, Koenigstein	previously parish church
	College church	Koenigstein	Assumption of Mary, Koenigstein	School church of the Bischof-Neumann-Schule , no regular church services, is not used in the context of pastoral care.
	Monastery church	Koenigstein	Assumption of Mary, Koenigstein	Church of the Ursulines , school church of St. Angela School , is not used in the context of parish pastoral care.
	St. Ursula	Oberursel	St. Ursula, Oberursel-Steinbach	Parish church
	Dear women	Oberursel	St. Ursula, Oberursel-Steinbach	previously parish church
	St. Hedwig	Oberursel	St. Ursula, Oberursel-Steinbach	previously parish church. Funding by the diocese was discontinued and the church was supposed to be closed and demolished in 2011, but was then placed under monument protection at short notice on the initiative of the community and will be preserved.
	St. Aureus and Justina	Oberursel- Bommersheim	St. Ursula, Oberursel-Steinbach	previously parish church
	St. Petrus Canisius	Oberursel- Oberstedten	St. Ursula, Oberursel-Steinbach	previously parish church
	St. Sebastian	Oberursel- Stierstadt	St. Ursula, Oberursel-Steinbach	previously parish church
	St. Crutzen	Oberursel- Weißkirchen	St. Ursula, Oberursel-Steinbach	previously parish church
	St. Boniface	Steinbach	St. Ursula, Oberursel-Steinbach	previously parish church
	St. Conrad	Graevenwiesbach	St. Francis and Clara, Usingerland	previously parish church
	St. Mary	Neu-Anspach	St. Francis and Clara, Usingerland	Parish church
	St. Charles Borromeo	Schmitten	St. Francis and Clara, Usingerland	previously parish church
	St. John the Baptist	Schmitten- Niederreifenberg	St. Francis and Clara, Usingerland	previously parish church
	St. George	Schmitten- Oberreifenberg	St. Francis and Clara, Usingerland	previously parish church
	St. Casimir	Schmitten- Seelenberg	St. Francis and Clara, Usingerland	previously parish church
	St. Laurence	Usingen	St. Francis and Clara, Usingerland	previously parish church
	St. John the Baptist	Usingen- Kransberg	St. Francis and Clara, Usingerland	previously parish church
	St. Michael	Wehrheim	St. Francis and Clara, Usingerland	previously parish church
	St. George	Wehrheim- Pfaffenwiesbach	St. Francis and Clara, Usingerland	previously parish church

Former churches:

image	church	place	Parish	Remarks
	Heart of jesus	Friedrichsdorf	St. Marien, Bad Homburg-Friedrichsdorf	Branch church of St. Boniface. The church was built as a chapel in 1912/1913 and expanded in the 1950s. From 1963 it was parish church. The church was desecrated on February 26, 2012 and then demolished
0	St. Francis	Bad Homburg-Kirdorf	St. Marien, Bad Homburg-Friedrichsdorf	Branch church of St. John. The grant to the church from the diocese has been canceled. In 2015 the church was closed.

Pastoral spaces

Since 2006 the church in the Diocese of Limburg has been consistently divided into pastoral rooms , in each of which a pastor is responsible for several parishes . The six pastoral rooms in the Hochtaunus district were merged into four larger units on January 1, 2012 , due to lower attendance at church services and a lack of priests as well as the need to reduce costs.

The pastoral rooms in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe and Friedrichsdorf were then merged into a common pastoral room Bad Homburg / Friedrichsdorf. The pastor's seat is Bad Homburg vor der Höhe. Parish church is St. Marien. This merger also reduced the number of full-time employees from nine to four.

The pastoral area Schloßborn / Schmitten was dissolved and divided based on the political boundaries. Schmitten was assigned to the pastoral area Usinger Land / Schmitten, Glashütten and Schloßborn to the pastoral area Königstein-Kronberg-Schloßborn. The fourth pastoral room is Oberursel / Steinbach.

In the following years the pastoral rooms were replaced by four new types of parishes :

• St. Marien, Bad Homburg-Friedrichsdorf
• St. Ursula, Oberursel-Steinbach
• St. Francis and Clara, Usingerland
• Assumption of Mary, Koenigstein

These parishes only have one parish church and other church locations .

Web links

• Website of the Hochtaunus district

Individual evidence

1. ↑ In the Diocese of Limburg, the previous deaneries were dissolved on January 1, 2005 and the districts were converted into deaneries. See ordinance on the restructuring of the deaneries in the Diocese of Limburg ( Memento of June 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 77 kB), in: Official Journal of the Diocese of Limburg, 2005, p. 18. However, the term district was retained.
2. ↑ All information except for the number of Catholics as of 2007. Thinking our district from the future , brochure of the Hochtaunus district, March 2009, p. 25.
3. ↑ On the number of Catholics: migration into the unknown; in: Taunus Zeitung of October 6, 2011, page 13
4. ↑ Our common path: 150 years of the Diocese of Limburg, 1977, ISBN 3-7820-0399-3 , page 191 and map page 194
5. ↑ Cf. Official Journal of the Diocese of Limburg, November 2011 ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Pp. 232f. 
6. ↑ Sophia Bernhardt: "Nothing stays as it is"; in: Taunus Zeitung of September 16, 2011, page 23
7. ↑ Wandering into the unknown  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; in: Taunus Zeitung of October 6, 2011, page 13