Our Lady (Meiningen)

The Catholic Church "Our Lady"

The Catholic Church "Our Lady" in the southern Thuringian district town of Meiningen is the parish church of the parish of St. Marien Meiningen and, with its outbuildings, the seat of the Meiningen deanery in the Diocese of Erfurt . The tower-free, modern sacred building was built with the help of the Würzburg diocese during the GDR period, despite resistance from the local authorities . It is the successor to the Church of the Immaculate Conception of Mary .

location

The church is located in Mauergasse on the southwestern border of the historic old town directly on the Mühlgraben, a tributary of the Werra .

history

In 982, the parish church of St. Martin was first mentioned in a document in Meiningen. It was replaced by the town church as a parish church in the 11th century . Meiningen belonged from 1007 to 1994 to the diocese of Wuerzburg and 1007-1542 for Bishopric of Würzburg and then joined the county Henneberg . This introduced the Reformation in 1544 and Meiningen became Protestant . A small part of the population remained Catholic and from then on lived in the diaspora .

In 1802 the first regular Catholic services were held in a private house and from 1804 in the church of the former Franciscan monastery . With the legal recognition by Duke Georg II. Of Sachsen-Meiningen Catholic established in 1867 church Meiningen, which was built in the Mauergasse a new church in 1880. In 1881 the Würzburg bishop Franz Joseph von Stein consecrated the Church of the Immaculate Conception of Mary . In July 1894 a state church treaty led to the re-establishment of the Catholic parish of Meiningen in the diocese of Würzburg.

Due to the growing number of members, the church became too small and a new building was considered as early as 1950. First, the riding hall (today Meiningen Theater Museum ) was to be converted into a church, then a new building was planned in Carlsallee. The GDR authorities banned both projects and only approved a renovation of the existing church without the support of state construction companies. Nevertheless, it was demolished in 1967 and with financial and material help from the Diocese of Würzburg , a new church was built until 1972, mostly in-house under the direction of the architect Armin Trautmann . The conversion was cleverly converted into a new building and the authorities were presented with a fait accompli. This meant that there was no need for a tower. The building material was obtained mainly from Genex , made possible by the fact that the parish belongs to the diocese of Würzburg. During the relatively long construction period, the construction plans were repeatedly changed through new proposals, so that in the end a joint effort between the architect, artist, pastor and community emerged.

On May 13, 1972, Bishop Hugo Aufderbeck from Erfurt consecrated the church to the name: "Our Lady". Today the church is the seat of a parish and a deanery. Belonging to the diocese of Würzburg until 1994, it has since been integrated into the newly formed diocese of Erfurt. In 2012 the parish of Meiningen had around 1,500 and the parish of Meiningen 2544 members.

Building

The Catholic Church “Our Lady” is a rare example of a new church in the GDR . The church has an almost square floor plan with an obtuse-angled back wall of the altar. The church interior is a wide, clear hall with a column-free span of 20 meters. Three sides of the building are defined by large artistically designed windows and stained glass walls, which contain church themes - east side (entrance / street): creation - south side: redemption - west side / altar wall: completion . In the redemption window, referring to the title of the church, the theme “Mary in the work of redemption of her Son” is shown. The whole colorful splendor of the windows, designed by Christof Grüger from Schönebeck (Elbe) , can only be admired inside. Werner Nickel from Nienburg (Saale) made the altar wall, the wide altar base and the entrance area as a double door system from sheet copper . The altar block made of Löbauer granite was carved on site by the artist Werner Schubert from Friedrichroda and weighs around eight tons. The Catholic Church can accommodate 300 people. The weekday chapel and sacristy are located in an extension north of the church . To the south of the church is the rectory built in 1912 in Art Nouveau style.

The organ is a work of the Jehmlich Orgelbau Dresden company and its construction is a work with a mechanical action . It has two manuals , 21 registers and 1150 pipes .