Wuppertal Church District
The church district of Wuppertal is one of the 37 church districts of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland . It covers most of the urban area of Wuppertal .
history
The first central administrative unit similar to a church district for the preachers in Wuppertal was set up in the pre-Reformation period and developed into the later parish of Elberfeld . After its end as a local authority in 1845, the communities of Elberfeld, Barmens and Vohwinkels were transferred to the general association of the Elberfeld church district, which was newly founded at that time. The former Westphalian districts of Langerfeld and Nachbarebreck , which are now part of Wuppertal , remained with Schwelm .
The rapid population growth in the middle of the 19th century meant an enormous administrative burden for the church district. Branch offices of the main administration were set up in Barmen on today's Pauluskirchstrasse and Sternstrasse in Oberbarmen . In 1898, Barmen was finally detached as a separate church district and since then has existed parallel to the Elberfeld church district. When the town was founded in 1929 , the parishes in Langerfeld, Nachbarebreck and Beyenburg were transferred to the Barmen parish, the two parishes of Cronenberg and the two parishes of Ronsdorf came to the Elberfeld parish. 1975 eventually followed within the Dusseldorf-law the incorporation Dönbergs and Schoeller to Wuppertal, but these outlying areas remained part of the church district Niedernberg. On March 20, 2004, the Elberfeld and Barmens synods finally decided to form the new Wuppertal church district.
The Wuppertal parish was established on January 1, 2005, and the new parish was headed by the Barmer superintendent Manfred Rekowski . In December 2012, Pastor Ilka Federschmidt, previously a synod assessor in the church district, became the first full-time superintendent of the church district. In October 2016 it had 99,700 members, making it one of the ten largest church districts of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland.
Communities
In August 2017, 18 parishes belong to the church district:
Beyenburg-Laaken
The parish of Beyenburg-Laaken was created in October 2003 as a merger of the two previously independent parishes of Beyenburg with Laaken- Blombacherbach and had 2,099 members in June 2016. It essentially comprises the districts of Beyenburg-Mitte , Herbringhausen and Hammesberg , and has two churches and two community centers. The Am Kriegermal cemetery is also the last cemetery in Wuppertal to be owned by the parish.
Cronenberg
The history of the Cronenberg parish goes back to 1582, when the Reformed Cronenberg parish was founded. The Cronenberg Lutherans were looked after by Solingen until the church was founded in 1773 . In 1955 the Küllenhahn parish separated and became independent, followed in 2003 by the union of the Evangelical Lutheran and the Reformed Parish to form the Evangelical Parish of Cronenberg, to which 7,342 members belonged in mid-2016. The community includes the districts Hahnerberg , Cronenberg-Mitte , Sudberg and the Wuppertal part of the Kohlfurth . It has two churches and a community center as well as a church service hall in the Friedenskirche, which has now been converted into a kindergarten .
Center Emmaus , former Emmaus church
Former Peace Church, today a kindergarten with a community hall
Elberfeld-North
The Elberfeld-Nord parish was established in 1981 through the merger of the Evangelical Lutheran Resurrection Church Parish on Katernberg and the Elberfeld-Nord Reformed Parish. In January 2003 the Lutheran Kreuzkirchengemeinde followed , and since 2005 the Evangelical Lutheran parish on Kolk has also been part of the larger community. With 10,047 members in mid-2016, the Elberfeld-Nord parish is the largest of the parishes in the parish in terms of membership. It essentially comprises parts of Elberfeld-Mitte as well as Nordstadt , Nevigeser Straße , Eckbusch and Siebeneick and has five places of worship.
Elberfeld-Südstadt
The Elberfeld Südstadtgemeinde was created when the Reformed Elberfeld community was divided from the former southern district in 1964. The former Lutheran Christ Church Parish Elberfeld-Süd was created by dividing the Lutheran Parish of Elberfeld into six parishes. As early as 1970, both congregations merged to form the Elberfeld-Südstadt Evangelical Church Community with two churches and a community center. In June 2016 the parish had 6,848 members; It includes the Südstadt , the Grifflenberg and parts of the Friedrichsberg .
Elberfeld-West
The Evangelical Parish Elberfeld-West was created on January 1st, 1981 from parts of the Lutheran Resurrection Parish on Katernberg and the Reformed Parish Elberfeld-Mitte. A little later the Lutheran Trinitarian parish on the Arrenberg followed. In mid-2016 the congregation had 5,163 members, it had one last remaining church at the east end of the parish area and the former parish center of the Trinity Church. Parts of Elberfeld-Mitte , the Arrenberg , the Nützenberg , the Varresbeck and the villa district Brill belong to the area of the municipality .
New Reformed Church (Sophienkirche)
Wupperfeld district
The Evangelical Parish of Gemarke-Wupperfeld in Barmen was created in 2008 through the merger of the four parishes of Gemarke , Wupperfeld , Heidt and Hatzfeld, which had previously been organized in a joint and dominated by district . With 9,437 parishioners in June 2016, it is the second largest parish in the Wuppertal parish in terms of membership numbers. The parish, which encompasses the districts of Hatzfeld, Barmen-Mitte , Oberbarmen-Schwarzbach and the Heidt, achieved national renown with the church music tradition of the Old Church Wupperfeld , which was closed in 2014, and the work of various high-ranking church musicians such as Joachim Dorfmüller and Winfried Pesch . After implementing a rigorous austerity course within the parish, which is still clearly dominated by the Gemarker Church, after the closure of the Old Church in Wupperfeld and the Hatzfeld Church, it still has two churches with two parish houses and a church hall in Oberbarmen.
Heckinghausen
The United Evangelical Church Community of Heckinghausen was created on January 1, 1984 through the merging of parts of the Reformed community of Gemarke, founded in 1702, and the Lutheran Church of Wupperfeld, founded in 1777. In June 2016 it had 2,676 members in the area of the Heckinghausen and Rauental districts and is geographically the second smallest community in the church district after Küllenhahn. In addition to the Paul Gerhardt House on Rübenstrasse as a place of worship and community center, the community has the Resurrection Church at Norrenberg cemetery as a second sermon site. Although this is sponsored by the Evangelical Cemetery Association of Wuppertal and is primarily used as a cemetery chapel, it is used as a place of worship for the Heckinghausen parish, especially on public holidays and for weddings. The community also has a district café on Heckinghauser Straße in the center of the district and several senior-friendly apartments.
Küllenhahn
The Küllenhahn parish, which was formed in 1955 from parts of the two parishes in Cronenberg, the Protestant parish of Sonnborn and the Elberfeld-Südstadt parish, is the smallest parish in the church district in terms of membership numbers and geographically with 898 members in mid-2016. The community, which was deliberately founded in a united tradition, has a church hall on Nesselbergstrasse as a place of worship.
Langerfeld
The originally Westphalian Langerfeld only became part of the Barmen parish when the city of Wuppertal was founded. In 1766 the Lutheran congregation became independent with the establishment of its own church service hall in the Spitzenstrasse school and separated from the Schwelm parish. In the mid-1920s, parish districts emerged in Pülsöhde and on the Hilgershöhe . In mid-2016 the community had 6,497 members with two churches and community centers. The area of the municipality includes Langerfeld-Mitte , Fleute , Jesinghauser Straße , Hilgershöhe, Ehrenberg and a small part of Löhrerlen .
Evangelical parish of Ronsdorf
The history of the Evangelical Parish of Ronsdorf begins with the separation from the parish of Lüttringhausen and the construction of its own church in 1789. In 1975 the Lutheran parish renamed itself to the Evangelical Parish of Ronsdorf in order to clarify the relationship to the Uniate Regional Church. In June 2016, the community had 6,048 members in the area of the Ronsdorf district. After the Paul Gerhardt Church was demolished , the congregation still has the Luther Church on Bandwohlerplatz and the attached community center; the Diakoniezentrum on Schenkstrasse is also owned by the congregation and houses a chapel.
Reformed community of Ronsdorf
In addition to the Evangelical Church, the Reformed Church of Ronsdorf is also located in the area of the district. It is the only parish in the church district with an officially reformed character and the only district parish next to a Lutheran parish in the entire Rhenish regional church. In January 2020 it had 2,104 members, making it the parish with the lowest average number of people leaving the church in the Wuppertal parish. A church and a parish hall on Kurfürstenstrasse belong to the community.
Schellenbeck units
The community of Schellenbeck-Einern was created in 1970 by separating the districts of Schellenbeck from the community of Nachbarebreck and Einern from the community of Herzkamp. The community center House of Encounter on Stahlsberg is the place of worship for the community, which had 2,655 members in June 2016.
Sonnborn
The community of Sonnborn is the oldest parish in the parish. The community has been in the Reformed tradition since 1539; the history of Christianity in Sonnborn previously went back to the ninth century. In 1886 Vohwinkel separated from Sonnborn, Hammerstein followed in 1956. After the closure of the Markuskirche in the Lüntenbeck district , the meanwhile united parish has a remaining church and a parish hall on Kirchhofstrasse. A parsonage is also owned by the community. In addition to the districts of Sonnborn and Lüntenbeck, the district of Buchenhofen and the state forest of Burgholz , whose southern areas fall under the communities of Cronenberg and Küllenhahn, belong to the area of the parish. In mid-2016 the community had 3,608 members.
Uellendahl-Ostersbaum
The parish of Uellendahl-Ostersbaum was created on January 1, 2007 through the merger of the parishes of Elberfeld-Ost and Uellendahl . It extends over the districts of Uellendahl-West , Uellendahl-Ost and Ostersbaum . Two churches and three community centers belong to the 6,809 member community, including the Röttgen community center as a place of worship.
Inferior
The history of the United Evangelical Church of Unterbarmen begins in 1822 with the establishment of the United Evangelical Church of Unterbarmen. Due to the high number of pastors, the community with seven places of worship was now divided into the four independent parishes Unterbarmen Mitte, Unterbarmen West, Unterbarmen Süd and Unterbarmen Ost. In July 2006, the three parishes of Central, West and East were united to form the United Evangelical Church Congregation Unterbarmen, with the parish Unterbarmen Süd remaining independent. The parish has three churches and a central parish hall on Martin-Luther-Strasse and on June 30, 2016 had 7,396 parishioners. The districts Friedrich-Engels-Allee , Kothen , the Rott , parts of the Sedansberg , the Loh , Clausen and Hesselnberg belong to the area of the municipality .
Unterbarmen south
The Evangelical Church Congregation Unterbarmen Süd was established in 1964 when the old Unterbarmen congregation was split from the former southern districts. It has a chapel and a community center as a place of worship and in June 2016 had 4,240 members; However, the area of the community is limited to the Barmer residential area Lichtenplatz and a few parts of Kothen.
Vohwinkel
The Vohwinkel community was created in 1886 by splitting off from the parent community of Sonnborn. After a long period of expansion with the construction of the church on Bremkamp , the community had to unite in 2007 with the community of Hammerstein , which was also split off from Sonnborn in 1955 , and since then the community of Hammerstein has continued to exist as an eastern district. The area of the municipality extends over the districts of Vohwinkel-Mitte , Osterholz , Tesche , Industriestrasse , Westring , Höhe and Schrödersbusch . As of June 2016, 7,719 parishioners and a church with two parish centers ( Gräfrather Strasse parish hall and Lessingstrasse church hall (only rarely used)) belong to the community .
Wichlinghausen-Nachbarebreck
The Wichlinghausen parish was established in 1744 as a Lutheran parish by splitting off from the Schwelm parish. The parish, which since then has been a Lutheran stronghold in Wuppertal, which has consistently been reformed, merged with the district's Reformed congregation in 1984. In 2003 it was merged with the church community in NEBBECK and renamed the Evangelical church community in Wichlinghausen-NEBBECK . After the closure of the Wichlinghauser church , the community has two churches and a parish hall as well as a youth center on Westkotter Straße. It had 6,914 members in mid-2016 and is therefore the parish with the highest decline in membership in the church district.
Parishes outside the church district
The two parishes of Schöller and Dönberg are also located entirely within the urban area of Wuppertal, although they are still part of the neighboring parish of Niederberg due to their late incorporation into Wuppertal in 1975. For the sake of geographical completeness, they are also listed separately here.
Scholler
The reformed parish of Schöller is the oldest parish in the city. It was created as a fiefdom of the Corvey Monastery and was managed by the Lords of Schöller. As early as 1530, preaching in the Reformed manner was carried out in Schöller, making the parish as a Reformed parish nine years older than the parish of Sonnborn, often referred to as the "oldest Reformed parish in Wuppertal". The Vohwinkel district of Schöller-Dornap belongs to the municipality's territory .
After almost 500 years, Barbara Schröder-Möring, the last pastor from Schöller, was bid farewell on June 25, 2017 and the pastor's post was not filled. The congregation, which has only 320 members, will be dissolved earlier than planned before the 500th anniversary in 2030. Considered merger plans with the parishes of Wülfrath - Düssel or Vohwinkel were rejected, so a merger with the parish of Gruiten is likely.
Donberg
The Dönberg area belonged in part to the parishes of Elberfeld, Langenberg and Neviges . It was not until 1872 that the Dönberg parish became independent, several decades after the Dönberg Evangelical Church was built in 1846.
The parish, which has 2,400 members, includes the church and the kindergarten as well as an ensemble of parish hall, rectory and senior citizens' club. In addition, a one-world shop and a public playground are also owned by the municipality.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ History of the Wuppertal Church District
- ^ History of the Beyenburg-Laaken parish
- ^ History of the parishes in Cronenberg
- ↑ Evangelical Church Cronenberg: Historical on the website of the community
- ^ History of the Elberfeld-Nord parish
- ^ For the history of the community on the website of the Elberfeld-Nord parish
- ^ History of the Südstadtgemeinde
- ↑ General information about the community ( Memento of the original from August 30, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Elberfeld-Südstadt
- ↑ On the history of the community Elberfeld-West
- ↑ On the history of the Elberfeld-West parish on the parish's website
- ^ History of the parish Gemarke-Wupperfeld in Barmen
- ^ Association of Evangelical Churches in Oberbarmen, Fritz Mehnert (ed.): Oberbarmer Gemeindegeschichte , Wuppertal 2002
- ↑ Church history online
- ^ History of the parish Küllenhahn
- ↑ On the history of the old church ( Memento of the original from January 8, 2017 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. Evangelical parish of Langerfeld
- ↑ About us - Evangelical Church Community Ronsdorf
- ^ On the history of the Reformed Community of Ronsdorf
- ^ Community history Schellenbeck-Einern
- ^ Sonnborn community history on the community website
- ↑ Parish of Sonnborn
- ↑ Community history Uellendahl-Ostersbaum
- ↑ Community history Unterbarmen ( Memento of the original from July 6, 2017 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.
- ↑ On the history of the community Unterbarmen Süd
- ^ History of the parish Vohwinkel
- ↑ On the community history of Wichlinghausen-Nachbarebreck
- ↑ On the history of the Dönberg parish ( Memento of the original dated August 30, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the municipality's website
