Church of the Exaltation of the Cross (Koenigsbrück)
The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross is the Roman Catholic church in the Saxon country town of Königsbrück . The simple building with decorative elements of Art Nouveau was consecrated as a garrison church in 1914 and elevated to a parish church in 1935. Since 2002 it has been a branch church of the Kamenz parish of St. Maria Magdalena in Spittel .
location
The church is located southeast of the Königsbrück train station in the former Meissen part of the city on Höckendorfer Straße below the Auberg ( 203 m ). The Helionpark "Prinz Georg" extends to the south-west on the area of the former Prinz-Georg barracks , and to the south-east is the Am Wasserturm settlement . To the south is the listed water tower of the barracks.
history
The population in Königsbrück and the surrounding area had been Protestant since the Reformation . In 1834 only two Catholics lived in the city. This changed when the Saxon Army built two barracks near the city, the barrack camp and the Prince Georg barracks. The Catholics, mostly soldiers as well as some guest workers and craftsmen who had moved from abroad, were looked after by the Spitteler pastor Jakob Sauer. Holy Mass was held once a month in the Schwarzer Adler inn .
The construction of a second military training area for the Saxon Army north of the garrison town, which began in 1908, resulted in an increasing need for a place of worship for the numerous military members of the Catholic denomination. In 1913, construction of a garrison church began on Höckendorfer Strasse, northeast of the Prinz-Georg-Kaserne. The designs for this came from the Dresden architect Alexander Tandler . The completion of the church building was overshadowed by the outbreak of the First World War . Since most soldiers were drafted after the German declaration of war on 1 August 1914, the front, the garrison church on Sunday, September 6, 1914, without any ceremony ordained . The rectory next to the church was completed in 1915.
In 1925 there were 120 Catholics in Königsbrück (not including military personnel). In 1926 the garrison church received its own pastor, the military chaplain Robert Apel . On May 10, 1935, an independent Catholic parish was set up in Königsbrück with the pastor Hermann Essel . From 1946 the pastor was supported by three gray sisters . The Catholic church choir was founded on Christmas Eve of the same year. In 1947 the Red Army , which had seized the Prinz-Georg-Kaserne since 1945, evicted the rectory. In 1947 a local chaplaincy was set up in Ottendorf-Okrilla , which in 1959 was elevated to an independent parish.
The three church bells were consecrated in November 1959. After the death of Pastor Essel, Johannes Menne came to Königsbrück as the new Catholic Pastor in July 1962. After his departure, a priest of his own was no longer appointed, the Königsbrück parish was administered between 1966 and 1993 by the pastors of the Church of St. Joseph der Werkmann in Ottendorf-Okrilla with the help of the Gray Sisters.
In 1969 the Jehmlich organ was consecrated , and the following year the church roof was repaired. Auxiliary Bishop Georg Weinhold consecrated the altar on September 14, 1975. Since November 1, 1993, the pastor from Kamenz has also headed the Königsbrück parish of the Exaltation of the Cross .
After the GSSD withdrew from Königsbrück in autumn 1992, the church got its rectory back; after a general renovation , it was returned to its original purpose on February 6, 1994. The church choir celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1996. Since 1997, two Franciscan Sisters from Sießen have been supporting the pastor in looking after the roughly 500 Catholics in the catchment area of the Königsbrück parish. The interior and exterior of the church were renovated between 1999 and 2001, and the tower hood was given a new sheet of copper cladding in October 1999.
In 2002 the Catholic parishes of Kamenz and Königsbrück were united. The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross has been a branch church of the Kamenz parish of St. Maria Magdalena in Spittel since then.
The chancel was redesigned in 2004. The 100th consecration day was celebrated from September 10th to 14th, 2014 with a festive program, the climax of which was a Sunday festive service with former Bishop Joachim Reinelt . On this occasion, a book on the history of the church was published.
architecture
The church is a small, plastered hall building on a rectangular floor plan with a gable roof . On the west side there is the main portal made of sandstone with fluted pilaster strips and heavy beams , on the south side there is another sandstone portal with segmented arched gable . The octagonal tower stands on the north side and is covered with a squat copper sheet hood. On the two long sides there are windows with curtains .
The eye-catcher of the chancel, which was redesigned in 2004, is a large, standing wooden cross. The church is a listed building .
The rectory is south of the church.
literature
- Living stones. Catholic Church Exaltation of the Cross in Koenigsbrück. Koenigsbrück 2014.
Web links
- Parish of St. Maria Magdalena, Filialkirche Exaltation of the Cross
- History of the Catholic Church Koenigsbrück
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Königsbrück in the Digital Historical Directory of Saxony
- ↑ Katrin Kunath: Königsbrück Church celebrates 100th consecration anniversary. In: Wochenkurier. September 3, 2014, accessed November 18, 2018 .
- ↑ Barbara Bechter, Wiebke Fastenrath (edit.): Dehio-Handbuch der deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Saxony, Volume 1, administrative district Dresden. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin / Munich 1996, ISBN 3-422-03043-3 .
- ↑ 99 years of the Catholic Church in Königsbrück. In: Königsbrücker Stadtanzeiger , October 1, 2013, No. 276.
Coordinates: 51 ° 15 ′ 34 " N , 13 ° 54 ′ 6.3" E