Way of the Cross Bonenburg

The Way of the Cross in Bonenburg , a district of Warburg (Westphalia) was created on the Hoppenberg near Bonenburg.

Planning / construction

In 1932, the foreman of the local brickworks, Josef Saake, applied to the municipal council to make the area at Hoppenberg available for the preparation of a crossroads . After they agreed, Josef Saaken started with young brickworkers first with the main route. The stone cross with a wayside shrine , which had stood there since 1876, was placed 100 m further on the highest point of the mountain. Linden trees were planted on both sides of the path, resulting in an avenue. Josef Saaken intended to prepare the Way of the Cross like the one in the pilgrimage site of Hardenberg- Neviges in the Rhineland. Sculptor Pütz from Wiedenbrück had created the sculptural work there and was also commissioned here. The paths on the Hoppenberg were initially laid out provisionally. Then the construction of the Stations of the Cross began . Shell limestone from Marsberg was used for the exterior of the stations . The interior is made of cement concrete, to which 400 quintals of cement have been processed. There was a lack of suitable scarf material and money to buy, but little by little donors were found for the stations. The expansion was very difficult in the stony ground, as all work had to be done by hand. Some farmers brought the material to the Hoppenberg with their horse and carts. The material had to be brought to the stations for the stations with wooden wheelbarrows. This work was created because there was great unemployment between 1933 and 1936, and the residents of Bonenburg devoted a large part of their free time to building the Kreuzberg.

inauguration

In 1935 the construction work could be finished. In the same year, on the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, the Way of the Cross was blessed by the Franciscan Father Ekkehard from Paderborn . The mountain is no longer called Hoppenberg, but Kreuzberg. Seen in terms of landscape, the Kreuzberg is a gem in the village hall. A variety of trees and shrubs adorn this area with their greenery in the summer months.

entertainment

Josef Saake has drawn up a contract with the political municipality of Bonenburg, stating that the protection and maintenance of the entire complex of the Kreuzberg is the responsibility of the political municipality of Bonenburg. As a result of the incorporation into the city of Warburg , it is now responsible for maintaining the Kreuzberg.

Praise procession

Since 1945 a praise procession has been held every year on Good Friday in Bonenburg . The reason is as follows: When the armed struggle of the Second World War broke out between the American armed forces and the German SS units in and around Bonenburg in the Easter days of 1945 , Pastor Wilhelm Göke and numerous residents sought protection in the church cellar. There the pastor made a vow to hold a procession of the Way of the Cross to Kreuzberg every year on Good Friday or, if the weather is bad, on a suitable Sunday , the church and village will be saved from destruction. Since then, the procession of vows has been held every year with the active participation of the Bonenburg residents.

Coordinates: 51 ° 33 '10.9 "  N , 9 ° 4' 6.1"  E

literature

• Josef Floren: Chronicle and home book of Bonenburg; Self-published, Warburg-Bonenburg 1982. 232 pp.