Lukaskirche (Kerpen)

The Lukaskirche in Brüggen an der Erft is one of the early Protestant churches of recent times in the Rhenish lignite mining area .

Lukas Church

history

Brüggen, which belonged to Kurköln until the French era , was originally purely Catholic as it was dependent on the archbishop . The few Protestants who arrived during the Prussian period were looked after by the Evangelical Church and Community of Frechen , which had belonged to the more tolerant Duchy of Jülich . From 1854 there was a first small church for fewer than 50 Evangelicals in Kerpen , the Johanneskirche, which was looked after by its own vicar for a short time . In 1908 there were already 149 Evangelicals living in Horrem (in Kerpen it remained at around 50). 1925 was in Horrem prayer hall inaugurated. On January 1, 1928, the evangelical parish of Horrem was formed with the parish districts of Kerpen and Brüggen, initially connected to Frechen through a joint pastoral office. In Brüggen with Türnich and Balkhausen , the number of Protestants rose from 170 to 358 between 1908 and 1933 due to the influx of workers in the lignite mining (for the entire parish of Kerpen-Horrem it was 1012), so that the desire for a church arose here too. The service was held in the morning in Horrem and in the afternoon alternately in Kerpen and Brüggen. After the church was built, Brüggen's own parish was formed, which, due to the church struggle and the Second World War, only became independent from Frechen on July 1, 1949 with its own pastoral office. It included the villages of Brüggen, Balkhausen, Türnich, Mödrath , Kerpen, Blatzheim (with Bergerhausen) and Niederbolheim . In 1969 the district of Kierdorf was incorporated, which until then belonged to the parish of Liblar . On January 1, 1974, the Kerpen parish was founded and the parishes of Kerpen, Blatzheim, Bergerhausen and Niederbolheim were parished out.

Building history

In 1935, 43 parishioners founded the “Evangelical Church Building Association e. V. zu Brüggen-Erft ”chaired by Fritz Benninghoff (* 1886), senior employee of the Brüggen pit Hubertus , presbyter of the parish of Horrem for the Bruges district. The association received 13,750 Reichsmarks from the surrounding works: Grube Hubertus, Rheinische AG for lignite mining and briquette production , Grube Louise, Roddergrube , the entrepreneur Victor Rolff and from private individuals until 1937 . Victor Rolff donated the property. According to the plans of the Cologne architect Heinrich Benoit construction on 5 May 1937, began after twelve weeks topping celebrated and the Church in the presence of the 14 November 1937 general superintendent of the Rhine Province , Ernst Stoltenhoff inaugurated. The construction costs, including the furnishings, amounted to 16,307 marks.

On March 4, 1939, General Field Marshal August von Mackensen , Prussian State Councilor, donated the Brüggen-based mining director Dr. Hans Kersting, also presbyter of the parish of Horrem, presented the church with a Rudolf Schäfer Bible with a dedication from the Gospel of Luke. That is why the church was named "Lukaskirche" after the expansion on October 15, 1986. In 1944 the church was badly damaged by bombs. In the period up to the reconstruction, the community was housed in the community center of the Catholic community.

description

The church is a simple single-nave building with a bell ridge on the steep roof. On the long sides there are four high windows closed with a round arch. In the choir area there is a sacristy to the side under a lowered roof. The entrance was originally in a porch under a canopy on the street front.

The church was expanded several times, first in the choir area separated by steps. In 1978 a community center was built next to the church, which was expanded in 1986. The church was also extended to the street under a slightly lower roof and provided with a high window. The entrance to this extension was placed on the right-hand side of the community center. In 2008 the church was extensively renovated, the front window was reduced and limited to the gable. There was space here for an organ to be installed at ground level, which replaced a previous instrument that could no longer be repaired.

organ

In 2008, the congregation acquired a “new old” romantic Victorian Summers & Barnes organ with 18 stops and two manuals and pedal , which stood from 1898 to 1998 in a then- dedicated Methodist Church in Leicester , England . It was restored by the Cologne company Willi Peter .

I Great Organ C – g 3 Open diapason 8th' Dulciana 8th' Hollow flute 8th' Principal 4 ′ Harmonic flute 4 ′ Flautina 2 ′ Clarionet 8th'

II Swell Organ C – g 3 Open diapason 8th' Salicional 8th' Gedact 8th' Voix Celeste 8th' Gemshorn 4 ′ Mixture II Cornopean 8th' oboe 8th' Tremulant

Pedal Organ C – f 1 Open diapason 16 ′ Bourdon 16 ′ Bass tide 8th'

• Coupling : II / I, II / II (sub-octave coupling), I / P, II / P.

literature

• Frank Kretschmar: Churches and places of worship in the Rhein-Erft district . Cologne 2005. ISBN 3-7616-1944-8

Individual evidence

1. ^ History of the ev. Kerpen community
2. ^ According to the “History” section of the parish website
3. ↑ Flyer for the 75th on the homepage
4. ^ Article from December 19, 2008 in the Rhein-Erft-Rundschau
5. ↑ Picture and disposition at orgelbau-peter.de
6. ↑ Article at kirche-koeln.de from December 28, 2008

Web links

• Website of the parish of Brüggen

Coordinates: 50 ° 51 ′ 6.42 "  N , 6 ° 45 ′ 50.65"  E