Visitation of the Virgin Mary (Wadgassen)

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The Catholic parish church of the Visitation in Wadgassen
Another view of the church
View inside the church
View to the organ gallery

The Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary is a Catholic parish church in Wadgassen an der Saar , Saarlouis district . It is dedicated to the story from the life of Mary about the meeting of Mary with Elizabeth , the mother of John the Baptist . The patronage is the Feast of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary (Visitatio Mariæ) on May 31st and June 2nd. The Marian patronage of the parish church is a continuation of the Marian patronage of the former Wadgassen abbey church , which was founded in 1135 and abolished in the wake of the French Revolution . In the list of monuments of the Saarland is the parish church as a single monument listed. The church is assigned to the diocese of Trier .

history

The so-called upper church, consecrated between the years 1080 and 1135 with the patronage of St. Nicholas of Myra , was the parish church of Wadgassen. The building was about 50 feet long and 20 feet wide. On the engraving of the Wadgassen monastery from 1736 it is depicted as a small church with a rectangular choir and a built-in tower with a rhombic roof at the end of the monastery garden. Due to its dilapidation, this Nikolauskirche was demolished and its building material was used to build houses in the fortress town of Saarlouis. A new building was then built on the foundation walls of the old parish church in 1806. This new building was demolished in connection with the construction of today's neo-Romanesque church in 1882.

Since after the destruction of the traditional Wadgassen Abbey with its St. Mary's Church in the French Revolution, Wadgassen remained without a representative sacred building for decades, the church council under Pastor Bartz decided on January 8, 1865 to build a new parish church in Wadgassen. Because of the culture war that began in the German Reich in 1872 , all financial support for the construction of the church was stopped by the state, so that the construction of the church could not initially be implemented. But as early as 1877, a building fund had grown so much through donation campaigns that a new church could be built without having to take a greater risk.

On November 12, 1877 from was Vianden originating Luxembourg state architect Charles (Karl) Arendt (1825-1910), who is also in Sulzbach / Saar and Großrosseln built churches, commissioned by Wadgasser church council with the planning and construction management of the new parish church. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on June 24th, 1880, on July 29th, 1880 Pastor Thielen laid the first corner stone of the tower and on September 26th, 1880, Pastor Bartz from Merl laid the foundation stone . In the summer of 1881, when the building weather was good, the shell of the church was brought under the roof. In the spring of 1882 the vaults were pulled in and the floor tiles laid.

On September 8, 1882, the completed church could be solemnly moved into and two days later, on September 10, 1882, the solemn consecration by Heinrich Feiten took place . The 2.30 m high statue of the Virgin of the Turmwimperges, a work by the sculptor Loser from St. Johann an der Saar , was erected on June 29, 1883. In 1893 the Wallerfang church painter Froehlich painted the interior of the church. In the following year, 1894, the Saarlouis-based watchmaker Flesch assembled a church tower clock with three dials.
In the months of May / June of 1902 the first major structural changes were made to the church building. The building contractor Adam from Mechern installed two side portals with overlying windows in the front of the church. In 1908 the interior of the church was repainted. A new high altar with tabernacle was erected in 1910. In 1913 the apse received three new windows from the Binsfeld workshop in Trier.

On April 19, 1940, during the Second World War , the windows and roof of the church were damaged. The church suffered further damage on March 23, 1945 when the sacristy and roof of the choir burned out. At the beginning of the 1950s, the war damage was repaired. In 1951 the Trier company Binsfeld delivered five new apse windows and in the same year Franz Schilling from Munich painted three rectangular pictures for the back wall of the choir with scenes from the life of Mary (Annunciation of the Birth of Jesus, Visitation of the Virgin Mary, Birth of Jesus) after the construction of the neo-Romanesque high altar had been removed. Two years later, in 1953, Franz Schilling delivered a Way of the Cross painted on oak panels.

Between 1963 and 1964, the interior of the church was renovated according to the specifications of the 2nd Vaticanum . In 1964, the Hirschauer company in Wadgass manufactured a new altar in the style of the time, which replaced the previously existing neo-Romanesque cafeteria. The old way of the cross was restored and installed in the church. Two stations that had been destroyed in World War II were rebuilt. But in March 1969 a new way of the cross was installed in the church, which was replaced by the renovated old one in the wake of the renovation from 1980.

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the church, renovation work began in June 1980. a. a redesign of the chancel took place. As a result of the construction work, a side entrance to Gartenstrasse was laid out. In 1982 the parish council and the administrative council commissioned the painter and sculptor Theo Heiermann from Cologne with the artistic design of the choir room. Heiermann made a new altar, a sacrament house and a new ambo. Alfred Kleinermeilert consecrated the altar on April 22, 1989 .

In 2008, the 1.5 tonne and partially badly weathered statue of the Virgin Mary above the portal of the church was restored by Olaf Pung in Thür in the Eifel . The € 15,000 restoration was financed by donations from parishioners.

In the years 2009 to 2010 the nave received new windows based on designs by the Cologne artist Clemens Hillebrand . The windows were made by the Trier company Binsfeld. Most of the area of ​​the large windows on the side walls of the nave is structured by round arches, which are based on the neo-Romanesque design of the Wadgasser church. These arches are decorated with geometric or floral ornamentation, which is essentially kept in tones of ocher yellow and white. Medallions referring to the invocations of Mary in the Lauretanian litany appear in the upper area of ​​the window . In the lower part of the window, biblical representations and saints of the modern age ( Edith Stein , Pater Pio , Pope Johannes XXIII. , Mother Rosa ) are depicted alternately . Since the scenes of the windows above the gallery cannot be seen from below and the gallery is not always accessible, their motifs were taken up again in the round windows below the gallery. In the course of installing the new windows, the previous choir windows were also given external protective glazing. The window behind the statue of Mary above the portal was also colored and is backlit at night.

architecture

Exterior

The five-bay hall with a church tower in the middle ends in a retracted choir that is separated in relation to the height of the nave. The stone-sighted sacred building was designed in neo-Romanesque forms with Rhenish characteristics. Below the high arched windows, a cornice runs around the entire building, which delimits the high plinth area and visually combines the individual components. The window walls are connected to the outer wall surfaces, which are made of smaller stones, by large stones. Light-colored and reddish sandstones were used. In the overhanging arches of the arched windows, both sandstone colors alternate with each other. The eaves cornice is designed as a console cornice. The overall thrifty building decoration culminates in the three-part tower facade. The interior is accessed through a step portal with two set columns at the foot of the tower. The lintel is supported by console stones. The arched field of the portal shows a cross relief in a simple band of wreaths. The center of the cross is a hand of blessing. The arch field is covered by a three-step arch in the typical Romanesque color change of the wedge stones. A simple block frieze closes the arch at the top. At the top of an eyelash-like elevation of the arch, a statue of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus on her right arm is placed on a console decorated with leaves . The inscription carved below the statue reads: "Lux ecclesiae et alma dux" (German translation: light of the church and nourishing guide). The capitalized letters add up as numbers to the year 1881.

The seven-storey church tower is structured by differently designed cornices, some of which are crooked around the buttresses . From the free floors of the tower, the edges are framed by pilaster strips, which are connected to each other by round arch friezes on each floor. The bell storey has large arched windows on all four sides with set columns. Above each, there are gables that are opened by triplet windows rising towards the center. The slate-covered pointed helmet is octagonal. The later added side portals resemble the tower portal in their structure, but with reduced architectural decoration.

Interior

The wide church hall is spanned by a four-part ribbed vault, which rises above wall brackets decorated with leaves. The walls are structured like niches by concave, grooved wall pillars with matching shield arches, so that the round arched windows are optically receded and the impression of a two-layer wall structure is created. As on the outer facade, a cornice runs inside below the windows. The choir arch is emphasized by circular services. The vaulted ribs of the apse area are also on circular services.

organ

The order for the first organ went to the organ building company Dalstein and Haerpfer in Bolchen in 1889 . The church's current organ was built in 1961 by the same Lorraine organ builder. The Kegelladen instrument has 34 registers , divided into 3 manuals and pedal . The action mechanism is electro-pneumatic, the stop action is electric. The disposition is as follows:

I Hauptwerk C – g 3
1. Quintad 16 ′
2. Principal 8th'
3. Dumped 8th'
4th Prefix 4 ′
5. Pointed flute 4 ′
6th octave 2 ′
7th Cornet 5f 8 ′ from g0
8th. Mixture 4f 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
9. Trumpet 8th'
II Swell C – g 3
10. Close principal 8th'
11. viola 8th'
12. Unda maris 8th'
13. Reed flute 8th'
14th Principal 4 ′
15th Nasat 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
16. Night horn 2 ′
17th third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
18th Piccolo 1'
19th Cymbal 3f 1'
20th Trumpet 8th'
21st Clairon 4 ′
Tremulant
III Breastwork C – g 3
22nd Coupling flute 8th'
23. Principal 4 ′
24. Principal 2 ′
25th Terzian 2f 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
26th Krummhorn 8th'
Pedal C – f 1
27. Principal bass 16 ′
28. Sub-bass 16 ′
29 Octave bass 8th'
30th Covered bass 8th'
31. Principal 4 ′
32. flute 2 ′
33. Mixture 3f 2 ′
34. trombone 16 ′
  • Pairing :
    • Normal coupling: Normal coupling as pistons
    • Sub-octave coupling: II / I
    • Super octave coupling: II / I
  • Playing aids : 2 free combinations, 2 fixed combinations, tongues off, crescendo kick

Bells

Before 1883 the parish had a bell consisting of two bells . On September 9, 1883, the ringing was supplemented by a new bell in f. The old bell in b was cast on the tone a, the bell in g remained unchanged. During the First World War in 1916 the two largest bells were confiscated for war purposes. On March 2, 1921, the Mabilon bell foundry ( Saarburg ) ordered two new bells, which were inaugurated on June 12, 1921 by Dechant Subtil from Saarlouis . The big bell in f weighed 900 kg, the small one 600 kg. On October 16, 1952, the church received two new bells in e (1000 kg) and g (550 kg), which were brought by truck from Bous train station to Wadgassen, where they were led in procession to the church.

On October 15, 2005, a new bell consisting of five bronze bells , cast by the bell foundry Hermann Schmitt & Sons ( Brockscheid ), was received at the entrance to Wadgassen and brought to the church in a solemn procession. The new bell has the tone sequence of, f, a flat, b, des and thus reproduces the Salve Regina motif . The dates of the bells are as follows:

No. Surname Nominal
(16th note)		 Weight
(kg)		 Diameter
(cm)		 inscription
1 Marienbell of 1 -2 2045 147 “Maria spread out her coat, make an umbrella and shield out of it for us.
Let us stand under it safely until all the storm passes. Patroness full of kindness protect us at all times! "
2 Francis Bell f 1 -1 1045 121 “O Francis, father of the poor and brother of all people!
Strengthen our religious, let us all go our way of life in faith, humility and simplicity
and thus make Christ visible in this world! "
3 Women bell as 1 ± 0 728 104 “When I ring the bell, I remember two holy women and call on them for their intercession: I commend
all the mothers in our parish to holy mother Anna,
and I ask holy martyr Barbara to assist our miners, huts and all workers! "
4th Tungsten bell b 1 +1 505 93 "St. Wolfram, abbot with shepherd's staff, avert all harm from us!
Always keep alive in us the faith that you brought to Wadgassen!
Incite us to Christian witness as your monks did! "
5 Guardian angel bell of 2 +3 422 85 “O angel in, o my protector, guide of my soul.
Let me be commanded to you that I do not fail before God! Carry my prayer to God's throne,
give your protection to the children so that they can find the way to the Father through Jesus, God's Son!
I was cast under Pastor Volker Teklik on May 21, 2005 on the Glockenberg in Wadgassen by Hermann Schmitt & Sons, Brockscheid. "

literature

  • The Catholic Saarland, Heimat und Kirche, Ed .: L. Sudbrack and A. Jakob, Volume II / III, Saarbrücken 1954, p. 48.
  • Unified community Wadgassen (Ed.): Year of Anniversaries, Dillingen 1975, p. 110f.
  • Catholic parish of Maria Visitation Wadgassen, civil parish of Wadgassen, Bisttalforum Wadgassen (ed.): Premonstratensian Abbey Wadgassen 1135–1792, contributions to abbey and local history, ed. on the occasion of the anniversary "800 years of foundation of the Premonstratensian Abbey of Wadgassen", Wadgasser Publications No. 4, Saarlouis 1985.
  • Philipp de Lorenzi: Contributions to the history of all parishes in the Diocese of Trier, Trier 1887, p. 567f.
  • Kristine Marschall: Sacred buildings of classicism and historicism in Saarland, (publications by the Institute for Regional Studies in Saarland, vol. 40), Saarbrücken 2002, pp. 357–358 u. 597 u. 632.
  • Saarforschungsgemeinschaft (ed.): The art monuments of the Ottweiler and Saarlouis districts, edited by Walter Zimmermann, 2nd, unchanged edition, Saarbrücken 1976, p. 278f.
  • Michael Tritz: History of the Wadgassen Abbey, at the same time a cultural and war history of the Saar area, unchanged reprint of the Wadgassen 1901 edition with an introduction by Hans-Walter Herrmann and a register, Saarbrücken 1978.
  • Willi Weyres and Albrecht Mann: Handbook on Rhenish Architecture of the 19th Century (1800–1880), Cologne 1968, p. 30 u. P. 223.

Web links

Commons : St. Mariae Visitation (Wadgassen)  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ List of monuments of the Saarland, partial list of monuments in the Saarlouis district  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 347 kB), accessed on September 18, 2012@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.saarland.de  
  2. ^ Saarforschungsgemeinschaft (ed.): The art monuments of the districts of Ottweiler and Saarlouis, edited by Walter Zimmermann, 2nd, unchanged edition from 1934, Saarbrücken 1976, pp. 278–279.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f history of the parish church at: www.maria-heimslassung-wadgassen.de, accessed on September 18, 2012
  4. ↑ Kristine Marschall: Sacral Buildings of Classicism and Historicism in Saarland, (publications by the Institute for Regional Studies in Saarland, vol. 40), Saarbrücken 2002, p. 378.
  5. ↑ a b Information on the parish church of the Visitation of Mary at: www.kunstlexikonsaar.de, accessed on September 18, 2012.
  6. ↑ Johannes Werres: Article "Mariä Himmelfahrt", Saarbrücker Zeitung, Saarlouis edition, June 24, 2008.
  7. ↑ http://www.maria-heimsendung-wadgassen.de/kirchenfenster.htm , accessed on May 19, 2018
  8. ↑ http://www.maria-heimsuchung-wadgassen.de/geschichte.htm , accessed on May 19, 2018.
  9. ↑ Kristine Marschall: Sacral Buildings of Classicism and Historicism in the Saarland, (publications by the Institute for Regional Studies in Saarland, vol. 40), Saarbrücken 2002, pp. 357–358 u. 597 u. 632.
  10. ↑ Kristine Marschall: Sacral Buildings of Classicism and Historicism in the Saarland, (publications by the Institute for Regional Studies in Saarland, vol. 40), Saarbrücken 2002, pp. 357–358 u. 597 u. 632.
  11. ↑ http://www.maria-heimsuchung-wadgassen.de/geschichte.htm , accessed on May 19, 2018.
  12. ^ The organ in the Catholic parish church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary in Wadgassen On: www.organindex.de, accessed on June 3, 2013.
  13. ↑ Bell details (PDF; 7 kB) at: www.maria-heimslassung-wadgassen.de, accessed on September 18, 2012

Coordinates: 49 ° 16 '3.4 "  N , 6 ° 47" 57.9 "  E