Marienkirche (Aachen)
The Marienkirche is a Roman Catholic branch church in the south of Aachen city center in close proximity to the main train station . The church has been part of the Franziska von Aachen parish since 2010.
history
First church
In the Middle Ages and early modern times, there was no church at the current location of the Marienkirche. A church was only built here between 1858 and 1863. It was built according to plans by the Cologne cathedral master builder Vincenz Statz in the neo-Gothic style with a north-south orientation. The reason for the construction of this church was the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary on December 8, 1854 by Pope Pius IX. The Constantia Society took the initiative to build a votive church with the patronage of the Immaculate Conception. The city of Aachen then made a building plot available. The foundation stone was laid on May 22, 1859, and the first service could be celebrated in the new church on August 15, 1863. The consecration took place much later, namely on June 19, 1886. During this time, Pope Pius IX also founded. a large, gilded statue of the Virgin Mary placed in the open spire of the bell tower .
Until 1898 the Votive Church belonged to the inner city parish of St. Adalbert , but in that year the Marienpfarre was founded out of part of the parish of St. Adalbert and part of the parish of the parish of St. Michael in Burtscheid and the Marienkirche was raised to the parish church .
The structure was badly damaged in the Second World War and only poorly repaired after the war. This was followed by a long discussion as to whether the Marienkirche should be restored or demolished. Ultimately, it was decided to completely demolish the neo-Gothic church. In 1978 the Church was finally laid down. The convent chapel of the neighboring convent of the Christian Sisters in Aureliusstraße served as the emergency church for the community until the new St. Mary's Church was built .
The old Marienkirche was a three-aisled basilica cruciform church in the neo-Gothic style. The nave was five bays , the transept had five bays. An octagonal crossing tower rose above the crossing . Eight figures depicting the Aachen parish patrons were attached to the corners of the tower. These figures have been preserved, but are currently in the basement of the new church. At the crossing, the two-bay closed chorus of which was equipped with a seven-page final chorus. The windows all had two to four lane tracery . The exterior was very richly structured. The entire structure was made of bricks.
Today's church
After the old Marienkirche was demolished in 1978, today's church was built on the same site between 1979 and 1981 according to plans by the Krefeld architect Karl Otto Lüfkens . The church was built from bricks on an octagonal floor plan. The bell tower in front is also octagonal, this is a quote from the old crossing tower. The foundation stone was laid on May 3, 1980 by the former Aachen Bishop Johannes Pohlschneider , the consecration took place on December 6, 1981 by the Aachen Bishop Klaus Hemmerle . A sacrament chapel is located in the basement of the bell tower. A day chapel was housed between the tower and the actual main room of the church.
On January 1, 2010, the Marienpfarre was dissolved and merged with six other dissolved parishes to form the new large parish Franziska von Aachen. As a result, the church lost the rank of parish church and was downgraded to a branch church.
Furnishing
In the Marienkirche there are still some pieces of equipment from the previous church. These include a Pietà in the sacrament chapel, the cover of the old foundation stone with a relief-like depiction of the Mother of God, the octagonal baptismal font , the stations of the cross by the artist Johannes Lange from the second half of the 19th century and a crucifixion group behind the altar.
The people's altar is a work by Karl Otto Lüfkens made of white marble. The organ is a work of the organ building firm Georg Stahlhuth & Co mbH from Aachen. Furthermore, there are five stained glass windows by the Alsdorf glass painter Ludwig Schaffrath from 1985 in the sacrament chapel .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Paul Wietzorek: Das Historische Aachen , Petersberg 2013, p. 96 ff.
- ↑ Herbert Dejosez: A walk through and around the new Marienkirche. In: Website parish Franziska von Aachen. Retrieved November 2, 2016 .
- ^ Aachen, Catholic Church of St. Marien. In: Forschungsstelle Glasmalerei des 20. Jahrhundert eV Accessed on November 2, 2016 .
Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 11.7 " N , 6 ° 5 ′ 19.4" E