Motherhood of Mary (Wolfsburg)

Parish Church of the Motherhood of Mary

The Church of the Motherhood of Mary , colloquially also called St. Mary for short , is the Catholic parish church in the Wolfsburg district of Fallersleben in Lower Saxony . This is located at Herzogin-Clara-Straße 16 (formerly Braunschweiger Straße) and is named after the day of the Motherhood of Mary ; the parish belongs to the dean's office Wolfsburg-Helmstedt in the diocese of Hildesheim .

history

In 942, in a document from King Otto I , the town of Fallersleben and its St. Michael church were mentioned for the first time, which at that time emerged from the archdeacon church of St. Stephani in Meine .

In the 16th century the Reformation was introduced in Fallersleben , with it the population and the church became Evangelical-Lutheran .

From October 3, 1912 until 1922, Catholic services were held again in Fallersleben, in an inn, today's Hotel Hoffmannhaus . Until 1918 they were led by the parish vicar of the Herz-Jesu-Kirche in Oebisfelde , then by the priest responsible for Gifhorn .

In 1929 the Catholic Chapel of St. Michael was built on the Glockenberg in Fallersleben in the form of a wooden barrack with a corrugated iron roof; it was initially a branch church of St. Bernward in Gifhorn. On July 28, 1929, their benediction by Bishop Nikolaus Bares took place . The chapel was the first Catholic church in today's Wolfsburg city area after the Reformation. She was looked after by the pastor from Gifhorn until 1940, then by the pastor of the city of KdF-Wagens (today Wolfsburg) until 1945 . From 1940 Fallersleben belonged to the Kuratie Stadt des KdF-Wagons , in 1945 the parish vicarie Fallersleben was established. The chapel was demolished after the church was built in 1954, and the entrance to the parish hall is now in its place.

Since the chapel had become too small after the Second World War due to the influx of refugees and displaced persons, today's church was built next to it in 1953/54. Pastor Josef Starostzik broke ground on August 30, 1953, the foundation stone was laid by Vicar General Wilhelm Offenstein on September 20 , and the topping-out ceremony on November 11, 1953. In order to avoid confusion with the Evangelical Lutheran Michaeliskirche, the church under construction was called Motherhood of Mary from May 22, 1954 ; contrary to the original plan to use the name of the previous chapel. On Whit Monday, June 7, 1954 which took place benediction of the church by Bishop Joseph Godehard making . Archangel Michael and Pope Pius X were secondary patrons .

On April 1, 1961, the previous parish vicarie was elevated to an independent parish (curate) and in 1974 a parish. In 1974 the interior of the church was renovated and redesigned, and the church was consecrated on December 21, 1974 by Bishop Heinrich Maria Janssen . In 1980 the construction of the parish hall began according to the plans of the parish architect Rudolf Rothkegel (1937–2017), in 1981 it was inaugurated by Bishop Heinrich Maria Janssen.

In 1993 a new tower cross was added because the old cross fell victim to a storm. In 1996 the pastoral care unit Wolfsburg-Süd was founded from the parishes of the Motherhood of Mary, St. Raphael in Detmerode and St. Elisabeth in Westhagen , but it only lasted a few years. In 1997 the second interior renovation of the church took place, combined with a new redesign of the chancel. Since November 1, 2006, the church has been part of the Wolfsburg-Helmstedt deanery; previously it belonged to the dean's office in Wolfsburg, which at that time was renamed and enlarged to include the Helmstedt part of the then-dissolved dean's office in Helmstedt-Wolfenbüttel. Since 2011, the St. Marien Association has been supporting the preservation of the church and community life.

Architecture and equipment

The church was designed by Josef Fehlig , it is almost 90 meters above sea level and has around 200 seats. The design of the back wall of the altar with the figure of the risen Christ is the work of Hanns Joachim Klug . The altar from 1974 contains relics of the martyrs Donatus , Faustus and Romanus . Next to the chancel there are depictions of the Holy Trinity and the Madonna in the protective cloak , an image of the altarpiece that existed until 1974. The Way of the Cross was installed in 1956; the figures of the apostles, works from South Tyrol , followed in 1985. On the north side of the church there is a confessional room, on the west side a Marian niche. The three bells Caritas, Fides and Spes were purchased and consecrated in 1957, they were made by the Bochum Association . The depiction ( sgraffito ) of the Archangel Michael created by Horus Engels was removed in 1987 during a renovation of the damaged west facade.

organ

The organ was consecrated on April 21, 1996 and initially had 15 stops . A harmonium was previously used. In 2000, the organ was expanded by three stops, followed by another stop (still trombone) and the tremulant in 2012 . By the company Werner Bosch Orgelbau built sliderchest -instrument with mechanical tracker action today has 19 registers on two manuals and pedal .

I Hauptwerk C – g ³
Principal	8th'
Dumped	8th'
Octave	4 ′
Gemshorn	4 ′
Octav	2 ′
Mixture IV	2 ′
Trumpet	8th'

II Swell C – g ³
Wooden flute	8th'
Gamba	8th'
Flat flute	4 ′
Nasard	2 ² / ₃ '
Flageolet	2 ′
third	1 ³ / ₅ '
Zimbel III	1 ¹ / ₃ '
oboe	8th'

Pedals C – f ¹
Sub-bass	16 ′
Revelation	8th'
violoncello	8 ′ (vacant)
Chorale bass	4 ′
Nursing trombone	16 ′

Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
Zimbelstern , tremulant

Catchment area

The catchment area of the parish, to which today (2013) around 4,100 members belong, includes Fallersleben as well as the districts of Ehmen , Hattorf , Heiligendorf , Mörse and Sülfeld , the Lehrscher district of Essenrode , the Calberlaher districts of Jelpke and Wettmershagen as well as the communities of Osloß and Weyhausen .

day care center

The parish has a day-care center opened in 2005 in the neighboring district of Sülfeld , which offers space for over 100 children. It was expanded in 2013 with an extension for a day nursery and function rooms and is supported by a development association.

literature

Community of St. Marien, Fallersleben (ed.): Chronicle of Sankt Marien Fallersleben 1929–2020. Wolfsburg 2020.
Parish of Motherhood of Mary (Ed.): 50 years of Church of Motherhood of Mary, Fallersleben. Wolfsburg 2004.
Parish Motherhood of Mary (ed.): CHRONICLE Church parish St. Marien Fallersleben. A church through the ages. Wolfsburg 1999.
Parish of Motherhood of Mary (Ed.): Go in peace! Review and future prospects from 60 years of St. Marien Fallersleben. Authored by Georg Kroll. Wolfsburg 2014.
Christian Stein: 40 years of the parish church of St. Marien, Fallersleben, 1954 - 1994. Wolfsburg 1994.
Josef Starostzik: 25 years of the Church of the Motherhood of Mary. Wolfsburg 1979.
PEDA art guide No. 173/2001: The Catholic Churches in Wolfsburg. Passau 2001, pp. 11-14.
Christian Stein: Festschrift for the consecration of the organ in St. Marien, Fallersleben, on April 21, 1996. Wolfsburg 1996.