Neu-Otzenrath

Neu-Otzenrath City of Juchen Coordinates: 51 ° 6 ′ 35 ″ N , 6 ° 27 ′ 54 ″ E
Height :	88 m
Residents :	1595 (Dec. 31, 2013)
Incorporation :	August 6, 1999
Postal code :	41363
Area code :	02165
	Location of Neu-Otzenrath in the Rhenish lignite district

Otzenrath (during the resettlement of Neu-Otzenrath ) is a district of the city of Jüchen in the Rhine district of Neuss in North Rhine-Westphalia . Alt-Otzenrath had to give way to the Garzweiler opencast mine of RWE Power and was relocated together with the neighboring village of Spenrath .

geography

Neu-Otzenrath borders in the north on Mönchengladbach-Sasserath , in the northeast on Kamphausen , in the east on Schaan , in the south on Neu-Spenrath and Hochneukirch , and in the west on Neu-Holz .

history

Place name

In the 11th century Otzenrath was first mentioned under "Osrohtha". Since the place name still has a -rath ending, the origin is assumed to be a clearing site. That is, when the place was created, forest was cleared in its place. This feature also show former neighboring towns such as Immerath , Spenrath or Priesterath . With the resettlement, a "New" was placed in front of the place name. This has now been dropped, and the place is usually only called Otzenrath.

Settlement history

In August 1999 the groundbreaking ceremony took place on the site of today's Neu-Otzenrath. The relocation of most residents (around 80 percent) to the new location began in 2000 and was completed by 2007. At the beginning of 2008, the BUND demonstrated against the opencast mine , which occupied its own orchard at the northern exit of the town on the edge of the pit until it was evacuated.

timeline

May 22, 1999: The first planting at the resettlement site begins.
April 11, 1999 : Canals are relocated.
August 6, 1999 : District Administrator Dieter Patt, North Rhine-Westphalia Economics Minister Peer Steinbrück , Community Director Heinz Spelthahn, Dietrich Böcker von Rheinbraun , Citizens' Advisory Council Chairman Günther Reinartz and Project Manager Horst Ulrich break the first sod at the resettlement site. Helmut Beißler (director of the Garzweiler opencast mine ) then hands Günther Reinartz a tree for the village square.
March 19, 2000 : Architects' fair for the design of the village square
July 5, 2000 : First asphalt surface on Marktstrasse
January 9, 2001 : Construction of the first house begins.
August 5, 2002 : Groundbreaking ceremony for senior citizens' apartments for the Protestant Church
November 30, 2003 : Presentation of the construction project for the new Catholic community center
July 30, 2004 : First burial in the new Catholic cemetery
August 8, 2004 : Ceremonial inauguration of the Protestant cemetery
September 10, 2004 : Start of construction of the sports field
May 20, 2005 : First groundbreaking for the construction of the new kindergarten
July 1, 2005 : The village square is handed over
July 3, 2005 : Foundation stone laid for the Protestant Church
July 5, 2005 : Foundation stone laid for the new Janusz Korczak School
July 23, 2005 : Completion of the new sports field
August 17, 2005 : The steeple of the Protestant church is put on
October 30, 2005 : Laying of the foundation stone for the new Catholic Church
November 25, 2005 : Foundation stone laid for the new gym by the board of the gymnastics club
May 28, 2006 : Opening of the Catholic parish home
June 4, 2006 : Inauguration of the Evangelical Church
June 18, 2006 : Dedication of the Catholic Church in Alt-Otzenrath
June 19, 2006 : The Janusz Korczak School opens
September 30, 2006 : Inauguration of the new gym
October 28, 2006 : Inauguration of the new Catholic Church

Buildings

Catholic Church

The Catholic Church in Neu-Otzenrath

Both denominations built new church buildings. The diocese of Aachen, as a resolute opponent of the opencast mining and the destruction of Otzenrath, did not voluntarily give its church land to the mining operator. It dissolved the parish of Otzenrath and had a smaller sacred replacement building with a modern glass facade built at the new location. The altar, the freely erected central pillar of the demolished church between the church and the cemetery and the patron saints St. Simon and Jude Thaddäus are reminiscent of the old parish church. Formally, it is a chapel that is assigned to the parish of St. Pantaleon in Hochneukirch. The plans for the chapel building were presented at the end of 2003 in Alt-Otzenrath. The foundation stone was laid in October 2005. Even before the deedication, the tower cross, bells and Madonna were dismantled and brought to the resettlement site. On June 18, 2006, the old church was deconstructed: monstrance, ciborium with consecrated hosts, St. Scripture and relics were carried in a solemn procession to Hochneukirch and kept there until the new chapel was completed. The chapel was inaugurated in October 2006. The altar plate and baptismal font, from 1778, also come from the old church.

The first bells, which were inaugurated in 1870 by the pastor Sebastian Planker, had to be provided for armament purposes during the First World War . In 1922 new bells were purchased, but they had to be given back in the Second World War . Then it was not until 1954 that new bells were procured which, like the first and second bells, ring the tones “a, h, cis”.

The Madonna figure, which stood on the roof of the church in Alt-Otzenrath , has a size of 170 cm. She carries the baby Jesus on the left and a scepter on the right. The figure wears a soft, flowing coat, the robe showing key folds. She wears a crown of stylized lilies. The baby Jesus holds in his arms a ball that symbolizes the world. The Madonna was damaged in World War II, this was noticed in 1974 as it nearly fell over. As a result, it was removed and restored. The sphere on which the statue stood was badly damaged and has been replaced. The wooden core, which was encased in lead, was also carefully removed and later filled with polyester mass.

Protestant church

Evangelical Church in Neu-Otzenrath

Like the Catholic, the Evangelical Church also has some components of the old Church. During the last service in the old church, on the 4th of Advent, fragments from the ground were distributed. In the spring of the following year these were processed into a mosaic in the new church. The choir windows were also reinstalled in the new church. In spring 2005 the bells from the church were removed and brought to Neu-Otzenrath.

The first bells of the Evangelical Church had to be handed in like those of the Catholic Church. Only the smallest bell remained in the parish. This was donated by Pastor Hymmen. According to a letter dated July 10, 1951, Otzenrath received two bells from the Hamburg bell warehouse . One bell came from Belgard (Pomerania) and the second from an unknown Evangelical community in the Bielitz district in Silesia . The Belgard bell weighs 329 kg and was cast in 1609, the Silesian bell weighs 376 kg and was cast in 1778.

education

The new location has the Janusz Korczak elementary school. Until the summer of 2006, the primary school children had to be brought to Alt-Otzenrath. The Wilhelm-Jansen sports hall was also rebuilt. There is also a Catholic kindergarten.

traffic

train

The nearest train station is Jüchen-Hochneukirch on the Cologne – Mönchengladbach railway line . From the center of the village in Neu-Otzenrath it can be reached after a 15-minute walk.

Public transport

Neu-Otzenrath is connected to the public transport network of the former Niederrheinische Verkehr undversorgung AG (NVV), today's Niederrhein Energie und Wasser (NEW) , with the bus stops "Jüchen, Nordstraße" and "Jüchen, Marktstraße" . You can take the buses to the Jüchen and Hochneukirch train stations.

Highway

The old town had a motorway connection to the A 44 . However, the section of the motorway in question was dismantled in the course of opencast mining. The new location is now connected to the motorway network via the Mönchengladbach-Odenkirchen junction of the A 44.