Peter and Paul Church (Heepen)

St. Peter and Paul is the Evangelical Lutheran parish church in the Bielefeld district and eponymous district Heepen in the parish of Bielefeld of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia . It is the original parish church of today's city of Bielefeld.

history

The first mention of the place name "Hepyn" occurs in the Vita Meinverci, according to which the Paderborn Bishop Meinwerk (1009-1036) gave a tithe from the Vorwerk Heepen to the Busdorf Monastery he founded in Paderborn. The Heepener Church was initially probably not founded as a parish, but as a separate church of the episcopal court in Heepen. From this an independent parish eventually developed. From her 1236 was St. Nicholas in neighboring, growing Bielefeld abgepfarrt . Until then, Bielefeld belonged to the Heepener Sprengel.

Extensive renovation work in today's three-aisled Gothic hall church of St. Peter and Paul allowed an archaeological excavation in 1959, in which the building history could be clarified to some extent. The first documented Romanesque church building at the current location could not be clearly dated. It was a single-nave cruciform church with an apse and west tower, possibly preceded by a wooden structure. The stone building must have been built in the 11th century at the latest. Around 1150 it was widened and expanded with a rectangular choir, followed by the vaulting around 1230, which represents the core of today's central nave bays. In 1503 the church was finally extended by a two-bay north aisle, which was extended by a third bay in 1654. Finally, from 1835 to 1837, St. Peter and Paul were rebuilt into a three-aisled hall church by adding a southern aisle in neo-Gothic style. As part of the renovation work in 1959, all the galleries were removed and the door in the middle of the south side was blocked.

Floor plan 1906
North side 1906
View of the choir, 1902
Organ gallery 1902
Floor plans of the various construction periods (based on A. Doms)

Bells

Surname	Prayer bell	Baptismal bell	Resurrection bell
Casting year	1548	1952	1952
Caster		Bochum Association	Bochum Association
metal	bronze	Cast steel	Cast steel
Diameter (mm)	1270	1180	1600
Weight (approx kg)	1000	630	1600
Chime	e '	fis'	cis'

literature

Anton Doms: Ev. Parish Church of St. Peter and Paul . In: Westfalen 43 (1965) 1-4, pp. 96-101
Albert Ludorff : The architectural and art monuments of the Bielefeld-Land district. Munster 1906.
Harald Propach: The bells of Bielefeld. Voice of the Church. Cultural asset and work of art . Bielefeld 2008, ISSN 1619-9022 , p. 123