St. Bonifatius Church (Lingen)

St. Boniface Church Lingen

The Bonifatiuskirche is the largest and oldest (still existing) Catholic church building in Lingen (Ems) . It is the parish church of the St. Bonifatius parish and belongs to the dean's office Emsland Süd of the Osnabrück diocese . In addition to the regular church services, the church is mainly used for organ concerts on the nationally known Fischer & Krämer organ.

History and architecture

In the 18th century, the government of Prussia , to which Lingen had belonged since 1702, allowed Catholics to set up a makeshift church near the castle gate. A converted stable, to which neither bells nor a tower could be added by order of the authorities, offered space for 700 people and served as a place of worship from 1717 to 1836.

From today's Bonifatiuskirche, the nave with choir was first built in the years 1833–1836 by Haselünner architect Josef Niehaus in a classical style. Most of the material needed to build the church was shipped across the Ems to Lingen. In the years 1904–1906 a 64 m high, neo-Romanesque tower was placed in front of the classical facade gable, which is flanked by two small towers. The design came from Ludwig Becker from Mainz.

The old choir was replaced in 1907 by a new building, also in the neo-Romanesque style. It has a semicircular apse and is flanked by two sacristy rooms. The designs for this also came from Becker and the architect Wilhelm Sunder-Plassmann from Münster (after Köster only from the latter). The high altar and the two side altars, which were designed by Heinrich Seling , also date from this period .

From 1921 to 1933, when he was transferred to St. Michael in Leer , Heinrich Schniers was chaplain to St. Bonifatius; on April 3, 1942, he was deported to the Dachau concentration camp . Less than five months later, on August 30, 1942, he died there of starvation and extremely difficult work. His urn was buried on October 14, 1942 in his birthplace in Wippingen (Emsland). Heinrich Schniers was the home pastor of the blessed Lübeck martyr Chaplain Hermann Lange .

In 1994 the church was last extensively renovated.

Bells

After the completion of the tower, a ring made of five bells was purchased, which rang for the first time on October 29, 1906. Spared in the First World War due to its outstanding quality, it was given up and melted down in the Second World War .

In August 1948, the Albert Junker company from Brilon delivered five new bells.

Surname	Weight	diameter	volume
Adolf Kolping	2212 kg	1.57 m	C '
Christ, King of the World	1342 kg	1.32 m	It'
Mary, Help of Christians	903 kg	1.18 m	F '
Saint Joseph, father of the poor	622 kg	1.05 m	G'
Saint Boniface, Apostle of Germany	390 kg	0.88 m	B '

organ

The classical organ gallery is located in the entrance area of ​​the church. The organ was originally built in 1836 by the organ builder Brinkmann from Herford. The prospectus and the Gedackt 16 'register have been preserved from this period . This first organ comprised 23 registers with two manuals and a pedal . In 1885 the organ was almost completely rebuilt by the company Fleiter from Münster and received 27 registers. After minor changes in 1910 and 1950, it was expanded again in 1972/1973 while retaining some registers. The work was carried out by the Stockmann Brothers organ building company from Werl.

In anticipation of the three-manual expansion of the organ, three (according to the same source: four) pedal stops were installed in 1986 and the structural requirements for a large swell mechanism were created. After the church renovation in 1994, it was installed by the company Fischer & Krämer from Endingen .

The last expansion took place in 2005: three high pressure registers (the so-called Bonifatius choir) were created as a solo work on its own wind chest. This work was also carried out by Fischer & Krämer.

The organ is suitable for the interpretation of styles since Johann Sebastian Bach and especially the works of the 19th and 20th centuries. Since its major renovation in 1995, organ and choral works have been recorded on a regular basis.

The key action of the organ is mechanically, its key action electrically. Except for the normal couplers I / II / P, which work mechanically, all other couplers are electrical. The organ has the following disposition :

I Hauptwerk C – g 3 Violon 16 ′ Bourdon 16 ′ Principal 8th' Bourdon 8th' Fugara 8th' Octave 4 ′ Reed flute 4 ′ Salicet 4 ′ octave 2 ′ Mixture IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Zimbel II 2 ⁄ 3 ′ Basson 16 ′ Trumpet 8th' Tremulant Boniface Choir (solo work) C – g 3 Long flute 8th' Trumpet (Hermannshorn) 8th' Clairon FB 4 ′

II upper structure C – g 3 Dumped 16 ′ Violon Principal 8th' Lull major 8th' Hollow flute 8th' Viol 8th' Principal 4 ′ Pastoral flute 4 ′ Nasard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Night horn 2 ′ Tierce 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ Flageolet 1' Mixture III 1' Basson 16 ′ Krummhorn 8th' Tremulant

III Swell C – g 3 Dumped 16 ′ Principal 8th' Flute harmonique 8th' Hollow flute 8th' Salicional 8th' Vox coelestis II 8th' octave 4 ′ Orchestra flute 4 ′ Octavine 2 ′ Larigot 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Grand Cornet V 8th' Plein jeu VI 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Bell symbols III 2 ⁄ 3 ′ Basson 16 ′ Trumpets 8th' Hautbois 8th' Vox humana 8th' Clairon 4 ′ Tremulant 1 Tremulant 2

Pedal C – f 1 Pedestal 32 ′ Principal 16 ′ Violon 16 ′ Sub-bass 16 ′ Dumped 16 ′ Fifth 10 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Octave 8th' Hollow flute 8th' Gemshorn 8th' cello 8th' Octave 4 ′ Mixture IV 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Bombard 32 ′ trombone 16 ′ Basson 16 ′ Trumpet 8th' Clarine 4 ′

• Coupling : III / I, II / I, III / I 16 ′, III / I 4 ′, I / P, II / P, III / P, III / P 4 ′, III / III 16 ′, III / III 4 ′, III / II, III / II 16 ′, III / II 4 ′, Solo / I, Solo / II, Solo / III, Solo / P, Solo / P 4 ′
• Playing aids : 2 × 1024-fold setter with sequential circuit, roller , swell step

Recordings / sound carriers

• Josef Gabriel Rheinberger : Chamber music with organ. Anke Niessing (violin), Olaf Niessing (cello), Joachim Diedrichs (organ). CD. Cantate, 2001.
• Franz Liszt : Ad nos ad salutarem undam ; Julius Reubke : Sonata 94th Psalm. Julian Bewig (organ). Classicophon music production, 2006.

See also

• List of churches in the Diocese of Osnabrück

literature

• Andreas Eiynck : Lingen. St. Boniface. Weick-Kunstführer No. 32.019.97, 1998, ISBN 3-930602-20-2 .
• Baldur Köster: Lingen. Architecture in transition from a fortress to a citizen and university town to an industrial town (until around 1930). Hirmer-Verlag, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-7774-4930-X .
• Jörg Niemer, Sabine-Maria Weitzel: St. Bonifatius in Lingen - the classical church building and its neo-Romanesque redesign. In: Emsland yearbook. Yearbook of the Emsland Heimatbund. Vol. 55 (2009), pp. 163-184.

Web links

Commons : St. Boniface Church  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Website of the parish of St. Bonifatius Lingen

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original of July 21, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Accessed July 29, 2011) 
2. ↑ see Köster (1998): 86-88
3. ↑ Sources of this section (unless otherwise noted) Eiynck (1998), pp. 2–12 and Köster (1998), pp. 86–88.
4. ^ Source of this section Eiynck (1998): 19, 21
5. ↑ see Eiynck (1998): 18
6. ↑ ^{a b} Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Accessed July 29, 2011) 
7. ↑ ^{a b c d} http://www.chor.bonifatiusgemeinde.de/Geschichte-Dateien/Geschichte-lang.htm  ( 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. (Accessed July 29, 2011)  
8. ↑ see Eiynck (1998): 19

Coordinates: 52 ° 31 ′ 20.8 ″  N , 7 ° 19 ′ 10.6 ″  E