St. Georg (Bocholt)

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St. Georg, view of the tower portal with the modern pyramid dome by Rudolf Schwarz , 1958, in front of the tower facade the statue of the Virgin Mary by Wilhelm Hanebal , 1957
St. Georg, view of the south aisle

The Roman Catholic Church of St. Georg is a Gothic hall church from the 15th century and the main church in the Westphalian city ​​of Bocholt . In addition to the historic town hall , it is a symbol of the city. The oldest and most important piece of equipment is the Bocholt Cross , a Gothic forked crucifix from the early 14th century, which is still the center of a regional pilgrimage to this day .

history

First churches

The missionary work of the Saxons around Bocholt began in the 8th century , initially by Bernhard von Utrecht . The missionary Liudger , sent by Charlemagne , continued the conversion. A first wooden church was built here around the year 800. In the 11th century the wooden structure was replaced by a stone church, which in turn gave way to a late Romanesque building in the 13th century , the foundations of which are still under the present church.

Foundation and early years of St. Georg

On April 15, 1415 the foundation stone was laid for the late Gothic construction of today's hall church. On April 8, 1455, the church was consecrated by the vicar of the Bishop of Moers to the patron saint of the city of Bocholt, St. George . Construction of the tower on the west side of the church began on June 19, 1472 and was completed in 1486.

In 1503 the engraver Israhel van Meckenem the Younger was buried in St. Georg.

Destruction and rebuilding

The roof of the tower was destroyed by lightning on May 5, 1593 and then replaced by an octagonal spire. This top was also destroyed by lightning strike on January 12, 1745 and replaced in the years 1749–1750 by a baroque tower dome popularly known as Päperbusses (" pepper box ").

During the Second World War , the city of Bocholt was almost completely destroyed by a British bomber attack on March 22, 1945; only the foundation walls of the Georgskirche remained. Reconstruction began in 1948, and the first mass was held in the church at Christmas 1950. The current copper roof of the tower was completed in 1958 based on a design by the architect Rudolf Schwarz . The cross and the cock on the spire were designed by Joseph Jaekel . In 1979/1980 a new sacristy and a treasury were added on the north side according to plans by the architect Gottfried Böhm .

Buildings and equipment

St. Georg: interior

In front of the facade of the church tower is a 2.60 m high statue of Mary by Wilhelm Hanebal without a figure of Christ, in memory of the mothers who lost their sons in the war. Two figures of saints can be seen above the tower entrance: St. Ludgerus and on the right St. George. Today's church tower is around 68 m high up to the cock and covered with 2500 copper plates. The western church window above the tower entrance shows the pictorial representation of the bodily acceptance of Mary into heaven and dates from 1953.

The outer skin of the walls consists partly of sandstone, side walls and wall corners partly, especially in the west facade, of tuff stone. The interior is about 59 m long and in the main nave about 23 m wide. The vault of the main nave is around 16 m, the vaults of the side aisles are around 12 m high.

There are two small sandstone figures on the wall. Both figures and a prophet figure in the lower stairwell of the vestry entrance come from neo-Gothic altars that the Bocholt-based sculptor Theodor Stracke created for the church. The fourth station of the cross , embedded in the west wall, was made by Gerd Brüx from Kleve. On the south wall of the church you can see a grave Christ from the Brabend School from the 16th century. On the right front tower pillar there is a bronze plaque reminding of Israhel van Meckenem . The statue of Mary in the south corner of the aisle dates from the 16th century and was acquired in 1985. The wooden pulpit in the central nave on the pillar was created by the Bocholt artist Hermann Schlatt and was a foundation of the Bocholt city council in 1952.

In the crossing hangs the oldest picture of the St. George Church, the so-called Bocholt Cross. It dates from the beginning of the 14th century, the original is still preserved and was created based on the model of the cross in Maria in the Capitol in Cologne. According to legend, on Easter Monday in 1315, blood came out of the cross and poured onto a woman's robe. In the center is the altar. It was created in the 1960s by Hubert Teschlade from Münster-Nienberge and shows ears of wheat, vines with roots and a crown of thorns in bronze . Gottfried Böhm created the ambo and the black chairs using black pipes. The painting by the baptismal font was created around 1600. The tabernacle was designed by Gottfried Böhm in 1977 as a sacrament house with a tent roof. The silver tabernacle shrine with the Annunciation scene comes from the former high altar. The cornerstone is set across from the tabernacle. In Latin, the start of construction on the Gothic church is dated April 15, 1415.

The choir windows date from the time of the reconstruction. In the middle is a crucifixion scene and above it the resurrection of Jesus, in the left side window is St. Georg, the Archangel Michael can be seen in the right choir window.

In the choir hang four sandstone figures on the wall, created by Theodor Stracke. They are the four patrons of church music, St. Ambrose, King David, St. Cecilia and Gregory the Great. Underneath there are choir stalls from the neo-Gothic style, which were attached to this place in 1985. On the right below the organ prospectus hangs a figure of St. Lawrence of Brindisi. The figure was created by Johannes Paschker from Oeding and comes from the Capuchin monastery in Bocholt.

At the side door there is a figure of St. Georg, the patron of the church and the city of Bocholt, from the Franconian Swabian region around 1480. It was acquired in 1986. The foundation stone from 1980 is embedded above the side door. In the treasure chamber above the new sacristy, objects for worship from the estate of Cardinal Melchior von Diepenbrock are exhibited.

Today's Stations of the Cross was the north entrance of the church until the new sacristy was added. Today it is the beginning and end of the 14 neo-Gothic Stations of the Cross, which are spread across the entire church. The bronze cross of the chapel previously stood in the chancel in the 1960s. The Pietà comes from the 16./17. Century and was bought in 1982. On the left front tower pillar there is a wooden figure of St. Crispinus and on the left rear tower pillar a figure of St. Antony.

In the Marienecke in the rear area of ​​the north aisle there is a figure of Mary with a child from the first quarter of the 15th century and a framed certificate from 1933, which commemorates the 200th anniversary of the pilgrimage to Kevelaer.

organ

View of the organ

The large organ on the east wall of the northern transept of St. Georg was built in 1950 by Franz Breil (Dorsten) and expanded in 1977. In 2013 the organ was restored by the organ building company Fleiter (Münster-Nienberge) and the disposition was extended by four registers and three effect registers . The slider chests instrument that is the largest organ in Bocholt, today 53 stops, three manuals and pedal . The playing and stop actions are electric. The instrument has a mobile console .

I Hauptwerk C – g 3

1. Principal 16 ′
2. Quintad 16 ′
3. octave 08th'
4th Reed flute 08th'
5. Fifth 05 13
6th octave 04 ′
7th Gemshorn 0 04 ′
8th. octave 02 ′
9. Night horn 02 ′
10. Mixture VI 01 13
11. Zimbel III 012
12. Trumpet 16 ′
13. Trumpet 08th'
II upper structure C – g 3
14th Principal 08th'
15th Pointed flute 08th'
16. octave 04 ′
17th Flute 04 ′
18th octave 02 ′
19th Nasat 01 13
20th octave 01'
21st Sesquialtera II 0 02 23
22nd Sharff VI 01'
23. Dulcian 16 ′
24. Schalmey 08th'
III Swell C – g 3
25th Drone 16 ′ 2013
26th Wooden flute 08th'
27. Drone 08th' 2013
28. Quintad 08th'
29 Gamba 08th'
30th Beat 0 08th'
31. Praestant 04 ′
32. Flute 04 ′
33. Nasat 02 23
34. Schwiegel 02 ′
35. third 01 35
36. Sif flute 01'
37. Mixture V 02 ′
38. Basson 16 ′
39. Hautbois 08th'
40. Clairon 04 ′
Tremulant
Pedal C – g 1
41. Greater Bordeaux 32 ′ 0 2013
42. Pedestal 32 ′
43. Principal bass 0 16 ′
44. Sub bass 16 ′
45. octave 08th'
46. Dumped 08th'
47. octave 04 ′
48. Night horn 02 ′
49. Mixture VI 02 ′
50. Bombard 32 ′ 2013
51. trombone 16 ′
52. Trumpet 08th'
53. Trumpet 04 ′

Bells

Two of today's bells were cast in 1950 from the rubble of the 18th century bells that were destroyed in World War II.

No.
 
Surname
 
Casting year
 
Caster
 
Ø
(cm)
Weight
(kg)
Nominal
(16th note)
inscription
 
1 Holy Spirit 1989 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock 153 2350 c 1 - 9
2 Holy Cross 1989 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock 132 1550 it 1 - 8 O CRUX, AVE, SPES UNICA (O cross, hail, you only hope)
3 George 1950 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock 118 1000 f 1 - 8
4th Michael 1950 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock 103 700 g 1 - 8
5 Maria 1959 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock 85 400 b 1 - 8
6th Trinity Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock 270 c 2 Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
7th St. Ludgerus Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock 150 it 2 Holy Ludgerus pray for us

literature

  • Elisabeth Bröker: St. George Church Bocholt . Schnell & Steiner, Munich 1988.
  • Heinrich Krempel: Sound analysis of the bells a1 = 435 Hz. +/- semitone 16th notes. Diocese of Münster construction department, bell index, 1990
  • Fa. Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock (ed.): Bell Act St. Georg, Bocholt. Extension of the bells of the parish , 1988

Web links

Commons : St. Georg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. St. George Church in Bocholt. (pdf) Short church guide through the St. Georg Church in Bocholt. Katholisches Pfarramt St. Georg, p. 9 , accessed on March 30, 2015 .
  2. The new tower of St. George grows above the city . In: Unser Bocholt , 1957, issue 4, p. 27
  3. Udo Grote, Reinhard Karrenbrock, Hans-Jürgen Lechtreck (eds.): Church treasures. 1200 years of the diocese of Münster . Volume 1, Aschendorff Verlag, Münster 2005, ISBN 978-3-40203-419-4 , p. 99
  4. a b c d e Description in the Church Guide , accessed on May 21, 2016. (pdf, German)
  5. ^ Telephone information from the lower monument authority, Mr. Benhard Decker at the Bocholt city planning office.
  6. without author: "" dat worthy hillige cruce "in Bocholt, St. Georg (14th century)" publisher: Catholic parish office of St. Georg
  7. More information about the organ on the website of the Bocholter Orgeltage, accessed on May 24, 2016
  8. Hans-Rudolf Gehrmann, pastor of St. Georg: 700 years of the Bocholter Kreuz

Coordinates: 51 ° 50 ′ 17.4 ″  N , 6 ° 36 ′ 49.5 ″  E