St. John the Baptist Church (Loxstedt)
St. John the Baptist is the Roman Catholic Church in Loxstedt . It is a branch church of the Church of the Holy Heart of Jesus in Bremerhaven-Geestemünde . The modern church was built in 1965/66 according to plans by the Bremerhaven architect Jo Filke and consecrated on October 15, 1966 by the Hildesheim bishop Heinrich Maria Janssen .
history
The former Wesermünde district was the last district in Lower Saxony that did not have a Catholic church. Until the Second World War there were hardly any Catholics in the villages anyway. That changed after the war with the influx of refugees and expellees , mainly from Silesia and East Prussia (Warmia). For the later Catholic parish of Loxstedt it was a stroke of luck that a large group of families from the village of Neuhaus (now Chałupki) in the Frankenstein district (Silesia) arrived here as one. While the Herz-Jesu-Kirche in Bremerhaven-Geestemünde was initially the parish church, from 1959 it was to become the St. Nicholas Church in Bremerhaven-Wulsdorf. It was also the work of the architect Jo Filke. But just seven years later, in 1966, a separate church was to be built in Loxstedt. Before that, there was already a Catholic service in the Protestant church in Loxstedt. Initially the church in Loxstedt was a branch church of the St. Nicholas parish, on July 1, 1981 Loxstedt became an independent parish. Since November 1st, 2006, it has formed a new congregation with the Holy Heart of Jesus in Bremerhaven-Geestemünde and St. Nikolaus in Bremerhaven-Wulsdorf. The parish church was the church in Geestemünde, the other two branch churches, whereby St. Nicholas was profaned and demolished in 2010.
architecture
As a massive, almost windowless structure, the church rises from Dutch clinker bricks on Loxstedter Bahnhofstrasse. The property is on the main shopping street and bends deeply to the left at an obtuse angle. The church, the rectory with office, a rectory and the garages were to be accommodated on this difficult basic form. Jo Filke placed the main structure, the church, on the straight piece to Bahnhofstrasse and added the secondary components at an obtuse angle on the left. Visually, the result was a complex reminiscent of a small monastery with an atrium in the middle. Many monasteries have John - patronage . Here the architect followed up on medieval traditions. The floor plan of the church is just as traditional. Based on the Italian baptisteries , the floor plan is also octagonal here. The ship forms a square, to which a trapezoid is attached at the front and back . These two polygonal parts take up the presbytery (chancel) and the entrance area with the baptistery. This results in a stretched octagon . The polygonal space parts are also designed interior from the same exposed brickwork and outside, the ship square is painted white, light falls through the window wall of the right side and makes the interior bright cheerful. In the style of the 1960s, the altar screen and the gallery balustrade were originally in gray exposed aggregate concrete designed. A small Lady Chapel is added to the left. As with many medieval churches, the baptistery is located near the entrance area, under the gallery. It lies a little lower than the church floor, a symbolic reminder that one descends into a well for baptism. The back wall of the altar is set back a little, and the narrow side windows create a strip of light that additionally illuminates the sanctuary. The back wall is just as wide as the central aisle and should be understood as its continuation upwards. The word from the Gospel of John is alluded to here: I am the way, the truth and the life (Jn 14: 6). The height of the room makes the building appear slim and the arched laminated beams of the visible roof construction are reminiscent of a vault. Here, too, a loan was made to the Middle Ages. The basic size (11 m) is partly doubled, partly halved, but appears again and again. This makes the room appear harmonious. Structurally, the room has remained unchanged to this day. Only the dreary gray of the guard concrete was painted white, as was the Lady Chapel, which until then had been the blue symbolic of Mary. Over the years, however, pieces of equipment were added that definitely had an impact on the appearance.
Furnishing
The design of the initial equipment was in the hands of Wilhelm Keudel from Salzgitter. All liturgical furnishings, the altar , ambo , sedile , tabernacle wall and baptismal font, are made of polished shell limestone . All candlesticks - altar candlesticks, standing candlesticks and apostle chandeliers - are made of bronze and decorated with blue enamel. This ornament can also be found on the former altar cross (standing cross, today in the sacristy) and the handle of the baptismal lid. The consecration crosses are made of black slate. The four slender window segments on the right are made of trapezoidal white honeycomb bricks and filled with colored, lead-glazed motifs that symbolize opened bishop's hats. The idea of a filigree wall is repeated in the partition walls of the baptistery and the Marienkapelle. Here it is white ceramic rings that are connected with bars. This motif can also be found on the sacristy door.
Sanctuary
Like the nave , the chancel is laid out with red square brick panels. It is increased by one level. The trapezoidal altar island is again one step higher and consists of anthracite-colored stone slabs. The base ( stipes ) of the altar is octagonal, a small model of the church. The cafeteria is rectangular (140 × 100) and contains relics of St. Timothy and Aurelia. The tabernacle is embedded in the back wall of the altar. It is designed as a crossbar of a cross. The doors are decorated with an irregular metal grille, which is lightly gold-plated, covered with seven stones made of white melted glass. In 2001, a mosaic with themes from the Revelation of John was added to the back wall above the tabernacle, which had been plain until then . It begins with a cityscape, the houses symbolize our dwellings in the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 11:15). The next motif shows seven candlesticks, which symbolize the seven churches to which the epistles of the Apocalypse are addressed: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea (Rev 2 and 3). The motif is the book with seven seals (Revelation 5: 1), which is already open. The mosaic is crowned by the Lamb of God , who has the power to open the book (Rev 5: 5). The stones come from all parts of the world. The mosaic was created by Father Benedikt Schmitz OSFS from Ingolstadt, and it was made at the Mayer'schen Hofkunstanstalt in Munich. The size is 16 m².
Hanging cross
A bronze cross hangs above the altar, which the former pastor Theodor Meenen presented to the community on the occasion of his 25th anniversary as a priest. It has the shape of a Latin cross with the dimensions 52 × 40 cm. The curved ends of the beam are reminiscent of a paw cross . The widened ends each carry three gemstones made of rock crystal, as on the tabernacle, the lid of the baptismal font and on the stand of the Easter candle. This jewelry and the missing crown of thorns on the body make it a triumphal cross .
Oil painting Holy Family with St. John by Andrea Sacchi
A small chapel is attached to the nave to the left of the altar. Here hangs the picture of the Holy Family with the Boy John , which Andrea Sacchi (* Nettuno / Rome 1599, † 1661 Rome) painted in 1641. The picture has a checkered history and came here as a foundation for the new church to be built in Loxstedt. With that the name for the church was found. At the same time, John the Baptist was supposed to remind the Silesians living here of their episcopal church in Breslau , which is a St. John's Cathedral . The picture is 167 × 115 cm and was originally set into the wall unframed. In 2000, after a thorough restoration, it was framed and hung on the wall. It was created using the Italian painting technique of the 17th century, as indicated by the red primer that was applied over a white primer. The painting style alla prima (wet on wet) originally comes from Tintoretto . The grisaille underpainting is reminiscent of the Dutch painting technique. The picture is characterized by a certain moderation and restriction to essential elements, the coloring is very well coordinated, entirely in the style of Italian mannerism .
Stained glass window in the side chapel
It was added in 1991 for the 25th anniversary of the parish fair. Hans-Joachim Bahmann from Hagen i. Br. , A member of the ward. Six Christian symbols are incorporated into four window segments. They show from left to right: the cross, the letters Alpha and Omega , the fish (ichtys), the dove and the triangle .
Wrought iron candlesticks
Two wrought iron candlesticks burn in the chancel, four in the nave and two next to the organ. They have the shape of the medieval wheel candlesticks and take up the theme of the Revelation of John, which we already encountered in the mosaic. Seven flames in the chancel indicate the ordinal number of the Apocalypse. Seven is the sum of three, the number for the divine, the trinity, and four, the number for the earthly (cardinal points, seasons). If you take the product of both numbers, you get twelve, also a biblical ordinal number (12 gates of the heavenly Jerusalem, 12 apostles, 12 tribes of Israel). Here, mathematics is used to express what defines the essence of the Heavenly Jerusalem: The city does not need a temple, God and people are united in harmony, God lives under and with people. The candlesticks in the chancel are lightly covered with gold leaf to emphasize the dignity of the room. The four candlesticks in the ship symbolize the four evangelists , Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The candlestick was created by the blacksmith Filip Stypulkowski from Thorn in 2003. The two candlesticks next to the organ have six flames. The six also has its symbolism. It was considered the perfect number in ancient times . It is both the sum and the product of its parts:
- 1 + 2 + 3 = 6 and 1 × 2 × 3 = 6.
Baptistery
The baptistery is located in the middle under the organ gallery. It is open to the ship; to the left and right it is bordered by a filigree, transparent wall made of ceramic stones. The back wall towards the vestibule forms an abstract lead glass window. Its predominant shades of blue symbolize the Jordan. The baptismal font itself is made of shell limestone and has the shape of a large vase or jug, as was customary in Jewish houses for washing feet ( wedding at Cana ). The shape is octagonal, again a reference to the old baptisteries.
Glass motif "John the Baptist"
In 2010 a glass picture was attached to the left sloping wall in the entrance area showing the church patron John the Baptist. The picture was originally in the Loxstedter mother church St. Nikolaus in Bremerhaven-Wulsdorf. Otto Peters from Paderborn designed and executed it in 1959. After the profanation and the demolition of the church, the picture came here. John is shown in the typical camel hair robe. Typical of it are the words Ecce Agnus Dei and the oversized index finger, as we know it from the Isenheim Altarpiece .
Way of the Cross
In 2005 a way of the cross was installed under the window wall in the ship . 14 pictures show the classic stations of the cross, the suffering of Jesus. The material is olive root wood. It was carved in a village near Bethlehem. A similar Way of the Cross can be found in the Catholic Church on Heligoland.
organ
In 1974 a mechanical organ was purchased. It was built by the Emil Hammer company in Arnum near Hanover. 13 registers are divided into main work , breast work and pedal . The prospectus does not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the structure of the movement, as a baroque organ does. In the execution, the materials and geometric shapes of the church interior were kept. A slender middle section the width of the pedal keyboard rises upwards. With its tip it corresponds to the opposite back wall of the altar. The material is light wood as in the roof construction, whereby the wooden ornamentation of the middle piece symbolizes an ear of corn. The open fields are covered with fabric. Originally it was black and orange burlap, a loose jute fabric, today it is gray and pink chintz . Two triangles with sounding prospectus pipes are attached to the sides ( Gemshorn 8 'from the pedal). The organ is a successful example of the interaction between the instrument and the church interior. This concept of leaning the housing design on the architecture was followed 13 years later in the church “To the Hl. Angels” in Hannover-Kirchrode. The hammer organ there has a very similar structure to the Loxstedt instrument. In 2015 the organ was completely overhauled. The fabric covering behind the ear motif in the prospectus was removed and further pipes made visible. The Loxstedter organ has the following disposition :
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Bells
The church has no tower, just a roof turret . Here, too, we have an allusion to a monastery. Two small bronze bells, which were cast by the Otto bell foundry in Bremen-Hemelingen in 1966 , call for a service or an angelus . The two bells have the chimes g "and a". They have the following diameters: 514 mm and 458 mm and weigh 85 kg and 60 kg. The larger bell (g '') is dedicated to John the Baptist and bears the inscription: 'Voice of a caller in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths.' The smaller bell (a '') is dedicated to Mary (Evangelical Church of St. Mary, since 1371). It bears the inscription: Maria, patroness, bless our place . The sound of the bells of St. Mary's Church has been adapted.
See also
literature
- Ulrich Euent: The heavenly Jerusalem is in Loxstedt. Cardamina Verlag, ISBN 978-3-86424-060-7 , Loxstedt 2012. (Festschrift and chronicle for the 40th anniversary of the parish fair)
- Ulrich Euent: Why the church interior is sacred to us. Mystagogical church tour using the example of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Loxstedt. Cardamina Verlag, ISBN 978-3-86424-059-1 , Loxstedt 2012.
- Ulrich Euent: You have a cool apartment, dear God! Cardamina Verlag, ISBN 978-3-86424-061-4 , Loxstedt 2012. (Church guide for children)
- Ulrich Euent: A look into the sky mosaic in the cath. Church of St. John the Baptist in Loxstedt. Article in: "Heimat und Kultur between Elbe and Weser", magazine of the regional association of the former duchies of Bremen and Verden , vol. 35, no. 3 / July 2016, pages 4 + 5
Web links
- St. Johannes Church on the side of the parish church Herz-Jesu Bremerhaven
- Bells ringing from St. Johannes dT, Loxstedt
swell
- Loxstedt parish archive, catholic: inventory, building files, organ files, restoration report oil painting from 2000
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g Men from Morgenstern eV (Ed.): Niederdeutsches Heimatblatt No. 902, October 2016, p. 2/3
- ↑ Bischöfliches Generalvikariat Hildesheim (ed.): Catholic worship in the diocese of Hildesheim. Hildesheim 1966, p. 64
- ↑ Willi Stoffers: Diocese of Hildesheim today. Hildesheim 1987, ISBN 3-87065-418-X , p. 81
- ↑ http://wiki-bistumsgeschichte.de/wiki/index.php5?title=1981
- ^ Gerhard Reinhold: Otto bells. Family and company history of the Otto bell foundry dynasty . Self-published, Essen 2019, ISBN 978-3-00-063109-2 , p. 588, here in particular 569 .
- ↑ Gerhard Reinhold: Church bells - Christian world cultural heritage, illustrated using the example of the bell founder Otto, Hemelingen / Bremen . Nijmegen / NL 2019, p. 556, here inses. P. 514 , urn : nbn: nl: ui: 22-2066 / 204770 (dissertation at Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen).
Coordinates: 53 ° 28 ′ 22.5 " N , 8 ° 39 ′ 5.3" E