St. Joseph Cathedral (Groningen)
The St. Joseph Cathedral ( Dutch Sint-Jozefkathedraal ) is the Roman Catholic episcopal church of the Groningen-Leeuwarden diocese in Groningen . It belongs to the parish of St. Martinus.
history
As a result of the Reductie van Groningen in 1594, Groningen was reformed , the Catholic churches were converted into Reformed churches and public Catholic worship in the city was banned. In 1815 the Kingdom of the United Netherlands was established in which Catholics were in the majority. This fact demanded that at least part of the anti-Catholic laws be repealed and that a certain denominational balance be created between Protestants and Catholics. In the course of this, the former Franciscan church (Broerkerk) in the Broerstraat was returned to the Groningen Catholics in the same year 1815. The rapid growth in the number of Groningen Catholics called for another, larger church. The Radesingel in the workers' district of Oosterpoort in the south-east of the city was chosen as the location of the second Catholic church in the city of Groningen. Accordingly, the church was named after Joseph of Nazareth , the carpenter and patron saint of the working people.
With contributions from his son Jos Cuypers, the architect Pierre Cuypers designed a neo-Gothic building with a 76 meter high church tower . The design of the three-aisled basilica without a transept is, like that of the Vitus Church in Bussum , based on the construction of the Broederenkerk (Brethren Church) in Zutphen . The slender cast iron church tower was given an unusual, hexagonal shape with a cast iron top.
The church construction began in 1886. The Sint-Jozefkerk was consecrated on May 25, 1887 . The interior of the church was initially kept very simple with its white plastered walls, but was further refined through donations from parishioners, especially the Rikkers-Lubbers couple, for example through the leaded glazing of the windows. The rich painting and the stained glass windows contributed to the fact that St. Joseph was included in the list of Rijksmonumente in 1974 . In 1891, the parish of St. Martinus, which had previously comprised the whole of Groningen, was divided and the Sint-Jozefkerk was elevated to a parish church .
When the diocese of Groningen was re-established in 1955, the Sint-Martinuskerk was first elevated to the status of the diocese's cathedral . The Martinus Church was built in 1895 - also according to plans by Pierre Cuypers - on the site of the Broerkerk, which was demolished for this purpose. In 1981 the Martinus Church was closed in turn and demolished the following year to make way for the university library. As a result, the then Sint-Jozefkerk took over the function of the episcopal church in 1981.
The tower
Due to the hexagonal shape of the tower you can always see two or even three of the six clocks. Since multiple viewing is a consequence attributed to drunkenness, the tower was nicknamed "dronkemanstoren" ("drunkard tower").
organ
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The organ was built between 1905 and 1906 by the Dutch organ builder Michael Maarschalkerweerd with 24 stops on two manuals and a pedal . The instrument was last restored between 2004 and 2005, the original disposition from 1906 being the starting point. The disposition of the organ is as follows (with Dutch names):
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- Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
In addition to the large organ, there is also an older, small choir organ .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Albert Buursma: Caritas in changing. Four eeuwen rooms-kathieke sociale zorg in de stad Groningen . Lost, Hilversum 2017, ISBN 978-90-8704-677-4 , p. 128.
- ^ Geschiedenis van de St. Martinusparochie , accessed on March 5, 2018.
- ↑ Sible de Blaauw, Egbert van der Werff: Een teken in de stad. De toren van de St. Jozefkerk in Groningen . Team 4, Groningen 1990, ISBN 90-9003685-7 .
- ↑ More information about the organ
Coordinates: 53 ° 12 ′ 53 ″ N , 6 ° 34 ′ 22 ″ E