St. Josef Church (Magdeburg)

Saint Joseph Church in Neu Olvenstedt

Saint Joseph Church, entrance

The Sankt-Josef-Kirche is the Catholic church in Magdeburg 's Neu Olvenstedt district . It belongs to the parish of St. Johannes Bosco with its seat at St. Agnes Church , in the Magdeburg deanery of the Magdeburg diocese . The church is dedicated to St. Joseph , who has been honored by the Catholic Church since 1955 as Joseph the worker with a memorial day on May 1st .

history

Since 1981, a new residential area, which was on the verge of Magdeburg DDR - prefabricated dominated and should offer a total of dwellings for 42,000 people. Initially, a barrack built in the post-war period and demolished after the construction of the St. Joseph Church served as an emergency church for the Catholics in the northwest of Magdeburg. The Catholic Church under Bishop Johannes Braun was committed to building a new community center on the edge of this large socialist settlement.

Horst Freytag was won over as architect by the Magdeburg Housing Combine, who from 1985, following the bishop's request for a traditional church with a bell tower , designed a modern, functional church while retaining these traditional components. The model shown at the Constructa 86 building exhibition in Hanover caused a stir.

The foundation stone was laid on February 8 or November 8, 1986. However, the death of the architect Freytag resulted in construction delays. Freytag's successor in 1987 was Ralph Niebergall , who changed the design of the tower and redesigned the facade. On December 1, 1990, the parish of St. Joseph was established. The consecration of the church followed on October 26, 1991 by Bishop Leo Nowak .

On January 1, 2000, the St. Josef parish merged with the St. Benedict parish in Eichenbarleben , and the number of parishioners rose to around 1,300. On March 1, 2006, the association of municipalities in Magdeburg-Nord was established, to which the parish of St. Josef belonged from then on. On November 28, 2010, today's parish of St. Johannes Bosco was founded from the community , to which the church has belonged ever since.

Building

The church building has more than 200 seats. The building parts of the community center enclose the church square on two sides. The facades are plastered, the roofs covered with slate . Consisting of laminated wood beams existing gable roof is boarded on the inside with wood. The type of external building design takes up the relationship to the neighboring village-like Magdeburg-Alt Olvenstedt to the west . The eastern facade of the church is structured by pillars clad with sandstone .

The four bronze bells donated by the Bonifatiuswerk were cast by the Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock company in Gescher and named after Christ , Maria , Joseph and the helpers in need.

The lead-glazed windows in the church were created in 1991/92 by Maren-Magdalena Sorger from Magdeburg . A window represents death and resurrection of Jesus . Further, there is a Josef window and a ladder to heaven window .

A segment of a circle surrounds the chancel. Side windows allow indirect lighting. The altar was consecrated on October 21, 2001 by Auxiliary Bishop Gerhard Feige . The sculptor Paul Brandenburg created the ambo , tabernacle , baptismal font , cross and candlestick . Also worth mentioning is the copy of a Riemenschneider Madonna made by a wood cutter from South Tyrol . Inside the church there is a triangular bay window that forms a sacrament chapel. The digital Kienle resonator organ with its prospect built by the Johannes Baier joinery in Magdeburg was consecrated on January 28, 1996 by the clergyman, Theodor Steinhoff.

The church has given its name to the adjacent St.-Josef-Straße since 1990 (until 1990 Straße der Völkerfreundschaft ).

literature

Hans Gottschalk, Magdeburg - Architecture and Urban Development , 2001, ISBN 3-929330-33-4
Hans-Joachim Krenzke, Churches and Monasteries in Magdeburg , 2000