St. Martinus Church (Olpe)
The neo-Gothic St. Martinus Church in Olpe is a Catholic parish church in North Rhine-Westphalia .
history
The first Martinus Church was built around 800 on the Franconian Reichshof Olpe . The old church was destroyed to the ground by fire on August 16, 1907. The masterminds could never be identified. In the run-up to the arson there had been a long dispute about the new construction or renovation of the old parish church. Between 1907 and 1909, a three-aisled tiered hall church with a transept and double tower facade (tower height 61 m) was built in neo-Gothic style according to the designs of the Dortmund architect Johannes Franziskus Klomp . The foundation stone was laid on July 23, 1907; the construction work was the responsibility of the building contractor Anton Sunder-Plassmann from Förde (today: Grevenbrück ). The first three bronze bells were consecrated in 1922 and the Sacred Heart Bell in 1937.
In 1945 the church building was badly damaged by air raids during the Second World War . One of the towers was blown up by German pioneers in the last days of the war because it threatened to topple over. The tower stump was preserved as a memorial.
On July 20, 1988, the building with its historical furnishings was placed under monument protection as a unit . Before that, extensive renovations took place in 1958 and 1973
Inside the church there is seating for 650 people.
Bells
In the north-west tower, not only the tower clock, but also the bells are installed. The most recent chime comes from 1949. These are steel bells that were cast by the Bochum Association. They were consecrated to Mary, the Mother of God, and to Saints Martin, Agatha and Rochus. The original bells were confiscated and melted down in 1917 and 1942, both in the wake of World War II. Only the small choir bell from 1907 remained.
Agatha pillar
The Agatha column was erected in front of the north portal in 1979 . It is a two meter high stone pillar on which a life-size figure of Saint Agatha is mounted. It is the replacement for a previous figure that was inaugurated in 1965 and stolen in 1973.
Church furnishings
Adoration Chapel
In the south-west tower, which was partially blown up in 1945, an adoration chapel was set up in 2013 for Maria Theresia Bonzel , the founder of the Olpe Order, who was beatified in the same year and which also houses the grave of the blessed. Her remains were transferred to the parish church on November 12, 2013 from the previous burial chapel at the mother house of the order. The windows above this chapel are worth seeing: They are the only original windows. They were not installed at the time of the bombing of Olpe, so that when the church hit, only the temporary windows were destroyed. After the reconstruction, the intact original windows could be installed here, while all other church windows are new productions from the post-war period.
Portals
The sculptor Matthias Beule from Grevenbrück completed his first major commission with the design of the exterior portals. He created the crucifixion group with the Madonna above the main portal and the sculptures above the side entrances.
Crucifixion group
The monumental late Gothic crucifixion group is one of the oldest and most valuable possessions of the church. The cross is flanked by the assistant figures Maria and Johannes. The group's creators are unknown. Experts assume a Rhenish origin and date the work to the second half of the 15th century.
altar
The neo-Gothic carved altar is in the north side choir. It was erected in 1911.
organ
The organ comes from the workshop of the Johannes Klais company (Bonn). It was installed in 1958 as a replacement for the previous instrument that was destroyed in an air raid. In 1989 the organ was renovated and expanded. Since then it has consisted of 41 registers (2758 pipes ) on three manuals ( slider drawer ) and pedal ( cone drawer ). The actions are electric.
|
|
|
|
- Coupling: I / II, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
- Playing aids : 64-fold setting system , crescendo roller
literature
- Catholic parish church St. Martinus Olpe / Biggesee . Schnell, Kunstführer No. 1244, 1981, 2nd revised edition 2000, ISBN 3-7954-4963-4
Web links
- Catholic parish church St. Martinus on www.olpe.de , accessed January 13, 2011
- The bells of St. Martinus on wdr.de/Glockenpforte
Individual evidence
- ↑ 100 years of St. Martinus Church , program booklet
- ↑ Pastoral Association Olpe-Biggesee: Parish St. Martinus
- ^ The ringing of St. Martinus on wdr.de: Glockenpforte .
- ↑ Hans Mieles, Matthias Beule, sculptor in the Sauerland and in Silesia, in: Local calendar for the Sauerland region of Cologne, “De Suerlänner 1968”, p. 23
- ↑ On the history and disposition of the Klais organ
Coordinates: 51 ° 1 ′ 45.2 " N , 7 ° 50 ′ 41.6" E