St. Antonius (Brötzingen)

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St. Antonius in Brötzingen , a district of Pforzheim in Baden-Württemberg , is a Catholic parish church . There were plans to build a Catholic church in Brötzingen as early as the 19th century, but the church could not be built until 1934/35. Its interior was fundamentally redesigned, especially in the 1970s.

history

Establishment of the Catholic parish curate

Brötzingen had been Protestant since the Reformation . The few Catholics who lived there until the 19th century were initially not assigned to any pastoral care district at all and from 1823 were also looked after by the Catholic parish in Pforzheim, to which they were finally formally assigned in 1846. Due to the strong industrialization of Pforzheim, the number of Catholics who moved to Brötzingen also rose sharply in the 19th century. In 1871 there were 371 Catholics, around 1900 there were around 600.Parish Administrator Christ (in office from 1863 to 1887) first considered establishing a pastorate for Brötzingen, Dillweissenstein and Büchenbronn , but the municipality was initially inaugurated with the construction of the Church of St. Francis busy.

The church building plans in Brötzingen got going in 1897 when Karoline Stöhrer donated 5000 marks to the Bonifatius Association to purchase a building site for a new church in Brötzingen. A church building fund was then founded, which in 1897/98 acquired a total of six plots of land. In 1902, building councilor Schroth submitted plans for the church. In the meantime, however, a new development plan had been drawn up for Brötzingen, which provided for a connecting road across the planned church building site. With regard to the impending incorporation of Brötzingens into Pforzheim, negotiations about the building plan were no longer possible. For this reason, Dean Leist rented a prayer room in a house opposite the Evangelical Christ Church , which was used for services from May 1906, but with only about 80 seats did not have the necessary capacity. In November 1906, a parish curate was set up for Brötzingen, Dillweißstein and Büchenbronn.

Construction of an emergency church in 1908/09

In May 1908, plans were drawn up for the construction of an emergency church, which after the intervention of the church authorities were finally approved by the ministry. In the winter of 1908/09 a simple half-timbered building with no basement was built as an emergency church for Brötzingen and dedicated to St. Consecrated to Anthony of Padua . The simple construction was approved for three years. In 1910 a separate curate was set up for Dillweißstein and Büchenbronn, for which the Liebfrauenkirche in Dillstein was built that same year . Since the congregation in Brötzingen was greatly relieved, the Brötzingen emergency church remained in operation longer than the planned three years. Due to the emergency years of the First World War , in which a bell and the tin prospect pipes of the organ had to be delivered, as well as the subsequent period of inflation, the further construction plans were delayed.

Construction of the Antoniuskirche 1934/35

It was not until 1925 that the community in Brötzingen was able to resume its church building plans. First of all, the property situation had to be clarified, as there were still plans for a connecting road across the previously purchased properties. The city did not move away from the plans for today's Antoniusstraße , so that the Catholic community acquired Wolfschen Platz in 1928 in order to have enough building land. In 1930 a rectory was built according to plans by Otto Linder . After a donation of 25,000 euros from the manufacturer Antonius Kufferath from Mariaweiler near Düren, the architects Graf and Luger from the Archbishop's Building Office were able to draw up plans for the building of the church at the end of 1933, and from 1934 the church was built. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on March 21, 1934, the foundation stone was laid on May 21, 1934. Four bells were acquired and consecrated during the shell construction. On March 24, 1935, the church was consecrated by Cathedral Chapter Thomas Aschenbrenner .

The initial equipment of the church, including benches, organ and two paintings, came largely from the old emergency church, which served as a youth room for two years and was demolished in 1937. The acquisition of the altars and other equipment was financed from foundations. The high altar was made according to the plans of the Archbishop's Building Department and received a painting by Johannes Michael Schmitt in 1936 , who also created a painting for the baptistery in 1938. A statue for the Sacred Heart Altar was created by the sculptor Spiegel from Stuttgart. Stations of the Cross, baptismal font and a Pieta came from sculptor Weber in Grötzingen.

Remodeling after World War II

During the Second World War , from 1939 onwards, the church was the relocation site for the miraculous image of the Bickesheim pilgrimage church . In 1942 three of the four bells had to be delivered to the church. In 1944 the previous curate became a full-fledged parish . The church survived the air raid on Pforzheim on February 23, 1945 without major damage, only the windows and the roof were damaged. After a makeshift repair, the church was used for the central Catholic services of all Pforzheim Catholics. After the last remaining bell jumped in 1953, the church received a new four-part bell from Schilling in Heidelberg.

In 1954/55 a church was built for the branch community in Dietlingen . In 1961 the Arlinger and the Theresienkapelle, built in 1931, were separated as a separate curate.

After the churches in the city of Pforzheim had been rebuilt and the previous branches had their own houses of worship and pastors, the pressure from the Antonius congregation dropped and one could devote oneself to the necessary renovation of the Antoniuskirche. From 1958 the exterior of the church was renovated and the organ was expanded at the same time. A comprehensive interior renovation took place in 1964/65. The church received new floors, new heating, a microphone system and a new altar. In 1967/68 a new tabernacle and a new ambo by Anton Kunz followed . Also in 1968 the organ was expanded again. In 1970/71 a large new community center was built in the neighborhood. At the same time, the interior of the church was further redesigned, giving it its present-day interior design by removing the old altarpiece, the side altars, the communion bench, the pulpit and the confessionals as well as new furnishings, a uniform, light-colored paint scheme and new benches. In 1974 the church received new portals from Kunz and a new exterior painting. In 1980, instead of a Madonna wall hanging, a Madonna statue came from Oberammergau . In 1984 the community was able to order a new organ from Rudolf Kubak in Augsburg from a testamentary foundation of the second organist Frieda Dissen . The old organ came to Precna in Slovenia in 1987, the new instrument was installed in 1988.

description

The Antoniuskirche is a three-aisled hall church, it is 42 meters long and 17 meters wide. The gable facade is flanked by two towers. The ten meter high central nave is spanned by a beamed ceiling, the seven by eight meter choir is spanned by a barrel vault like the aisles.

Anton Kunz created the hanging cross above the altar in 1972. The colored lead glass windows by Franz Dewald come from the same year .

literature

  • Parish of St. Franziskus Pforzheim (Ed.): 100 years of St. Francis 1891–1991. Catholic life in Pforzheim. Pforzheim 1991.

Web links

Coordinates: 48 ° 53 ′ 32.3 "  N , 8 ° 40 ′ 46.3"  E