St. Benedikt (Eichenbarleben)

Exterior view

The Church of Saint Benedict is the Catholic church in Eichenbarleben , a district of the unified municipality of Hohe Börde in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt . It belongs to the parish “St. Christophorus ”based in Haldensleben , in the Stendal deanery of the Magdeburg diocese . The church named after St. Benedict of Nursia is located on Bundesstrasse 1 and has the address “An den Kirchen 1”. It is listed in the monument register of the state of Saxony-Anhalt (10.2, p. 52).

history

With the introduction of the Reformation in the 16th century, the population and the St. Nicolai Church of Eichenbarleben became Evangelical Lutheran .

From around the middle of the 19th century, Catholics began to settle again in Eichenbarleben and the surrounding villages of the Magdeburg Börde ; they worked as seasonal workers in agriculture. In 1859 the parish of Althaldensleben set up a mission parish in Eichenbarleben, and a Catholic merchant made a room available as a chapel in his house (Eichenbarleben No. 22) for their services, which began on October 22nd, 1859 .

As a result of the Second World War , the number of Catholics in the Eichenbarleben area increased to around 1,500 by refugees and displaced persons from East Prussia , Silesia and the Sudetenland. Pastoral care was initially continued by clergymen from Althaldensleben. In 1947 the Benedictine priest Basilius Urbasek (1915-2008) came from the Rohr monastery (Lower Bavaria) to Eichenbarleben in the Soviet occupation zone , and as vicar of the parish Althaldensleben, he merged the Catholics in the Eichenbarleben area into one community. He held the services in the Protestant churches of Eichenbarleben, Hermsdorf , Hohenwarsleben and Irxleben . On November 1, 1947, a curate belonging to the parish Althaldensleben was established in Eichenbarleben .

On August 14, 1952, Pastor Karl Graskämper laid the foundation stone, and the St. Benedict Church was built with great personal contribution from the parishioners. A CDU - deputy of the People's Chamber had provided for the necessary permits. On June 14, 1953, the church was inaugurated by Friedrich Maria Rintelen , the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Paderborn , who resided in Magdeburg and to which Eichenbarleben belonged at the time. On April 1, 1954, the curate was promoted to parish vicarie , and Father Basilius Urbasek became its first vicar. In addition to Eichenbarleben, the localities Bornstedt , Drackenstedt , Hemsdorf , Hermsdorf, Hohenwarsleben, Irxleben, Mammendorf and Ochtmersleben belonged to the parish vicarie Eichenbarleben . In 1954 the rectory next to the church and a small youth home were also completed. In 1956, Father Basilius Urbasek was reassigned to the Rohr monastery, Vicar Waldemar Karl (1927–2016) succeeded him.

In December 1975, Vicar Willy Schmitz, the third and last local priest, left Eichenbarleben. From 1976 deacon Johannes Hoffmann (1932–2018) lived in the Eichenbarleben rectory and organized community life. After retiring in 1998, he moved to the parish Maria Hilfe der Christians in Magdeburg in 2002 .

From January 1, 2000, the church belonged to the Neu Olvenstedter parish of St. Josef , previously it had belonged in the meantime to the Herz-Jesu-Gemeinde in Eilsleben . On March 1, 2007 the community association "Haldensleben - Eichenbarleben - Groß Ammensleben - Weferlingen - Wolmirstedt " was founded, to which the church belonged from then on. On May 2, 2010, today's parish “St. Christophorus ”. In addition to the St. Benedict Church, it also includes the churches " St. Johannes Baptist " in Althaldensleben , " Holy Cross " in Calvörde , " St. Nikolaus von der Flüe " in Colbitz , " St. Peter and Paul " in Groß Ammensleben, " St. Liborius " in Haldensleben, " St. Josef and St. Theresia of the Child Jesus " in Weferlingen, " St. Josef " in Wolmirstedt and the pilgrimage chapel "St. Anna “on Gut Glüsig . The parish vicarie Eichenbarleben was canceled in this context. According to the 2011 census in the European Union , 480 of the 18,133 inhabitants of the municipality of Hohe Börde belonged to the Roman Catholic Church, i.e. 2.6%.

Architecture and equipment

inside view

The small, east-facing hall church is built from regional red quarry stone blocks ( Bebertal sandstone ), designed as a long house with a retracted rectangular choir . It is only about 60 meters away from the Protestant St. Nicolai Church. There is an oculus above the entrance portal of the St. Benedict Church , above the tower-like roof turret , in which there is a bell . The cross on the roof turret is remarkable. Deviating from the usual shape, it does not have two cross bars as usual, but three. A cross bar points in every direction, and from every direction it is recognizable as a cross.

The interior offers 72 seats. On the back wall of the chancel there is a crucifix and a tapestry ; he asks the Holy Johannes Nepomuk , saint notburga , Boniface , Scholastica , St. Benedict, Hedwig of Silesia , Norbert of Xanten and Elizabeth of Hungary . To the left and right of the chancel have one statue of Mary and the baptismal font into place, the Side walls of the 14 stations of the cross . The organ on the west gallery was manufactured in 1980 by the “ VEB Frankfurter Orgelbau Sauer ” as Opus 2110. Under the organ gallery there is a Pietà , a small representation of St. Walburga and the confessional .