St. Brother Konrad (Spexard)

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St. Brother Conrad

Basic data
Denomination Roman Catholic
place Gutersloh , Germany
diocese Archdiocese of Paderborn
Patronage Conrad of Parzham
Building history
architect Joachim Georg Hanke
construction time 1972-1973
Building description
inauguration May 11, 1974
Architectural style Modern
Furnishing style Modern
Construction type Central building
Function and title

Parish church

Coordinates 51 ° 53 '1.3 "  N , 8 ° 25' 12.8"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 53 '1.3 "  N , 8 ° 25' 12.8"  E
View of the interior
Bell at the Brother Konrad Church

St. Brother Konrad is a Catholic parish church in Spexard , a district in the East Westphalian Gütersloh in North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany . Church and congregation belong to the Gütersloh-Süd pastoral network in the Archdiocese of Paderborn .

Barrack Church

On March 24, 1935, a church building association was founded in Spexard with the aim of building its own parish church. A plot of land was made available to the association, but the mother parish of St. Pankratius refused to build it.

At the end of the Second World War, however, the path to church became more and more dangerous. In a plywood factory, an operating room could be converted into a worship room. The first Holy Mass could be read on the first Advent in 1944 . On May 13, 1945 - the feast of the Ascension of Christ - the pastor of St. Pankratius called a meeting which made the decision to build his own church in Spexard. Work began the very next day.

Two old military barracks were acquired from the Americans. These were removed and rebuilt as a church. Since building materials were scarce, each parishioner donated what they had left. Old glass was collected for the windows, sorted by color and brought to the Sauerland . There it was melted down and made into windows.

Instead of an organ, the harmonium , which was already in the factory hall, was moved onto the organ stage. It was not until 1955 that this was replaced by an organ from the Kemper company in Lübeck with two manuals and ten registers .

Zealous women of the congregation sewed the church linen for eight days. For washing the altar, lace was taken from Varensell Abbey and made into blankets. Two vestments were also made during this time.

Archbishop Lorenz Jaeger consecrated the church on March 31, 1946 . The community had chosen the farmer's son and Capuchin brother Konrad von Parzham as patron .

Actually, this church should only be an emergency solution. Nevertheless, the building of the church was completed more and more. A statue of the Mother of God, a Sacred Heart figure and a large oil painting by Brother Konrad were brought into the church. In 1950/51 the church was extended by a steeple.

Second church building

In the next few years the congregation in Spexard grew significantly and the existing church building became too small. For this reason, the second Spexarder Kirchbauverein was founded on June 18, 1967. Each member paid one mark a month into the cash register, two sacrificial sticks were placed in the old church and four times a year a special collection was made for a new church building.

An architectural competition was announced, the contributions of which were presented in the Archbishop's General Vicariate in Paderborn and in shop windows in Spexard in July 1970. In October of that year, the Bielefeld architect Joachim Georg Hanke was awarded the contract and in December he submitted the final plan in Paderborn. The donation sums of the church building association meanwhile amounted to 142,000 marks.

A few months later the permit came from Paderborn and the construction costs were estimated at 1.6 million marks, of which the Archdiocese wanted to take over around two thirds. In order to obtain the additional funding required, several community festivals were held, which poured a further 26,000 marks into the church building association's treasury every year.

In October 1971 the old youth home next to the barrack church burned down to the ground. A new building of the youth home was planned at the same place. In November of that year tenders for work on the church began. The foundation stone was laid on March 24, 1972. A document was built into the foundation stone, which was signed by the church council, church building association and Father Josef Davits CSSp. The topping-out ceremony for the new parish center was celebrated on June 9, 1972 . At this point in time, the church building association had raised 245,000 marks in donations. The roof could still be covered in 1972.

In April 1973 work began on the exterior of the church. On June 7, 1973, the facility was moved from the old church to the new building with the help of the Spexard volunteer fire department . The next day the first holy mass was celebrated in the still unconsecrated church. On December 2, 1973, the community center opened its doors for the first time. At the end of the year 395,000 marks had been raised in donations.

In February 1974 the organ from the barrack church was installed in the new Brother Konrad Church. Before that, the organ was revised and extended by seven stops. On April 5th of that year the sanctuary was also decorated. In the meantime the costs for the construction amounted to 1.8 million marks. The church building association was able to add 410,000 marks in donations. On 11 May 1974, the Church by the Bishop was Friedrich Maria Rintelen ordained . Relics of the martyrs Speciosus and Gaudiosa were set in the altar .

On July 20, 1974, Wilhelm Steckling , who later became Bishop of Ciudad del Este , received the sacrament of ordination in the Brother Konrad Church through the Bishop of Kimberley, Erwin Hecht OMI .

Since the church was not fully financed by the time construction was completed, it took the congregation until 1978 to completely pay off the debt. Now the community wanted to rebuild the tower that had been taken over from the previous church. In December 1978 work began on strengthening the foundations. The church tower was then clad with clinker . This work continued until June 1979. On September 17, 1979, the topping-out ceremony was celebrated for the tower with the addition of the stainless steel crown. The sculpture on the tower, a cross with a stylized nail head, is the work of the sculptor Otto Herbert Hajek . The unusual object should be visible from the nearby Autobahn 2 ; the idea expressed in the early 1970s to have the church declared a motorway church was not pursued any further.

On October 22, 1980 the church building association was dissolved. During the entire period of its existence, it was able to obtain donations of 755,000 marks for the church in Spexard.

In 1981 the new bells were consecrated and on November 1, 1982 the former parish vicarie of St. Pankratius was raised to an independent parish.

In November 2003, the church council took damage to the church roof caused by stone marten as an opportunity to decide on a comprehensive renovation of the church and the rectory. In April 2005 the roof was completely replaced and the floor coverings partially replaced. The interior has been made lighter, the lighting has been redesigned and modern heating has been installed. The cost of the renovation amounted to 695,000 euros, of which the Archdiocese of Paderborn took over 442,600 euros.

In February 2020 it became known that the city of Gütersloh would like to add the building to its list of monuments . The reasoning states that the church is "significant for the local history of the Gütersloh district of Spexard, as it illustrates the new distribution of faith among the population of the place after the Second World War and is therefore a testament to the changes that have existed over centuries." The future monument includes the exterior and interior of the church and the community center, as well as the altar, baptismal font, tabernacle , Easter and other candlesticks and a two-meter high crucifix from the second quarter of the 20th century.

Web links

Commons : St. Brother Konrad  - Collection of images, videos and audio files