St. Cäcilia (Niederzier)
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The Church of St. Cäcilia is the Roman Catholic parish church in the Niederzier district of the Niederzier municipality in the Düren district ( North Rhine-Westphalia ).
history
The Niederzier community was probably formed after the turn of the millennium and soon had a church that was perhaps a subsidiary of Oberzier . In the 12th century it was used as the parish church of St. Martyr Cäcilia mentioned and belonged to the Cologne Dompropstei . In the Liber valoris (Book of Values of the Churches of the Diocese of Cologne ) she probably only had one vicar . In 1122 a pastor was first mentioned as "Giselbertus". He was later elected abbot of the Augustinian Canons Abbey of Klosterrath near Kerkrade in the Netherlands . On August 30, 1165, the parish church was consecrated by Philipp von Katzenelnbogen (bishop) .
In the year 1308 all parish churches in the dean's office Jülich, including Niederzier, were listed in the liber valoris . In June 1358 "Martinus de sancto Petro Veteri" was named as pastor of Niederzier. In September of the same year "Jacob Hardevust".
Around 1550 the new construction or reconstruction of the parish church and the tower is mentioned. In 1575, the Hambach community made a petition to the papal nuncio for re- parish . In 1576, the Hambach chapel , which had previously belonged to the Niederzier parish, was elevated to a parish church. In 1583 the parish had St. Urban and St. Cecilia as a cartridge . In addition to the Provost of Cologne, the Duke of Jülich had the right to cast appointments in the so-called papal months from then on. During the Thirty Years War (1641) the church and the pastorate were looted by the imperial war people . In the winter of 1673, on the train from the Rhine to Maastricht, German and Dutch troops in the service of France reached the Düren region and brought great hardship. Here, too, the church was looted and devastated.
When the Archdiocese of Cologne was divided under French rule, the Düren district became part of the newly founded Diocese of Aachen in 1801 . The parish belonged to the deanery Jülich, in 1804 it came to the canton of Düren and from then on had only St. Cäcilia as patroness. In the same year, the Bishop of Aachen Marc-Antoine Berdolet published an “Organization of the Aachen Diocese” and divided the diocese into the state peace courts , according to which there was only one main parish. Niederzier was run as a Säkursal parish. In 1805 the "number of souls" for the parish was given as 900.
On May 5, 1814, the new building of a pastor's house in Rathausstrasse and the nave of today's church were commissioned. In 1821 the Aachen diocese was dissolved again. The parishes of Niederzier and Oberzier remained with the Düren deanery.
In 1824 a part of the church vault collapsed as a result of the leaky roof and continuous rain. After the Aachen Vicar General Martin Wilhelm Fonck had given permission to demolish the old church and the altars , the “ Königl. Prussia. Landrath Freiherrn von Lommessen “started to build the new church. The church received a new nave, the current central nave and tower remained. Jean Cremer, landowner from Mariaweiler , received the building contract, the planning was taken over by Bau-Conducteur Allardt. The total cost was given as 5,389 thalers . The resulting cost increases were covered by so-called "extraordinary" felling. An inscription above one of the south-facing entrances to the church referred to this phase of construction : The local forest gave the church its existence . Countess Maria Franziska Sophia Josina von Hochsteden donated the new high altar . The high altar - a good Rococo work made of colorful Bavarian marble - had a tabernacle and an exhibition niche . The closure was a beautiful medallion - relief with the figure of God the Father and a cafeteria with the Hochstedenschen Crest "anno 1825". It came from the electoral house chapel in Bonn and was used as a main altar and later as a side altar until the church was expanded in 1905/06. As a thank you for the donation , the pastor at the time, Christian Joseph van Berti, gave the countess the right to use the so-called Landau chair without restriction for her, her family and other friends of the class . When the reorganized Archdiocese of Cologne was reorganized in 1825, the parish was assigned to the new dean's office in Jülich. On July 13, 1826, the new church was inaugurated .
On the north side of the church from this time a Musaicum that which Psalm devotes 42 and with: "Sicut desideratum cervus ad fontes aquarum ita desiderat anima mea ad te deus" (Just as the deer after the water source longs so longs my soul is marked after you, O God).
Above the inner entrances in the tower area there is the slogan: Praise the Lord and honor St. Cäcilia. The red colored letters refer to the new church building in 1825.
A whole series of new acquisitions and repairs are noted for the year 1828: B. for the altars, two pictures, two side altars, two new confessionals , a new communion bench , a new confessional in the sacristy , a new church window, a new cabinet to store the paraments and the repair of the pews . On January 20, 1820, the then-proposed church council at the district in Duren, for the Foundation to seek the approval of the spouses Reiner Lövenich and Anna Katharina Nelles, at the Royal Government in Aachen, ensure that the notified at the Foundation lands could be repossessed. It is known from 1831 that the attempt to introduce a bell bag was rejected and a foundation was approved instead. This had the purpose "what the church lacks, it is added from our forest". For the year 1832 it is noted that the deceased Niederzier citizen Anna Josepha Esser bequeathed a capital sum of 76 Reichstalers and two golden ornamental chalices to the church. On November 2, 1833, the Crown Prince of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm IV. , Visited the community. Here Pastor Christian Joseph von Berti presented him with the wine of honor and was able to talk to him for over an hour and a half. In 1835 the organ was purchased from the old church in Dremmen for 600 Reichstaler and installed. Pastor Christian von Berti and his sister donated an altar (wall structure) for the baptistery to the parish church in 1841 . In 1845, the building contractor Linden added a new bell and a new helmet to the church tower . The tower, a simple brick building , has two walled-in pointed arch windows with tracery noses on each side . The Countess von Hochsteden died on January 31, 1848 and was buried in her parents' family crypt in the church. Since the crypt was removed from the church in 1906, a tombstone on the south side of the church commemorates it. On July 28, 1852, the pastor at that time Peil agreed to read a second Holy Mass on Sundays and public holidays . On March 21, 1854, the local council approved a plan and cost estimate drawn up by the sculptor C. Stephan from Cologne for the enlargement and embellishment of the altar in the church. On the basis of a further cost estimate , the Cologne sculptor Christoph Stephan commissioned the production of two statues (St. Cecilia and St. Nicholas ) on July 7th, 1858 . In 1862 the old vicariate building at the choir was demolished and the area that became available was used to expand the cemetery . This expansion area - located on the right side to the south - was consecrated on April 15, 1864. In the same year the community approved the purchase of a ciborium in Gothic form in the amount of around 110-115 thalers.
On August 17, 1868, the high altar was consecrated by the Archbishop of Cologne, Paulus Melchers . He brought relics from the St. Ursula Society and some other saints with him, which were placed in the main altar with a corresponding certificate . In the same year there was a church visit. The pastor at the time, Johannes Peil, gave the following information: The parish has 1,173 Catholics, including around 780 communicants . The “Brotherhood of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” has 947 members, the “Brotherhood for a Good Death” 857, the “Brotherhood of St. Archangel Michael “107 members. There is still a brotherhood of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The following places of pilgrimage are mentioned: Aldenhoven , Heimbach , Nievenheim and Kevelaer . In the church there are: three chalices, one silver and two copper ones, gilded with silver tips, two ciborias, a monstrance, partly made of silver, partly made of brass, nine albums of linen, 16 chasubles , partly made of velvet , partly made of silk and other substances. On April 24, 1869, an "Organ Building Commission" was founded to procure a new organ. In the same year the order was given to the sculptor Stephan zu Cologne and the organ builder Dautzenberg in Linnich . On February 16, 1870, the archbishop's approval was available. On November 23, 1871, the installation of the organ was completed.
On January 10, 1880, a small tree meadow and two private garden parcels were purchased to enlarge the cemetery. On September 2, 1880, the civil parish transferred the parish apartment with courtyard and garden as well as the parish church including the church tower and sacristy to the parish. The cemetery remained in the possession of the civil parish. In 1882 the youths of the village donated a chalice worth 360 marks to the parish church. For the feast of St. Cäcilia in 1883 the "Virgins of Niederzier" donated a new reliquary to the parish church with a new, large relic of St. Cecilia. It was made by Hof-Goldschmidt Gabriel Hermeling, Cologne. For the year 1887 the acquisition of the 14 stations of the cross made of oak wood by the Cologne sculptor Josef Fink is noted. In the same year, two new choir windows were installed by Hertel & Bergs. In 1888 eight windows in the nave were re-glazed. On May 13th, 1898, the local council decided to purchase the three houses next to the church, mostly enclosed by the cemetery, to expand the cemetery.
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In 1905 the extension of the church began according to the plans of the diocesan master builder Edmund Renard , Cologne. The old choir was demolished, new transepts and a new choir to the east added. In the course of the expansion, the high altar donated by the Countess von Hochsteden in 1825 was laid down and erected again as a side altar (Marienaltar). In the same year, Cathedral Chapter Arnold Steffens donated a large Cecilia altar, executed by the Cologne artist Alexander Iven and the Cologne art carpenter Sion. The three-part altar, in large parts made of marble, shows the wedding procession of St. Cecilia in the right wing, the left the burial of the saints. The two figures shown are Saint Valerian , the bridegroom of Saint Cecilia and his brother Tibertius, both in Roman garb. The left mosaic shows the Archangel Michael , the right one the Saint Urban. In the large niche under the altar table, a reclining figure represents Saint Cecilia, an almost identical replica of the sculpture of this saint made by Stefano Maderno , one of the most famous Italian Baroque sculptors. On June 15, 1907, the church expansion was completed. In 1909 the church received a new, neo-Gothic ribbed vault instead of the previous barrel vault and a new roof. On May 1, 1908, four statues of saints, which had been stored in the attic of the parish church for over a century, were restored by the Cologne sculptor Josef Fink in the Archbishop's Museum in Cologne. The oldest figure, St. Hubertus , comes from the Gothic. The statues of St. Urbanus and St. Ursula are from the Renaissance . The three figures are made of linden wood. The statue of St. Johannes Nepomuk , made of oak, comes from the house chapel of the Count von Hochsteden family, which died out in 1848. In 1910 the church was painted by the church painter Josef Renard, Cologne. A new preaching chair was installed in 1912. In 1915 a tower clock was purchased. On March 1, 1917, the tin pipes of the church organ and on April 18, 1918 the lightning rods on the church were dismantled for war purposes. On October 9, 1921, the new youth home at the pastorate was inaugurated. The pastor Franz Müller had campaigned for this. It should serve the young people , especially in winter on Sunday afternoons, and also for other club purposes. The monstrance in the parish church dates from 1922 . In the foot there is a Latin inscription and the date 1922. Four white and silver medallions with evangelist symbols are placed on the foot, one of which is stamped on the back: LEO MOLDRICKX Cologne, 800 crescent crown. Altogether a work of the neo-baroque with classical elements.
On September 19, 1923, the cathedral capitular Arnold Steffens, who was born in Niederzier, died in Cologne, papal house prelate , senior of the metropolitan chapter in Cologne, archbishop official , vicariate general and examiner general.
In 1927 a new, larger organ (the third) was purchased. A new organ stage was built for this purpose. The installation of the first heating system, the Mahr system , is noted for 1930 . It was put into operation during Easter week. In the same year, the two large bells were provided with an electric drive. On October 5, 1930, the diocese of Aachen was re-established as a suffragan diocese of Cologne from the left bank of the Rhine area of the archdiocese of Cologne and from a small part of the diocese of Münster . The parishes of Niederzier and Oberzier were assigned to the Deanery Jülich. After the Second World War , on May 10, 1945 ( Ascension Day ), Pastor Müller gave the first St. Mass read. The war damage was repaired by 1952. Above all, the acquisition of five new church windows should be mentioned here. These can be found above the Marien Altar, above the Nicholas Altar and the three central windows in the choir in the east. When the Arnoldsweiler deanery was set up in 1957, the parish was assigned to it and, after its dissolution in 1973, it was assigned to the Düren-Ost deanery. On October 1, 1957, the parish of the Eilen manor from the branch community of St. Josef in Krauthausen in the association of the mother church of St. Stephanus, Jülich-Selgersdorf to the parish of St. Cäcilia took place. In 1958, the St. Nikolaus Schützenbruderschaft e. V. 1621 Niederzier a church window with St. Nicholas of Myra as a motif. In 1969 the choir was rebuilt according to plans by Heinz Kaldenbach, Eschweiler . The new celebration altar by Sepp Hürten , Cologne, was consecrated on February 12, 1977.
In the past few years, as part of a ten-year plan of the church council, the interior of the parish church was repainted in its original color with angels on the ceiling (2005), the stations of the cross and the St. Nicholas altar were renovated or renewed. In addition, the parish church received a new heating system and the existing organ was extensively renovated.
Today the parish church presents itself as a three-aisled brick hall church with narrow aisles, a transept and a retracted choir with a 3/8 end, a pre-built, 4-storey west tower with a pointed, 8-sided dome and a baptistery on the ground floor. There is a small sacristy building on the south side. The parish church has 280 seats and 600 standing places.
The church is entered under No. 14 in the list of monuments of the Niederzier community . The official description of the monument reads:
"Kath. Parish Church of St. Urban and Cecilia. Tower basement 15th-16th Century, nave 1825, tower construction 1845, nave extension 1907 by Renard; 3-aisled hall church with narrow side aisles and a retracted 4-storey west tower; Transept and retracted choir with 3/8 end, small sacristy extension on the south side, brick with ashlar elements; Tower with a pointed, 8-sided hood. Tomb slabs of the 18th and 19th centuries placed on the nave wall 19th century (1 Hochsteden). "
Pastor to St. Cecilia
| since | Surname | Pastor etc. | to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1122 | Giselbertus | Pastor | ? |
| 1358 | Martinus de Sancto Petro Veteri | Pastor | ? |
| September 4, 1358 | Jacob Hardevust | Pastor | ? |
| June 7, 1407 | Tilmanns de Wijs | Pastor | ? |
| Derich Smytz van Lynnich | Pastor | ? | |
| June 10, 1550 | Arnold Kleintgen | Pastor | ? |
| January 13, 1583 | Anthonius Satoris | Pastor | ? |
| July 27, 1622 | Johann Weiler | Pastor | ? |
| Hermann Greiffraidt | Pastor | ? | |
| October 9, 1649 | Kaspar Weitz | Pastor | September 8, 1694 |
| November 13, 1694 | Johannes Hubert Fleischer | Pastor | September 7, 1732 |
| October 12, 1732 | Matthias Schmitz | Pastor | ? |
| 1759 | Werner Gottfried Schmitz | Pastor | April 28, 1808 |
| May 13, 1808 | Christian Joseph by Berti | Pastor | May 27, 1841 |
| 1842 | Johannes Arnold von Krüchten | Pastor | July 31, 1851 |
| September 30, 1851 | Johannes Anton Gustav Peil | Pastor | May 12, 1877 |
| May 12, 1877 | Georg Heinrich Hansen | Parish administrator | 1886 |
| February 14, 1887 | Franz Hubert Hintzen | Pastor | July 1891 |
| July 8, 1891 | Richard Hubert Struff | Pastor | 1897 |
| April 8, 1897 | Gerhard Ferdinand Josef Kühling | Parish administrator | June 1897 |
| June 15, 1897 | Leonhard Albert Noe | Pastor | April 30, 1920 |
| May 2, 1920 | Franz Muller | Pastor | May 2, 1950 |
| 17th September 1950 | Arnold Scheufens | Pastor | January 19, 1960 |
| March 3, 1960 | Father Friedrich Schoppmann | Parish administrator | January 1965 |
| February 27, 1965 | Father Joseph Keim | Pastor | 1st December 1970 |
| February 25, 1971 | Father Johannes Möhring | Pastor | January 23, 1983 |
| February 24, 1983 | Winfried Gehlen | Pastor | October 1, 1993 |
| 4th December 1994 | Petro Stanusic | Pastor | November 4, 2000 |
| November 2000 | Rick van den Berg | Parish administrator | March 2008 |
| October 3, 2009 | Andreas Galbierz | Pastor |
Vicars to St. Cecilia
| Surname | date | function |
|---|---|---|
| Johann Adam Lawert | September 29, 1663 | Vicar |
| Adam Pick | 1666 | Vicar |
| Wilhelm Francken | July 2, 1672 | Vicar |
| Adolf Alex Bischoff | 1693 | Vicar |
| Johann Caspar Elias | April 3, 1706 | Vicar |
| Peter ten pfennigs | May 22, 1717 | Vicar |
| Johann Peter Küpper | June 3, 1719 | Vicar |
| J. Offermann | March 26, 1793 | Vicar |
| Arnold Josef Kaul | June 8, 1796 | Vicar |
| Godfried Schmitz | March 2, 1797 | Subsidiar |
| Nicodemes Schüller | 1804 | Subsidiar |
| Arnold Josef Kaul | 1830 | Vicar |
| Johannes Arnold van Krüchten | August 29, 1836 | Vicar |
| Gottfried Hubert Cüppers | November 11, 1853 | Vicar |
| Franz Nellessen | October 27, 1856 | Vicar |
| Bernhard Schmitz | July 16, 1861 | Vicar |
| Georg Heinrich Hansen | 1872 | Vicar |
| Gerhard Ferdinand Josef Kühling | April 8, 1897 | Vicar |
| Josef Goertz | October 1, 1918 to August 31, 1920 | Vicar |
| Helmut Macherei | since 1992 | Subsidiar |
| Hardy Harwinkels | 1994 | Vicar |
| Vincenz Nguyen van Tung | since July 2, 2014 | Vicar |
Bells
The parish church has four bells.
The oldest bell, the Anna bell , was cast in bronze in 1505 by the bell founder Gregor I von Trier, Aachen, and has a diameter of 1,219 mm. It bears a tape with the inscription “ST ANNA HEISCHEN ICH, TZO DEM SERVICE GODDE I LUDEN I + DEN DUVEL CHASE I + GREGORIUS VAN TRIER GOUS ME + ANNO DIE MVCV”. It acts as a striking bell . It is struck from the outside with a clock hammer and has the task of suggesting the hour.
The St. Cäcilia bell , commonly called “The Big Bell ”, was cast from bronze in 1789 by the bell founder Willibrod Stocky, Jülich, and has a diameter of 880 mm. It bears a tape with the inscription “ST. CAECILIA I HEAL, ALL UNSTORMATURES I DISTRIBUTED, THE LIVING AND THE DODEN PEOPLE I ". On December 30, 1789, the Capuchin Guardian in Düren was given the power to consecrate the bell for the parish church. The bell with the image of St. Cäcilia on the shield had to be delivered for war purposes in 1942, but returned to Niederzier in 1948 after it was found undamaged in a scrapyard in Hamburg . It acts as a striking bell. It is struck from the outside with a clock hammer and has the task of suggesting the quarter hour.
The largest bell is called the Queen of Peace . It was cast from bronze in 1958 by the bell founders Josef Feldmann and Georg Marschel , Münster, and has a diameter of 1,300 mm. On January 13, 1959, the Aachen prelate Dr. Broke the bell. It bears a tape that reads “QUEEN OF PEACE I WILL BE CALLED. I ENCOURAGE PEACE FOR CITY AND COUNTRY. I PUT THE PEACE IN YOUR HANDS. THE PEACE I SHOW AT THE EDGE OF THE GRAVE. ”Godfather of the bell was the mayor at the time, Peter Hoegen, who collected a contribution of 9,000 DM for the purchase.
The fourth bell is the Francis bell and has a diameter of 760 mm. It bears the tape “ST. FRANCISCUS NOMINOR SOLI DEO GLORIA LAUS ET HONOR ”and in the shield the image of St. Francis. According to the underlaid characters on the tape, it bears the year of manufacture 1754, making it the second oldest bell. There is no indication of which bell founder cast this bell.
Anna bell
Cecilia Bell
Queen of Peace
Francis Bell
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Way of the Cross
As in most churches, there are 14 stations of the Cross in woodwork along the north and south aisles in St. Cäcilia . They were made from oak by the Cologne sculptor Josef Fink and officially erected on November 20, 1887. In the course of the renovation work in recent years, they have been extensively renovated with great attention to detail. The 14 Stations of the Cross go back to a tradition in Jerusalem. There the Via Dolorosa , the Road of Sorrows, reminds of the way on which Jesus carried the cross from the city to the hill of Golgotha .
Pulpit (sermon chair)
The pulpit was on the second pillar in the nave to the left of the Second World War. It dates from 1912 and was designed by the Cologne sculptor Hubert Sion and the Cologne architect Heinrich Renard . Today the pulpit is on the right side of the front transept and is accessible from the sacristy. Only the canopy was omitted in the new construction at this location.
Pulpit of St. Cecilia
Pulpit before World War II
Organs
Organ "anno 1835"
The first teacher in Niederzier by the name of Nix, who was the leader and conductor of the church choir from 1819 to 1870 and at the same time also played the organ in the church alongside his teaching profession , reports in his annals of a church choir and organ sound almost 180 years ago. This first organ was acquired in 1835 from the old church in Dremmen for 600 Reichstaler.
Organ "anno 1871"
On January 27, 1870, the pastor and the church council applied to the Vicariate General (at that time still Cologne) for approval to purchase a new organ (No. 2). This permit was granted on February 16, 1870. The organ was examined by the Soureck company. On November 23, 1871, the church received the new organ, designed by the sculptor Stephan zu Köln and built by the organ builder Dautzenberg from Linnich . This organ cost 2,600 thalers. The case is used with a two-sided extension in the current organ. The organ had two manuals , a pedal and 27 registers with 1,487 pipes. It was a beautiful, solid work with a mechanically operated sliding drawer . Unfortunately, this organ became unusable in 1917: the organ pipes had to be delivered as war material. Church bells suffered a similar fate in 1942. They too had to be delivered for war purposes.
Today's Klais organ
The pneumatic organ was built by the Bonn organ builder Johannes Klais in 1927 as Opus 686 and is the third organ in the parish church. With its 27 registers (three transmission registers) and 1568 pipes, it represents an impressive late work of the German-Romantic organ building tradition. In addition to the normal couplers, the organ is equipped with two super octave couplers and one sub octave coupler, which allow extensive symphonic-romantic play. Since the pipework and the pneumatic elements have been completely preserved, the organ has a very high monument value. Many organs of this pneumatic type were destroyed by war or renovation. The neo-Gothic middle part of the oak wood case probably comes from an older instrument from the 19th century and was supplemented by two side wings in order to fit the organ into the relatively wide central nave of St. Cäcilia. The organ stage, parapet and column cladding were made in 1825 by the Niederzier carpenter Brenig.
The building and development association St. Cäcilia and the church council decided in 2011 to restore the original state in order to preserve this extraordinary work of art for posterity. From the workshop for organ building Heinz Wilbrand, owner Heribert Coenen, Übach-Palenberg, all pipes were removed and freed from the dust and patina of the past decades with a special grease-dissolving agent . Hundreds of leather bellows required to control the tone and register valves have also been renewed. The free-standing console is used for the central control of the organ and contains the keyboards (manuals and pedal) and stops. The song display located in the church is also operated from the console . At the Christmas mass in 2011, the fundamentally repaired and voiced organ sounded again with its powerful and sublime sound.
The instrument has the following disposition:
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Church window
The parish church has a total of 24 stained glass windows with different motifs. They primarily consist of a combination of antique glass , lead and black solder . The oldest church windows date from 1948, the youngest from 1969. Almost all church windows were designed and manufactured by the well-known Rhineland glass artist Ernst Johann Jansen-Winkeln , Mönchengladbach. The five stained glass windows that show the five secrets of the rosaries are particularly interesting. Wonderful color reproductions can be found in the five gospel windows and especially in the windows of Saints St. Cecilia of Rome , St. Nicholas of Myra , King David and John the Baptist . For the entrances and functional areas, it was decided at the time to use simple crosses and ornaments, mostly made of attractive industrial glass.
Saint Cecilia of Rome
St. Nicholas of Myra
King David
John the Baptist
Celebration altar
The octagonal celebration altar as well as the ambo made of black and gray granite stone on the side were designed and completed by the Cologne sculptor Sepp Hürten . The solemn consecration took place on February 12, 1977. In addition to the general ornamentation, a "grapevine deep relief" was worked into the altar. This refers to the Gospel of John (Jn 15: 1-8): “We are like the branch on the vine and we need to be rooted in it. Vine and branch form a unity, like roots and growth, shoot and fruit. The branch - separated from the vine - is sap and powerless, it withers. The life stream of the vine comes from its root. The Christian's stream of life comes from God. The stream of life of faith, hope and love. Without them our life will be sap and powerless. "
Ambo
"The image of the tree of life" from the Revelation of John was worked into the ambo in deep relief. According to the understanding of the New Testament and the interpretation by Christian theology , God in Jesus Christ, in his death on the cross and his resurrection, fulfilled his eternal plan of salvation and opened up the path of hope for eternal life or to "paradise". The crucified one is therefore “the way and the truth and the life” who, in his surrender on the cross, conquers the devil and his demons and re-opens access to the tree of life and its fruit in the form of the Eucharist : “I will whoever wins giving to eat from the tree of life which is in God's paradise ”.
Ambo St. Cäcilia Niederzier
Cecilia Altar
Cathedral Chapter Dr. Arnold Steffens (a native Niederzierer) donated the great Cäcilien altar in 1906, executed by the Cologne artist Alexander Iven and the Cologne art carpenter Sion. The three-part altar, in large parts made of marble, shows the wedding procession of St. Cecilia in the right wing, the left the burial of the saints . The two figures shown are Saint Valerian , the bridegroom of Saint Cecilia , on the left and his brother Tibertius on the right, both in Roman robes. In the large niche under the altar table, a reclining figure represents Saint Cecilia, an almost identical replica of the sculpture of this saint made by Stefano Maderno , one of the most famous Italian Baroque sculptors. The left mosaic next to the niche shows the Archangel Michael , the right one shows Saint Urban .
tabernacle
The tabernacle of the parish church is located in the center of the St. Cecilia altar . It is the repository of the hosts that have been transformed in Holy Mass. It is a decorative case made of solid marble walls and an artistically crafted, lockable metal door with gold and silver implications. In the middle of the door the Easter lamb is shown with a foreleg around a cross. The head, surrounded by a halo , is turned back at an angle. It carries an Easter flag, which ends in a pole with a banner ending in a cross and is provided with the saying “ecce agnus dei” - “See the Lamb of God”. Below that are the two Christ symbols, Alpha and Omega . The alpha (A) is the first, the omega (Ω) the last letter of the Greek alphabet . Just as the two letters frame the alphabet, so Jesus Christ embraces the life of the world. They refer to the Revelation of John (chapter 22 - verse 13): "I am the A and the Ω, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." The middle part is bordered by four fields. Ears of wheat, vines and grapes are found here and symbolize bread and wine, which are also referred to as "Eucharistic elements" or "Eucharistic gifts" when celebrating the Eucharist .
Side altars
The altar of Mary
On the left side of the front transept is the Marien Altar. It was donated as a high altar in 1825 by Countess Maria, Franziska, Sophia, Josina von Hochsteden . It came from the electoral house chapel in Bonn and was used as a main altar and later as a side altar until the church was expanded in 1905/06 . The altar, a good Rococo work, is made of Bavarian marble and originally also included a tabernacle. The exhibition niche with a small crucifix is left in the front part . The central altar element is a large, elaborately designed Pietà . Here Mary is represented as Mater Dolorosa (Mother of Sorrows) with the body of Jesus Christ removed from the cross. In contrast to the Lamentation of Christ, the body of Jesus always lies on Mary's knees. The upper end of the Marian altar is formed by a large, single-colored medallion high relief with the figure of God the Father. The cafeteria, the altar table, bears the Hochstedensche coat of arms "anno 1825".
For many believers, the altar of Mary, in addition to the miraculous image in the east side aisle, is also a popular place to stay for a short prayer , combined with the lighting of a small sacrificial candle.
The St. Nicholas altar
On the right side of the front transept is the St. Nicholas altar. It can be assumed that it was installed there in connection with the acquisition of the Nikolaus statue by the Cologne sculptor C. Stephan in 1858. However, at an unknown point in time, it was removed again and fell into oblivion. At the beginning of 2006 the church council decided with those responsible for the St. Nikolaus Schützenbruderschaft e. V. 1621 Niederzier to rebuild this altar in its original place. A suitable structure was found in a carpenter's workshop and repaired by a carpenter. The solemn consecration of the restored St. Nicholas altar finally took place as part of the patronage festival in December 2006.
Nicholas Altar St. Cäcilia Niederzier
Baptistery
Originally there was a small Lady Chapel on the ground floor of the church tower as a souvenir for those who fell in the 1914–1918 war. It was inaugurated in February 1923. At a later date this was converted into a baptistery . One of the oldest furnishings in the church, a baptismal font from the mid-12th century, was placed in the center. The Romanesque basin consists of a rough bluestone work with four corner heads and simple ornaments in between. It was found in 1772 when a mission cross was being erected during foundation work.
On the substructure of the baptismal font, reference is made to the fact that the Cologne Cathedral Chapter Dr. Arnold Steffens (a native of Niederzierer) in 1906 for the rebuilding. The former Niederzier pastor Christian von Berti (May 13, 1808– May 27, 1841) and his sister donated a small baptismal altar as a wall structure in 1831. This is located on the western front of the baptistery.
Baptismal font
Baptismal font
Baptismal altar
Holy figures
The parish church of St. Cäcilia has eight figures of saints each as a statue and four small evangelist figures. They are an integral part of sacred art and always something special. All of them therefore have their own special place and can be viewed by all church visitors. On May 1, 1908, four of these statues of saints, which had been stored in the attic of the parish church for over a century, were restored by the Cologne sculptor Josef Fink in the Archbishop's Museum in Cologne.
Mother of God with child
In the altar arch on the left side we find the statue of the Mother of God with Child . Unfortunately, the year of manufacture of the statue is not known.
Saint Cecilia of Rome
In the altar arch on the right side we find the statue of St. Cecilia . It dates from 1858 and was created by the Cologne sculptor C. Stephan.
St. John Nepomuk
John Nepomuk was a Bohemian priest and martyr . He was in 1729 by Pope Benedict XIII. canonized. The statue is made of oak and originally comes from the house chapel of the Niederzier family of the Counts of Hochsteden, which died out in 1848.
St. Ursula of Cologne
Ursula von Köln came from Brittany and lived in the 4th century AD. Ursula was a woman who was possibly murdered together with companions in the Diocletian persecution around 304 in Cologne. The renaissance statue is made of linden wood.
St. Urban
Urban is a much venerated saint. There are three of them that are worshiped in one person. All three Urbani are worshiped today on May 25th. The statue made of limewood in the church depicts St. Urban I as Pope (221–230 AD) and can be easily recognized by the tiara , the papal robe and the papal staff. It comes from the Renaissance period. In addition to St. Cäcilia, the parish church also had St. Urban as a further patron until 1803.
St. Hubertus
Hubertus lived as Count Palatine at the court of Theodoric III. in Paris , later in Metz at the court of Pippin the Middle , with whom he was probably related. When he was widowed, Hubertus went to the forests of the Ardennes as a hermit , where he was apostolic. In 705 he became bishop of Tongern-Maastricht, in 716 he moved his bishopric to Liège . He had a cathedral built there, but was also considered a caring benefactor . The legend of Hubertus has been told since the Middle Ages , according to which he was converted while hunting by a magnificent stag with a crucifix between his antlers. That is why Hubertus is seen as the patron saint of hunting. The statue is probably the oldest of all the statues in the church. It dates from the Gothic period and was made of limewood.
St. Nicholas of Myra
Nicholas of Myra is one of the most popular saints whose feast day, December 6th, is associated with many customs. In the first half of the 4th century he was Bishop of Myra in the Lycia region of Asia Minor . His statue is in the re-erected and extensively restored Nikolaus altar in the front transept of the parish church and was made by the Cologne sculptor C. Stephan in 1858.
Sacred Heart of Jesus figure
This large statue of Christ was acquired in 2003 and placed in the south aisle. Even in the early church there was the idea of a church emerging from the heart of Jesus. In the transition from Christian antiquity to the Middle Ages , a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus took shape. Adoration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is an expression of Catholic spirituality . In the preface of the solemn feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus it says: “From his open side flow blood and water, from his pierced heart arise the sacraments of the Church. The heart of the Savior is open to all, so that they may draw joyfully from the wells of salvation. "
The four evangelists
On the two front, inner transverse walls of the south and north aisles, we find four small wooden statues. The four evangelists Matthew , Mark , Luke and John are represented here. As the authors of the four biblical Gospels, they have been represented with winged symbols since the 4th century. A person symbolizes Matthew, the lion Mark, the bull Luke and the eagle John.
Miraculous image
In addition to the statues and figures, there is a miraculous image in the north aisle. It is a copy of the Byzantine icon miraculous image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in a strong wooden frame with 24 colored stone elements on a wooden ledge. For many believers, the image of grace is a popular place to stay for a short prayer, combined with lighting a small sacrificial candle.
Mother of God with child
St. Cecilia
St. John of Nepomuk
St. Ursula
St. Urban
St. Hubertus
St. Nicholas
Sacred Heart of Jesus figure
Miraculous image
Luke
John
Markus
Matthew
Web links
Homepage of the parish of St. Cäcilia Niederzier
Individual evidence
- ^ Organs in the region - St. Caecilia Niederzier. In: Kirchenmusik-Dueren.de. Retrieved September 20, 2016 .
literature
- Ernst Steffens: St. Cäcilia Niederzier . Yearbook of the Düren district 2010, ISBN 978-3-927312-96-8 , p. 22
- Archives of the Rheinische-Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, the University Library of Heidelberg University, the Saarland University and State Library Saarbrücken, literature sources of the Rhineland Regional Association, the historical archives of the Diocese of Aachen, the Archbishopric of Cologne and the Diocese of Osnabrück, the chronological tables of the Niederzier History Association , various Festschriften Niederzier and foreign associations as well as sites in the Niederzier community and the Düren district.
Coordinates: 50 ° 53 ′ 7.7 ″ N , 6 ° 27 ′ 46.2 ″ E