St. Elisabeth (Königs Wusterhausen)

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The church in Friedrich-Engels-Strasse
The church
The catholic rectory opposite the church

The St. Elisabeth Church in Königs Wusterhausen is a Catholic parish church in the Treptow-Köpenick deanery of the Archdiocese of Berlin .

history

At the end of the 19th century, more Polish and Silesian Catholics moved to Königs Wusterhausen and the surrounding villages. The predominantly Polish-speaking people hoped to find work in agriculture, in the brickworks or in the Schenkendorfer brown coal mine. Whereas there were only 22 Catholics in Königs Wusterhausen in 1880, the number rose to 82 by 1898. These demanded the construction of a Catholic school and a separate church. Before the turn of the century, Königs Wusterhausen belonged to the parish of Köpenick. The few Catholics went a long way to worship.

1899 to 1914

The first Catholic service in Königs Wusterhausen was celebrated on October 8, 1899 in Otto Utz's "Gasthof zum Deutschen Haus".

In a letter dated October 9, 1898, the Catholic Christians asked the Potsdam government to build a church and a Catholic school. This initially refused, because they were afraid that the school would “have a predominantly Polish character.” The district administrator of Teltow, Ernst von Stubenrauch , saw the large number of Polish Catholics as a “threat to Germanness at the gates of the imperial capital. “ Georg von Kopp , Prince-Bishop of the Diocese of Breslau, to which King Wusterhausen belonged at the time, assured the later Chief President Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg that no Polish sermons would be held in the community. The project was then approved on August 29, 1899. In the same year, construction began on the parish hall, which was also to be used as a schoolhouse. It was inaugurated in April 1900. Due to the closure of the center pit in Schenkendorf, the number of Catholic children decreased. There was never a Catholic class in the parish hall. The classrooms were converted into a chapel. On October 1, 1902, the Catholic community received its first pastor, Kuratus Wilhelm Tunkel.

In December 1909, Prince-Bishop von Kopp informed the Royal Government on request that he had no objection to the establishment of an independent Kuratiengemeinde in Königs Wusterhausen. The community at that time consisted of 175 Catholics. On January 1, 1910, Kopp raised Königs Wusterhausen to an independent curate . The curative church was the St. Elisabeth Chapel in Königs Wusterhausen. From 1911 Theophil Sweda was the new Kuratus. He and his successor Johannes Janotta, who took over the community in 1914, were repeatedly checked by the Potsdam government to determine whether they were Polish.

In a confidential document to the district president in Potsdam on July 11, 1914, it says literally about the transfer of Teophil Sweda to Senftenberg : “According to reports, the previous curate Theophil Sweda is in Königswusterhausen from the vicar capitular of the prince-bishop's chair with the decay of the vacancies Parish Senftenberg N / L. commissioned and considered to be the pastor there. I sincerely ask your Highly Born to make a pleasant statement within two weeks about the personality and activity of Sweda, namely whether facts are known that lead to the raising of an objection to his appointment as pastor in Senftenberg (Section 16 of the law on the training and employment of clergy from May 11, 1873 - GSS191-) made necessary. I notice that, given the current situation in Senftenberg, it is important that the new pastor has a nationally German attitude and is far removed from the Greater Poland movement. "

New building of the church

In the 1930s, Christian Schreiber , Bishop of Berlin, sent an urgent appeal for donations to Christians in and around Berlin: “Königswusterhausen is probably the pastoral care center in the Brandenburg diaspora that is currently is worst cared for in worship. For almost 2,000 Catholics, an old schoolhouse without a tower, without a cross or without a bell is the place of worship. In two old school classes, 14 m long and 9 m wide, 4-500 parishioners have to fulfill their Christian duty every Sunday. Building a church is an urgent necessity. Since the ambitious and zealous congregation can never achieve its goal with its own resources, I wish the pastor that he can find a lot of supporters and helpers for his church building fund. "

The start of construction is constantly being delayed due to the lack of a building permit. After long negotiations, the city only issued this after construction had started. The design for the church comes from the Berlin diocese building officer Carl Kühn , the construction was carried out by the master builder Carl Dirk from Berlin-Heiligensee.

The foundation stone was laid on February 28, 1937 by Provost Bernhard Lichtenberg . The translation of the Latin document in the cornerstone reads: “All who read this document, greetings and blessings in the Lord! In the year of salvation 1937, on February 28th, on the third Sunday of Lent, at the time of the pontificate of Pius XI. When Konrad, Count von Preysing , Bishop of Berlin, Dominikus Metzner archpriest, Alfons Thonemann from Dülmen in Westphalia pastor in the parish of St. Elisabeth, at the time when Adolf Hitler was leader and Chancellor of the German Empire, this cornerstone is in Königs Wusterhausen the new church, which is to be built in honor of St. Elisabeth , according to the building plans of the diocesan councilor Carl Kühn . The chapel, which was built 35 years ago in honor of St. Elisabeth was built, was no longer sufficient with the growing number of souls and the eager visit of the faithful who live in Königs Wusterhausen and 30 surrounding villages. I hereby assure that I have blessed this foundation stone, which is described: 'Anno 1937', on behalf of our Reverend Bishop, and that I have personally signed this certificate. ”The topping-out ceremony was celebrated on March 20th, Palm Sunday . On August 1, 1937 , Bishop Conrad Preysing consecrated the church.

Construction and equipment

The church bears the patronage of St. Elisabeth of Thuringia , who can be seen as a clay figure above the entrance portal. The church is simply furnished. The interior is covered by a vaulted wooden ceiling that was painted in two colors in its original state. The church is 28 m long, 13 m wide and 19 m high. The Späth tree nursery from Berlin-Baumschulenweg laid out the outdoor area .

The old Michael Bell

The interior was the responsibility of the municipality. The benches were first removed from the chapel. As a first major investment, the church council decided to purchase three bells . Bronze bells were not used for cost reasons. Instead, chilled cast iron bells were chosen . The bells were ordered from Schilling und Lattermann in Apolda. On April 11, 1937, the bells were solemnly consecrated by the archpriest Metzner from Berlin-Neukölln. According to the sales contract, the bell tones correspond to the beginning tones of the " Te deum " (f sharp, a, b). According to a bell report from 2001, however, the bells are tuned to f ´, a ´ and c ´´. They are baptized with the names Michael (950 kg), Paulus (550 kg) and Bonifatius (380 kg). The inscriptions on the three bells are stamped accordingly.

  • “My name is Michael, who is like God, I call. I fight for God's honor. "
  • "Paul is my name, Christ, the crucified, the risen one ... God, my sermon."
  • “I am called Boniface. I will carry the good news into the country. "

During the Second World War, the church was spared major damage.

An organ has been available to the community since 1948 . It previously stood in the house chapel of the home for the blind in Königs Wusterhausen and was installed there as early as 1901. The instrument built by Sauer has 584 pipes and twelve registers. After the repair, the organ was consecrated at the patronage festival in 1949.

At the end of the 1950s, pastor Kletschke ordered three wooden figures about two meters high. The figures, from the workshop of the wood carver Hertelt in Cottbus, depict a Mary with a baby Jesus, a crucified Jesus and a figure of the Good Shepherd .

Conversions and renovations

In 1952 the church was renovated for the first time.

After the Second Vatican Council , the interior of the church was redesigned in 1975. The old high altar gave way to a simple, massive altar table. The consecration of the new altar took place on August 15, 1976 by Auxiliary Bishop Johannes Kleineidam .

The communion benches were removed. The figure of the Good Shepherd came in the back of the church. The interior of the church was given a rather sober paint job. So were z. B. Bars and gallery painted dark brown. The colored reliefs of the three archangels were painted over. The sanctuary, which used to be underlaid with silver, was designed in a plain white. The old church windows were replaced with new glazing. The church got new, bright seating. The small chapel in the back of the church was converted into a confessional.

In 1985 the church towers were re-roofed. The dilapidated concrete roof tiles were removed and replaced with a tin roof covering that was painted with a copper patina .

In 1995 the church interior was painted. In the course of this renovation work, the old heating system was replaced by underfloor heating. At the same time, the floor of the church interior was tiled. The church got a loudspeaker system. The electrical system for the ringing of the bells was renewed.

In 2005 the church and the rectory got a new roof.

In 2008 the interior of the church was completely restored. They tried to orientate themselves as closely as possible to the original color scheme. The ceiling formwork was again designed in two colors. The three archangel reliefs and the lettering on the organ gallery had to be painstakingly restored. The original color scheme was largely exposed. In the course of the renovation work, new lighting was installed that hangs over the pews as it used to be. Walled up blind niches were opened. The figure of the “Good Shepherd” has taken its old place.

In 2011/12, the old brick wall was renewed in two construction phases. Instead of the existing hawthorn hedge, a hornbeam hedge was planted.

In 2012 the church council decided to take the first steps to purchase new bells. The chilled cast iron bells from 1937 have a limited service life of around 80 years. On July 2, 2017, Archbishop Dr. Heiner Koch three new bronze bells that were cast by the Rincker bell and art foundry in Sinn (Hesse) in April 2017 . They are tuned to e ', a' and c 'and are named St. Michael , Seliger Bernhard Lichtenberg and St. Hedwig . On August 6, 2017, they were heard for the first time for the 80th anniversary of the parish fair. The steel bells, cast in 1937, are visibly displayed on the church grounds.

Merger with St. Antonius Eichwalde

On June 28, 2016, the Archbishop's Ordinariate Berlin decided that the two parishes of St. Antonius Eichwalde and St. Elisabeth Königs Wusterhausen with the places of church life as pastoral space may start the three-year development phase together. This stipulates that the two parishes will merge in the course of the process "Where Faith Gains Space".

Pastor

  • 1902–1911 Kuratus Wilhelm Tunkel
  • 1911 Pastor Joseph Rennoch (administrator from Berlin-Oberschöneweide)
  • 1911–1914 Kuratus Theophil Sweda
  • 1914–1922 Kuratus Johannes Janotta
  • 1922–1926 Kuratus Albrecht Jochmann
  • 1926–1936 Curate Pastor Georg Roschkowski
  • 1936–1937 Kuratus Alfons Thonemann
  • 1937–1943 Kuratus Anton Majewski
  • 1943–1944 Chaplain Walter Proske (administrator)
  • 1944–1970 Pastor Bruno Kletschke
  • 1970–1999 Pastor Johannes Müller
  • 1999–2012 Pastor Norbert Kliem
  • since September 2012 Pastor Alfredo Nava Mediavilla (administrator; since February 2013 also for St.Antonius-Eichwalde)

Web links

Commons : St. Elisabethkirche (Königs Wusterhausen)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

literature

  • Märkische Allgemeine , issue of June 21, 2008: "Catholic Church is being renovated according to historical models" ( online version )
  • Märkische Allgemeine , edition of February 7th, 2009: "Series of articles on the history of the Catholic parish St. Elisabeth KW Part 1" ( online version )
  • Märkische Allgemeine , edition of February 14th, 2009: "Series of articles on the history of the Catholic parish St. Elisabeth KW Part 2" ( online version )
  • Märkische Allgemeine , issue of February 21, 2009: "Series of articles on the history of the Catholic parish St. Elisabeth KW Part 3" ( online version )
  • Märkische Allgemeine , issue of March 21, 2009: "Series of articles on the history of the Catholic parish St. Elisabeth KW Part 5" ( online version )
  • Märkische Allgemeine , edition of April 4, 2009: "Series of articles on the history of the Catholic parish St. Elisabeth KW Part 6" ( online version )
  • Märkische Allgemeine , edition of April 11, 2009: "Series of articles on the history of the Catholic parish St. Elisabeth KW Part 7" ( online version )
  • Märkische Allgemeine , edition of June 21, 2012: "The Catholic Church is 75" ( online version )
  • Norbert Seyer: "A Century of St. Elisabeth Königs Wusterhausen", Königs Wusterhausen 2009

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Day of the Lord , No. 29 (23 July 2017), p. 10.
    Parish letter St. Elisabeth Königs Wusterhausen June / July 2017 , p. 12.

Coordinates: 52 ° 17 ′ 41.2 "  N , 13 ° 37 ′ 43.7"  E