St. Francis (Neuendettelsau)

St. Francis

Portal on the west side

Interior view, altar area

tabernacle

Painting of the fall of angels

Easter fountain in the courtyard

St. Franziskus is a church named after St. Francis of the Roman Catholic parish Neuendettelsau - Petersaurach ( Deanery Herrieden in the Diocese of Eichstätt ).

Parish

In 1528 the Reformation found its way into Neuendettelsau. Since then there have only been a few Catholics in Neuendettelsau. These were parish to St. Vitus (Veitsaurach) . After the Second World War, the number of Catholics increased to 1,000 in Neuendettelsau alone as a result of war refugees. Neuendettelsau-Petersaurach became the curate of Our Lady (Heilsbronn) , which was taken care of by the priest Johann Stiel. First of all , services could be celebrated in the Christophorus Chapel , which belonged to the deaconess institution . In 1955 a plot of land at Flurstrasse 20 was acquired. The wallpapering workshop on it was converted into a chapel that could also be used on weekdays. In Wicklesgreuth , a room for an emergency church was found in the 1950s, which was used until 1978.

A donation of 100,000 DM from the cathedral capitular Klebl and a donation of 100,000 DM from the Werhan family enabled the building of the church in Neuendettelsau. For this purpose, a plot of land on Nelkenstrasse was acquired in October 1959. In 1961/62 the church and rectory were built by the local construction company Högner according to plans by the Nuremberg architect Reubel. On October 7, 1962, the Church of the former was Eichstätter Bishop Joseph Schröffer consecrated .

Since January 25, 1976, St. Franziskus has been an independent parish in the diocese of Eichstätt. The parish was responsible for the following places: Altendettelsau , Froschmühle , Geichsenhof , Geichsenmühle , Gleizendorf , Gütlershof , Haag , Jakobsruh , Johannishof , Langenheim , Langenloh , Mühlhof , Neuendettelsau, Petersaurach, Reuth , Wernsbach , Wicklesgreuth and Ziegendorf .

In 1977, on the initiative of Gerhard Reller, a memorial plaque for the fallen and dead of the expellees in World War II was made and placed to the left of the entrance to the church. In 1978 it was agreed that the Evangelical Peace Church (Wicklesgreuth) could also be used by St. Francis. In 1980/81 a community center was built between the church tower and the church building. As a result, the memorial plaque had to be relocated to its current location, the western churchyard wall on the courtyard side.

On January 1, 1992, the other places of the political communities Neuendettelsau and Petersaurach were repared to St. Francis by Our Lady. Since 2004 St. Franziskus has belonged to the newly created parish association Heilsbronn. Since September 2006 the pastor of St. Franziskus has taken over the administrative tasks of the parish of St. Johannes (Lichtenau) with St. Josef (Saxony near Ansbach) . Today St. Francis has approx. 1800 parishioners, that is approx. 14% of the population.

Church building

The church, the parish hall and the rectory enclose a rectangular courtyard. The architectural style is simple, reinforced concrete and glass are the dominant building materials.

The hall building has a square floor plan and a flat ceiling. The west and east side is a glass facade. The fourteen stations of the Way of the Cross are embedded in this at eye level as an abstract glass mosaic created by the artist Max Wendl . The church portal is a porch on the west side. The copper door leaves show Saint Francis with animals and plants in relief. A five-story tower is set off to the west. Four bells have been hanging there since 1965, cast by the Schilling bell foundry :

• a ¹ bell (650 kg, ⌀ 96 cm) with a portrait of Christ and the inscription "Christ, King of glory, come with your peace";
• h ¹ bell (420 kg, ⌀ 86 cm) with a portrait of Francis and the inscription “This is my prayer that you love one another”;
• d ² bell (250 kg, ⌀ 71 cm) with a portrait of St. Nicholas and the inscription “That all are one”;
• e ² bell (170 kg, ⌀ 63 cm) with a portrait of holy angels and the inscription "Peace on earth to all people".

Inside the hall has a coffered ceiling. A crucifix hangs down from the wall with the thorn-crowned Christ as an abstract figure. An organ gallery has been drawn in on the north side. The font was purchased in 1963 and is in the west entrance area. The altar area is on the south side. There is a stone canteen in the middle, the tabernacle to the right and the ambo, which was cast in 1963, to the left. On the wall behind the ambo is a large painting showing the fall of the angel .

Pastor

• 1946–1975 Johann Stiel
• 1975–1988 Willibald Götz
• 1988–2002 Franz Kurzendorfer
• 2002–2012 Stephan Müller
• 2012–2013 Matthäus Ottenwälder
• 2013– Wolfgang Hörl0000

literature

• Michael Gebauer (Ed.): Festschrift for the 50th anniversary of the consecration of the Church of St. Franziskus in Neuendettelsau . Neuendettelsau 2012.

Web links

Commons : St. Francis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website St. Franziskus Neuendettelsau

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hans Rößler (Ed.): Under thatched and tile roofs. From the Neuendettelsau story . Freimund, Neuendettelsau 1982, ISBN 3-7726-0110-3 , p. 64 .

Coordinates: 49 ° 16 ′ 51.3 ″  N , 10 ° 47 ′ 12 ″  E