St. Gereon (Cologne-Merheim)


Patronage :	St. Gereon of Cologne
Construction time :	around 1820
Address:	Von-Eltz-Platz 6 51109 Cologne-Merheim

The Church of St. Gereon in the Merheim district of Cologne is a Roman Catholic church in the Archdiocese of Cologne . It is part of the Catholic Parish Association Brück-Merheim. The church consecrated to St. Gereon of Cologne was built around 1820 after the old Romanesque church was torn down.

Location and surroundings

St. Gereon in Cologne-Merheim

View from the cemetery

Inner direction of the choir

The church is a little off the center of the district of Merheim. Surrounded by meadows and fields, the view of the church has always been a special panorama. Around the church there are tombstones and monuments of the former cemetery. In the neighborhood of the church there is the rectory with the parish apartment and the pastoral office. In addition, the parish and youth home is attached.

history

Finds of Franconian gravestones indicate that a parish church should have existed in Merheim since the 8th century. Many of the surrounding villages belonged to the parish of Merheim. Until the 19th century, its population made a pilgrimage to the Merheim church on Sundays for mass . This is why many paths in the area owe their names (for example the "Rather Kirchweg", which leads from the village of Rath to Merheim to the church).

After the demolition of the old church in 1817, a new construction of the old church in new dimensions was started around 1820. The church was built at that time as a hall church without its current columns, which were only added in 1907 and thus divided the church into a main nave and two side aisles.

In 1822 the tower of today's parish church was built, in 1849 the octagonal spire was placed on the tower. This high spire was replaced by a blunt pointed roof at the beginning of the Second World War due to a nearby air base. The tower bears a green cross with a weathercock by Walter Prinz with a height of 4.60 m.

Furnishing

High altar and celebration altar

The high altar in the apse of the church dates from around the Baroque period 1600–1730. In the course of time its appearance has changed frequently, figures (groups) have been added or removed. During the last restoration in 1959, an attempt was made to reproduce the original coloring as closely as possible. The celebration altar is designed by Herbert Kreutzer. It is made of Main sandstone and was built into the church after the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council .

Statues

The Silesian Madonna belongs to the treasure of the Church of St. Gereon. A representation of the Mother of God from Silesia, which was made life-size around 1500. It is in the right aisle of the church and is on permanent loan from private individuals. The wooden statue of the Virgin Mary comes from the old church and is therefore from the 18th century or older. She depicts the crowned Mary with a scepter and orb and wears a blue cloak.

On the pillars of the central nave there are statues of the apostles . They are made of wood and date from 1846 to 1849. There are a total of 14 statues, those of the 12 apostles plus those of the apostle Matthias, who was later called for the apostle Judas, and those of the archangel Michael . The apostles are provided with objects and symbols that indicate their personality, for example the apostle Peter is shown classically with the two keys.

Others

The church has numerous other works of art in its treasury, including a valuable golden monstrance in Gothic style . The statue "The Listener" by the sculptor Toni Zenz complements the ambo. A man is shown with his hands on his ears, listening to the good news.

Bells

In 1961 the Otto bell foundry in Bremen-Hemelingen cast five bronze bells for the church of St. Gereon. The bells have the following diameters: 1241 mm, 1105 mm, 984 mm, 828 mm, 738 mm and weigh: 1125 kg, 800 kg, 575 kg, 350 kg, 250. They are tuned to: e '- f sharp' - g sharp ' - h '- cis''.

Individual evidence

↑ The Church of St. Gereon ( Memento of the original from March 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Information page about the Merheim district @1@ 2

↑ ^a ^b ^c The Church of St. Gereon on the parish website

^ Gerhard Reinhold: Otto bells. Family and company history of the bell foundry dynatie Otto . Self-published, Essen 2019, ISBN 978-3-00-063109-2 , p. 588, especially page 558 .

↑ Gerhard Reinhold: Church bells - Christian world cultural heritage, illustrated using the example of the bell founder Otto, Hemelingen / Bremen . Nijmegen / NL 2019, p. 556, especially p. 512 , urn : nbn: nl: ui: 22-2066 / 204770 (dissertation at Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen).

Web links

Commons : Saint Gereon Church (Merheim) - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Network presence of the parish of St. Gereon, Cologne-Merheim

50.948618 7.051683Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 55 ″ N , 7 ° 3 ′ 6.1 ″ E

[merheim-1] The Church of St. Gereon ( Memento of the original from March 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Information page about the Merheim district @1@ 2

[kirche-2] The Church of St. Gereon on the parish website

[3] Gerhard Reinhold: Otto bells. Family and company history of the bell foundry dynatie Otto . Self-published, Essen 2019, ISBN 978-3-00-063109-2 , p. 588, especially page 558 .

[4] Gerhard Reinhold: Church bells - Christian world cultural heritage, illustrated using the example of the bell founder Otto, Hemelingen / Bremen . Nijmegen / NL 2019, p. 556, especially p. 512 , urn : nbn: nl: ui: 22-2066 / 204770 (dissertation at Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen).