St. Johannes Apostle (Wietmarschen)
The pilgrimage church of St. Johannes Apostel is the Roman Catholic church in Wietmarschen , County of Bentheim .
Construction and history
In 1152 the knight Hugo von Büren founded the Sünte Marienrode monastery . Later the monastery became a monastery where rich noble ladies lived.
The first mass was held in a wooden church in 1152. In the second half of the 13th century, the first stone church was built from split granite blocks and sandstone blocks in the Romanesque style . The eastern part of today's church dates from this time. An extension was made around 1500 in the Gothic style . In several stages one was Saalkirche from Brick created. In 1630, the church was extended by eleven meters in a further renovation. In 1697 an extensive renovation took place.
The last major renovation took place in 1927. The nave was torn down and replaced by a large brick building designed by the Osnabrück architect Albert Feldwisch-Drentrup. A year later the 34 meter high tower was built on the west side. In September 1944, an aerial bomb destroyed the roof of the church, killing three people in the neighborhood and causing major damage to the building. Unharmed, Vicar Behnke from Lingen, who had prayed in front of the miraculous image, crawled out of the bulky heap of rubble. The damage to the church was painstakingly repaired. A comprehensive renovation took place at the end of the 1980s.
Today's church building in the style of a basilica with a wide central nave and narrow side aisles is 44 meters long and 19 meters wide.
The church is the starting point for processional routes into the Stiftsbusch . It is also the goal of the path of faith of the Beatitudes , which leads from the home in Lohne to the pilgrimage church. The ninth and last station is right in front of the church.
West side
East Side
Old and new part of the Church
Buildings and equipment
The sanctuary
The chancel is in the older part of the Romanesque church. Since the Wietmarschen monastery flourished again in the Baroque period after many occupations and looting, for example during the Thirty Years War , most of the church's furnishings are from the Baroque period . The large baroque high altar was created in 1682 by the altar builder Georg Dollart from Münster and donated by the abbess Sybilla von Twickel at the time . It has a revolving door tabernacle on which a golden pelican can be seen as a symbol of the sacrificing Christ . The large altar structure has four large columns. There is a figure of St. Catherine on the left and St. Barbara on the right . A figure of the church patron, the holy apostle and evangelist John, rises above the gable . The large painting is the center of the high altar. It was created by the painter Michael Wilhelm Meyer around 1685 and depicts the crucifixion of Christ with Mary and John under the cross.
The baptismal font in the chancel dates from 1790 and is designed in the classicism style. The high cross in the choir is a medieval work of art from around 1490. The celebration altar is made from parts of the baroque communion bench from 1695 with the coat of arms of the founder Sophia Elisabeth Borman. The current benches were made from parts of the old choir stalls , in which the canonesses attended the services, and from new elements. The lectern bears the coat of arms of a canoness from the von Twickel family . The coat of arms used to be attached to one of the baroque confessionals . Above you can see an icon in the Greek style, which was donated in 2004 by the pastor Alfons Hermann.
The Lady Chapel
The "Miraculous Mother of God", a statue of Our Lady enthroned around 1220, is still a destination for pilgrimages to this day. It is a wooden figure that is clad with gold and silver foils and covered with sheet iron. Some parts of the statue probably date from the time of the pilgrimage revival around 1921 (family pilgrimage on the Sunday before Ascension Day). The place of creation of the statue of the Mother of God is unknown; an image of the Mother of God on the bronze baptismal font in Hildesheim Cathedral served as the artistic template . A similar image of the Virgin can be found in the collegiate church in Börstel . The crowned Mary sits on an upholstered chair. In her right hand she holds a scepter , on her left arm she carries the baby Jesus with the globe in her hand.
The statue had been hidden in a side niche in the church behind an iron grille since 1930. In 2014 the statue of Our Lady found its new place in the Marienkapelle designed by the architect Tobias Klodwig from Münster in the middle of the pilgrimage church. The previous main entrance to the church has been replaced by a glass door and since the chapel also consists of glass elements, the statue can already be seen from outside the church. A new line of sight was thus created. The chapel has the shape of a half ellipse and protrudes far into the church building so that from the chancel it looks like a boat is going into the nave. The chapel consists of a partially transparent lamella wall and is open at the top. It offers space for 60 people, so that smaller services can be celebrated there. In the Marian months of May and October, pilgrimage masses take place once a week (Tuesdays at 3 p.m.) in the chapel.
In addition to the statue of Our Lady, a selection of relics and votive offerings has been given a place in front of the miraculous image in the chapel. In the Middle Ages, relics were embedded in embroidery by the ladies of the monastery and given name tags. The reliquary was originally exhibited on the baroque altars, then in the Marian altar below the miraculous image in the side niche. Votive gifts are donated when people in need turn to Our Lady and promise a donation in case of rescue. To this day, rosaries, jewelry, etc. are placed in front of the image of Mary. The oldest examples date from the 17th century. Originally, the medals and plaques were strung on long chains and hung around the miraculous image during the pilgrimage. Later they could be found on the walls of the old chapel. Other pieces that are not displayed in the chapel today are exhibited in the monastery and pilgrimage museum.
Marienkapelle Wietmarschen
Relics and votive offerings in the Lady Chapel
Chapel inside the church
View of the chapel from the chancel
organ
The Wietmarsch church had an organ since 1600. In January 1799 a new organ was installed by an organ builder from Neuenhaus . In 1934 the Wigbels family donated a new organ for the enlarged church. The present organ from the Breil company dates back to 1989.
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- Coupling : I / P, II / P, II / I
Bells
Until 1927 the church did not have a tower. A free-standing wooden bell tower from around 1510 stood north of the church. The tower swayed strongly to and fro when the bell rang, but survived the movements without damage. The tower, which is over 400 years old, was allegedly the victim of a storm in November 1929, but fell against the direction of the wind, so it is assumed that some people helped with winches. It contained three bells from the years 1510, 1529 and 1839. The first two were in second and third in the First World War melted down. The two historical bells were replaced by two steel bells from the “ Bochumer Verein ” foundry after the Second World War . In 1932 a damaged bronze bell had already been cast there. A small bell from the year with the inscription of the church patron (St. John) and the two bell founders Andries van Bergen and Mammeus Fremy was originally housed in the roof turret of the church, which was hit by a bomb in 1944. After the Second World War she came to the Catholic Church in Füchtenfeld . After it was lifted in 2014, she returned to Wietmarschen . There are currently five bells in the bell step of the parish and pilgrimage church. The church also gained national attention through the “Wietmarscher Glockensturz”. In November 2016, one of the three steel bells fell on the floor below because the retaining bolts had cracked due to material fatigue.
Other equipment
In a small side chapel to the left of the entrance you can see a Pietà from around 1500, which was made from a single block of wood. Mary holds the body of her crucified Son. Your pain becomes clear through vividly emerging tears.
On the side walls of the church, the stations of the cross can be seen on painted panels of the Nazarene style of the 19th century.
In addition to the baroque high altar, there are two side altars from the baroque period . Wietmarschen Monastery flourished under the protection of Bishop Berhard von Galen. The St. Anne's altar in the right aisle was built in 1662. It was donated by Anna von Twickel, who at that time was the abbess of the high-nobility Freiweltlichen Stift Wietmarschen. In the main field you can see Jesus, Mary and their mother Anna. The top image shows how the angel announces the birth of a son to Mary. In the side niches there used to be figures of saints, but they are no longer there. The altar was made of sandstone by the sculptor Bernd Meiering from Rheine . The St. Nikolaus altar in the left aisle dates from 1663. It was also created by Bernd Meiering and has the same structure. It was donated by Anna Maria Grubbe from the Herinckhave House. The main field shows the saint kneeling in front of an altar as two angels appear to him. The upper field of view shows Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra . Saint Peter can also be seen on the left and Saint Joachim on the right .
Joannes Jacobus Bramenkampft, one of the monastery staff (teacher and organist) donated the representation of the "Christ in misery" in 1683. The sandstone figure was also created by Bernd Meiering.
There used to be several confessionals in the church. In 2014, a special confessional room was set up in place of this, in which anonymous confession as well as personal confessional interviews are possible.
The crucifixion group, a foundation of the Niehoff family, and the two saints in the nave date from the late 19th century.
Other valuable works of art and documents from the former collegiate church are on display in the monastery and pilgrimage museum in the administrator's house. Among other things, there is a sandstone Pietà from around 1700 by the sculptor Johann Mauritz Gröninger from Münster .
Pietà in the pilgrimage church
St. Anne's Altar
St. Nicholas Altar
literature
- Clemens Honnigfort: Wietmarschen. Monastery, monastery and village. Published by the Heimatverein Wietmarschen. Bad Bentheim 1994.
- Church and culture in Wietmarschen Abbey, a walk through the pilgrimage church and the historic abbey area. Published by the Heimatverein Wietmarschen, in conjunction with the parish of St. Johannes Apostel. Wietmarschen 2016.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ mps public solutions gmbh: Community portrait - place of pilgrimage. In: www.wietmarschen.de. Retrieved January 15, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c d e Andreas Eiynck: Church and culture in Wietmarschen Abbey - a walk through the pilgrimage church and through the historic abbey area . Ed .: Heimatverein Wietmarschen, parish of St. Johannes Apostel Wietmarschen. CHEESE PRESS Verlag, Werner Berning, Wietmarschen 2016, p. 22-37 .
- ↑ a b c mps public solutions gmbh: Community portrait - place of pilgrimage. Retrieved May 26, 2017 .
- ↑ Opening ceremony of the new Marienkapelle on July 1, 2014 , accessed on July 14, 2014.
- ↑ Bell crashed in Wietmarsch pilgrimage church . In: GN-Online . ( gn-online.de [accessed June 8, 2017]).
Coordinates: 52 ° 31 '2.7 " N , 7 ° 8" 3.9 " E