St. Johannes Baptist (Mechernich)

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St. Johannes Baptist in Mechernich
Interior view with a view of the altar

St. Johannes Baptist is a Roman Catholic parish church in Mechernich in the Euskirchen district in North Rhine-Westphalia .

The church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist and was built in 1953 according to plans by Peter Salm . In addition to Mechernich itself, the parish also includes Roggendorf with the branch church St. Johannes and the residential areas Burgfey, Feyermühle, Vierwege and Marienau.

location

View from the altar to the organ stage

The parish church is located in the center of Mechernich between Turmhofstrasse and An der Kirche.

history

Mechernich is an old parish , it was first listed in writing in 1308 in Liber valoris and at that time belonged to the Deanery of Zülpich in the Archdiocese of Cologne . But there was a church in Mechernich for a long time, so the oldest parts of the old parish church, which is located on Lehrer-Philipp-Schumacher-Strasse, date from the 11th century. Perhaps there was a church in Mechernich as early as the Merovingian era .

In the Middle Ages the parish was significantly larger than it is today. The branches Schaven , Strempt and, since at least 1645, Roggendorf also belonged to it. When the church landscape was reorganized during the French era in 1804, the Schaven branch was re-parish to Kommern . In addition, the parish came to the newly founded diocese of Aachen . In 1825 Mechernich returned to the Archdiocese of Cologne. In 1888, Strempt was granted financial independence and became a chapel parish within the Mechernich parish. With the re-establishment of the Aachen diocese in 1930, Mechernich came to this diocese. Strempt has been a parish vicarie since 1960 and has not been a real branch of Mechernich since then. Thus today only Roggendorf belongs to the parish Mechernich as a branch.

Building history

In the middle of the 19th century, the previous parish church, located on a hill south of the village at the cemetery, became too small and it was decided to build a new church in the center of the village, but to keep the old parish church. The Meinertzhagen union and the Kreuser brothers donated a suitable piece of land as well as financial means for the new parish church. In 1858 the new parish church was built according to plans by architect Matthias Breidenbend . It was not until 11 years later, on September 23, 1866, that the new church was consecrated . The Nau was a neo - Gothic three - aisled church made of bricks, the nave had six bays , the tower was built in front of the nave and the choir was closed on three sides.

In the last weeks of the Second World War on February 24, 1945, the church was completely destroyed by bombs.

After the war, the rubble of the neo-Gothic parish church was removed and, in the early 1950s, architect Peter Salm from Aachen was commissioned to plan a new parish church on the same property. This is how today's parish church was built in 1953, the solemn church consecration took place on December 6, 1953. In the meantime, from 1945 to 1953, the services were held in the undamaged old parish church and in the Catholic clubhouse. Damage to the still new church was discovered as early as 1965 and was repaired between 1972 and 1974 and 1989.

Building description

St. Johannes Baptist is a white-plastered steel frame building in modern arched forms. The nave has two aisles and six bays, the choir closes at right angles. The bell tower stands in the gusset between the choir and aisle, and the sacristy is located in the basement .

Furnishing

In the church there is a baptismal font made of granite from 1514, it was originally in the old church. The three wooden figures Madonna and Child (19th century), Pietà (16th century) and John the Baptist (18th century) also come from the old church . Figures from the pulpit and a picture of Our Lady from the 19th century have been preserved from the destroyed previous church.

Altar , ambo and tabernacle are modern and were purchased after the Second Vatican Council . The organ dates from 1989 and is the work of the Kreienbrink organ manufacture from Osnabrück . The instrument has a mechanical action and 36 registers . The stained glass windows are works by Konrad Schaefer from 1960.

  • Foundation stone 1854/1952

  • Baptismal font from 1514

  • 19th century painting

  • Pieta 16th century

  • Mechernicher Madonna

  • Kreienbrink organ 1989

Pastor

The following priests have worked as pastors in the parish of St. Johannes Baptist:

from ... to Surname
1925-1949 Johannes Herff
1949-1967 Viktor Nailis
1967-1973 Rudolf Perschel
1973-1975 Gottfried Pergens
1975-1988 Karl-Heinz House
1978-1982 Wilhelm Robben
1982-1989 Wolfgang Schröer
1989-1998 Bernhard Frohn
Since 1998 Erik Pühringer

Web links

Commons : St. Johannes Baptist (Mechernich)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Episcopal General Vicariate (ed.): Handbuch des Bistums Aachen, Aachen 1994, p. 561.
  2. ↑ Episcopal General Vicariate (ed.): Handbuch des Bistums Aachen, Aachen 1994, p. 561.
  3. ↑ Episcopal General Vicariate (ed.): Handbuch des Bistums Aachen, Aachen 1994, p. 562.
  4. ↑ Mechernich, Catholic Church of St. Johann Baptist. In: Internet site Forschungsstelle Glasmalerei des 20. Jahrhundert eV Retrieved on December 18, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Episcopal General Vicariate (Ed.): Handbuch des Bistums Aachen 3rd edition, Aachen 1994, p. 561.

Coordinates: 50 ° 35 ′ 33 "  N , 6 ° 39 ′ 17.5"  E