St. Johannis (Alfhausen)
The Catholic parish church of St. Johannis in Alfhausen dates from the 13th century and has furnishings from the Gothic period , such as a baptismal font made of Bentheim sandstone and a Radiant Madonna of the Master of Osnabrück from 1517. The church is consecrated to John the Baptist .
The Kirchhöfnerei was built around the church, a small row of houses built closely together that gave rise to a church castle.
Location and local conditions
The Johanneskirche formed the center of a fortified church and is located in the closed town center of Alfhausen, which was formed around the former fortified church. The frame of the former fortified church can still be seen in remnants; narrow houses without courtyards stand on the site of the former fortified warehouses, which served as a refuge in open church villages in times of war. Later it mostly became craft houses.
Foundation and foundation construction
The parish in Alfhausen emerged as a split from the ancient Ankum church ( Artländer Dom ), probably as early as the 11th century; It is mentioned for the first time in 1169. So far there are no more precise information about the circumstances and the exact time of the church's foundation, but it is assumed that Alfhausen already had its own wooden church at this time. It is explicitly mentioned for the first time in the fief register of the year 1350 of the bishop of Osnabrück. Its founding is attributed to the Corvey monastery , which owned land in Alfhausen. The church was built with the funds of the founders; it was probably the knights of Alfhausen who were also the owners of the Meyerhof. The rights of Corvey passed under Bishop Benno II to the Diocese of Osnabrück . It can be assumed that the first wooden church was replaced by a stone building in the Romanesque style in the early 13th century. The legend about the construction of the church, which became a burden for the small community, so that a mysterious mold helped to transport the stones comes from this time.
Parts of a single-nave building in the Romanesque style have been preserved as well as the lower half of the square tower made of boulders and rubble stones and the adjacent gable wall of the nave.
Building description
In front of the western front of the church there is an undivided Romanesque tower made of sandstone and boulders , which still has the character of a defense. A small, stepped round arch portal forms the west entrance. A neo-Gothic sandstone figure of John the Baptist was placed above the tower portal in the 1980s.
In the upper part there are ogival, retrofitted sound holes. The baroque helmet with an open lantern was created after the great storm of 1703 destroyed the old pointed helmet on December 8, 1703 .
Originally the church was single-nave and Romanesque, remnants of this building are still in the west wall. At the end of the 15th century a three-aisled Gothic hall church was built , which was consecrated in 1489. The exterior of this building is also preserved in the first three bays with narrow struts. Only the southern portal is old. In 1883, the cruciform floor plan was expanded over a large area. The large neo-Gothic transept and the sandstone choir are from this period. The architect was Franz Xaver Lütz in Osnabrück.
The choir windows show the themes of the Annunciation, Birth and Baptism of Christ and are framed by neo-Gothic ornamentation. The neo-Gothic altar furnishings had to give way to modernization in 1964. From the old stock, only a double wooden ray Madonna hung in the crossing , which is attributed to the workshop of the "Master of Osnabrück".
In addition to a candlestick from the 18th century with spindle and ball, the Romanesque font of the Bentheinm type has been preserved. The basin rests on crouching lions, faces, tendrils and grapes in bas-relief are framed by dew-shaped ribbons.
Furnishing
Radio service
On March 3, 2013 the Norddeutsche Rundfunk broadcast a radio service from the St. Johannis Church.
literature
- Helmut Niedernostheide, Franz Huchkemper: Church leader parish church St. Johannis Alfhausen. Catholic parish St. Johannis Alfhausen (no date)
- 1000 years of Alfhausen . Alfhausen parish 1977
- Heinrich Böning: Art Guide Bersenbrücker Land . Kreisheimatbund Bersenbrück eV 1993. ISBN 3-92117-648-4
Individual evidence
- ↑ Church leaders
- ↑ Art Guide
- ↑ Will-Erich Peuckert, Günter Petschel (Hsg): Lower Saxony sagas. University of Michigan 1984. ISBN 3509011287 . P. 180
- ↑ Helmut Niedernostheide: Church guide parish church St. Johannis Alfhausen p. 3 . Print & Foil Kuper, Alfhausen, S. 24 .
- ↑ In Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung of February 27, 2013: "Pastor Warning and radio: NDR transmits fair from Alfhausen"
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 30 '0.9 " N , 7 ° 57' 9.4" E