St. Josef (Blankenburg)
The Church of St. Josef , sometimes also written as St. Joseph , is the Catholic church in Blankenburg (Harz) , a town in the Harz district in Saxony-Anhalt . It is a parish church in the Halberstadt deanery of the Magdeburg diocese . The church, named after Saint Joseph of Nazareth , is located at Helsunger Straße 40 (formerly Wilhelm-Pieck-Straße 40).
history
In Blankenburg, which has been Protestant since the Reformation , Catholic services were held again from the beginning of the 19th century, initially in an outbuilding of the castle . In 1834 Blankenburg came to the diocese of Hildesheim .
After 1870 the number of Catholics in Blankenburg and the surrounding area increased, as companies such as B. the ironworks offered jobs. On July 14th, 1881 the foundation stone of the church was laid by Dechant August Seneca from Halberstadt , and on August 22nd, 1882, also by Seneca, her benediction followed . From October 1905 Blankenburg had a permanent clergyman, previously it was supplied by clergy from Halberstadt. In 1907 the house next to the church was bought as a rectory. Around 1910 two side altars and a used organ were erected, followed by a bell in 1914 and 1928 . In 1932 side benches were installed, and in 1933 the church received heating for the first time. In 1936 the choir room was redesigned and the side walls were partially painted. In 1940 the Parish Vicarie Elbingerode-Rübeland was branched off from Blankenburg .
As a result of the Second World War , the number of Catholics in the area around Blankenburg increased due to the influx of refugees and displaced persons from the eastern regions of the German Empire . In 1948 a parish vicarie was established in Hasselfelde, which previously belonged to Blankenburg . On October 1, 1949, Blankenburg became an independent parish; it also belonged to the West German diocese of Hildesheim during the GDR , but was subordinate to the Apostolic Administrator of Magdeburg .
In 1960/61 the interior was redesigned, the communion bench , the pulpit and the side altars were removed and the previous organ was replaced by a new instrument. Since then, the interior has been kept in plain white. In 1969 the sacristy was enlarged and in 1974 an electric bench heater was installed. In that year the parish was raised to a parish, in 1994 its membership changed from the diocese of Hildesheim to the then newly founded diocese of Magdeburg. From 1995 to 1997 the interior was again redesigned. On November 15, 1997, Bishop Leo Nowak rededicated the church and consecrated a new altar . In 2001 the church got a new way of the cross by an Italian artist.
On March 1, 2006, the community association "Blankenburg-Hasselfelde" was established. The chapel in Hasselfelde, “Maria vom St. Rosary ", had already been given up in January 2006. Since then, Catholic services in Hasselfelde have been held in the Protestant St. Antonius Church. Today's parish was founded on May 2, 2010. On this occasion, the baptismal font from the dismantled Hasselfelder chapel was set up in the St. Joseph Church in 2010 . The 2011 census in the European Union showed that of the 21,118 inhabitants of the city of Blankenburg, 940 belonged to the Roman Catholic Church, which corresponds to around 4.5%. The vast majority of Blankenburg's residents do not belong to any religious community today.
Architecture and equipment
The church was built by the architect Edward Damme from Halberstadt in the form of a neo-Romanesque basilica . It is aligned on the north-south axis and has a 26.5 meter high tower. Local sandstone and red clinker were used for the construction.
Its interior, consisting of the central nave and two side aisles, offers over 110 seats and is closed off by a flat ceiling. The organ was built in 1961 by the organ building company A. Schuster & Sohn from Zittau . The confessional and the writing stand are located under the organ gallery. 14 stations of the cross hang on the side walls. To the left of the chancel there is a statue of the Virgin Mary, in front of which sacrificial candles can be placed, as well as the baptismal font . To the right of the chancel, another statue commemorates St. Joseph, the patron saint of the church, who is shown here with a saw as a symbol for his profession as a carpenter . The simple chancel is dominated by a crucifix on the back wall, underneath is the tabernacle .
Churches of the Hildesheim diocese in the GDR
During the existence of the GDR, six churches on their territory belonged to the Diocese of Hildesheim, but were subordinate to Apostolic Administrators residing in the GDR . The church in Neuhaus the administrator in Schwerin, the one in Blankenburg (Harz), Elbingerode (Harz) , Hasselfelde and Hessen the administrator in Magdeburg, and the one in Lower Saxony the administrator of Erfurt and Meiningen. Only the church in Neuhaus still belongs to the diocese of Hildesheim, the others are now assigned to the dioceses of Magdeburg and Erfurt , which have existed since July 8, 1994 .
See also
- List of cultural monuments in Blankenburg (Harz)
- List of church buildings in the Harz district
- Joseph's Church
literature
- Willi Stoffers: Diocese of Hildesheim today. Hildesheim 1987, ISBN 3-87065-418-X , pp. 172-173.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://wiki-bistumsgeschichte.de/wiki/index.php5?title=Spezial%3ASuche&search=Blankenburg&go=Seite
- ↑ http://www.bistum-magdeburg.de/front_content.php?idcat=1422&idart=2529&lang=5
- ↑ http://www.orgelbau-welde.de/werke/
Coordinates: 51 ° 47 ′ 25.2 " N , 10 ° 57 ′ 42.5" E