St. Kastor (Rengsdorf)

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Catholic Church of St. Castor

The Roman Catholic Church of St. Kastor in Rengsdorf ( Rhineland-Palatinate , Germany ) was built in 1924 and was given its current appearance in 1974 through extensive renovation. As a branch church , it is affiliated with the parish church " Hl. Guardian Angel " in Kurtscheid and belongs to the Roman Catholic "parish community Kurtscheid, Niederbreitbach and Waldbreitbach ".

history

August 29, 857 is the date of the first mention of a church in Rengsdorf (and thus also the place Rengsdorf), namely in a document of the Trier Bishop Tietgaut, in which the tenth district of the parish is described. The church was a separate church in the district of the Koblenz Kastorstift with its own tenth district for the upkeep of the church and priest , i.e. H. the proceeds from the tithe were to be transferred to the St. Kastor monastery in Koblenz ("ad altarem St. Castoris"). St. Castor worked as a missionary in Karden on the Moselle in the 4th century . The church is the only church in the Westerwald documented before the year 1000 . The church from 857 stood on the site of the current Protestant church in Rengsdorf. At first it was probably a wooden church. In the 12th century a stone church was built, of which the broken stone tower is still preserved. The church was consecrated to John the Baptist ("Johann Baptist", attested in 1347). In 1905, when a new nave was built in neo-Gothic style, the old church tower was plastered over and given a new point. Count Johann IV zu Wied introduced the Reformation in 1560 in his domain . In 1563 the community of Rengsdorf got its first evangelical pastor, Johannes Heyen von Cobern. In 1564 a synod of the parishes of the Wiedisches Land met in Honnefeld and passed resolutions to carry out the Reformation. At the Synod of Dierdorf in 1587, the delegates of the parishes agreed to introduce the Heidelberg Catechism ( Reformed Confession) in the Wiedisches Land. Since the time of the Reformation, the church at the old location with the associated parish has been Protestant.

Until the boom in tourism around 1890, the proportion of Catholics in the Rengsdorf community was low. With the guests coming from the Catholic Rhineland , there was a need for a Catholic Sunday service, which resulted in the decision to build a Roman Catholic church.

The start of construction was delayed by the First World War . On June 15, 1924, the church council decided to build the new church in Rengsdorf. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on September 1, 1924 and the church was consecrated on June 14, 1925. The new Roman Catholic church in Rengsdorf was consecrated to St. Castor , the Apostle of the Moselle Franconia . In 1928 the simple emergency altar was replaced by a donated new high altar .

In 1942 the only bell was melted down. Later in the Second World War , the church suffered serious damage in a bombing raid.

After the war, the damage was soon repaired thanks to numerous donations and foundations.

Interior

In 1974 the church was rebuilt to its present form. The reforms of the Second Vatican Council (people's altar ) made it necessary to enlarge the sanctuary . The old sexton's apartment and the classroom were demolished.

  • The new altar is on the face of the Holy. Kastor, carrying in one hand the Kastorkirche to Koblenz, a reference to the original founding of the Catholic community in Rengsdorf, while the other hand on host and vine , the symbols of the Eucharist implies, .
  • On the right side of the chancel is the old altarpiece " Heart of Jesus ", which was restored in 2003 after many years in the church's attic and put back in the church.
  • The two statues to the left and right of the altar represent the " Mother of God " and St. Joseph .
  • The Mayer organ was purchased in 1983.
  • On the right side of the nave there is a relief showing a sailing ship, above it the hand of God as a reference to the legend of the rescue of the ship through the intercession of St. Castor.
  • On the left side of the building three men can be seen, perhaps they should be the companions of St. Castor: Potentinus, Felicius and Simplicius, all of whom came from Aquitaine .
  • The tabernacle is designed with reference to the biblical passage from the " Revelation of John ". On the front you can see the seven angels of the seven churches and on the left a hand with seven stars and on the right seven candlesticks. On the back is the " Tree of Life ". The tabernacle is surrounded by a wooden figure depicting the " burning bush ".
  • On the street side of the church you can see a window showing the ordination of St. Castor by Bishop Maximin . This window was donated by Archbishop Franz Rudolf Bornewasser , Bishop of Trier from 1922 to 1951. A second window is said to have shown the transfer of the remains of St. Castor to Koblenz , but it was destroyed in the Second World War.

Other side windows show:

Klosterweg

The “Klosterweg”, which opened in May 2009, begins at the St. Kastor Church and connects the Rheinsteig hiking trail from Rengsdorf to the Westerwald-Steig in Waldbreitbach . The Klosterweg leads from the church car park in Friedrich-Ebert-Straße in the direction of Hardert , via Ehlscheid and Kurtscheid into the Wiedtal valley to the St. Marienhaus monastery . From there you continue to the parish church in Waldbreitbach and the connection to the Westerwald-Steig. With a length of 17 kilometers , the route is designed as a day's stage.

literature

  • Peter Sander: "The building of the catholic chapel", p. 233f., In local community Rengsdorf (ed.): "1150 years Rengsdorf", total production mohrmedien GmbH, Rengsdorf 2007.
  • Albert Hardt: "In the wiedischen Land", Neuwied 1989, p. 198ff.

Web links

Coordinates: 50 ° 30 ′ 19 ″  N , 7 ° 29 ′ 48 ″  E