St. Laurentius (Grefrath)
The Catholic parish church of St. Laurentius is a listed church building in Grefrath in the district of Viersen ( North Rhine-Westphalia ).
History and architecture
The previous church, a three-aisled basilica from around 1200, had a three-apse closure and a built-in west tower . In 1177 and 1219 the ownership of this church was confirmed to the Knechtsteden monastery . This church was converted into the current church in the 15th century.
Today's four-aisled, asymmetrical tuff stone building was probably built in two phases in the 15th century. The four-storey tower is structured by pilaster strips and round arch friezes. It was built into the Gothic west facade with the renewed round arched column portal and covered with a steep, Gothic slate pyramid. The width of the central nave is determined by the width of the previous Romanesque building . Inside, spacious cross - rib vaults rest over round and octagonal pillars . The central nave and the north aisle form a hall. The east yoke of the north aisle is designed as a transept arm, it is marked in the keystone with 1492. The probably somewhat older south aisle is tiered in the style of a pseudo-basilica . In 1962 a fourth brick aisle was added. The sacristy on the north side of the choir is late Gothic. The sacristy on the south side of the choir was added in 1901. The interior was from 1962 to 1963 re-plastered and colored adopted . Of the lead glass windows from the 19th century, only the Cyriakus window in the east bay of the north aisle is preserved. The choir windows were created in 1939 by Heinrich Dieckmann .
Furnishing
- A Romanesque holy water font is walled in in the tower hall.
- An unmounted crucifix is from the 17th century.
- The standing figures of the church patrons Laurentius and Cyriakus come from the former high altar, they were recast at the beginning of the 18th century.
organ
The main organ was built in 1996 by the organ builder Lukas Fischer (Rommerskirchen) on a specially built gallery above the main entrance. Parts of the previous organ from 1928 were adopted in the instrument. In order to improve the sound, it was decided to install the majority of the pipes previously housed in the tower in the gallery as well. The instrument is in a solid oak case. It has 30 registers (1920 pipes, including 4 silent prospect pipes ) on three manuals and pedal . It was found that an organ with an electric action was out of the question due to the given circumstances, so a decision was made in favor of a completely mechanically operated organ, which, however, was difficult to realize due to the lack of space. Therefore the organ loft protrudes approx. 3.5 meters into the room. The wind turbine is housed in the tower chamber behind it, from where two wedge bellows operate the organ (wind pressure 65 mm Ws.).
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- Coupling: I / II, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
There is also a small organ, which is located to the left of the chancel by the choir stalls. It was completed together with the main organ in 1996 by organ builder Lukas Fischer from Rommerskirchen. It has six registers (Regal 8 ', Flute (D) 8', Rohrflöte 4 ', Gedackt (B) 8', Gedackt (D) 8 ', Principal 2') on a manual, which is divided into bass and treble .
literature
- Paul Clemen : The art monuments of the district of Kempen . Schwann-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1891.
- Georg Dehio , edited by Claudia Euskirchen, Olaf Gisbertz, Ulrich Schäfer: Handbuch der deutschen Kunstdenkmäler. North Rhine-Westphalia I Rhineland . Deutscher Kunstverlag , 2005 ISBN 3-422-03093-X
- Catholic parish of St. Laurentius Grefrath (ed.): Festschrift for the consecration of the organ, December 1, 1996, St. Laurentius, Grefrath . Grefrath 1996.
Web links
- History and photo (accessed April 12, 2012)
Coordinates: 51 ° 20 ′ 11.6 " N , 6 ° 20 ′ 28.4" E