St. Mary's Assumption (Uedelhoven)

View from the north

inside view

St. Assumption is a Roman Catholic parish church in Blankenheimer district Uedelhoven in Euskirchen in North Rhine-Westphalia .

The church is consecrated to the Assumption of Mary in Heaven and entered as a monument under number 146 in the list of architectural monuments in Blankenheim (Ahr) . The parish also includes the towns of Ahrdorf with the Hubertus Chapel, Haus Riental, Unkental, Bäber and the settlement of Krämer / Schnichels.

location

The church building is in the center of Uedelhoven in the rear area of ​​Kreuzstrasse (K 46).

history

A church in Uedelhoven was first mentioned in a document in 1136. In the document, Bishop Albero von Basel confirmed the Uedelhovener Church as the property of the Prüm Abbey . A man named Bertolf previously donated the church to the abbey. In the Liber valoris from 1308, a list of the archbishops of Cologne, Uedelhoven is already listed as an independent parish in the then Eifel dean of the Archdiocese of Cologne . At that time, the Prüm Abbey provided the pastors.

At the end of the 16th century, the Reformation had temporarily prevailed in Uedelhoven, for 1595 the Lutheran preacher Peter Beßlich is pastor in Uedelhoven, there was no Catholic clergyman at that time. In the course of the 17th century, however, the Uedelhovener returned to the Catholic faith.

With the occupation of the left bank of the Rhine by the French , the occupiers changed the church landscape. The Archdiocese of Cologne was dissolved on the left bank of the Rhine, now French. As a result, Uedelhoven was assigned to the Trier diocese in 1803 . That did not change until 1825, when Uedelhoven returned to the Archdiocese. Uedelhoven stayed with the Archdiocese of Cologne for exactly 105 years, the Diocese of Aachen was founded in 1930 and the parish has been part of it ever since.

Building history

Unfortunately, there is no information available about the age, origins and appearance of the parish church, first mentioned in 1136 and listed in the Liber valoris in 1308. From 1711 this church was rebuilt, two side walls were completely renewed and new vaults were drawn in. The measures were therefore equivalent to a new building. The construction work was completed by 1715, so that the Cologne Auxiliary Bishop Johann Werner von Veyder was able to consecrate the parish church on March 25, 1715 .

A severe fire in 1793, which destroyed almost the entire village, also badly damaged the parish church. The ruin was rebuilt. On this occasion the nave was raised slightly. The plans for the restoration came from Karl Gerstenmeyer from Dorsel and Balthasar Friedel from Hillesheim .

In the 1930s the church was too small for the increased population and it was decided to expand. Under the direction of the two architects Karl Schmitz and Carl Hermes from Aachen, the choir was first torn down and a transept and a new choir added to the nave. This created a cruciform church. The Second World War left only a little damage, in 1947 the Cologne painter Josef Marx painted the interior.

In 1983 the sanctuary was redesigned to meet the new requirements of the Second Vatican Council ; the new popular altar was consecrated on March 11, 1984.

Building description

St. Mariä Himmelfahrt is a simple one-nave cruciform church made of plastered quarry stone in Baroque shapes . The tower in the west is built in front of the three-axis nave. The choir in the east closes at right angles.

Furnishing

Mercy Seat, 18th century

In the church there are still a few pieces of equipment from the Baroque period, 18th century, and thus from the time it was built. These include the high altar in the choir, which was changed in 1939 and 1940 and restored in 1958, and the pulpit . The two baroque side altars were also preserved, but were removed in 1964. A wooden relief depicting the mercy seat has also been preserved from the 18th century .

The small organ is a work of the organ building workshop Gebrüder Müller , Reifferscheid , from the year 1891. The instrument has 8 stops on a mechanical action . In 1960 the Elsen company from Wittlich restored the organ. The pews and the stations of the cross originate from the same time as the organ.

The font is made of red sandstone and has a bronze lid, made by the artist Peter Haak from Erkelenz in 1954.

It is also worth mentioning three valuable historical vestments, the two oldest of which date from the 15th century and the younger from 1758.

The stained glass windows were created by three different artists. Two windows in the transept created in 1900 by an unknown artist. Depicted are Maria Immaculata and the Heart of Jesus. There are also four windows from 1930 that contain Christian symbols. The well-known glass painter Ernst Jansen-Winkeln created the two youngest windows from 1972. Ears and grapes are shown in one window and the Lamb of God in the window of the baptistery.

Others

In 1793 both the parish church and the entire village burned down. Since then, the so-called fire procession, which commemorates the terrible event, has taken place every May.

Pastor

The following priests have worked as pastors in the parish of St. Mary of the Assumption:

from ... to	Surname
1925-1932	Franz Welty
1932-1936	Cornel Johnen
1936-1953	Karl Graafen
1953-1958	Konrad Lemmen
1958-1963	Wilhelm Gelsdorf
1963-1989	Bernhard Witte
1990-1991	Leo Bell
1992-1994	Winfried Reidt
1994-1998	Heinrich Reidt
1998-2014	Hans-Peter Meuser
2014-2018	Josef Berger
Since 2018	Andreas Züll

Web links

Commons : St. Mary of the Assumption  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Episcopal General Vicariate (ed.): Handbook of the Diocese of Aachen 3rd edition, Aachen 1994, p. 526.
2. ↑ Episcopal General Vicariate (ed.): Handbuch des Bistums Aachen 3rd edition, Aachen 1994, p. 527.
3. ↑ Episcopal General Vicariate (ed.): Handbuch des Bistums Aachen 3rd edition, Aachen 1994, p. 527.
4. ↑ Blankenheim-Üdelhoven, Catholic Church of St. Mariä Himmelfahrt. In: Internet site Forschungsstelle Glasmalerei des 20. Jahrhundert eV Retrieved on September 21, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Episcopal General Vicariate (ed.): Handbook of the Diocese of Aachen 3rd edition, Aachen 1994, p. 526.

Coordinates: 50 ° 22 ′ 28.2 "  N , 6 ° 45 ′ 29.5"  E