St. Maria Magdalena (Berlin-Niederschönhausen)

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St. Mary Magdalene
View from the street, March 2017

View from the street,
March 2017
Construction year: 1929/1930
Inauguration: September 21, 1930
Architect : Felix Sturm
Client: Parish
of St. George, Pankow
Floor space: 28 × 15 m
Space: 330 people
Tower height:

27 m
to the top of the highest cross 33 m

Location: 52 ° 35 '3.4 "  N , 13 ° 23' 39"  E Coordinates: 52 ° 35 '3.4 "  N , 13 ° 23' 39"  E
Address: Platanenstrasse 22b
Berlin-Niederschönhausen
Berlin , Germany
Purpose: Roman Catholic service
Local community: Catholic parish of St. Georg
Parish: St. Georg in Berlin-Pankow
Website: Parish / Catholic parish St. Georg Berlin

The Roman Catholic Church of St. Maria Magdalena at Platanenstrasse 22b in the Berlin district of Niederschönhausen is a building in the Expressionist style and was built from 1929 to 1930 according to plans and under the direction of the architect Felix Sturm from Berlin-Pankow . The church has been a branch of the parish church of St. Georg in Pankow since May 1st, 2004 .

Building and community history

prehistory

The Pankow pastor Kuratus Hubert Teubner, who has been responsible for all Pankow Catholics including the Niederschönhausen catchment area since the end of the 19th century, had acquired a 3600 m² plot of land in Platanenstrasse in 1907 from the Terrain-Aktiengesellschaft Pankow for a purchase price of 30,000  RM . Provided as a loan from the Kurmärkischen Knighthood Loan Fund. To bridge the gap until the construction of a church was planned and could begin, Teubner rented a former carpentry workshop and an apartment for the sexton at Waldowstraße 27 at the Handwerksbank Wedding. He had the workshop converted into a chapel . The numerous Catholics who had moved here were able to use the emergency chapel with the name Maria Hilf from September 7, 1907 for the storage of the Holy of Holies , for high mass with sermon and for the celebration of Holy Mass .

But the chapel soon proved to be too small for the growing crowd of Catholics from Niederschönhausen, Blankenfelde and French-Buchholz (that was around 3500 people). Besides, it was actually just an emergency facility, as Kuratus Teubner noted:

“This church was poor, more like a shed than a house of God. In summer there was great heat in the small and low room, in winter the water ran down the walls. The neighboring cowshed with its lovely smells made the stay in this stable in Bethlehem not very pleasant. Nevertheless, the people of Niederschönhausen loved their poor little church and decorated it as best they could with more goodwill than artistic taste. "

Several clergymen led the fortunes of the Pankow Curate in quick succession: Kuratus Teubner until autumn 1911, Kuratus Bernhard Lichtenberg until the beginning of 1912, Kuratus Teodor Kubina (later Bishop of Czenstochau) until September 1912 and then Pastor Mitschke.

Maria Frieden chapel around 1921

Because the emergency chapel soon could no longer hold the faithful from the Niederschönhausen catchment area and it also had to be abandoned due to structural defects, the Maria Frieden home in Nordend , which the Joseph Sisters had set up, allowed the use of the local chapel. First of all, the Niederschönhausen Catholics under Pastor Mitschke moved to Nordend in October 1920 with the entire equipment of their previous chapel. In the chapel, which had been prepared from a large room in the house, Holy Mass could now be celebrated daily for the sisters and Catholics from Niederschönhausen , celebrated by invited clergy from Christian associations from Pankow. As a result of the good reception, other rooms in the home were quickly included in the services. Because of the great housing shortage at the beginning of the 20th century, the city of Berlin had confiscated the two large houses of the home for residential purposes just in these years, so that this also had an impact on the Catholic community.

Building the church

After two provisional arrangements in 23 years, there was pressure to build a permanent church building on Platanenstrasse . The first fund-raising by Pastor Mitschke services until the outbreak of World War 19,000  Mark . But this money, invested in war bonds by the parish, was completely destroyed by inflation , but the property was preserved. The corresponding loan was repaid in 1923. The collections for the building had to start all over again. The Lichterfeld architect Carl Kloß provided the first plan for a church on the initiative of Pastor Mitschke around 1923, but this was shelved. In the chronicle it says: "The building would only have become a meaningless box with an adjoining small apartment for a church servant."

On October 2, 1924, a church building association was founded, in addition, the pastor sent begging letters to all Catholic parishes in Germany, gave begging sermons, distributed donation postcards; The summer festivals held on the church property also brought in a larger amount of donations. By November 1927 it was possible to collect around 19,000  marks . However, the building price was estimated at around 156,000 marks, so that Pastor Oskar Feige from Pankow, who was now responsible for the curate in Niederschönhausen, submitted an application for funding to the Greater Berlin Catholic Association. The approval granted stipulated that the municipality had to bear the costs for the complete interior decoration itself.

The new plans for the church building had the Pankow architect Felix Sturm worked out, the engineering calculations yielded Ing. Fekete from Berlin-Wilmersdorf . (Felix Sturm was a parishioner.)

Pastor Feige broke ground on April 25, 1929 and was able to celebrate the laying of the foundation stone on Ascension Day, May 9, 1929 , which the Archpriest Kayser from Hermsdorf carried out on behalf of the prince-bishop's delegation in front of numerous guests. A large cross was erected at the point where the high altar was later to stand, and various coins were placed in the foundation stone in addition to the Latin document and Catholic newspapers. A model of the future church could be seen on the church square.

On May 15, 1929, the previous chaplain Josef Lenzel was issued the certificate of appointment as curate of the new community. He would have liked to have had more influence on the construction progress. On the other hand, there was closer collaboration between Felix Sturm and the sculptor Paul Müller from Pankow, who as a member of the building commission was responsible for the artistic design of the house. For example, Müller succeeded in inserting a large tympanum instead of the planned vestibule , for which even finished parts of the front wall had to be torn down again. Only a narrow vestibule remained. However, Lenzel made sure, through direct contact with the general Catholic association, that an extension was added to the already finished shell of the church, in which the parish office and a youth home could be accommodated in the basement below. In the chronicle it says: “Where would we have been without this, after no effort had been made to build a rectory?” At first there was no apartment for the pastor near the church.

Entrance area of ​​the Maria Magdalena Church

In preparation for the new parish, Kuratus Lenzel made some changes to the church's areas of responsibility: Originally, the districts of Niederschönhausen, Berlin-Rosenthal III (the Nordend area) and Berlin-Buchholz belonged to the Pankow pastoral care district. Rosenthal I (the historic village center) and II (the area around the waterworks), on the other hand, were parish to Berlin-Reinickendorf , although politically they also belonged to Pankow. The local Catholics moved to Niederschönhausen at the instigation of Kuratus Lenzel. The other Pankow district Berlin-Blankenfelde was parish after Berlin-Hermsdorf . Lenzel also took over this pastoral care after consultation with the local pastor. In December 1929, the catchment area of ​​the new house of God determined by Bishop Schreiber was as follows:

“In the east, the border goes through currently undeveloped area along the western border from Berlin-Buchholz to a point where Prenzlauer Chaussee crosses the Panke . From there the Panke forms the southern border against Pankow to the Stettiner Nordbahn . From there it coincides with the border between the 19th (Pankow) and 20th (Reinickendorf) districts of Berlin. [...] Then the border runs along the Rosenthal-Liebenwalder Bahn to the intersection with the Tegel-Friedrichsfelder Industriebahn . From there it goes through undeveloped land to the northern border of Greater Berlin , with which it coincides. "

The new chapel congregation steadily gained new members, associations and groups were formed and a church choir (1929), a parament circle (1931) and a living rosary (1933) were founded.

Pastor Lenzel also worked to ensure that the around 40 Catholic families from Blankenfelde and Schildow, for whom the Marienthal settlement was newly built on behalf of the Mariengarten settlement company , could use the local inn for the Sunday service. Intensive sought Lenzel for a way to own for Catholics in this area his pastoral church to build, but this was rejected due to lack of capital from the Episcopal Ordinariate. However, he succeeded in hiring a clergyman for the Schildow area in August 1936. In the following year, Blankenfelde and Schildow were ceded to the parish association of Hermsdorf. Later a Catholic church was built there too.

The bells , consisting of four bronze bells, had been commissioned by the municipality - after considering whether bronze bells or the cheaper sound steel bells should be ordered - from the Otto bell foundry , which they had cast in their Wroclaw branch . The financing came from a personal loan from parishioner Ms. Gupkarl over 3000 Marks, which she granted to Kuratus Lenzel. (The money collected through the church building association was intended for the purchase of the altars , benches and the sacristy furniture, but not for the bells.) Lenzel thus donated the bells, the production of which was originally supposed to cost 4,200 marks; because of a blemish the price was later reduced to 3,600 marks.

Kuratus Lenzel ordered the chime from the Bachert bell foundry in Karlsruhe, which had made a very affordable offer. When everything was installed, Pastor Oskar Feige from the St. George parish, due to the vacant position of the auxiliary bishop, consecrated the bells on the church property on October 2, 1929 .

Finally, on September 21, 1930 , Bishop Christian Schreiber consecrated the church in the name of St. Mary Magdalene as the church's patroness . The naming was preceded by a dispute between various parishioners who had collected donations for a Maria-Hilf church. With the reference that a Marienkirche already existed in the neighboring Reinickendorf and that the home in Nordend also had Maria in its name, Pastor Feige suggested Maria Magdalena. He had taken this idea from the sermon of a famous Dominican priest at the time, who had said that “the Sündenbabel Berlin belongs to a church that must be consecrated to the great penitent Mary Magdalene .” At the evening celebration after the consecration, Kuratus Lenzel received directly from the bishop the title of pastor and the right to wear the parish collar.

Further developments

One of the Stations of the Cross windows

With a document dated February 16, 1931, the Episcopal Ordinariate granted approval for the construction of a Way of the Cross . Thereupon the 14-colored windows of the cross in the nave were blessed with a devotion.

The church building including the property represented a value of 168,000 marks in autumn 1931, according to the rules it belonged to the Berlin Catholic Association, which now "generously donated" it to the community in Niederschönhausen.

During Advent and Christmas 1932, the congregation bought a Christmas crib and set it up in the altar area. Pastor Lenzel had already made sure that a picture painted by parishioner Eugen Barbe, The Adoration of the Shepherds, based on the painting of the same name by Murillo, was reminded of the Christmas events.

For more cult objects, the community members dedicated most personally by cash or in-kind donations, the pastor received an embroidered by a Lady Artist humeral veil , an "original canopy with, birds of paradise, '" one of the Wrocław goldsmith Adolf from brass crafted and with semi-precious stones studded monstrance , a small crucifix for the baptistery, silver-plated candlesticks for the St. Mary's altar and much more. The artisans who were involved in the construction also donated additional pieces of equipment. Theatrical performances by the journeyman's association Nord-Pankow (with President Josef Lenzel) generated income for which the Easter candlestick and the Eternal Lamp could be purchased. Even other church associations participated in the equipment, which in the book especially parament club St. Clare in Aachen was highlighted that "worked a number vestments for us." In detail, in the Chronicle, many community members mentioned by name with a description of Donate.

In 1934 an organ manual was installed on the west gallery, which came from the Rieger organ building workshop in Bohemia. It now took the place that the Charlottenburg organ builder Hans Casper should actually have filled with his work. Kuratus Lenzel noted in the chronicle about this process: “The organ builder Casper in particular pretended to have the organ ready by the time of the consecration and hid his incapacity behind his nocturnal hustle and bustle. And really, he didn't manage the work. ”However, the congregation had made an advance payment and later did not get their money back from the organ builder Casper. A second manual for the Rieger organ was installed at Pentecost 1938. The procurement of the organ represented an "eight year history of true tragedy".

In November 1935, the NS authorities banned the annual community evening, later also Caritas street gatherings, all community festivals and in September 1938 even the publication of the Catholic church newspaper. The influence of the Nazi state on the churches became particularly evident when a public papal coronation ceremony planned for all of Berlin was prohibited in 1936.

Pastor Lenzel was able to celebrate his 25th anniversary as a priest here in the parish on June 13, 1940 by celebrating a high mass himself and by the women's choir (the 11 helpers ) of the church choir performing the Missa de Angelis . The whole parish took an active part in their pastor's festival.

In January and March 1941 the church received the “ Guardian Angels ” made of shell limestone by Frohnau sculptor Hans Lotter . According to Lenzel's order, there were to be ten light angels, but the art commission in the ordinariate rejected the plaster models, they were not in line with contemporary tastes and the number was also unsuitable. The Engel campaign dragged on , changes in style and other differences of opinion prompted Pastor Lenzel to order eight angels at his own risk. He had the first four angels set up on both sides at the feet of the two evangelist sculptures, the other four found space on the column capitals that had become free through a previous change in the lighting technology. So the guardian angels found the approval of the ordinariate after all. The total price - excluding transport and installation costs - was 1,440 marks.

In October 1941, Lotter's workshops from Waidmannslust delivered the six figures of the apostles , which were placed on the remaining columns of the aisles. These were the representations of Peter , Paul , Andrew , James the Elder , Matthew and Judas Thaddäus . The sculptures were together with the Angels in November benediziert . But since the style of the evangelists Mark and John absolutely did not match the apostle figures, the pastor had the evangelists set up on consoles on the gallery parapet.

In the same year 1941, Bishop Konrad von Berlin decreed that the curate was legally independent, which was officially raised to a parish . In retrospect, in January 1942, the Berlin police chief confirmed this change in accordance with applicable law. At that time, the community of Niederschönhausen belonged administratively to the Archipresbyteriat Berlin-Weißensee and this to the general association of Catholic parishes in Greater Berlin.

From 1940, Pastor Lenzel had been very committed to Polish forced laborers who were housed in a camp on the grounds of Schönholz Palace. He carried out separate services for them in his church, and later he invited other forced laborers from different nations to visit the church. For church services that took place in a French prisoner-of-war camp in Lichtenberg , he even lent liturgical equipment with the consent of his ordinariate .

Memorial to Pastor Lenzel

Pastor Lenzel's pastoral work finally ended when he was arrested by the Gestapo on January 7, 1942. He was accused of working for the slave laborers and advocating for Jesus Christ with the commandment of charity. He was murdered on July 3, 1942 in the Dachau concentration camp . In his memory, the VVN organization put a plaque next to the church entrance on September 8, 1945 with the life of the clergyman and the inscription “as a fighter against fascism”. On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the return of the day of death, this plaque was removed and instead a memorial, financed and commissioned by the parish, was inaugurated, as shown in the picture.

The three large bronze bells had to be delivered as a metal donation from the German people in 1942 and were remelted into war equipment. The small Ave bell was retained because the church council had previously removed it and buried it in the parish garden.

The church building survived the Second World War with only minor damage, although shrapnel and incendiary bombs fell on the church grounds and many houses in the area were destroyed. During an air raid in September 1941, “a fairly large shrapnel broke through the glass roof over the office entrance”, but no one was harmed.

However, the windows in the choir room and the windows on the second floor later broke. An incendiary bomb had also fallen directly into the nave, but Pastor Juzek had wrapped it in a blanket and carried it out of the building himself. In February 1945 a phosphor grenade fell in the parish garden, but did not explode and sank into the ground. It was only found in the 1990s and could be safely defused.

Missing parsonage and renovation ideas for the church

The procedure provided by the construction plans of the architect tower building ensemble of a local and a Rectory, which should connect using archways side of the church buildings, was dropped for financial reasons.

At the same time as the organ was completed in 1937, Pastor Lenzel took up the question of a parsonage again. He found various ways of building a house for the pastor near the church. These included a possible purchase of land in Eichenstrasse, the acquisition of investors or lenders, and Pastor Lenzel also tried, in cooperation with the life insurance company Beo , for which he was eagerly promoting deals in the community, to take out a mortgage for the construction of the rectory. The land charge for the church property should be converted into a mortgage. This idea was opposed to the recently passed Reich Insurance Act, according to which state institutions (such as financial institutions) were prohibited from lending money for church purposes. The procurement of private capital also repeatedly proved impossible. Regardless of the unclear situation, the church architect Felix Sturm had made new construction plans for a rectory, but did not bother with the financial issues. After many personal conversations and contacts, Joseph Lenzel was finally able to rent an entire floor as a parish apartment with guest rooms in a residential building that was being built nearby in October 1938, the rent of 145 marks was taken over by the Catholic Association. However, a basic building sum was available and Lenzel "now concentrated on the accumulation of a larger building fund." After the installments for the expansion of the organ had been paid off at the end of 1939, Pastor Lenzel wanted the sum of more than 4,000 marks that had meanwhile accumulated in the building fund Have at least one parish hall built on church property. He again contacted the architect Sturm with the request for "the fastest preparation of plans and the calculation of the approximate costs." It should cost almost 7,000 marks. After a few months and the declaration required by the building authorities to only use old materials for the construction - which architect Sturm wanted to get from demolitions - the community received the building permit. The first preparatory work under the direction of the master builder Hermann Bautz from Niederschönhausen had just begun when the Second World War broke out. The authorities withdrew trucks for the war effort, so that the delivery of stones and timber was slow. Finally, all preparatory work had to be stopped.

There was no parsonage or parish hall in Niederschönhausen until the end of the “ Third Reich ”. The accumulated construction costs were used in 1940 to have a group of statues of the church patroness Maria Magdalena and Our Lady of Sorrows made by the sculptor Lorenz, which was installed above the high altar because Bishop Preysing had registered for a visit. Furthermore, Pastor Lenzel had a brocade regalia made and a gold-plated measuring cup for his own account . When the war continued after 1940, the authorities ordered the establishment of an air raid shelter , but did not permit any construction work.

The pure baptistery was furnished in 1938 with a chandelier , a painting Jesus dies on the cross and a specially made black mourning flag and after the consecration it served as a memorial hall for the dead of the community.

For the conflict-free distribution of the church scriptures, Pastor Lenzel developed the idea of ​​building a vestibule to the church that could cover the platform to the front staircase. To relieve space in the sacristy and to keep it safe from theft, he wanted parament cabinets to be built into the tower room. Otherwise the tower room could have been used as a parish library. Other suggestions related to minor changes in the nave: installation of additional folding seating in the side aisles, renewal of the paint on the walls, in the vaulted ceiling and in the baptistery, Lenzel even thought of the frescoes , which then show scenes from the life of Maria Magdalena could. He imagined in detail that a golden mosaic could be installed in the conche behind the altar . But he also implemented very practical suggestions, especially to improve the electrical lighting of the church interior.

After 1945

In 1946 the parish opened a kindergarten in a rented house at Platanenstrasse 88; the school sisters from the Maria Frieden home had taken care of the care . After the sisters had given up their ministry here, the parish continued to run the kindergarten on its own.

From autumn 1961, the Catholics from the Pankow district were Wilhelmsruh that until construction of the wall by Reinickendorf were gepfarrt, hosted by the St. Mary Magdalene municipality. In order to save these people the long journey to Niederschönhausen, the pastor held services on two Sundays a month in the Evangelical Luther Church in Wilhelmsruh .

In the 1960s buried the church symbolically the guardian angels who had done so to its name.

Lenzel home

Since all previous efforts by Pastor Lenzel to build a parsonage were ultimately unsuccessful, Pastor Grunschewski took up the project again. The existing rooms (a room in the church tower, the Caritas cellar under the church) increasingly turned out to be too small and unsuitable for the numerous activities of the community. He succeeded in procuring a transportable building shack and having it converted in a suitable manner. The community facility created in 1970–1972 was given the honorary name Lenzel-Heim .

Maria on the former well basin on the tower front

At some point in these years the former baptistery or the place of honor was completely abolished, it was structurally in a bad condition. The church council decided to move the figure of Mary to the outside facade of the church so that it could be placed in place of the small fountain. The pipe system was ailing and should have been replaced. The wall received a tile picture of Mary and thus became a Lady Chapel .

In autumn 1979 preparations were made for the 50th anniversary of the church consecration, for this purpose Pastor Grunschewski divided the pulpit and had the halves moved to the left and right of the altar, the painting was also renewed, the worshiping angels moved in front of the organ gallery, with their feet being sawed off and the two evangelists were moved back to the side altars.

From the post-war period to the beginning of the 1990s, there were further renovations and modernizations around, on and in the church, which enriched life in the community of Niederschönhausen. This includes, for example, a new, lighter painting of the nave in the spring of 1952, the consecration of three new sound steel bells by Oskar Feige on March 15, 1959, and the renovation of the church roof carried out in 1981.

After the political change in 1994, the previous owner of the property at Platanenstrasse 88, which had been rented as a kindergarten since 1946, was interested in using the house for himself and canceled the lease. It was fitting that, for financial reasons, the Pankow district office had advertised the municipal kindergarten in what was then Straße 5 (since March 1999: Boris-Pasternak-Weg) 16 for a new institution - the Maria Magdalena community received this house to continue childcare and arranged for some renovation work. Since then 65 children can be looked after here. The rectory was extensively renovated in 1991. Finally, in 1995, a new microphone system was purchased for the church. The Archdiocese of Berlin has now financed renovation work on and in the church, including the organ , and the worshiping angels have been restored and put back on the altar. In addition, the heating and electrical system in the church interior could be modernized, and the electrical system in the church tower and the sound hatches were renewed.

Later on, the paths on the property, the steps and the entrance area of ​​the church were renovated. The last renovations were carried out by the roofing company Löbel, which renewed the entire roofing in 2007 with the support of the Bonifatiuswerk .

The poor financial situation of the Archdiocese of Berlin and the falling number of parishioners led to the amalgamation of the parish of St. Maria Magdalena with the Catholic parish of St. Georg in Berlin-Pankow on April 30, 2004. Since then, only the parish of St. Georg has existed, in which the two individual parishes are grouped under one name.

In 2003 the community development association St. Maria Magdalena e. V. founded. All voluntary activities are under the motto “work with people”.

architecture

Exterior

The brick church building was completely clad with Bytom clinker bricks . According to the architect's plans, the church was to be supplemented by a parish and parish hall to the right and left of the towering rectangular tower , but this plan could not be implemented for cost reasons.

Terracotta picture above the entrance area

Originally the side aisles, the parish office and the sacristy of the church were covered with roofing felt. During the last years of the war these parts of the roof were often penetrated by shrapnel, but could be repaired. In 1941 the possibility arose of applying zinc plates and painting them green, which the sexton did himself. The risk of fire was thus considerably reduced. The main church building, on the other hand, was covered with red roof tiles from the start ; The work on the first construction was carried out by the local roofing company Johann Rheinländer. During repair work after the Second World War , all roof parts were given uniform roof tiles.

Diagonal projecting attachments form the staircase leading to the porch in front of the tower, surmounted by a terracotta - relief in the tympanum the Epiphany of the Lord after the resurrection shows. The relief image and the inscription SOLI DEO HONOR ( Latin for `` God alone honor '') above the rectangular wing doors were made to designs by the sculptor Paul Halbhuber . Other star shapes can be found on the facade, including windows.

To the left of the portal is the figure of Mary, which was originally placed on the baptismal font. This stood to the left of the entrance inside the church, which after renovation work became the Marien-Chapel and presents a small Marien altar with a mosaic portrait.

tower

Tower top

The architect used floor cornices , knob-like protruding corner stones and triangular windows to decorate the facade of the tower . Three equally large and juxtaposed sound arcades in a polygonal oval shape form an equally eye-catching ornament (see picture). Above it are stepped cornices, which are closed with a flat tent roof. Three identical tower crosses of steel beams, beginning with gold leaf shows also serve as a lightning rod. Kuratus Lenzel had tried in vain to position only a single cross on the tower during construction. The staircase to the organ loft, the community room and the bell chamber begins to the right of the church entrance, 76 steps lead up to the top. The three steel bells newly installed in 1959 hang one behind the other on steel girders, the small bronze bell is located closer to the southern wall and close to the sound hole on an extra spar.

Interior

Interior, looking towards the altar

The interior, which is entered from the east under the tower through a vestibule, is executed in a mixture of Art Nouveau and Expressionism . In the 21st century, everything is essentially left in its original state. The semicircular apse with its vertical sections converging parabolically at the top is built around the high altar . The walls initially showed a coarsely structured and dark-looking color, which was lightened after 1950. The windows in the upper row of the choir room were redesigned in the 1950s with preserved original glass panes made of slightly tinted opaque glass, the other window areas in the upper aisle of the nave, designed as narrow arched windows, were at the same time inserted in matching delicate colors. The earlier three-part windows with a portrait in the middle are no longer available and have not been renewed according to the building documents.

A stepped triumphal arch connects the central nave and the apse. The vault shape , the lighting and the architecture of the apse encompass the entire church space and direct the gaze to the altar, the sacramental focus of every worship service . The cross-vaulted side chapels lead to the side aisles, which are designed as walkways for processions . The glass pictures on the theme of the Passion of Christ are incorporated into the walls of the side aisles and, due to their expressiveness, are a fitting example of expressionist art.

The pillars in the central and side aisles as well as the triumphal arch and the gallery parapet are clad with shell-limestone concrete. All parts of the vault are self-supporting made of Monier .

Because of the very narrow aisles, the central nave is spacious and wide, both of which form the basilically laid out nave, which is divided by parallel arches. From the central nave, high stitch caps lead from the parabolic barrel to the arches of the transept . The side altars have their places at these points to the right and left of the chancel on the front sides of the aisles.

Despite the tight financial resources, noble materials, especially marble, were used for the furnishings : the choir is laid out like a chessboard with yellow and red panels ( German- yellow marble and Hungarian-red marble ), the high altar is made of Schupbach marble . In addition, Solnhofen slabs were used for the church floor and Belgian granite for the side altars.

Furnishing

Choir with altar

Altar area

Altar detail with the worshiping angels on both sides

Above the main altar , the suggestion of the Kuratus Lenzel on the basis of a visionary viewing of . John Hl in Revelation an OT ark was recreates depends a great altar cross : at a stable timber framework, there is a crucifix from terracotta , which in the porcelain Meissen has been burned. During the transport to Berlin, however, the body broke as a result of a car breakdown and the choir furnishings were almost not ready for the consecration ceremony. However, the plaster model available here was quickly painted with paint and attached. Only several weeks later did Meißen deliver a new body, which has now been exchanged for the plaster model. This was then given a place on a side wall of the vestibule of St. George's Church in Pankow. The group of statues of Mater dolorosa and Maria Magdalena above the high altar was not re-erected.

The table of the Lord is the work of Pankow sculptor Paul Müller. The tabernacle and the cherubims were created in the workshop of the sculptor Hans Lotter from Berlin-Frohnau . The sculptures on the side altars with the seated Mother of God and the figure of Joseph also come from Lotter's workshop. A wooden figure carved by Guido Martini and owned by Pastor Lenzel served as a model for the figure of Mary . In 1940 the congregation purchased a separate altar stone for the Joseph altar.

In the 1990s, Pastor Wittig planned to change the sanctuary so that the altar faces the community and the priest can celebrate the holy mass “versus populum” ( Latin for “turned towards the people”). That would have meant erecting another altar, which was not approved either by the monument protection authorities or by many parishioners. So Jörg Wittig finally acquired a small wooden sacrificial table at his own expense and set it up so that it faces the assembled Christians.

The apse is also equipped with a marble communion bench and a pulpit , which was later divided.

Font and window

Baptismal font (new)

The baptismal font with figurative ceramics (Mary with child) and the apostles on the long walls of the main church room were made in the Hami workshops. The Maria figure was later given its place in place of the earlier baptismal font on the outside of the tower entrance front, the stone itself was abandoned. When the churchgoer and stonemason Carlo Wloch discovered that a baptismal font was missing in the church, he made a new one and donated it to his congregation.

Even before the end of the Second World War, the parishioners carefully removed and stored the Stations of the Cross windows by the glass artist Otto Peters from Paderborn , so they could be used again at the end of the 1940s with the help of the glass painter's workshop from Paderborn. They do not show complete scenes of the Cross, but the expressive face of Jesus is the constant focus. With just a few details around it in the eight corners of the star-shaped windows, the artist was able to depict the exact stations in a memorable way: for example, careful hands holding the shroud. The clear colors bring the Passion story to the attention of the church visitors.

Original Magdalene window on the tower gable
Mary Magdalene Window

A star-shaped window was also inserted on the gable of the church tower at the level of the organ loft. In the beginning there was a bust of the church patroness Maria Magdalena , vertically behind her on the left and right was the writing “HL. MARIA MAGDALENA ”. The artist is not recorded. This window broke in World War II because it could not be removed. In 1967, on the occasion of Pastor Juzek's silver jubilee, the parish donated a new colored glass window with the portrait of the church patroness. The artist is also not documented.

The three-part side windows of the nave of the church with a drawing in the middle were changed in 1938 so that more uninhibited daylight could penetrate: the local glazier Willi Czech from the Niederschönhauser Waldemarstraße turned the two side parts of each window and replaced the deep dark blue parts with lighter glass This significantly reduced the complaints of church visitors about the relatively dark interior of the church. They had to be completely renewed after 1945.

Seating, lighting and sculptures

Mark the Evangelist

The pews and confessionals were made by the Adolf Krieg / Dobinski joinery from what would later become Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg (then: Berlin N 58). The confessionals are in small chapels to the right and left under the organ gallery; an original confessional is still preserved.

The main lighting for the church is provided by incident daylight through the colored windows in the central nave and by electric lights. The architect Sturm had hidden the latter behind frosted glass on the pillars, so that the lighting was mostly indirect. This “looks quite fabulous, but also consumes an enormous amount of electricity”, as Pastor Lenzel confided in the chronicle; This alone resulted in energy costs of 26 marks per month. Based on this knowledge, Lenzel had a new, powerful ceiling light (fitted with a 300 watt incandescent lamp) installed and the other lights switched off. The expenses could be cut in half, but from an artistic point of view it was not satisfactory. Lenzel thought about installing little angels on the pillars instead of the covered frosted glass lights, holding lights in their hands, with which the unsightly hanging lamp could be removed again. But that would have meant a larger issue and was not pursued further for the time being.

On the arcade pillars of the side chapels are sculptures of the evangelists Mark and John, on the niche arches between the windows there are six apostle figures .

The side altars to the right and left of the vaulted arch between the main nave and the choir are decorated with statues of Mary with the Child and Joseph of Nazareth . The evangelists and the altar candlesticks were designed by the sculptor Paul Halbhuber and had S 59 made in the Hami factory in Berlin in 1941 . The latter clearly show the style notions of the Nazi era , they are coarser and more angular than the apostle figures on the side aisles.

organ

organ

The parish had obtained various offers from the relevant workshops for the construction of an organ . Kuratus Lenzel had read a report in the Märkische Volkszeitung on this occasion that the Charlottenburg organ builder Hans Casper had equipped the St. Augustine Church with a large organ for little money. Its pastor and organist were satisfied with the sound. Lenzel had the instrument demonstrated and, after consulting the architect Felix Sturm and the Pankow organist, commissioned Hans Casper to build an organ for the new church. This should be ready two weeks before the church consecration. If this does not succeed, a contractual penalty would be due. The organ with nine sounding voices and two manuals should cost 4,200 marks, of which 1,200 marks were paid immediately for the purchase of the material. The actual work on the organ components took a long time, making it impossible to meet deadlines. Lenzel rated the event as follows in the chronicle: “He [Casper] was only messing with the pipes, he used an incredible amount of electricity; but it was a good thing that he did not finish the job, for it soon turned out that he was a failure, a botch and a deceiver. The organ in St. Augustine had to be completely rebuilt after a short time, 10,000 marks were thrown away. We only lost the 1,200 mark down payment. "

The architect Sturm forbade Hans Casper to continue working in the church, the pipes and tools had to be left lying around. Ultimately, Kuratus Lenzel also sued him, albeit unsuccessfully. These events were followed by financial consequences, because Casper had not paid for the material deliveries and now the manufacturer demanded the surrender of the material or a compensation payment of more than 2,500 marks from the parish. The material supplier eventually withdrew its complaint because of a procedural error. The community now had good pipe material and a wind generator machine , which was used in the later construction of an organ. A parishioner lent his harmonium to the church at short notice for the church consecration.

Some organ builders had heard of the mishap with the local organ building and wanted to do the business, but there was no money and Pastor Lenzel "had lost the desire to build organs". To bridge the gap, he had his harmonium brought up to the gallery, the loaner was returned. As it was said, “[the harmonium] filled the church with its full, beautiful sound, so that many took it for an organ.” In order to collect fresh money for an organ, the church choir founded an organ fund at the suggestion of its conductor Walter Daumann . In the spring of 1933, the son of the Bohemian master organ builder Rieger , Egon von Glatter-Götz, visited the community and offered to build a suitable organ using the available material at very favorable conditions. This is so cheap because the company founded in 1875 wanted to gain a foothold in Berlin. A production and delivery contract for an 18-part organ, which could be paid for in monthly installments over five years, was negotiated. But the responsible ordinariate examined a long time and at the end of 1933 refused to approve this contract. Glatter-Götz then came to another conversation and suggested setting up the organ in stages. So there was finally a compromise that initially only a manual should be set up, but a complete fan-like decorative pipe brochure based on a new sketch by the architect. This was approved by the ordinariate in March 1934, and on September 23rd of the same year Pastor Feige from St. Georg consecrated the organ . After the organ sounded for the first time in the church, the organ fund quickly received additional donations. Pastor Lenzel found it particularly impressive that the widow of a Protestant Christian, who was herself a Catholic and lived extremely frugally, donated 500 marks with the words “something for the organ”. As a result of this great willingness to donate, the organ worth 4,470 marks could be paid for after just two years.

Since the rectory on the church property was also planned and its construction was being prepared in those years, half the instrument remained for the time being. However, in view of the expected economic problems, in particular the increase in the price and deterioration of material and wage costs during the Nazi era , the organ builder came to Lenzel in December 1937 with another offer. Under the previous conditions, the company would now quickly install the second manual for a fixed price of 5,285 marks. But again there was no money, the congregation and the church council had not been interviewed, nor did the ordinariate - Pastor Lenzel signed the delivery contract. He put his "whole trust in divine Providence, who in the end the construction was to take place in honor." Only in a Christmas address did Lenzel now familiarize the congregation with the new organ project, after initially only inaugurating the choir conductor. However, the financing in the previous way did not work, so Lenzel used the surrender value of his life insurance (1,847 marks) for the first installment for organ completion due when the order was placed. But soon there was intensive collection again in the community, although a new collection law passed during the Nazi era limited the possibilities and the necessary amount was not collected. Pastor Lenzel managed to divert part of the building fund because the rectory project was not progressing. Finally, by Pentecost in 1938, the installation work for the second manual was completed. Before the play, St. Hedwig's cathedral organist , Joseph Ahrens , prepared the necessary acceptance report, which was as follows:

“[...] The now added II. Manual and two new pedal registers complement the existing sound material. I checked all parts of the organ carefully and found that the best material was used throughout. The action is pneumatic, but the response is precise and flawless. Only in the lower register of Principal 8 'in Manual I might have used vocal roles. The overall sound of the work is bright and transparent. In the Plano, the sound of the organ could do with amplification and filling towards the bottom. [...] Seen as a whole, the disposition largely takes into account the efforts of recent times. [...] The work means an enrichment of the beautiful church interior, both in terms of its internal structure and its external layout. "

The day of the organ consecration, which Pastor Lenzel himself undertook, was set for Pentecost Sunday, June 5, 1938; there was no major celebration this time.

In the course of the next few decades, a certain wear and tear of the organ could not be prevented, so that a slight renovation was initially carried out in the 1970s. After the political change , a major organ renovation was necessary, which the Rummelsburg organ builder Dagobert Liers took care of in 1993. After more than 25 years, the playability is severely limited, so that the parish council, with the support of the Berlin Archdiocese, bought a good organ in 2019. This comes from a Protestant church in the old federal states; its parts are stored for the time being and should be installed in 2020.

Bells

In the year the church was consecrated, the Otto bell foundry from Hemelingen / Bremen supplied four bronze bells. This first bell was examined before the installation and received the verdict: "A well-done work that will serve its purpose for a long time [...]" It consisted of the following bronze bells, all of which ran on ball bearings. The bells had a total weight of 1440 kg. The three largest had to be delivered to a central warehouse as a metal donation by the German people during World War II.

Surname Weight
in kg		 Mood inscription
Saint Joseph
(big bell)		 685 g sharp ′ "Sancte Joseph, dux noster et pater, duc nos in patriam"
(German: 'Saint Joseph, our leader and father, lead us into the fatherland')
Sacraments
bell (middle bell)		 401 H' “Venite adoremus sanctissimum Sacramentum!”
(German: 'Come, let us worship the most holy sacrament!')
Maria Magdalena
(little bell)		 273 cis ′ “Maria Magdalena, magan peecatrix, major poenitentia, maxima caritate”
(German: 'Maria Magdalena, a great sinner, greater but in penance, but greatest through her love!') - above the bridge: 'Cast by F. Otto Hemlingen / Breslau 1929 '
Ave bell 081 g sharp ′ (in Fraktur ) “Ave Maria gratia plena”
(German: 'Ave Maria full of grace')
Breslau 1929

In 1959, instead of the melted down bronze bells, the Schilling & Lattermann bell foundry in Apolda produced three sound steel bells and lifted them into the tower, for which the following data is available:

Surname Weight
in kg		 Diameter in
mm		 Mood Inscription on the shoulder
Saint Joseph
(big bell)		 750 1193 as ′ ′ + 2 "Sancte Joseph, dux noster et pater, duc nos in patriam" (+ foundry mark)
(German: 'Saint Joseph, our leader and father, lead us into the fatherland.')
Including 'ad 1959' and a cross
Sacraments
bell (middle bell)		 428 0993 0b ′ + 3 "Venite adoremus sanctissimum Sacramentum" (+ foundry mark)
(German: 'Come, let us worship the most holy sacrament')
including 'ad 1959' and a cross
Maria Magdalena
(little bell)		 288 0880 des ′ ′ - 2 “Maria Magdalena annuntiavit vidi dominum” (+ foundry mark)
(German: “Maria Magdalena announced the master”)
including “ad 1959” and a cross
  • The four bells of the Church of Mary Magdalene

  • small bronze bell
    ave bell

  • great bell
    Joseph St.

  • middle bell sacrament bell
    or death knell

  • little bell
    Maria Magdalena

The pastors of St. Mary Magdalene

  • Joseph Lenzel , term of office May 1929 – July 1942
  • Joseph Juzek, September 1942 – September 1960
  • Kurt Grunschewski, December 1960 – May 1972
  • Johannes Zoda, July 1972 – September 1991
  • Jörg Wittig, October 1991 – May 2004; then he took over the parish office in St. Georg (there since 2016 only administrative)
  • Olaf Polossek, since November 1, 2017

literature

Web links

Commons : St. Maria-Magdalena-Kirche (Berlin-Niederschönhausen)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

swell

  • Chronicle of St. Maria Magdalena (handwritten), kept between 1927 and 1941 by Pastor Joseph Lenzel; the very last page bears a different handwriting, as Lenzel was arrested and murdered in 1942. 377 pp.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Muysers: Felix Sturm, ...
  2. ↑ a b Chronicle, p. 4.
  3. ↑ Brandenburg Church News on Kujawsko-Pomorska Digital Library (kpbc.uci.pl) (Polish), reference to the number of Catholics and the Kuratus Teubner; Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  4. ↑ Chronicle, p. 6.
  5. ↑ Chronicle, pp. 6–9.
  6. ^ Chronicle, p. 17 ff: The church building .
  7. ^ Residents> Kloß, Carl, architect . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1924, I, p. 1460.
  8. ↑ Chronicle, p. 18.
  9. ↑ a b c d Festschrift on the consecration of the church, contribution by Felix Sturm: On the inauguration of the St. Maria Magdalena Church in Berlin-Niederschönhausen , pp. 13-17.
  10. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Festschrift for the 75th Kirchweih anniversary, p. 8 ff.
  11. ^ Sturm, Felix, Architekt> ​​Pankow, Eintrachtstraße 3 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1930, I, p. 3393.
  12. ^ Chronicle, p. 17: The laying of the foundation stone .
  13. ↑ Chronicle, pp. 24–26.
  14. ^ Chronicle, p. 114 ff: Blankenfelde .
  15. ↑ Chronicle, p. 312 f.
  16. ^ Chronicle, pp. 134/135.
  17. ↑ Catholic community Schildow ( Memento from June 26, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  18. ↑ Chronicle, p. 28.
  19. ↑ Chronicle, p. 24/25: The name of the church .
  20. ↑ Chronicle, p. 45.
  21. ↑ a b c d e f Chronicle, pp. 45–61: The equipment
  22. ↑ Chronicle, p. 44.
  23. ↑ a b c d Chronicle, pp. 61–83: The organ .
  24. ↑ Chronicle, p. 255.
  25. ↑ Chronicle, p. 322.
  26. ↑ Chronicle, pp. 349–352.
  27. ↑ Chronicle, p. 351 ff.
  28. ^ Chronicle, p. 371.
  29. ↑ Chronicle, pp. 333–341.
  30. ↑ Chronicle, p. 368 ff.
  31. ↑ Festschrift for the 75th Kirchweih anniversary, p. 49.
  32. ↑ Chronicle, pp 88-101: The rectory / tasks of the future .
  33. ↑ Chronicle, p. 286 ff.
  34. ^ Inhabitants> Bautz, Hermann, master mason and carpenter . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1930, I, p. 141.
  35. ↑ Chronicle, p. 287 ff.
  36. ↑ Chronicle, p. 303 ff.
  37. ↑ Chronicle, p. 284.
  38. ↑ a b Chronicle, pp. 101–110: Tasks for the future .
  39. ↑ Festschrift for the 75th Kirchweih anniversary, p. 51.
  40. ↑ Festschrift for the 75th Kirchweih anniversary, p. 19.
  41. ↑ Festschrift for the 75th Kirchweih anniversary, p. 56.
  42. ↑ Information board attached to the main entrance: The roof renovation of the Church of St. Maria Magdalena, which was carried out in summer 2007, was funded by the Bonifatiuswerk der Deutschen Katholiken.
  43. ↑ Festschrift for the 75th Kirchweih anniversary, p. 71.
  44. ↑ Planning sketch by the architect, in the commemorative publication for the 75th Kirchweih anniversary, p. 40.
  45. ↑ Chronicle, p. 367.
  46. ↑ a b c d Festschrift for the 75th Kirchweih anniversary, p. 42 ff.
  47. ↑ Institute for Monument Preservation (Ed.): The architectural and art monuments of the GDR. Capital Berlin-II . Henschelverlag, Berlin 1984, p. 74/75 .
  48. ↑ Chronicle, p. 37.
  49. ^ Residents> Müller, Paul, Sculptor> Mühlenstrasse 15/16 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1930, I, p. 2287 (first name of the sculptor found).
  50. ↑ Festschrift for the Consecration of the Church, p. 4.
  51. ^ Residents> Lotter, Hans, Bildh. > Street 154 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1930, I, S. 2018.
  52. ↑ Chronicle, p. 319.
  53. ↑ Is something wrong here? - The right strategy in the treatment of type 2 diabetes . In: Diabetes aktuell . tape 8 , no. October 06 , 2010, ISSN  1861-6089 , p. 287-288 , doi : 10.1055 / s-0030-1268097 .
  54. ↑ Festschrift for the 75th Kirchweih anniversary, p. 55.
  55. ↑ Chronicle, p. 46.
  56. ^ Inhabitants> Czech, Willi, master glazier . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1938, I, p. 2923.
  57. ↑ Chronicle, p. 279.
  58. ^ Information from Thomas Hellwig, local council employee, November 4, 2019.
  59. ↑ Festschrift for the consecration of the church: Die Glocken , 1930, pp. 18–22.
  60. ^ Gerhard Reinhold: Otto bells. Family and company history of the Otto bell foundry dynasty . Self-published, Essen 2019, ISBN 978-3-00-063109-2 , p. 588, especially page 535 .
  61. ↑ Gerhard Reinhold: Church bells - Christian world cultural heritage, illustrated using the example of the bell founder Otto, Hemelingen / Bremen . Nijmegen / NL 2019, p. 556, especially p. 495 , urn : nbn: nl: ui: 22-2066 / 204770 (dissertation at Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen).
  62. ↑ Bell index of the Archdiocese of Berlin, created on October 2, 2001: musical information and dimensions , based on a sound analysis by the Barthelmes company from Zella-Mehlis.
  63. ↑ a b c d e The overview of the pastors' names (1929–2004) from the commemorative publication for the 75th anniversary of the parish fair , p. 44.
  64. ^ Short biography and other documents about Johannes Zoda in the Berlin Diocesan Archive , accessed on October 5, 2018.
  65. ^ Pastor of the parish of St. Georg. Homepage of the community of St. Georg Pankow, accessed on May 15, 2019 .