St. Marien (courtyard)

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Marienkirche in the old town pedestrian zone
View from the sun place

St. Marien or Marienkirche is the Catholic city ​​church in the old town of the independent city of Hof . It was built in 1864, is the main Catholic church in Upper Franconia and is located in the northeastern deanery of the Archdiocese of Bamberg , in the Bavarian Vogtland . The border with Thuringia , Saxony and the Czech Republic runs in the immediate vicinity . After the border opening in November 1989, formed with the Catholic partner parishes in Plauen and Weida from the Middle Ages stemming cultural references new.

The Marienkirche and its closed neo-Gothic inventory including the romantic mechanical cone store - organ are under monument protection . In addition to St. Hedwig's Cathedral in Berlin, St. Marien is a memorial to the blessed Provost and martyr of National Socialism , Bernhard Lichtenberg . The church was built on the site of a pilgrims' hospice on the Camino de Santiago . As one of the church music locations in the Archdiocese of Bamberg, it is the venue for numerous concerts and premieres of new sacred music .

The Marienkirche belongs to the Hofer parish Bernhard Lichtenberg, founded in 2017 . As an open church, it is freely accessible daily between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.

history

View from Kreuzsteinstrasse

Churches and monasteries from the Middle Ages to the Reformation

Hof or Curia Variscorum was first mentioned in the 4th century AD. At the time when the Bamberg diocese was founded by Emperor Heinrich in 1007, the area of ​​today's city of Hof was on the northeastern border of the Würzburg diocese , which at that time stretched across Franconia , and the southern border of the Naumburg diocese . The medieval name of the city of Hof, Curia Regnitzi , provides two pieces of information about the position and importance of the original settlement. Curia does not stand for a single court, but for a complex of buildings in the king's country, which was both the secular and spiritual center of the administrative district. Rekka ( Slavic for river) is derived from the two Saale tributaries.

The construction of a chapel on the Klausenberg an der Saale is assumed for 1080 . The first documentary evidence of the Grand Parish of Hof dates from the year 1214 (feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria ). Its extension of around 30 kilometers in radius corresponded roughly to that of today's Hof district . The parish church of St. Lorenz (built between 1180 and 1214) is considered the mother church of Upper Franconia and has been rebuilt several times as a result of the destruction caused by war and fire, to this day. The St. Michaelis Church , which also still exists, goes back to a chapel building from 1230; it was expanded into a three-aisled hall church in the 14th century and subsequently took over the function of Hof's main parish church.

Around 1180, the St. Niclas or St. Nicholas Church was built in today's old town, at the corner of Kreuzsteinstrasse, in the immediate vicinity of today's Marienkirche, but no information is available about its appearance. Due to its location on a thoroughfare, it was regularly visited by travelers and pilgrims. At the end of the 13th century, the Hospital Church was built at the Lower Gate, which was then outside the city walls .

In 1278 the Poor Clare monastery was founded by the Vogt von Weida with a pardon from Pope Nicholas IV in 1288 and the Franciscan monastery at the Holy Cross was built in 1292 . The monasteries were assigned to the Saxon order province. The construction of a Gothic swallow's nest organ in the monastery chapel is attested as early as 1376 . This makes Hof one of the earliest demonstrable organ building sites in Bavaria. The list of abbesses of Hof offers an overview of the abbesses of the Poor Clares from the re-establishment in the middle of the 14th century to the dissolution of the monastery in the middle of the 16th century.

In the second half of the 15th century, the diplomat and Bamberg canon Hertnid von Stein was the leading pastor of the parish of Hof and around 1485 the hymn poet Nikolaus Decius was born in Hof. His brother was guardian of the Hof Franciscan monastery. In 1487, the Gasthof Zum Pilgrim was built in the form of a foundation at the Nikolauskirche for Jacob pilgrims passing through , and the Marienkirche was later built in its place.

With the introduction of the Reformation in Hof in 1529 by Nikolaus Medler and Kaspar Löhner , the town and its churches became Protestant. The Nikolauskirche was abandoned as a church in 1542 and a grain store was built in it. As a result of the effects of war during the siege of Hof in the Markgräfler War , it burned down on August 7, 1553. The Franciscan monastery dissolved soon after the introduction of the Reformation and the Poor Clare monastery was closed in 1564. As a result, Catholic life experienced its complete decline for about 250 years.

Resurrection of the Catholic community

View from Lorenzstrasse

The city church owes its construction to the fact that when the city of Hof and the margraviate of Bayreuth were assigned to Bavaria at the beginning of the 19th century, Catholic workers and civil servants from Bohemia and the Franconian Forest moved to the city. After the death of the last abbess in 1564, she gave birth to a Catholic parish again for the first time. In 1820 about 120 Catholics lived in Hof and the surrounding area. A small house chapel was initially made available for them in the customs office , which was inaugurated on April 15, 1820 by Pastor Deinzer from Marienweiher. Pastoral care was taken over by the Franciscans of the nearby pilgrimage site, Marienweiher Monastery . In 1837 a curate was established and assigned to the Stadtsteinach dean's office . It should give the growing number of believers an organizational structure.

With the parish curate Johann Baptist Neuner, Hof received its own Catholic pastor again on December 2, 1837. The Catholic primary school was founded in 1840 . It contributed to the reorganization of the school system, which must have been very tense in the previous decades with class sizes of up to 170 children. In 1843 the growing Catholic community bought a piece of land in Karolinenstrasse, on which a small church was built in 1844.

At the end of the 1850s the parish had grown to 539 Catholics, so that the chapel on Karolinenstrasse turned out to be too small. Since pastor Eichhorn had tried unsuccessfully to acquire the former monastery church, the community decided in 1858 to build a church in today's city center. On May 27, 1860, the “Zur Sonne” inn in the old town was offered for sale. The parish acquired the property for 9,000 guilders and thus had a sufficiently large building site for the new church. The plans drawn up by Pastor Eichhorn followed the neo-Gothic style ideal . When the construction of the parish church began on April 4, 1864, this was in the context of expanding building activity throughout the city. Due to the rapidly growing population, the construction of many new buildings and other urban development measures had become necessary. The church was consecrated to Saint Mary and the first service in the almost completed church was celebrated on June 2, 1867. At that time , the Marienkirche was still missing both towers , the vault and the high altar .

  • House chapel in the main customs office until 1844

  • Chapel in Karolinenstrasse from 1844

  • Church during construction around 1868

  • View of St. Marien and St. Lorenz

  • Marienkirche around 1925

The rectory was established in 1868 in Lorenzstrasse and moved into on May 1st of the same year. Until 1858 the priests lived in Hof for rent. In 1858 the community acquired the former criminal court building on Schlossplatz (today Schlossplatz 7) and converted it into a parish office with a Catholic school. Ten years later the parish sold the building again. After both church towers had been built, the bells were consecrated in 1882, and the romantic organ of the Steinmeyer company was completed in 1885. After completion of all construction work, the solemn consecration of St. Mary's Church was celebrated in October 1891 . The first extensive exterior and interior renovation took place from 1923 to 1925.

20th century

St. Mary from the north
View of the choir room

While the SPD emerged from the elections of 1924 as the strongest force in the Hof region, Upper Franconia was hit harder by National Socialism than many other areas in Germany . The motives for this are the crisis-prone porcelain and textile industry, the strong sense of authority and law of the Hof bourgeoisie, Protestantism and the weakness of the democratic parties. As early as autumn 1933, the majority of the population were on the side of the regime. In 1934, the parish took over the Catholic club house run by the Kolping Society and the club's own sports field in Moschendorf in order to avoid confiscation by the NSDAP . Critical Catholic voices kept their distance, but after the annexation of the neighboring Sudetenland in 1938 the spirit of opposition in the region waned.

Due to the steady increase in the number of Catholics in the districts , new Catholic parishes and trustees were founded. The Catholic Dean's Office in Hof, founded on March 11, 1937, was created with the churches in Hof, Bad Steben , Enchenreuth , Helmbrechts , Münchberg , Naila , Oberkotzau , Regnitzlosau , Rehau , Schwarzenbach an der Saale , Schwarzenbach am Wald , Schauenstein , Selbitz and Sparneck .

During the Second World War , the Marienkirche remained unscathed during the first and only air raids on the courtyard in April 1945.

Before 1933 there were around 6,000 Catholics in Hof, but after the war the number rose to over 13,000. The branch churches of St. Otto and St. Johannes Nepomuk were built for numerous expellees from the Second World War who had settled in Hof .

The St. Otto Church, built from 1960 to 1963 in the Moschendorf district , was initially built in 1945 as an emergency church after the Second World War in the former transit and refugee camp Hof-Moschendorf . Its patronage bears the name of the holy bishop Otto von Bamberg . On the front of the church there is a statue of Bishop Otto, made by the Bamberg artist Alfred Heller. The ambo and altar also come from this workshop. A crucifixion group by the sculptor Elisabeth Ruzika is attached to the rear wall above the celebration altar. A two-manual organ from EF Walcker & Cie. is located in the chancel.

In 1951 the parish of St. Marien built the St. Konrad Church in the western part of Neuhof . In 1954 the parish area was separated from St. Marien and the new pastoral care area St. Konrad was created .

In 1964 the parish of St. Mary began to set up another branch, the Church of St. John Nepomuk. The Nuremberg architect Walter Mayer created the design . The foundation stone was laid on November 13, 1964. After two years of construction, the church was consecrated with the patronage of St. Johannes Nepomuk (national patron saint of Bohemia and patron saint of expellees from the Sudetenland) on the 1st of  Advent 1968 by cathedral capitular prelate Johann Michel. The idea for the name of the church results from the large number of Sudeten German Catholics who settled in Feilitzsch after the end of the war. The outside of the church is made of red brick , the inside is a modern, light church interior. The benches for the church service are arranged in three blocks around the altar. The defining element of the church is the altar window built in 1992, designed by the Bamberg painter Alfred Heller. It shows the Lamb of God enthroned in the midst of the heavenly Jerusalem. A stylized stone flame surrounds the tabernacle . Since the end of 1992, a modern portrait of the Virgin Mary has been inserted in the chancel, created by the sculptor Albert Ultsch from Bamberg. On the 30th anniversary of the consecration of the church in 1998, Orgelbau Klais installed a new organ, which takes up the motif of the altar window in its prospectus design.

The Jesuit order founded a branch in the parish of St. Konrad and in 1977 the branch church of St. Pius was built in the Münsterviertel. It consists of a modern, light-flooded room with a tent-shaped roof structure. In 1982 a two- manual organ with a baroque concept was built on the west gallery .

In 1987 the chancel of St. Mary's Church was redesigned by the artist Klaus Backmund in accordance with the Second Vatican Council . Triggered by structural defects, a second extensive exterior and interior renovation was necessary in 2000–2001.

The Catholic parish of St. Marien maintains a regular ecumenical exchange with its Protestant neighboring communities in the city center: the St. Lorenz Church, the Protestant town church of St. Michaelis, the St. Johannes and the Hospital Church. Since the opening of the Iron Curtain, the Marienkirche has maintained contact with the neighboring Catholic parishes in Plauen , Weida and Cheb . This becomes clear through a regular exchange of preachers, joint events of various parish groups and concerts in the Euregio Egrensis and the Festival Middle Europe . Musicians from the Hof Theater , the Hof Symphony Orchestra and the Hof District Music School regularly take part in the concert series founded by city ​​and dean's chantor Ludger Stühlmeyer in 1995 .

By a resolution of the parish councils and church administrations of St. Marien and St. Konrad in 2015 and the approval of the Archbishop of Bamberg and the Bavarian State Ministry, the two pastoral care areas in Hof have formed the Catholic Parish Bernhard Lichtenberg since July 1, 2017 .

Architecture and equipment

Baptistery
Pulpit and side altars

Church building and interior

The Marienkirche is a three - aisled neo - Gothic hall church with ribbed vaults and completely preserved neo-Gothic furnishings. It was built on the southern outskirts of Hof and is now located in the city center in a pedestrian zone in a valley at an altitude of 500 m above sea level. NN is located. The two church towers are 65 meters high.

In the choir of the Marienkirche the high altar rises with a figure of Mary as a conclusion at the height of the choir window. Four side altars, two each in the right and left aisles, have a program of figures that ties in with the Franciscan tradition of the city (13th to 16th centuries) with depictions of Saints George , Laurentius , Nikolaus , Antonius , Aloisius , Maria Magdalena , Bernhard von Clairvaux , Immaculate Heart of Mary , Bernardine of Siena , Otto von Bamberg , Margareta Maria Alacoque and a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus .

Other pictures and statues show the Saints Catherine of Alexandria , Barbara of Nicomedia , Francis of Assisi , the Archangel Michael , a representation of Maria Immaculate and a crucifixion group. The Christ cross in the arch that closes off the choir was made by the Bavarian artist Wilhelm Vierling . The interior was designed by Leo Götz .

To the right of the chancel is a baptistery with baptismal font and altar, and to the left is the sacristy . The pulpit rises in front of a column projection on the left side of the bench, accessible via a staircase near the sacristy door. The choir windows show representations of the apostles Peter and Paul as well as the diocese patrons, the imperial couple Heinrich and Kunigunde .

The Steinmeyer organ from 1885 with a mechanical cone chest is completely original . It was restored in 1994/95 by Orgelbau Klais / Bonn .

The celebration altar , ambo and lecture cross were made by the Munich artist Klaus Backmund , who redesigned the chancel in 1987. In doing so, he took up the formal language of the church and combined it with images of everyday life. The celebration altar has the motif of ears of corn. In the Middle Ages, they are a symbol in connection with the church patroness Maria , who is often depicted in a dress of ears. In the altar stone there are relics of the blessed Father Rupert Mayer and of St. Godehard of Hildesheim . The lecture cross is at the same time the tree of life and through the connection with the heart of Jesus on the back a symbol for the crystallization point of God's love. The mustard seed allegory ( Mk 4.30–34  EU ) is stylized on the ambo . The 14 Stations of the Cross were painted in oil by Countess Hippolyte Rechberg.

The church is a memorial with a bust of Bernhard Lichtenberg, a Berlin cathedral provost, who died in Hof in 1943 and was beatified on June 23, 1996 by Pope John Paul II . From June 2000 to November 2001 it was completely restored, including its inventory.

Steinmeyer organ

Romantic Steinmeyer organ (1885)
Excerpt from the manual keyboard
Pedal tray with trombone 16 ′ (left), manual lower tray (right)

As early as 1838, Pastor Johann Baptist Neuner managed to acquire an instrument for the previous church. It was an aeolodicon , which was repaired by the organ builder Friedrich Heidenreich for 10 florints, and was a donation from the Landtag member Christian Laubmann. In his personal notes, Neuner wrote:

“My dearest wish was to get a small organ as well… In the meantime I have learned that the local citizen, member of the Landtag, Christian Laubmann, has an aeolodicon in a very pretty form. I asked Mr. Laubmann whether he would give us this instrument at a moderate price or for temporary use. The latter happened free of charge with the kind consent. "

The surviving organs by Georg-Friedrich Steinmeyer show that this organ builder was one of the most important representatives of the 19th century and that shaped the style of the Bavarian organ building of his time. The instruments, which were still built with mechanically controlled cone chests at the end of that century, have a specific structural and tonal aesthetic. The organ at St. Marien in Hof, completed in 1885, is also characterized by these properties; The value of the organ is increased by the entire original neo-Gothic interior of the church. Romantic organs preserved in their purest style have become a rarity today.

Georg Friedrich Steinmeyer from Oettingen came to Hof in 1884 and took the dimensions of the gallery . The cost estimate for the planned organ dates from July 12, 1884. The organ was built exactly according to this plan. Steinmeyer subsequently offered two more registers for the second manual . Although it was not required, he prepared the wind chest so that the octavine and mixture registers could later be used here. Georg-Friedrich Steinmeyer designed the organ based on the Walcker model as a mechanical cone-chest organ. In the gaming table it is referred to as Opus 268; it was inaugurated on March 1, 1885.

The game table and housing form a stylistic unit with a neo-Gothic decor. In front of the organ case there is a free-standing console with a view of the altar. The manual keyboards and the pedal keyboard are original. The tabs are on three levels to the left and right of the keyboards . In the organ prospectus is the principal 8 ′ from the first manual. At the back of the lower housing is the large double-fold magazine bellows with two scoops suspended below. Today it can be operated both electrically and in the original mechanical way. In the upper case there is the Hauptwerk 4 'drawer behind the prospectus , above the 8' drawer from the 1st manual. Behind it, in the same structure, are the drawers of the II. Manual, separated from the main work by a voice passage. The pedal drawer connects at the rear low.

Until the Steinmeyer organ was completed, the Marienkirche had a small organ from the Hof organ building company Heidenreich with seven registers. It came from the previous Catholic church on Karolinenstrasse. The Heidenreich organ was sold to Bug near Bamberg for 300 marks.

In 1989, after a report by the Würzburg organist, director of the Hermann-Zilcher Conservatory and Bruckner researcher Erwin Horn, considerations began to restore the originally preserved instrument. The appraisal reflected a newly formed movement that, in addition to hitherto baroque instruments, also looked at historically valuable romantic instruments. The same point of view was also taken in 1993 by the chief designer at Orgelbau Klais from Bonn , Hans-Wolfgang Theobald . After the stylish restoration carried out from April 1994 to February 1995 by the Klais company, with the involvement of Sixtus Lampl, Oberlandekonservator from Munich , the listed instrument was completed on the day exactly on the 110th anniversary. Hans Wolfgang Theobald proposed an expansion to include the cornet register. This happened both with regard to the spatial possibilities of the organ as well as the design of the dispositions of comparable Steinmeyer organs of this epoch.

To preserve the instrument and to support church music , the Friends of Church Music at St. Marien Hof e. V. founded. Since 1995 there has been a series of concerts in which, in addition to regular premieres of new sacred music, the historic Steinmeyer organ with works from the Romantic period is presented.

I main work C – f 3
Bourdon 16 ′
Principal 8th'
Tibia 8th'
Viola di gamba 8th'
Covered 8th'
Octave 4 ′
Gemshorn 4 ′
Octave 2 ′
Cornet V 8th'
Mixture IV 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Trumpet 8th'
II subsidiary work C – f 3
Violin Principal 8th'
Dolce 8th'
Lovely Gedackt 8th'
Aeoline 8th'
Fugara 4 ′
Octavine 2 ′
Mixture III-IV 2 ′
Bassoon clarinet 8th'
Pedals C – d 1
Violon 16 ′
Sub bass 16 ′
Octave bass 8th'
cello 8th'
trombone 16 ′

Coupling : Manual coupling II / I, I man / pedal , II man / pedal
Collective steps : piano, mezzoforte, pleno

Bells

Joseph Bell (1882)

The previous church of the Catholic community already had two bells. A note from Pastor Eichhorn from 1843 shows that they were made by the bell founder Friedrich Heinz from Bayreuth . The low bell (tone b '') weighed 370 pounds and the high bell (tone f '') weighed  200 pounds.

In 1871 negotiations began between the parish and the bell-founder Heinz for a bell for the new Marienkirche. In 1872 Pastor Eichhorn received the approval of the Bavarian King Ludwig II about a metal donation for the bell casting :

“In the name of His Majesty the King. By the highest resolution of the Royal Ministry of the Interior for Church and Religious Affairs of October 9th, 1872, the Catholic parish was granted 8 quintals of cannon metal, of which the Catholic church administration Hof is informed with the instruction to contact the to the royal armory headquarters in Munich. "

In 1873 the parish received a donation from Pastor Ammon from Nordhalben in the form of a legacy for the purchase of the bell.

In 1877, the Heinz bell foundry submitted an offer for four bells with the tones ea-cis-e. The three bells that were then commissioned were cast in 1882. For this purpose, the approved French cannon metal and old copper coins were melted down. The bell is housed in the east tower.

  • Bell I Marienglocke
    tone: e ', weight: 21.12 quintals, inscription: Sub tuum praesidium fugimus ("We will flee under your protection and umbrella")
  • Bell II Joseph's bell
    tone: g ', weight: 10.29 quintals, inscription: Omnes sancti intercedite pro nobis ("All saints, stand up for us")
  • Bell III Katharinenglocke (measuring bell)
    tone: h ', weight: 6.2 quintals, inscription: Dum trahor, audite, voco vos, ad sacra venite ("Listen to my voice, I call you, come to the sacrifice")

On December 22nd, 1882 the bells were removed with the participation of the organist at the time, Dick. The bell rang for the first time at Christmas. A watchman's room was set up in the west tower for the purpose of fire watch . The Marienglocke had to be handed in during the Second World War, but returned unscathed from the Hamburg bell cemetery in 1949 . As part of the general renovation of St. Mary's Church in 2000, the bell chair was also renovated.

Memorial sites in and around the church

Bernhard Lichtenberg Memorial

Bernhard Lichtenberg bust by Klaus Backmund
Bernhard-Lichtenberg-Platz in front of the Marienkirche in the old town

Bernhard Lichtenberg , born on December 3, 1875 in Ohlau , died on November 5, 1943 in Hof . During the National Socialist dictatorship he stood up for the persecuted.

Lichtenberg was ordained a priest in 1899 and worked from 1900 to 1943 first as chaplain , curate , pastor and finally as provost of the cathedral in Berlin . In October 1941 he was arrested by the Gestapo , sentenced to prison in May 1942 for abusing the pulpit and violating the treachery law and then sent to a concentration camp. On the journey to the Dachau concentration camp , the train made a stopover in Hof on November 3, 1943, and the prisoners were taken to prison. The prison director became aware of Bernhard Lichtenberg and made sure that the clergyman, who was seriously ill with heart and kidneys, was transferred to the municipal hospital in Hof on November 4th, where he received the anointing of the sick on the same day by the prelate Michael Gehringer, prelate of Hof . Lichtenberg died on November 5th at around 6 p.m. The Hof police released the body before the Gestapo could intervene. Lichtenberg's remains were transferred to Berlin on November 11th and buried there on November 14th, initially in the old cathedral cemetery of St. Hedwig's parish in Liesenstrasse , with great sympathy among the population . In 1965 they were reburied in the crypt of St. Hedwig's Cathedral in Berlin because the GDR authorities did not allow the transfer to the Maria Regina Martyrum memorial church in West Berlin , consecrated in 1963 , where a sarcophagus had been prepared for Bernhard Lichtenberg in the lower church .

In 1991 a bust created by Klaus Backmund was unveiled in the foyer of the Bernhard Lichtenberg House in Berlin . At the suggestion of the parish priest of Hof, clergyman Edmund Kräck, a copy of this bust was consecrated in 1992 by Otto Riedel, the provost of Hedwig's Cathedral at the time, in St. Mary's Church. The bust shows the connection between the place of activity and the place of death Lichtenberg, who is one of the Righteous Among the Nations in Yad Vashem . In 1996 Lichtenberg was beatified by Pope John Paul II . Regular events are held in the Marienkirche to commemorate the Provost of Berlin.

In 2013 the city of Hof honored Bernhard Lichtenberg by naming the square in front of St. Mary's Church in Hof's old town Bernhard-Lichtenberg-Platz.

Station of the Camino de Santiago

Memorial stone on the west wall

Hof is one of the stops on the medieval Way of St. James . The routes from Sweden , Norway , Finland and Poland run through the city. The destination Santiago de Compostela is 2330 kilometers away. In 1987 this pilgrimage route was declared the first European cultural route.

After some citizens of Hof returned from a pilgrimage to Santiago, they donated an altar in the St. Michaelis Church in 1487 in honor of St. James , where Holy Mass was regularly celebrated. The foundation funds were used to finance the conversion of a house into a pilgrims' hospice underneath the St. Niclas Church in the old town "in a house by the fountain and oven" and a number of beds were made available for pilgrims passing through. A sign was posted at the inn that showed a pilgrim. The accommodation was named Gasthof zum Pilgrim. As is customary on the Way of St. James, pilgrims who had the appropriate certification - the pilgrim passport - could stay overnight free of charge and receive simple meals. Its foundation is proof of the attractiveness of the St. James Pilgrimage Route in the 15th century, at a time when city citizens increasingly invested in their own church buildings and spiritual spaces. New foundations combined with the need for civic self-representation, which was met by promoting the Camino de Santiago.

At the end of the 18th century, the building was renamed the Gasthof zur golden Sonne. The square west of St. Mary's Church, which is called Sonnenplatz, still reminds of him. Towards the end of the 1850s, the Catholic community acquired the inn and the surrounding land for approx. 21,000 Florint in order to build the later St. Mary's Church there.

To commemorate the former pilgrims 'hospice, a memorial stone was attached to the west facade of St. Mary's Church in 1999 and consecrated in a city ceremony at which the choirs of the city parish church played medieval pilgrims' songs.

Facilities

Parish office and office at the Marienkirche
Choir window: St. Paul

Parish and supra-parish institutions of the parish Bernhard Lichtenberg

  • Catholic parish offices at the St. Marien Church and St. Konrad Church
The rectory is right next to the church. It was acquired at the same time as the church was built, later expanded and fundamentally renovated in 1987/88. One of the parish's two parish offices, the dean's office and the church music office are located on the ground floor.
  • Kolpinghöhe retirement and nursing home
The house is located in the Moschendorf district of Hof on the edge of the Otterberg and is supported by the Caritas Association . In the house chapel, equipped with an organ from the Hey Orgelbau company that was newly built in 2006 , services and concerts take place regularly.
  • Station Mission
The station mission at Hof Central Station is an ecumenical institution jointly supported by Diakonie and Caritas. It has existed since 1948. Aid focuses on: the contact point for those in need in the area of ​​the train station, offers of help for disabled and elderly travelers, low-threshold social services and referral to specialist services on site.
  • Caritasverband Hof, advisory service and welfare station of Caritas
The Caritas Association maintains the following social services at its headquarters in Hof's inner city: specialist advice for family carers and a mobile care service with a family care station, the Hofer Tafel , insolvency advice, migration advice, a clothing store, a health resort and recreation agency, the social advice center and the mobile social support service.
  • Archbishop's office for church music
The city and dean's chancellor for Upper Franconia has his official seat in Hof. In addition to performing church music at the parish church (choirs, church services and concerts), as a branch of the Office for Church Music in Bamberg, it offers training and further education programs for church musicians on a part-time basis (D / C course) and training.
  • Archbishop Youth Welfare Office of the Deanery Hof
The Archdiocese and the Federation of German Catholic Youth promote the youth work of the deanery with a branch in the city center of Hof, in which a full-time employee organizes offers for the deanery youth.
  • Prison chaplaincy
The parish of St. Marien is in charge of the prison chaplaincy in Hof. A house chapel is available for church services in the prison at the stilt yard , where services are offered regularly.
The parish has been committed to disadvantaged children and young people since 1926. In partnership with the Oberzeller Franciscan Sisters , they are looked after in the youth welfare center . In the curative education home they find support and support as well as a temporary place to live and preparation for an independent life. Affiliated are a kindergarten and an after-school care center for afternoon care of school children. In 1995 the house was completely renovated and in 2004 and 2009 it was supplemented by outdoor living groups. The youth welfare center has developed from a former orphanage to a curative education center.
  • Kindergartens St. Marien, St. Konrad and St. Pius.
  • Clinical pastoral care in the Sana-Klinikum-Hof
The pastoral officer is responsible for the organization of the hospital pastoral care. The house chapel with a modern chancel design and an organ made by the Klais organ building company was renovated in 2000.
  • Parish center Bernhard Lichtenberg
The community center is located at Nailaer Straße 7, right next to the St. Konrad Church . This is where working groups, choirs (choral schola, chamber choir, children, youth, church choir and youth band), biblical circles, women's association, catechesis groups, Kolping families, lay apostolate groups, altar boys and senior citizens meet. On the ground floor there is a memorial for the blessed Bernhard Lichtenberg, there is also a large hall, the parish office and the staff's office. On the first floor there are further group rooms, a roof terrace, the pastor's apartment and a guest apartment.
  • Dom-Helder-Camara-Haus, Berg-Untertiefengrün meeting house for leisure time, music rehearsals, seminars, conferences and for families.

Church life

Portal of the Marienkirche, Action Religions for Peace in February 2015.

Groups and associations

Immediately after his arrival in Hof, Pastor Neuner founded a church choir in December 1837 to enliven the liturgical celebrations . At the Benediction of St. Mary's Church, which was rebuilt in 1864, the number of singers had grown to 70 people. In 1969, another community was established with the men's club Amici . On the initiative of Pastor Bauer, the Catholic journeymen's association was founded in 1881, today's Kolpinggemeinschaft Hof e. V., which the men's club Amici joined in 1882. In 1902 the association got its own journeyman's house, the clubhouse in Hofer Bachstrasse, later the parish house of St. Marien.

Committees, groups and associations of the parish today:

Catholic clubhouse

Former Catholic club house (1902–2019)

After a number of groups and associations had been founded, the desire arose to create their own clubhouse. It was also intended to be a hostel for many journeymen traveling through court. The building in Bachstrasse was inaugurated on October 5, 1902, with the Hof Kolping Society as its sponsor. Between the years 1902 and 1935 a total of 11,940 journeymen were recorded. The Kolping Society gave them free accommodation, dinner and breakfast as well as lunch on Sundays and public holidays in the families of the Kolping members. In addition to numerous activities - community events, journeyman's evenings, group lessons, meetings, theater games - an in-house bowling alley was operated until 1952. There was also a club's own sports field until 1970. Since then, the Caritas nursing home on the Kolpinghöhe has stood on this square. The journeyman's house, later called the Catholic Club House, was a meeting place for the Kolping family Hof and all associations and groups in the parish of St. Marien. In 1934, the Catholic parish of St. Marien took over the house and the sports field in church ownership to prevent confiscation by the Nazi regime. This ownership regulation continued after 1945.

Restored Bechstein Concert D grand piano from 1885

The Catholic club house was renovated several times by the parish, furnished with apartments, club and youth rooms and furnished in a contemporary way. According to the contract, the Kolping family Hof had rooms in the house for their own use. After a major renovation in 1999, it was named Pfarrgemeinde-Haus-St.-Marien (PGHM) and offered space for children, youth and adult groups, catechesis, rehearsals as well as educational events, festivals and concerts. The great hall was named Adolph Kolping Hall. It had around 120 seats and was equipped with a stage on which a Bechstein grand piano stood. A modern kitchen enabled catering and serving at parties and celebrations in the parish. Another room on the ground floor was named after the blessed Bernhard Lichtenberg, who died in Hof in 1943 as a martyr during the Nazi era.

After a central parish center with the name Bernhard Lichtenberg for all of Hof's Catholic churches had been completed on Nailaer Strasse in February 2017, the parish house of St. Marien was sold to an investor from Nuremberg and vacated in 2019. The Bechstein Concert D grand piano from 1885, professionally restored by master piano and harpsichord maker Josef Stühlmeyer, was given its place in the large hall of the new parish center. Instruments of this series are a rarity today.

staff

Archbishop Ludwig Schick (center), pastor Edmund Kräck (right), pastor Thomas Schmelz (left)

First priesthood

After the Franciscan fathers from Marienweiher had taken over pastoral care in 1820 , the Archdiocese of Bamberg established its own priestly office in Hof for the First Advent in 1837. After Northern Franconia was incorporated into the Kingdom of Bavaria, all parishes founded after this point were under state supervision. When the Catholic pastor von Hof was appointed, the Archbishop of Bamberg proposed a suitable candidate whose appointment had to be approved by the Bavarian state. The regulation was valid until Pastor Edmund Kräck was in office. It only concerned the city church as the Catholic mother church itself and not its filiations that were later created in the dean's office in Hof. The list gives an overview of the city pastors since the re-establishment of the Catholic parish:

  • Johann Baptist Neuner, curate from 1837 to 1848.
First Catholic pastor after the Reformation, advocated church music, established a primary school in 1840 and promoted the construction of the church on Karolinenstrasse in 1843/44.
  • Joseph Gerber, parish administrator, took over a one-year vacancy replacement from 1848 to 1849.
  • Nikolaus Eichhorn, parish priest from 1849 to 1879.
Builder of the parish church of St. Marien.
  • Georg Bauer, parish priest from 1879 to 1922.
Promoted the neo-Gothic church furnishings ; several club foundations go back to him.
  • Michael Gehringer, prelate, pastor from 1922 to 1961.
Created numerous new pastoral care offices in the surrounding area and took care of the transfer of the blessed Bernhard Lichtenberg to Berlin. First extensive exterior and interior renovation of the church (1923–1925).
  • Heinrich Sippel, parish priest from 1962 to 1986.
  • Edmund Kräck, Archbishop Spiritual Councilor, city pastor from 1986 to 2010, since then as emeritus in the parish.
Initiated renovations and structural extensions of the parish facilities. The restoration of the organ and the parish church fell during his term of office.
  • Holger Fiedler, pastor since September 2010, dean of the dean's office in Hof since October 2016.
Restructuring of the Hof parishes into a city-wide parish association .
  • Hans-Jürgen Wiedow, pastor since July 1, 2017
Pastor of the new parish Bernhard Lichtenberg.

Second priesthood

The position of the second clergyman at St. Mary's Church was filled for the first time on August 30, 1890. On August 1, 1906, an additional second chaplaincy and in 1922 a third position were approved. Since 1986 there has only been one chaplaincy, which has not been occupied since 2013.

  • Father Bruno Steinhauer OCr. , 1948-1968
  • Chaplain Edmund Krack, 1967–1971
  • Chaplain Baptist Schaffer, 1969–1973
  • Chaplain Franz Dittrich, 1972–1975
  • Chaplain Günter Hübner, 1973–1977
  • Chaplain Hans Vogt, 1975–1979
  • Kaplan Otto Wohlleber, 1978–1981
  • Kaplan Raimund Reinwald, 1979–1982
  • Chaplain Manfresd No, 1981–1983
  • Kaplan Konrad Dorn, 1982–1983
  • Chaplain Mieczyslaw Turek, 1983–1985
  • Chaplain Theo Volz, 1983–1986
  • Chaplain Herbert Fischer, 1985–1989
  • Kaplan Dietmar Barnickel, 1989–1991
  • Kaplan Norbert Geyer, 1991-1994
  • Kaplan Christoph Müller, 1994–1997
  • Chaplain Thomas Teuchgräber, 1997–1999
  • Chaplain Anton Heinz, 1999-2000
  • Chaplain Holger Fiedler, 2000-2004
  • Chaplain Harald Sassik, 2004-2006
  • Chaplain Matthias Steffel, 2006–2007
  • Parish Vicar Thomas Schmelz, 2007–2012
  • Chaplain Michael Dinkel, 2012–2013
  • Parish Vicar Holger Fiedler since July 1, 2017

City cantors and organists

Detail of the plaque of the cantors and organists of the St. Marien town church
View of the Marienkirche from Kreuzsteinstrasse

The Catholic church choir Hof was founded in 1837. As a result, teachers from the Catholic school initially took over the musical direction of church music as cantors and organists . An independent full-time city cantor position has existed since 1968, which since 1994 has included the district cantor position for Upper Franconia. Since 1989 the cantor has also been a member of the Office for Church Music in the Archbishop's Office in Bamberg.

In the organ gallery there is a memorial plaque of the church musicians of the Marienkirche, whose names are listed below:

  • Leonhard Fießenig, 1869–1876
  • Paul Dick, 1876-1903
  • Christian Weiß, 1903–1926
  • Ludwig Geßlein, 1926–1937
  • Heinrich Staudner, 1937–1947
  • Franz Mayer, 1948–1955
  • Bruno Steinhauer, 1948–1968
  • Rudolf Lippert, 1955–1966
  • Herbert Mogg, 1966–1968
  • Ludwig Rügammer, 1968–1969
  • Monika Sobotta, 1970–1979
  • Stefan von Legrady, 1980–1988
  • Silvia Emmenlauer, 1989–1990
  • Peter Jansen, 1991–1994
  • Ludger Stühlmeyer , since 1994

literature

Church history

  • Johannes M. Nolte: The Catholic court on the Saale then and now . Catholic rectory, Hof an der Saale 1929.
  • Ernst Dietlein : Chronicle of the city of Hof. Volume 4: Church History. North Upper Franconian Association for Nature, History and Regional Studies, Hof 1955.
  • Michael Gehringer: The Catholic Court in the Past and Present . Catholic parish office, courtyard 1955.
  • August Gebeßler : The art monuments of Bavaria . Brief inventory Volume 7: City and District of Hof. German art publisher , Munich 1960.
  • Otto Ogiermann : Until the last breath. The life and rebellion of the priest Bernhard Lichtenberg . St. Benno Verlag, Leipzig 1983.
  • Friedrich Ebert , Axel Herrmann: A short history of the city court . Hoermann, Hof 1988, ISBN 3-88267-034-7 .
  • Otto Ogiermann SJ: Bernhard Lichtenberg. In: Gerd Heinrich (ed.): Berliner Lebensbilder. Volume 5: Theologians. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-7678-0776-9 .
  • Enno Bünz: The Regnitzland around Hof in the High Middle Ages. In: Josef Urban: The Bamberg Diocese around 1007 . Archive of the Archdiocese of Bamberg, Bamberg 2006, ISBN 3-9808138-4-3 , pp. 202–232.
  • Luitgar Göller: 1000 years of the Bamberg diocese . Imhof, Petersberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-86568-261-1 .
  • Arnd Kluge (Hrsg.): Small history of the Hofer region. 60th report of the North Upper Franconian Association for Nature, History and Regional Studies, Hof 2010, ISBN 978-3-928626-61-3 .
  • Ludger Stühlmeyer : Curia sonans. The music history of the city of Hof. A study on the culture of Upper Franconia. From the foundation of the Bamberg diocese to the present. Heinrichs-Verlag, Bamberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-89889-155-4 .
  • Ludger Stühlmeyer: Organ building in Hof. The Steinmeyer organ of the parish church of St. Marien. In: Musica sacra 134th vol. 2, Kassel 2013, p. 104f.
  • Barbara Stühlmeyer , Ludger Stühlmeyer: Bernhard Lichtenberg. I will follow my conscience. Topos plus Verlagsgemeinschaft, Kevelaer 2013, ISBN 978-3-836708-35-7 .
  • Theresa E. Ryen, Praise God in Dark Times. A new song for the 70th anniversary of the death of the blessed Bernhard Lichtenberg. Heinrichsblatt No. 43, Heinrichs-Verlag, Bamberg, October 2013.
  • Ludger Stühlmeyer, Bernhard Lichtenberg. With understanding and rosary. Faith Compass, Church in Need , worldwide relief agency under papal law, Munich 2015.
  • Holger Fiedler, Susanne Hoch (ed.): My Marienkirche and me. Festschrift for the 125th anniversary of the parish fair. Catholic parish office, Hof 2016.

Church leaders

  • Georg P. Hornig: The Marienkirche in Hof . Catholic parish church St. Marien, Hof 1994.
  • Edmund Kräck, Barbara Stühlmeyer, Ludger Stühlmeyer (Catholic parish of St. Marien, ed.): A parish introduces itself. Catholic parish St. Marien Hof . Upper Franconian Postcard Publishing House, Bayreuth 2004.

Compositions

  • Alois Albrecht (text), Ludger Stühlmeyer (music): Blessed are you, glorious God, for Bernhard, the blessed priest. 2012.
  • Ludger Stühlmeyer: Sancta Maria in Curia, northern star in Franconia. 2013.
  • Ludger Stühlmeyer: Righteous Among the Nations. Vespers in honor of the blessed Bernhard Lichtenberg. With a biography and quotes. Preface by Nuncio Eterovic . Verlag Sankt Michaelsbund , Munich 2017, ISBN 978-3-943135-90-9 .

Sound carrier

  • Georg Stanek, Ludger Stühlmeyer: A royal couple from Hof. The organs in St. Marien and St. Michaelis. Rondeau Production , Leipzig 2012.

Web links

Commons : St. Marien  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ List of Bavarian Monuments No. D-4-64-000-97.
  2. ^ Church music in the Archdiocese of Bamberg
  3. ^ Ludger Stühlmeyer: Curia sonans. The music history of the city of Hof. 2010, pp. 380-382.
  4. ↑ World premiere of the 2nd organ symphony by Bernfried EG Pröve, April 2013.
  5. ↑ Lea Stühlmeyer (Ed.): Hof ist bunt , DeBehr, Radeberg 2012, p. 75.
  6. ^ Enno Bünz: The Regnitzland around court in the high Middle Ages. In: Josef Urban: Das Bistum Bamberg around 1007. 2006, p. 204.
  7. ^ Ludger Stühlmeyer: Curia sonans. The music history of the city of Hof. 2010, p. 12f.
  8. ^ Bamberg State Archives, Bamberg Documents No. 467
  9. ^ Ernst Dietlein: Chronicle of the city of Hof. Volume 4: Church History. 1955, p. 2f.
  10. ^ Enno Bünz: The Regnitzland around court in the high Middle Ages. In: Josef Urban: Das Bistum Bamberg around 1007. 2006, p. 216.
  11. ↑ Arnd Kluge: The Middle Ages. In: A brief history of the Hof region. Hof 2010, p. 75f.
  12. ↑ Luitgar Göller: 1000 years Diocese of Bamberg . Bamberg 2007, p. 165, p. 185.
  13. ^ Ludger Stühlmeyer: Curia sonans. The music history of the city of Hof. 2010, p. 181f.
  14. ^ Ernst Dietlein: Chronicle of the city of Hof. Volume 4: Church History. 1955, p. 219, p. 553.
  15. ↑ Johannes M. Nolte: The Catholic court on the Saale once and now. 1929, p. 86f.
  16. ↑ Michael Gehringer: The Catholic court in the past and present . 1955, p. 4f.
  17. ^ Ernst Dietlein: Chronicle of the city of Hof. Volume 4: Church History. 1955, pp. 466-468.
  18. ↑ Arnd Kluge: The Middle Ages. In: A brief history of the Hof region. 2010, p. 140.
  19. ↑ Arnd Kluge: The Middle Ages. In: A brief history of the Hof region. 2010, p. 142.
  20. ^ Churches - The story of St. Otto. ( Memento of the original from January 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Homepage St. Marien, Hof. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kirche-st-marien-hof.de
  21. ^ Churches - Filialkirche St. Johannes Nepomuk Feilitzsch. ( Memento of the original from January 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Homepage St. Marien, Hof. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kirche-st-marien-hof.de
  22. ↑ Edmund Kraeck, Barbara Stühlmeyer, Ludger Stühlmeyer: A parish introduces itself. Catholic parish St. Marien Hof. 2004, p. 13.
  23. ↑ St. Konrad pastoral care area
  24. ↑ Edmund Kraeck, Barbara Stühlmeyer, Ludger Stühlmeyer: A parish introduces itself. Catholic parish St. Marien Hof. 2004, p. 15.
  25. ↑ About Us - History of the Catholic Court. ( Memento of the original from January 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Homepage St. Marien, Hof. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kirche-st-marien-hof.de
  26. ↑ Concert flyer 1995–2014: Music at the Stadtpfarrkirche Hof .
  27. ↑ Church music - The organ. ( Memento from May 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Homepage St. Marien, Hof.
  28. ↑ Der Lichtenberg , Parish Letter Issue No. 1, June 29, 2017
  29. ^ August Gebeßler: City and district of Hof. 1960, p. 17.
  30. ^ Georg P. Hornig: The Marienkirche in Hof. 1955, p. 13f.
  31. ↑ Edmund Kraeck, Barbara Stühlmeyer, Ludger Stühlmeyer: A parish introduces itself. Catholic parish St. Marien Hof. 2004, p. 6f.
  32. ^ Churches - St. Marien. ( Memento of the original from January 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Homepage St. Marien, Hof. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kirche-st-marien-hof.de
  33. ^ Ludger Stühlmeyer: Curia sonans. The music history of the city of Hof. 2010, p. 215.
  34. ^ Ludger Stühlmeyer: Curia sonans. The music history of the city of Hof. 2010, p. 220.
  35. ^ Ludger Stühlmeyer: Curia sonans. The music history of the city of Hof. 2010, pp. 181–223.
  36. ^ Restorations - Hof ad Saale, St. Marien. Homepage of the Klais company, Bonn.
  37. ^ Ludger Stühlmeyer: Curia sonans. The music history of the city of Hof. 2010, p. 232.
  38. ^ Ludger Stühlmeyer: Curia sonans. The music history of the city of Hof. 2010, pp. 224-234.
  39. ↑ Otto Ogiermann SJ: Bernhard Lichtenberg. In: Gerd Heinrich (Hrsg.): Berliner Lebensbilder. Volume 5: Theologians. 1990, pp. 277-290, here pp. 289f
  40. ^ Memorial Church of the German Catholics Maria Regina Martyrum in honor of the martyrs for freedom of belief and conscience in the years 1933–1945. More-Verlag, Berlin 1963, p. 72.
  41. ↑ About us - Blessed Bernhard Lichtenberg. ( Memento of the original from November 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Homepage St. Marien, Hof. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kirche-st-marien-hof.de
  42. ↑ Broadcast on Bavarian Radio
  43. ^ Ernst Dietlein: Chronicle of the city of Hof. Volume 4: Church History. 1955, p. 62.
  44. ^ Ernst Dietlein: Chronicle of the city of Hof. Volume 4: Church History. 1955, p. 62, p. 89, p. 467.
  45. ^ Website of the parish of St. Marien Hof. ( Memento of the original from January 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kirche-st-marien-hof.de
  46. ^ Website of the Caritas home in Hof.
  47. ^ Website of the Caritas Association in Hof.
  48. ^ Website of the Office for Church Music Bamberg. ( Memento from July 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  49. ^ Website of the Office for Church Music Bamberg
  50. ^ Website of the archbishop's youth welfare office in Hof
  51. ^ Website of the youth welfare center St. Elisabeth, Hof.
  52. ^ Website of the hospital pastoral care in Hof
  53. ↑ website of Dom Helder Camarra house
  54. ^ Kolping family Hof. ( Memento of the original from January 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Homepage St. Marien, Hof. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kirche-st-marien-hof.de
  55. ↑ Community life ( Memento of the original from May 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Homepage St. Marien, Hof @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kirche-st-marien-hof.de
  56. ^ Church music ( Memento from November 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Homepage St. Marien, Hof
  57. ↑ Edmund Kraeck, Barbara Stühlmeyer, Ludger Stühlmeyer: A parish introduces itself. Catholic parish St. Marien Hof. 2004, p. 10f.
  58. ^ Ludger Stühlmeyer: Music history. In: A brief history of the Hof region. 2010, p. 339.
  59. ^ Andreas Kirchhof: A new hymn for St. Marien in Hof. In: Heinrichsblatt No. 22, Heinrichs-Verlag Bamberg June 2, 2013.
This article was added to the list of articles worth reading on March 8, 2013 in this version .

Coordinates: 50 ° 18 ′ 59 ″  N , 11 ° 54 ′ 55 ″  E