St. Martinus (Borschemich)

Parish Church of St. Martinus

The former branch church of St. Martinus was a church building in the Borschemich district of Erkelenz . The place is in the mining area of the Garzweiler opencast mine and is to give way to this in the coming years; therefore Borschemich (new) is being built in the north of Erkelenz west of Mennekrath as a new district of Erkelenz. The church was profaned on November 23, 2014 after one last service . The demolition of the building began on February 15, 2016. It previously belonged to the parish of St. Lambertus Erkelenz .

As a replacement / follow-up building, a Martinus Chapel with an associated community center was built at the Borschemich (new) resettlement site. The groundbreaking ceremony was in December 2013 and the foundation stone was laid on June 22, 2014. The consecration of the new church took place on May 3, 2015 by the Aachen auxiliary bishop Johannes Bündgens . Numerous furnishings from the old parish church were transferred to the new chapel.

history

Rear view of the church from Kalvarienberg in the church complex

Entrance portal of the church

After progressive neglect, the church was already showing itself without the trees at the end of December 2015

The Catholic parish church of St. Martinus was built in 1906 and 1907 according to the plans of the Cologne diocesan master builder Heinrich Renard under the direction of the building contractor Max Sauer from Cologne. The solemn consecration took place on October 27, 1907 by dean Hermann Josef Kamp from Erkelenz on behalf of Cardinal Anton Fischer of Cologne. On October 9, 1915, the church was consecrated in honor of the Holy Bishop Martinus by the Cologne auxiliary bishop Peter Josef Lausberg .

The new church replaced the old little church from the 12th century, which was renewed in 1451, reneded in 1784 after reconstruction and expansion, but was no longer sufficient in the 19th century. The old church stood in today's cemetery behind the staircase and was demolished after the completion of the new church built elsewhere in the early 1920s.

The new church of the parish of St. Martinus is officially described in the manual of the Diocese of Aachen as follows: Single-aisled brick church in three bays in the nave , behind the pointed triumphal arch a narrower choir bay and choir closed on three sides ; the nave has a pointed arched groin vault ; the three-storey tower, 35 m high, stands on the south corner of the western vestibule, 150 seats and 100 standing places.

In the war year 1945 the church building suffered some damage; In 1950 these were repaired; In 1982 there was extensive exterior and interior renovation.

Church closure

The church was closed in the form of de-dedication and profanation of the church building and the altar on November 23, 2014. After the cathedral capitular pastor Rolf Peter Cremer read out the profanation certificate of the Aachen bishop, the Eternal Light was extinguished after the last Eucharistic celebration in the church . In a solemn procession , the Holy of Holies was led into the Holy Cross Church in the neighboring town of Keyenberg . The building is then demolished later because the entire Borschemich area has to give way to the approaching Garzweiler opencast mine . At the new resettlement location Borschemich (new) a Martinus chapel was built as a replacement building.

On December 10th, the bells, the tower clocks and the tower cross were removed so that they could be installed in the chapel in Neu-Borschemich.

On February 15, 2016, work began on demolishing the church.

Peal

The bells still come partly from the old church. During the war years, many bells were melted down for armament purposes. Due to the high age of the bells, this was partly abandoned so that the old bells are still in use today.

No.	Surname	Diameter (mm)	Mass (kg, approx.)	Percussive ( HT -¹ /₁₆ )	Caster	Casting year
1	John	1.106	800	f ′ -1	Rudolf Edelbrock, Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock , Gescher	1880
2	Martinus	953	550	as ′ -5	Jacob of Venraide	1464
3	Pius X.	852	380	b ′ -2	Hans Hüesker, Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock, Gescher	1958
4th	Death bell	492	75	c ″ -11	Johann von Coellen?	1583

Motif: Te Deum

The bells, the tower clock and the tower set (cross and weathercock) were removed on December 10, 2014. In future, they will be used at the Borschemich (new) resettlement site in the Martinus Chapel.

organ

The organ, built by the organ builder Johannes Klais from Bonn in 1911, has 16 stops , divided between two manuals and pedal , pneumatic action , and was repaired in 1971 and overhauled in 1988 by Josef Wilbrand, Übach-Palenberg . The organ was dismantled in March 2013 due to the upcoming opencast mine. It was restored and built into the parish church of St. Lambertus Erkelenz . It has been used there as a choir organ since the solemn re-consecration of the organ on September 29, 2013.

window

Window in the entrance area, based on a design by Maria Katzgrau

The original glazing of the church was destroyed by the war in 1945. In the course of the renovation work, the church's eighteen windows were replaced with new leaded glass windows in the post-war period . In 1949 the four choir windows were installed according to designs by Maria Katzgrau . A year later the artist designed two more windows in the entrance area and above the entrance gate. The two windows of the chapel, designed by Marianne Hilgers , were completed in 1951. The six windows made of ornamental glass - designed by the same artist - replaced the clear glass glazing, which was makeshift after the Second World War , from 1960 . Most of the windows were destroyed in the course of the demolition of the church. Single glass paintings are in the new church (new) Borschemich translocated Service.

Furnishing

carved high altar with six altarpieces
valuable artistically carved communion bench from the old parish church
Handcrafted table altar ( Oregon pine ) from 1977
Annunciation Desk ( Ambo )
Priest's seat and altar boys' bench (Oregon pine) from 1983
Life-size wooden statue of the parish patron St. Martinus from the old parish church on a plinth from the parapet of the former pulpit
Martinus painting from the old church, attached to the right rear side wall
Christmas crib with wood-carved crib figures from 1962

Web links

Commons : St. Martinus (Borschemich) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ Andreas Speen: Borschemich: Demolition of the St. Martinus Church. In: RP ONLINE. Retrieved February 15, 2016 .
↑ Norbert Jachtmann: Bells in the Heinsberg region, p. 27
^ Research Center for Glass Painting of the 20th Century eV: Glass paintings in St. Martinus (Borschemich). Research Center for Glass Painting of the 20th Century, accessed on January 13, 2018 .

51.080867277778 6.4332783333333Coordinates: 51 ° 4 ′ 51.1 ″ N , 6 ° 25 ′ 59.8 ″ E

[1] Andreas Speen: Borschemich: Demolition of the St. Martinus Church. In: RP ONLINE. Retrieved February 15, 2016 .

[2] Norbert Jachtmann: Bells in the Heinsberg region, p. 27

[3] Research Center for Glass Painting of the 20th Century eV: Glass paintings in St. Martinus (Borschemich). Research Center for Glass Painting of the 20th Century, accessed on January 13, 2018 .