St. Martinus (Richrath)

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St. Martinus at Richrath

St. Martinus , or St. Martin for short , is the Roman Catholic Church of Langenfeld - Richrath ( Mettmann district ). Its history goes back to the Christianization of the Rhineland. The building history could be clarified in two archaeological excavations. The same parish merged on 1 January 2011 at the course of the archbishop's project "Shaping Change - faith unfold" with the seven other Langenfeld communities to parish St. Joseph and Martin .

The tower of the church is protected as a monument .

Historical description

A historical description of St. Martin can be found in the home book of the community of Richrath-Reusrath and comes from the pen of the pastor Theodor Breuer . He summarized his knowledge and impressions as follows:

" One of the oldest parishes of the whole Bergisch Land probably heard the parish Rich Rath. As early as the 8th century there is said to have been a church at Richrath in which the well-known apostle of the Bergisches Land, St. Swidbert , preached the gospel . The massive, still very well preserved Romanesque tower , which points up like a huge divine finger in the wide plain between the Rhine , Wupper and Düssel , dates from the end of the tenth and the beginning of the eleventh century. The height to the tower is 24 meters, the helmet is 25 meters high, the masonry is partially 1.65 meters thick. The lower part of the tower, which is made of a stone material that is different from that of the upper part, is said to be the oldest, i.e. from a time before the tenth century. Two old bronze bells hang in the tower . On the first one, which is dedicated to the Mother of God , the Latin inscription says that it was cast in 1649 under the pastor Ludwig Crah. The second reads that it was cast by Johannes Bouvet on May 25, 1680. The church has belonged to the Cologne Cathedral Coaster since ancient times , which also had the right of patronage . In 1792 the nave of the church was laid down because it was damp and cracked , as Pastor Ludovici noted in his chronicle . The existing nave had to give way to a new building erected in 1895 , which was added to the old tower in a southern direction in Romanesque style . On the tower it can be seen that at least three ships were attached to the tower in an easterly direction. "

Excavation findings

The first archaeological excavation at St. Martin was carried out by Dr. Binding in 1968. A complete excavation was carried out in 2002 by the Rheinisches Amt für Bodendenkmalpflege , branch office Overath , under the direction of Dr. Gechter. In this excavation, all previous churches on the east side of the tower were examined and the original results of the first engraving from 1968 could be revised. Since the excavation area was used as a cemetery for more than 1000 years , the archaeologists also found over 70 burials. Two of the women buried could be named Maria Constantina von Vellbrück (1672–1744) and Anna Maria von Vellbrück, geb. von Vlatten (1711–1773), wife of Adam von Vellbrück, can be identified. The construction phases in detail:

  • Phase 1
A first tangible stone building from the 10th century measured at least 10.80 m × 6.70 m, although the actual length can no longer be determined today due to the tower that was built later. A wooden predecessor church could not be proven, but based on the graves found it is likely (before phase 1). The C14 analysis of found bones dated them to the year 796 AD.
  • Phase 2
In the twelfth century, the tower that still exists today was built together with a larger church. The dimensions of the impressive tower structure made of quarry sandstone and tuff blocks : 8.70 m × 8.96 m, eaves height 22 m, total height 44 m. The nave measured 8.90 m in width, 24.80 m in length with the rectangular choir and 27.10 m with the apse that was presumably added later . Today's golden rooster, on the other hand, is of recent date. It was placed on the church tower on June 3, 1999 as a gift from the twin town Senlis (Oise) . The old weathercock found a place on the new nave, in front of which the wooden cross of the abandoned daughter church of St. Pius can now also be found.
  • Phase 3
The well-known pastor (from 1767 to 1802) and author of a nationally known and important world chronicle, Hermann Ludovici (1731–1802), had a new church built on the old tower in place of the ailing predecessor church. According to him, the building was 90 feet long , 45 feet wide and 27 feet high.
  • Phase 4
The third church on the old tower, enlarged again, was built in neo-Romanesque style in the years 1894/95. From this church only the baptistery attached to the east of the tower could be proven in the excavation findings. Incidentally, in 1965/66 this church building had to give way to a further enlarged, meanwhile fourth nave on the old tower. The findings of the excavations were made visible by paving on the forecourt of the church.

Meaning of St. Martins

St. Martin was on one of the two "main streets" of the Middle Ages , the mouse path . This former path ran in Langenfeld in a straight line over the Rosendahlsberg , Hausingen , the Hagelkreuz , through the Talstrasse and over the Richrather Strasse past St. Martin to Hilden . Since the path dates back to the early Iron Age , it is also confirmed here that St. Martin's churches, as the focal points of several settlements, were preferably built on an existing path . Furthermore, it should be noted that with the inclusion of Hildens, Haans and Elberfeld, three places were located in a north-easterly direction, which at the same time represented a main direction of Cologne church policy. Here, therefore, an interaction between the Saxony mission , church organization and the first trade route , not only through the Rhineland , is assumed.

organ

Organ of St. Martin's Church in Richrath
Organ (from the altar)

The organ was built in 2006 by the organ builder Romanus Seifert from Kevelaer. The instrument has 30 sounding registers on two manuals and a pedal. All registers of the II. Manual are on alternating loops and can optionally also be placed on the III. Register manual. The game actions are mechanical, the stop actions are electric.

I main work C – a 3
1. Drone 16 ′
2. Principal 8th'
3. Pointed flute 8th'
4th Reed flute 8th'
5. octave 4 ′
6th Hollow flute 4 ′
7th Fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
8th. octave 2 ′
9. Mixture IV
10. Trumpet 8th'
II Récit expressif C – a 3
11. Flûte à cheminée 16 ′
12. Flûte traversière 8th'
13. Viol 8th'
14th Voix céleste 8th'
15th Bourdon 8th'
16. Flûte octaviant 4 ′
17th Salicet 4 ′
18th Nasard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
19th Duplicate 2 ′
20th Tierce 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
21st Fittings IV
22nd Basson 16 ′
23. Trumpets 8th'
24. Hautbois 8th'
25th Cromorne 8th'
26th Clairon 4 ′
Tremblant
III Positif expressif C – a 3
(All registers des Récit expressif)

Pedals C – f 1
27. Contrabass 16 ′
28. Drone (= No. 1) 16 ′
29 Reed flute (= No. 4) 8th'
30th trombone 16 ′
  • Coupling : II / I, III / I, III / II (also as sub-octave coupling), III / III (sub-octave coupling), I / P, II / P, III / P

gallery

  • "Weltenspiegel": Cross from the former St. Pius branch church in front of a 3.35 m high stainless steel plate ( Professor Horst Gläsker )

  • Floor plans of the previous buildings on today's church forecourt

  • View into the church (from the organ)

  • View into the altar area of ​​the church

  • Baptismal area behind the altar; left "baptismal tree" and right baptismal font

  • "Taufbaum" with the pictures and names of the baptized persons

  • Virgin Mary statue in the church

  • St. Martin's statue with a picture gallery

  • Cross hanging over the altar

  • Cross in the back of the church

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ VVV e. V., home book of the community of Richrath-Reusrath , Hense Druck 1928, Facsimile Verlag Rheinlandia 1986
  2. ↑ Stephan Meisel, " Richrath much older than expected " in Rheinische Post from March 12, 2003.
  3. ^ Thomas Becker, " New Findings on St. Martin in Richrath " in Niederwupper, Historical Contributions 20, p. 36 ff.
  4. ^ Stephan Meisel, " Already in the 8th Century " in Rheinische Post from June 26, 2004.
  5. ^ Rolf Müller: City history Langenfeld Rhineland. Verlag Stadtarchiv Langenfeld 1992.
  6. ↑ More information about the organ

Web links

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

Coordinates: 51 ° 7 ′ 47 "  N , 6 ° 56 ′ 40"  E