St. Matthias (Reifferscheid)
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St. Matthias is the Roman Catholic parish church in the Hellenthal district of Reifferscheid in the Euskirchen district in North Rhine-Westphalia .
The church is dedicated to St. Apostle Matthias consecrated. The parish includes the Oberreifferscheid branches with the St. Luzia chapel, Wiesen with the Maria Rosenkranzkönigin chapel and Felser with the Maria Königin chapel. The villages of Bruch , Büschem , Dickerscheid , Hahnenberg , Haus Eichen, Hescheld , Hönningen , Kammerwald , Rodenbusch , Sieberath , Wahld and Zingscheid also belong to the Reiiferscheid parish. In addition, Reifferscheid is the mother parish of many parishes in the area.
location
The church building is located on the Reifferscheid castle hill on the market square and rises above the town below. The ruins of Reifferscheid Castle are in the immediate vicinity. In addition, the church surrounds the cemetery. The church is located at an altitude of 440 meters and can be seen from afar.
General
Already at the beginning of the 12th century there was a chapel in Reifferscheid in close proximity to Reifferscheid Castle . This chapel was owned by Duke Walram of Limburg. As early as 1130, Reifferscheid was raised to an independent parish by the Archbishop of Cologne, Friedrich I. von Schwarzenburg . This raised the chapel to a parish church. Thus Reifferscheid is also one of the oldest parishes in the Eifel. In 1263 Heinrich von Reifferscheid received the right of patronage to the church and was able to propose the pastor to the archbishop. In 1562, the Wildenburg branch was meanwhile parish and raised to an independent parish, but this was reversed a little later.
During the French era , Reifferscheid was allocated to the Trier diocese in 1802 and also became the main parish of the Reifferscheid canton. At the same time, the parish area, which until then consisted of 37 places, was significantly reduced by the parish of Hollerath , Hellenthal and Wildenburg (1802) and Rescheid with Wolfert (1803) with the associated current branch communities of these parishes. In 1825 the parish fell back to the re-established Archdiocese of Cologne . Reifferscheid has been part of the Aachen diocese since 1930 .
Building history
Little is known about the church mentioned in 1130. It was probably a two-aisled Romanesque complex. From 1489 to 1491, this Romanesque church by Philippina of Neuenahr was (* 1445, † 1494)., Widow of Johann VII of Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck (* 1440, † 1479), a three-aisle stepped hall church in the architectural style of the Gothic order - and expanded. The ships also received the star and cross rib vaults . At that time the church was consecrated to the Holy Cross . It is not possible to say exactly when the patronage passed to the Apostle Matthias. Count Wilhelm Salentin von Salm-Reifferscheidt (1580–1634) had a burial place built for his father Werner von Salm-Reifferscheidt (1545–1629). In the 17th century the parish church received a baroque interior.
In the middle of the 19th century the church was in very poor condition and it needed renovation. So the pastor Anton Unkelbach began in 1864 with collections for the repair. Finally, the Cologne architect August Carl Lange was won over to plan the renovation and the parish church was given its present-day appearance between 1864 and 1867. The walls of the central nave, choir and bell tower were raised and a stair tower was added between the choir and the north aisle. Furthermore, the outer walls on the north and south sides were reinforced with buttresses.
The church was badly damaged in 1944 during World War II . The organ was badly damaged and the vault in the right aisle was partially destroyed. The damage could be repaired by 1954. In 1978 the church was completely restored.
Building description
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St. Matthias is a three-aisled step hall church in Gothic forms. The easted choir is closed on five sides. On the north side there is a round stair tower from 1864/67. This is followed by the three-bay central nave . Two yokes in the side aisles correspond to one yoke in the central nave. The central nave and side aisles are also connected by low, pointed arcades . The three- story bell tower rises above the westernmost yoke of the central nave , the lower floors of which date from the 15th century and the upper floor from 1864/67. The tower is crowned by an eight-sided slate spire. There is a vestibule on the west side of the tower. The building is spanned by ribbed and star vaults.
Furnishing
There is a wide range of furnishings in the church. The altar in the choir dates from the time the church was built and was made of sandstone in 1491. In the choir there are also baroque choir stalls made of oak from the 17th century.
The side altar in the south aisle contains a copy of the lance engraving by Peter Paul Rubens from the 17th century. The altarpiece of this altar and the side altar in the north aisle are works of sandstone from 1480. The neo-Gothic pulpit is a work by the Marmagen artist PA Schmidt from 1905. It is a work of oak with depictions of the four evangelists.
On the pillars of the central nave there are four figures depicting the evangelists Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. These were created around 1870 by the Hellenthal art carpenter Heinen. They were originally located in the no longer existing retable of the high altar . The stained glass windows of the church are works by glass painter and artist Hermann Gottfried from 1966.
The organ is Opus 35 from the Hellenthal company Weimbs from 1957. The work comprises 20 registers which are divided between two manuals and a pedal . It has an electric keyboard and register action . The instrument replaces the organ of the local organ building workshop Gebrüder Müller from 1860 , which was destroyed in World War II . The registers of the Müller organ that had not been destroyed were taken over into the new organ. In 2004 the organ was restored by the builder company.
Pastor
The following pastors have been pastors at St. Anna so far:
| from ... to | Surname |
|---|---|
| Around 1282 | Werner |
| Around 1864 | Anton Unkelbach |
| 1927-1933 | Hubert Wilbert |
| 1933-1948 | Karl Schumacher |
| 1948-1976 | Wilhelm Kliever |
| 1977-1992 | Winfried Reidt |
| 1992-2009 | Lothar Tillmann |
| Since 2009 | Philipp Cuck |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Handbook of the Diocese of Aachen 3rd edition, published by the Episcopal General Vicariate, Aachen 1994, p. 537.
- ^ History. In: Internet presence of the parish. Retrieved August 26, 2017 .
- ↑ Sights. In: Internet presence of the parish. Retrieved August 26, 2017 .
- ↑ Hellenthal-Reifferscheid, Catholic Church of St. Matthias. In: Forschungsstelle Glasmalerei des 20. Jahrhundert eV Accessed on August 26, 2017 .
- ^ Opus list. In: Weimbs Orgelbau website. Retrieved August 26, 2017 .
- ^ Organ building association. In: Internet presence of the parish. Retrieved August 26, 2017 .
- ↑ Handbook of the Diocese of Aachen 3rd edition, published by the Episcopal General Vicariate, Aachen 1994, p. 537.
- ↑ Catholic Church: At the end of her strength. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. March 9, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2017 .
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 28 ′ 34.3 " N , 6 ° 28 ′ 2.9" E
Arenberg Forest Chapel | St. Aegidius (Wolfert) | St. Anna (Hellenthal) | St. Antonius the Hermit (Kreuzberg) | St. Barbara (Rescheid) | St. Bartholomew (Giescheid) | St. Bernhard (Hollerath) | St. Brigida (Blumenthal) | St. Gangolf (Ramscheid) | St. Hubertus (Udenbreth) | St. Johann Baptist (Wildenburg) | St. Matthias (Reifferscheid) | St. Michael (Losheim)