St. Mauritius and Companions
St. Mauritius and Companions , also known as Siegerland Cathedral , is the Catholic church of Niederfischbach in the Altenkirchen (Westerwald) district in Rhineland-Palatinate .
prehistory
From a church perspective, Niederfischbach belonged to Haiger . Because other areas in this area separated from Haiger around the 12th century and became independent parishes, Niederfischbach is also assumed to be independent at this time. The first parish church was built, the tower of which is still standing today and belongs to the Protestant church . The old church became Protestant under Count von Sayn after 1560 and Catholic again in 1626 after the Archbishop of Trier ruled the Freusburg . Again and again there were conflicts and usage claims on the part of both denominations. So the compromise was reached that the church was used by both denominations from 1652 to 1898 ( Simultaneum ).
The large population growth in the Niederfischbach parish meant that at the end of 1896 around 2,700 people lived there and the old church, which was used simultaneously , no longer had sufficient capacity. There had been calls for a new church since 1891, but it was only four years later that an agreement could be reached: After the end of the simultaneum, both denominations were treated equally. The Protestant parish acquired ownership of the Simultankirche and a large part of the facility at a price of 15,000 marks. The Catholics had to leave the church by the end of 1898 at the latest.
Building history
As a result, the Catholic parish acquired land in the Philippstriech area. A Romanesque church with borrowings from St. Castor , the Andernach Church of the Assumption of Mary and the Abbey Church of Maria Laach should be built. A budget of around 90,000 marks was planned.
The architect Hermann Ritzefeld was commissioned to work out appropriate building plans. At the beginning of February 1897, the church council agreed on one of its designs and put the building project out to tender. As a result, many regional companies registered, and a total of 48 offers were received. Because there was no usable quarry stone in the area , it was decided to use bricks as building material. Around a million stones were burned within a year.
In mid-March 1897, the ground plan of the church was determined and marked out. The laying of the foundation stone followed on July 25th . Work on the church was largely suspended in the winter of 1897 and resumed the next spring. The inauguration could take place on November 13, 1898, the consecration followed on July 3, 1900 and was carried out by the Trier Bishop Michael Felix Korum . Today the church is a cultural monument .
Patron saint
It is believed that the first church was dedicated to Saint Mauritius and his companions . The community is still in possession of relics , one of which is kept in the altar stone and another in its own reliquary . Portraits of the patron saint can be found in the left side altar and in a choir window.
Bells
After becoming independent, the Catholic parish gave the order for four bells. One of them was donated. The first two bells were ordered as early as 1898 and were named Mauritius bell and Johannes Nepomuk . The former was melted down during World War I , and the St. John's Bell was in use until 1928. Six new bells were ordered from the Heinrich Humpert bell foundry in Brilon in 1928 . They cost around 20,500 Reichsmarks and could be completed by Pentecost 1928. The striking notes were h 0 , d 1 , e 1 , f sharp 1 , a 2 and h 1 . From 1931 to 1934 an electric drive was gradually installed. These bells were also confiscated and melted down during World War II . After the war, six bells were ordered again, this time from the Bochum association . They were delivered in 1948.
organ
The Johannes Klais Orgelbau company was commissioned to build an organ for the church. The cost was calculated to be 120,000 Reichsmarks. The first phase of construction was completed in 1921. Due to financial uncertainties, the second part was not ordered until 1941. However, since the Klais workshop was bombed in 1944, the other organ elements were destroyed. The unfinished first part of the organ was sold to Kreuztal in 1958, after the Stockmann organ was completed , where it was in service in a modified form until the mid-1990s.
In 1957 another organ was commissioned, this time from the organ builder Stockmann . The brochure is in three parts and provides a view of the three-window group. By Orgelbau Schulte took place in 2002, a renovation remodeling. In this context, the intonation was toned down and some registers influenced by the neo - baroque style were replaced. This organ, which is still in use today, has electro-pneumatic cone chests and the following disposition :
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literature
- Catholic parish Niederfischbach (Ed.): The Siegerland Cathedral. Parish church of St. Mauritius and companions of Niederfischbach 1898–1998. Self-published, Niederfischbach 1998.
- Daniel Schneider: The development of denominations in the county of Sayn in plan , in: Heimat-Jahrbuch des Kreis Altenkirchen 58 (2015), pp. 74-80.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ On denominational development see Daniel Schneider: The development of denominations in the county of Sayn in the ground plan, in: Heimat-Jahrbuch des Kreis Altenkirchen 2015, pp. 74-80.
- ^ General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Informational directory of cultural monuments - Altenkirchen district. Mainz 2019, p. 30 (PDF; 5.2 MB).
- ^ Organ in Niederfischbach, Siegerland Cathedral , as seen on September 26, 2013.
Coordinates: 50 ° 51 '18.6 " N , 7 ° 52' 46.8" E