St. Michael (Wolfsburg-Vorsfelde)

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St. Michael Church

The Church of St. Michael is the Catholic parish church in the Wolfsburg district of Vorsfelde in Lower Saxony . The church named after the Archangel Michael is located in the street Am Engelhop 1 (corner Mühlenweg), its parish belongs to the deanery Wolfsburg-Helmstedt of the diocese Hildesheim .

history

In the 16th century the residents of Vorsfelde and their church became Evangelical Lutheran with the introduction of the Reformation . It was not until the second half of the 19th century that a few Catholic families settled in Vorsfelde in the course of industrialization .

It was only with the establishment of the Volkswagen factory and the city ​​of the KdF-Wagen , which began in 1938, that more and more Catholic workers moved to the area around Vorsfelde, which has been evangelical since the Reformation . In 1944 Vorsfelde came to the Kuratie Stadt des KdF-Wagons (renamed Wolfsburg in 1945), before it belonged to the parish vicarie Velpke. The number of Catholics continued to increase after the Second World War due to the settlement of refugees and displaced persons from Catholic areas. Therefore, in 1946 the curate of Wolfsburg separated the Hoitlingen vicarage . In 1950 the seat of the Vicarie von Hoitlingen was relocated to the more populous Vorsfelde. In Vorsfelde, catholic services were occasionally held in the Protestant St. Petrus Church .

In 1950, in the north of Vorsfelde, master mason Karl Klapprott built a parsonage with a small adjoining parish hall and donated it to the vicarage community, which at that time comprised around 800 members. On September 17, 1950, the Wolfsburg pastor Antonius Holling inaugurated both buildings. First, the services took place in the community hall. On November 1, 1950, Bruno Kutschki became the first priest in Vorsfelde to serve. Since the congregation had grown to around 1200 members in 1952, the congregation hall proved to be too small and the building of a church was applied for. On April 10, 1952 the foundation stone was laid by Vicar General Wilhelm Offenstein , and on September 7 of the same year the church was consecrated by Bishop Joseph Godehard Machens . The first tabernacle and the bells came from the emergency church in Heßlingen .

On July 1, 1961, the diocese of Hildesheim established the parish of Vorsfelde (Kuratiegemeinde), previously Vorsfelde was a pastoral care district (vicarie) of the parish of Wolfsburg. The new parish included the villages of Ahnebeck , Bergfeld , Brechtorf , Eischott , Hoitlingen, Parsau , Rüsten , Tiddische , Velstove , Vorsfelde and Wendschott . In 1963, the St. Raphael branch church in Parsau was inaugurated, and Tülau and the surrounding villages became part of the St. Michael parish. In 1968 the sanctuary in St. Michael was redesigned according to the resolutions of the Second Vatican Council and a new altar was consecrated by Auxiliary Bishop Heinrich Pachowiak .

In 1971 a new organ was inaugurated. On January 1, 1972, the previous Kuratiegemeinde St. Michael was elevated to a parish. From 1976 to 1984 the St. Raphael Church in Parsau was assigned to the parish in Velpke . In 1986 the parish house, which had been rebuilt several times, was torn down, its new building and the church square redesigned with the help of the community. In 2001 the chancel was given its present shape, and in 2002 the organ was expanded.

Since July 15, 2005, the Church of the Immaculate Conception of Mary in Velpke has been cared for by the priest of the parish of St. Michael. Since November 1st, 2006 St. Michael belongs to the Dean's Office Wolfsburg-Helmstedt; previously it belonged to the dean's office in Wolfsburg, which at that time was renamed and enlarged to include the Helmstedt part of the then-dissolved dean's office in Helmstedt-Wolfenbüttel. Since September 1st, 2010 the Velpker church belongs to the parish of St. Michael. Since September 1, 2013, the parish of St. Michael no longer has a local priest, as its last local pastor was transferred to St. Raphael in Garbsen .

Architecture and equipment

inside view

The church and rectory were built according to plans by Josef Fehlig (building officer in Hildesheim) and Karl Klapprott (master mason in Vorsfelde). The church is located about 67.5 meters above sea level and has 158 seats. The tabernacle designed by Wolfsburg master goldsmith Raimund Lange (1928–2006) stands in the center of the chancel behind the Velpker sandstone altar; its front shows Jesus Christ with the Emmaus disciples and the empty grave . The lectern, also designed by Lange, reminds of the four evangelists with its four rock crystals . On the back wall behind the altar there is a crucifix with a body, to the left and right of the chancel there are statues of Saints Joseph and Mary . Under the organ gallery there is a statue of St. Anthony of Padua and a confessional . Furthermore, in a small baptistery, which is lit by a window designed by Claus Kilian in 1961 with a motif of the Archangel Michael, a baptismal font from 1954. The church windows, also designed by Kilian, were installed in 1965. Next to the church there has been a statue created by Jörg Carl from Wendschott since 1990, which depicts the Archangel Michael fighting a dragon . There is a wooden court cross in front of the rectory .

organ

organ

The well on December 19, 1971 Dechant inaugurated Anthony Holling sliderchest -instrument with mechanical tracker action was supported by the organ builder Bruns Citizen Doering from Braunschweig built and now has 14 registers on two manuals and pedal . A harmonium was previously used, followed by an electronic organ . In 2002 the pedal was supplemented by organ builder Amadeus Junker from the Gifhorn district .

I. Hauptwerk C – g 3
Reed flute 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Pointed flute 2 ′
Sesquialtera 2f.
Mixture 4f.
II. Breastwork C-g 3
Dumped 8th'
Flute 4 ′
Principal 2 ′
Cymbal 2f.
shelf 8th'
Tremulant
Pedals C – f 1
Sub-bass 16 ′
Pommer 8th'
Chorale bass 4 ′ (2002)
bassoon 16 ′ (2002)

Catchment area

The catchment area of ​​the church includes the Wolfsburg districts of Hehlingen , Neuhaus , Reislingen (only Alt-Reislingen), Velstove, Vorsfelde and Wendschott; also in the district of Gifhorn the communities of Rühren and Tiddische .

Catholic institutions

  • Day care center. The St. Michael day care center on Marienborner Strasse has existed since November 14, 1992.
  • Social station. From the nurses' station of St. Michael founded on August 1st, 1969, the Vorsfelde welfare station emerged in 1978/79 , which has since been jointly supported by the Catholic and Protestant churches of Vorsfeldes and the Red Cross .

See also

literature

  • Catholic parish of St. Michael (ed.): Festschrift 50 years of St. Michael Vorsfelde, 1952 to 2002. Wolfsburg 2002.
  • PEDA art guide No. 173/2001: The Catholic Churches in Wolfsburg. Passau 2001, ISBN 3-89643-179-X , pp. 9-11

Web links

Commons : St. Michael (Wolfsburg-Vorsfelde)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Church, village and wide world. In: KirchenZeitung , issue 33/2016 of August 14, 2016, p. 9
  2. ↑ Heinz Pohlendt: The district Helmstedt. Bremen-Horn 1957, p. 270
  3. ↑ Episcopal General Vicariate (ed.): Kirchlicher Anzeiger. No. 11/2005, Hildesheim 2005, p. 243
  4. ↑ Episcopal General Vicariate (ed.): Kirchlicher Anzeiger. No. 5/2013, Hildesheim 2013, p. 93

Coordinates: 52 ° 26 '54.4 "  N , 10 ° 50' 38.8"  E