St. Nikolaus (Jügesheim)

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The Church of St. Nicholas is in the shape of a basilica ; The buttresses placed at the corners are striking

The Catholic parish church of St. Nikolaus in the Hessian town of Rodgau was built between 1869 and 1871. The neo-Gothic building with its 45.50 meter high tower dominates the center of the Jügesheim district .

history

Today's St. Nikolaus Church is at least the second Catholic church in Jügesheim. The previous building from 1692 was demolished because it had become too small for the growing community. In addition, its structural condition made repairs increasingly necessary.

It is not known when the first church in Jügesheim was built. When Jügesheim became the parish branch of Weiskirchen in 1477 , there must have been a church building under the patronage of St. Nicholas . The Hessian place-name book says: "In 1477 Archbishop Dieter von Mainz incorporated the Church of St. Nicolai in Jügesheim into the Church of St. Peter in Weiskirchen." The services were held alternately in Weiskirchen and Jügesheim. It was not until 1858 that Jügesheim was separated from the Weiskircher parish after long disputes, initially as a parish curate and from 1873 as an independent parish.

17th century church

After the Thirty Years War , Mayor Johannes Ganz built a small chapel on the site of today's church between 1648 and 1660 . The wealthy resident, court judge and judge Nikolaus Nehl had a long house added in 1686 ; the previous chapel became the choir room . Auxiliary Bishop Matthias Starck consecrated this church on June 8, 1692 in the name of St. Nicholas.

During a renovation in 1821, this church received a new high altar ; the old high altar became the side altar. The new high altar came from the Marienkirche in Seligenstadt , which had been demolished in 1817. With this altar a walled relic of St. Marcellinus came to Jügesheim.

The church's furnishings included two altars, an old Vesper picture and an Anna herself , both from around 1500. The ringing consisted of two small bells that weighed 140 and 145 pounds. The 17 benches offered space for 85 people. In 1830 a new organ was purchased for 1000 guilders and the old one was sold to Obertshausen .

The increasing need for repairs, including on the roof, and the growing community required a new building. First of all, the district architect had negotiated with the pastor and mayor in 1863 about an expansion of the church. Pastor Franz Emmanuel Gölz rejected an extension. He described the condition of the building as "highly deplorable". The old church was demolished in 1869. A so-called emergency church was built for the time up to the completion of the new building.

Neo-Gothic church building

View into the nave; the belt arches that divide the nave into yokes are highlighted in color

On February 26, 1866, the church council decided to build a new church. The bourgeois community approved a loan of 50,000 guilders and pledged part of their community forest. The red sandstone for the construction came mainly from quarries in the area Miltenberg .

While the church council favored a three-nave basilica , the council only wanted to build a single-nave hall church . Finally, both bodies agreed on the larger design. Several quarry owners supported the construction financially. The total construction costs came to 56,935 guilders in the end.

The architects were the district builder of Worms, Ludwig Metternich, who died in 1870 during construction, and the district builder of Bensheim, Christian Horst (1822–1888). In 1868 they presented their plans. According to Horst's plans, other churches were built in the neo-Gothic style, including in Bensheim, Lampertheim, Biblis, Langen ( Evangelical town church ) and Oppenheim. It was based on the model of the Elisabeth Church in Marburg.

The foundation stone was laid on June 18, 1869; at which point in the church it is located is unknown. In March 1871 the shell was completed. On September 3, 1871, the St. Nikolaus Church was consecrated by the Mainz Bishop Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler . He is said to have called the building the Rodgau Cathedral .

architecture

The west facade with the so-called organ turret
View into the left aisle with the Marien Altar

The Church of St. Nicholas is a three-aisled column basilica in the historicist neo-Gothic style. The slender church tower, the high choir , the high ceilings and the overall appearance of the slender building are reminiscent of the early Gothic. However, the church also has Romanesque elements. It is oriented to the east. The portal is on the west side.

After the cathedral church in Lampertheim , which was built between 1863 and 1868, the church of St. Nikolaus was the third church building according to plans by Christian Horst. Both structures have several design elements in common, including their striking length, the building material (cuboid made of Main sandstone) and the shape of the buttresses .

The nave is divided into five bays . The statics are secured by external, openwork buttresses. Small gables turned by 90 degrees are placed on these buttresses.

From the vestibule under the gallery you can see the interior of the church through five pointed arches.

The main nave is divided by four square groin vaults . The arcades to the side aisles sit on short, thick round pillars. The pillars and belt arches are highlighted in color (red).

Above each window of the side aisles there are two coupled pointed arch windows in the upper aisle.

The church tower attached to the side has a square floor plan and is 45.50 meters high. Cornices divide it into four floors. The stepped buttresses placed at the corners are striking. The bent helmet is covered with slate sheets. It initially takes up the square plan of the tower and tapers to an octagon above the kink .

In addition to the main tower, the building has a smaller, polygonal tower. This so-called organ tower protrudes a few meters above the church roof at the northwest corner. In its lower part is the spiral staircase to the gallery . The upper floor of the turret is pierced by high, window-like openings.

Furnishing

Altars

Nicholas statue from 1971

The church has four altars. The high altar was consecrated to the Heart of Jesus, the left side altar to the Holy Family and the right side altar to the church patron, St. Nicholas. The popular altar is also dedicated to St. Nicholas.

The tabernacle is decorated with a copy of the Retable d'Orlier by Martin Schongauer .

The sepulcrum of the high altar contains relics of the martyrs Sebastian, Cyprian and Modesta. Relics of Saints Sebastian , Placidus and Modesta were immured in the altar of the Holy Family (Marienaltar) . The Nicholas altar contains relics of Saints Benignus, Auräus and Modesta.

The statue of St. Nicholas on the altar in the right aisle was consecrated on August 29, 1971 as part of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the church. It shows the saint holding his hand protectively over the Jügesheim church. The statue is a wood carving by the company Moroder from Ortisei in Val Gardena (South Tyrol).

organ

Brochure of the Schlimbach organ

The first organ of the Church of St. Nicholas came from the previous church. It was replaced by a new instrument in 1904. It came from the workshop of the Würzburg organ builder Balthasar Schlimbach and had 15 registers. The organ case was adapted to the neo-Gothic style of the church. The largest pipes are kinked at the top so that they fit into the case.

The Schlimbach organ was overhauled in the late 1930s and 1961. In the early 1990s it was completely restored and expanded to 26 registers with a total of 1566 pipes. On December 6, 1992 the renewed instrument was consecrated.

Bells

The ringing consists of three bells in the basic chord in E flat major :

  • Trinity Bell, Ton es, 1027 kg
  • Our Lady Bell, tone g, 520 kg
  • Nicholas bell, tone b, 300 kg

The largest bell has been preserved in its original condition. The smallest had to be replaced for the first time in 1915 because it cracked. The two smaller bells were confiscated for war purposes in 1917 and replaced in 1920. In autumn 1941, the two smaller bells were removed again and melted down. Eight years later, the triad was complete again: two new bells were blessed on April 3, 1949 and hung in the belfry.

Further equipment

The crucifixion group was already standing in front of the previous church

Just like the church and its tower, the gilded dials of the church clock are part of the townscape. The movement originally came from the Portmann company from Speyer. After the Second World War it was electrified and the bells were automated. The mechanical movement was removed and replaced in 1998; new dials were also installed. Parts of the old clock are exhibited in the local museum.

The First Way of the Cross was placed in the church five years after the consecration. It consisted of 14 oil paintings. During the church renovation from 1963 to 1969, they were replaced by small wooden sculptures.

A wooden crucifixion group that hangs in the choir is from the Baroque period. Other works of art in the church include a carved wooden Pietà from 1716 and a replica of the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help .

A grave slab on the southwest corner of the interior commemorates Nikolaus Nehl (1667–1747). The relief shows the alderman in his official costume kneeling in front of a cross with an expired hourglass at the foot.

In front of the church to the right of the main entrance there is a crucifixion group made of red sandstone, which was already in front of the old church. It was donated by Nikolaus Nehl around 1740.

Renovations

Over the years the church has been modernized and renovated again and again. For example, Pastor Konrad Kappler (1914–1956) had the building renovated in 1921 and a warm-air heating system installed in 1933.

1963 to 1969

Frieze in the upper storey (detail)

An extensive renovation took place between 1963 and 1969. The external appearance of the church changed. During the roof renovation, all ten dormers were removed and replaced by skylights. An extension on the north side created space for a baptistery and an additional entrance.

Changes have also been made inside the church. As a consequence of the Second Vatican Council , a front altar was set up - initially provisionally - so that the priest celebrated the Eucharistic celebration with a view of the worship community; this enabled the believers to see what was happening at the altar. The pulpit has been removed. The 14 oil paintings of the Way of the Cross have been replaced by carved wooden sculptures. A glass door at the main portal created an anteroom in which an icon of Mary with a sacrificial candle stand and a statue of St. Joseph were located.

The painting of the church was painted over, only the two large friezes in the upper storey remained in a simplified form. The high altar was rebuilt and reduced in size, sculptures above the column capitals in the central nave were removed or moved. A new altar and a new ambo , both made of travertine , were erected. The mission bishop Peter Gratian Grimm from Jügesheim consecrated the new altar on December 6, 1969, the feast day of the church patron, on behalf of the Mainz bishop Hermann Volk .

During the renovation of the heating and the heating ducts, workers came across the remains of the wall from the former church, which had been demolished in 1869.

1992 to 2001

The second major renovation took place between 1992 and 2001. It began with a fundamental overhaul of the organ and ended with the installation of new stained glass windows. The roof, brickwork and church tower were also renovated. For years there were scaffolding at the church. Elaborate stone carving work was required on the sandstone blocks.

The icon replica in the anteroom was restored and refreshed in 1996: a thick layer of soot was removed from it, a crack in the limewood panel was puttied and the gold leaf plating was renewed. Katharina Weiland donated the icon in 1924. It is based on a historical model in an oriental church.

The tomb of the centschöffen Nikolaus Nehl on the church wall was uncovered in 1996, one year before the 250th anniversary of his death. The sandstone slab was hidden behind a confessional that was built in 1958 for the chaplain at the time. Since the Catholic parish no longer expected a chaplaincy to be filled in 1996, they had the confessional dismantled. The grave slab was restored and moved from the south side to the west side of the nave.

Ten new church windows were installed in the side aisles in 2001. The glass paintings by the artist Christine Rachor-Beck are reminiscent of the church patron, St. Nicholas. The windows were financed by donations.

After 2001

The high altar was restored in 2005 to the state it was in before the renovation in 1969. The parts that were removed at that time were added again or newly made. The plans came from Andrea Wörner from Schiltach (Black Forest). Based on a black and white photographs and a colored part receiving the altar basswood they added the candles banks , the keel sheet member , the finials , 150 crabs and twelve pinnacles . The sculptress was also involved in the restoration of the altar of the Church of St. Matthias (Nieder-Roden) .

literature

  • Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History . Self-published, Rodgau 2004 (411 pages).
  • 100 years of the parish church of St. Nikolaus, 700 years of Jügesheim . Jügesheim 1971 (24 pages).

Web links

Commons : St. Nicholas  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 144 ff.
  2. ↑ Müller, Wilhelm: Hessisches toponym book; 1. Starkenburg , Historischer Verein für Hessen, Darmstadt 1972, unchanged reprint of the 1937 edition, p. 363.
  3. ↑ Trageser, Helmut: History and Stories; 700 years of Weiskirchen, Rodgau 1986, p. 41.
  4. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 143.
  5. ↑ Rudolf Grimm: History of Jügesheim and its Catholic parish in: 100 years parish church St. Nikolaus, 700 years Jügesheim , Jügesheim 1971, p. 13.
  6. ↑ Notation on the epitaph: Niclaus Neel
  7. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, pp. 90 ff. And 122.
  8. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 122.
  9. ↑ Rudolf Grimm: History of Jügesheim and its Catholic parish in: 100 years parish church St. Nikolaus, 700 years Jügesheim , Jügesheim 1971, p. 17.
  10. ^ Angelika and Karl Baeumerth: The Langen city church and its architect . In: Magistrat der Stadt Langen (Ed.): Langen 1883 - 1983; 100 years city church, 100 years city rights . Contributions to the history of the city, Volume 2. Langen 1983, p. 72.
  11. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 144 f.
  12. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 148.
  13. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 157.
  14. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 146 ff.
  15. ^ Angelika and Karl Baeumerth: The Langen city church and its architect . In: Magistrat der Stadt Langen (Ed.): Langen 1883 - 1983; 100 years city church, 100 years city rights . Contributions to the history of the city, Volume 2. Langen 1983, p. 72.
  16. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 153 f.
  17. ^ Angelika and Karl Baeumerth: The Langen city church and its architect . In: Magistrat der Stadt Langen (Ed.): Langen 1883 - 1983; 100 years city church, 100 years city rights . Contributions to the history of the city, Volume 2. Langen 1983, p. 89 ff.
  18. ^ Rejuvenation cure for the Jügesheim Church , Offenbach-Post from March 26, 1998.
  19. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 154 ff.
  20. ^ Angelika and Karl Baeumerth: The Langen city church and its architect . In: Magistrat der Stadt Langen (Ed.): Langen 1883 - 1983; 100 years city church, 100 years city rights . Contributions to the history of the city, Volume 2. Langen 1983, p. 74.
  21. ^ Dagmar Söder: Monument topography of the Federal Republic of Germany, cultural monuments in Hesse, Offenbach district . Ed .: State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig / Wiesbaden 1987, ISBN 3-528-06237-1 .
  22. ^ Frank Oppermann: Christian Horst's church planning. Between arched style and neo-Gothic . In: Working group of the history associations in the district of Bergstrasse (Hrsg. :): History sheets for the district of Bergstrasse . Volume 20, 1987. Laurissa-Verlag, Lorsch 1987, ISSN  0720-1044 , pp. 190 ff.
  23. ^ Angelika and Karl Baeumerth: The Langen city church and its architect . In: Magistrat der Stadt Langen (Ed.): Langen 1883 - 1983; 100 years city church, 100 years city rights . Contributions to the history of the city, Volume 2. Langen 1983, p. 74.
  24. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 156.
  25. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 158.
  26. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 318.
  27. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 159 f.
  28. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 155 f.
  29. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 245.
  30. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 270.
  31. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 156.
  32. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 159.
  33. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 312.
  34. ^ Nikolaus Neel held Jügesheim's lands together , Offenbach-Post from October 17, 1996.
  35. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 92.
  36. ↑ After the pastor's escape for centuries as a "branch" , Rodgau-Post dated August 29, 1996.
  37. ^ Hermann Bonifer: Jügesheim and St. Nikolaus; Village and Parish in History. Rodgau 2004, p. 311 ff.
  38. ↑ Every stone must be checked , Offenbach-Post of October 12, 1996.
  39. ↑ Old icon in new splendor , Offenbach-Post from May 4, 1996.
  40. ↑ The old grave slab was uncovered , Offenbach-Post from October 16, 1996.
  41. ↑ More than a symbol of the pre-Christmas season , Offenbach-Post dated December 24, 2001.
  42. ^ High altar will soon be back in old width and height , Offenbach-Post from March 19, 2005.

Coordinates: 50 ° 1 ′ 33.9 ″  N , 8 ° 53 ′ 1.4 ″  E