St. Pankratius (Offenbach-Bürgel)

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View from the banks of the Main to the Catholic parish church of St. Pankratius in Offenbach-Bürgel

The Catholic parish church of St. Pankratius in Offenbach-Bürgel is a neo-Gothic church building that belongs to the Offenbach dean's office in the diocese of Mainz and is under the patronage of St. Pankratius . It is the oldest Pankratius patronage in the German-speaking area and the oldest building in Offenbach with Offenbach's largest organ.

location

The Catholic parish church of St. Pankratius in Offenbach-Bürgel at Stiftsstraße 5 is located in the Mainbogen directly on the Main . Via the S-Bahn stations Offenbach Marktplatz and Offenbach-Ost in the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund and the two Offenbacher bus routes 101 and 107, which go to the bus stop "Hessenstraße", the church can be reached from Wiesbaden , Mainz-Kastel , Frankfurt am Main and others Offenbach am Main easy to reach. Parking at the church is very limited.

history

Old church from the middle ages

After a church in Bürgel was already occupied in 880 , the patronage of St. Pankratius was assigned to the Ottonian period, i.e. towards the end of the 10th century. The Catholic parish church of St. Pankratius in Offenbach-Bürgel is one of the first churches in German-speaking countries to be placed under the patronage of St. Pankratius. He was the patron saint of knights and is considered to be the protector of seeds and flowers and a helper against diseases. Since the late Middle Ages he has been one of the fourteen helpers in need .

The church in Offenbach-Bürgel was recorded as a parish church as early as 1297. The church tower from 1492 has so far outlived three naves. Bürgel was razed to the ground in the Thirty Years War . Most of the houses in the old town center that still exist today date from the late 17th century. Even after the Reformation, Bürgel remained Catholic.

According to oral tradition, Valentin Eberlein von Worms built the first organ in the parish church of St. Pankratius Offenbach-Bürgel before 1861. However, it cannot be documented. On January 12, 1861, the parish church received a new organ.

In the course of the rediscovery of the Middle Ages by German Romanticism, neo-Romanesque , but especially neo-Gothic forms came into fashion in church construction . You were able to build a new building that was historically true and deceptively real. Spiritual Councilor Monsignor Gottfried Schaider , pastor in St. Pankratius from 1878 to 1937, put all his efforts and energy into building a new church from the beginning of his term of office, due to the extensive restoration work that had become necessary on and in the now much too small church ( then popularly known as the "chapel").

During the 1890s, the long planned demolition of the old church building from 1714 finally took place.

Neo-Gothic church building

The neo-Gothic Catholic parish church of St. Pankratius in Offenbach-Bürgel

Clearly shaped by the industrial revolution of the 19th century and its numerous new structural and technical possibilities , a modern, neo-Gothic church was built in a very short time in the rapidly growing parish according to plans by the Frankfurt architect Joseph Röder, placed at the southeast corner of the old bell tower Time and style from a single source. Correspondingly, the interior of the church was also decorated in a neo-Gothic style with red, blue and gold painting. The organ of the old church from the Middle Ages was taken over in the new building and expanded in 1897 by the organ building company Körfer, Gau-Algesheim .

The church was consecrated on September 19, 1897 by the Mainz Bishop Paul Leopold Haffner . He put the parish church back under the patronage of St. Pancras.

In 1944 Pastor Heinz founded an organ fund for a new organ. His focus was largely on the music and also tuned his organ himself. It would be a few years, however, before he could realize his dream of a new organ for his beautifully painted church .

For the belligerent states in World War II , the Main Arch was of little military importance. The parish church of St. Pankratius was spared from the cruel hail of bombs that destroyed the historic center of Offenbach in 1945. Even the stained glass windows have been preserved.

During the 1950s the congregation removed the two side altars, and in 1963 the new Mendel organ was inaugurated.

The Second Vatican Council , led by Pope John XXIII. had been convened, had decided in its second session in 1964 to reform the liturgy . In order to enable a better co-celebration, provision was made, among other things, for the main altar to be erected "free-standing" in future, with two expressly stated goals: so that the priest can easily walk around it and also celebrate it to the people. In any case, the altar, at the same time the symbol of the corner stone Christ, should be the “center on which the gaze of the assembly is directed”. In the parish church of St. Pankratius, they were initially content with provisionally building a wooden altar table in the choir , on which the pastor now celebrated mass, but otherwise no further renovations were carried out.

In the late 1960s, due to necessary repair work and derogatory judgments against the neo-Gothic style of the church, the original equipment of the church was removed within a few months and the church was completely refurbished and completely renovated. The former decorative painting of the church disappeared, the walls were given a monotonous white-gray paint that runs counter to the neo-Gothic structure.

In 1971 the organ building company Mendel wanted to undertake a thorough overhaul of the organ. For organizational reasons, however, the negotiations and maintenance work continued until 1981.

The last renovation to date took place in 1981. All walls and ceilings have been repainted in a tinted and warm color scheme, in harmony with the columns and vaulted arches that are particularly highlighted in color.

In 1986, Pastor Lorenz Eckstein, pastor at St. Pankratius, finally announced the voting and maintenance contract with the organ building company Mendel after the cooperation had been unsatisfactory for years. Two years earlier in Offenbach-Bürgel the idea of ​​building a new organ was considered and the two organ building companies Oberlinger and Oehms ordered proposals. It was already evident from the offers that St. Pankratius played with different dimensions than with the previous Mendel organ. An offer from Oberlinger Orgelbau did not bring any suggestions worth mentioning. Oehms, on the other hand, submitted a total of five offers for the rebuilding / rebuilding of an organ. Oehms got inspiration for the case design from the organ from Kiedrich, whose central tower inspired him to crown the tower. The choice of the parish of St. Pankratius fell on the Oehms organ building. In 1987 the largest Oehms organ at the time was inaugurated.

In 1998, a necessary general overhaul of the Oehms organ began by the organ building company Weiß. To the surprise of everyone involved, serious manufacturing defects came to light, which, because they were absolutely not visible and not suspected, could not be ascertained due to inadequacy during the inspections (Oehms had died in the meantime and his company was closed, so he was not able to provide guarantees for the warranty period that had not yet expired can be used more). So the general overhaul lasted until 2006.

Building description

Tympanum design of the north portal with the Latin inscription: St Pancrati ora pro nobis ("St. Pankratius pray for us")

In terms of design and conception, the building shows astonishing similarities to the Catholic parish churches St. Nazarius (Ober-Roden) and St. Matthias (Nieder-Roden) , which were also built according to plans by the Frankfurt architect Joseph Röder. At first glance, all three churches seem astonishingly similar to the Gothic models from the Middle Ages. On closer inspection, however, it becomes apparent that they cannot be churches from the Middle Ages. For example, the chiseled ridges of the tracery or the capitals are too sharp to look really Gothic. In the interior, the gold on the high altar , the statues of saints and their consoles also appears much more shiny and lavish than in a Gothic church from the Middle Ages.

External features of Offenbach's oldest building are the basilica floor plan with three naves and rows of windows ( upper aisles ) above the two side aisles, the towering, bright choir with large windows, the rosettes above the portals and an abundance of tracery and eyelashes . The central nave is designed to be around 48 meters long. Quarry stones are used as building material , which were to be worked and grouted in the outer facade in a hammer-friendly manner. In the interior, the masonry wall surfaces are plastered. All load-bearing parts, such as the pillars in the interior, the vaults and window arches, the cornices and the support and wall pillars are made of solid sandstone , which had to be specially prepared by stonemasons.

Interior

Interior of the neo-Gothic parish church with the high altar as the main feature

The original, neo-Gothic interior of the church has remained almost unchanged since it was built. It contains a wealth of items of equipment that have been reworked in the historical style. Overall, a gloomy, dark appearance of the church interior can be observed. On the other hand, due to the short construction time, the interior appears very uniform and is characterized by clear structure and similarly lasting details.

The main feature of the parish church inside is the neo-Gothic high altar made of French marble with its high, filigree split gables ( cracks ). On the three large column capitals of the central nave there are canopy figures of Saints Aloisius , Katharina , Maria , Josef , Martin and Antonius on consoles (from the back left around the row to the back right) . The figures appear rigid, smooth and schematic, just like industrial work that has been produced several times, not like centuries-old masterpieces from a workshop. Only wall sculptures of the Stations of the Cross of Jesus hang on the lower church wall . So come Apostles candlestick or apostles crosses more advantage. The colorful leaded glass windows of the aisles are designed by the Frankfurt glass painter Bernhard Kraus based on the Gothic model with tracery, but with a view of the altar from front right to front left they show lovingly painted rosary scenes : the joyful, painful and glorious secrets. The colors do not appear in the usual depth, many white areas are painted with black solder . The rose window on the south side of the transept shows the legendary handover of the rosary in 1208 to Saint Dominic , founder of the Dominican Order . Under the rosary rosette there are wall sculptures of St. Peter (with the keys to heaven), Justina , Pankratius , Elisabeth (with roses) and Heinrich II. (With imperial crown, imperial banner and model of Bamberg Cathedral in hand). The rose window on the north side of the transept presents the patroness of church music, Saint Cecilia of Rome . There, in a crypt in front of the north side altar, there is also the grave of the clergyman, Monsignor Gottfried Schaider , who was the parish priest from 1878 to 1937 and who initiated the construction of the new church. The miraculous image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help hangs as a copy on the west facade of the nave right next to the main portal . It describes the beginning and the end of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Neo-Gothic high altar

Neo-Gothic high altar of the parish church of St. Pankratius

The gilded neo-Gothic high altar made of French marble with high filigree explosive gables ( cracked gables ) shows large overarching themes of faith in the box shrine: on the left the biblical scene of the miraculous multiplication of bread and on the right the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples. The center of the altar is formed by the tabernacle with a cross , which is also emphasized by rich Gothic ornaments . The tabernacle doors form the center of the predella , which shows scenes from the life of Abraham on the right and left : on the left the "sacrifice of Isaac" and on the right Abraham's encounter with the Priest- King Melchizedek . The tabernacle itself bears the letters IHS, which stands for the Latin saying: Jesus Hominum Salvator ("Jesus, the Redeemer of man"). In the tabernacle is the neo-Gothic tower monstrance , a gift from the clergyman, Monsignor Gottfried Schaider (1855–1939) to his parish in 1915, made by the filigree goldsmith Zabolitzky in Hanau-Steinheim .

Chapel of the Fallen

In the Chapel of the Fallen on the first floor of the late Gothic bell tower, on the side of the Marian altar, there is a window of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and in a light box the representation of the Seven Sorrows of Mary as a foundation for her children who died in the First World War.

organ

View of the organ gallery with the largest organ in Offenbach

In 1963 the church received an organ from the organ builder Mendel. The instrument had little fullness of sound and was already prone to failure in 1984. In 1986 the organ building company Rudolf Oehms (Trier) started building a new, three-manual organ using the pipes, windchest, pedal mechanism and Rückpositiv of the Mendel organ. The new instrument - the largest Oehms organ ever and the largest organ in Offenbach - was inaugurated on September 12, 1987 by Josef Seuffert and accepted on December 19, 1987 by Albert Schönberger , the organ expert of the Diocese of Mainz at the time.

The organ builder had the complex task of setting up the instrument acoustically, visually and functionally as optimally as possible, but this was only possible to a limited extent due to the structural conditions. With the design of its organ case and its front ( organ prospectus ), the Oehms organ of the parish church determines the atmosphere of the church. The organ prospect, together with the other sculptural and picturesque equipment and design of the church, serve as an overall architectural concept. Oehms got inspiration for the design of the case from the swallow's nest organ of the Church of St. Valentinus (Kiedrich) , whose central tower inspired him to crown the tower.

On the rear wall of the gallery, the main unit and the pedal unit are built in a closed housing; The Rückpositiv is in the gallery parapet . The organ case with closed back wall, side case and roof is made of solid oak and the wooden pipes are made of spruce and ash wood . The metal pipes are made of tin and zinc .

At the beginning of the 1990s the new instrument showed considerable deficiencies, so that in 1998 a comprehensive renovation by the organ building company Weiß (Zellingen) became necessary. Orgelbau Weiß also replaced the fan in 2002 and reduced the running noise in the engine room, and from 2005 to 2006 re-intonated the instrument.

The instrument has 41 sounding registers (2,582 organ pipes ) on three manual works and a pedal. The mechanical gaming table stands between the main housing and the Rückpositiv; the organist plays facing the church. The action mechanism is fully mechanical and equipped with a register drawer (cone drawer); all organ pipes belonging to a register are therefore on a pulpit drawer. The disposition of the Oehms organ from 1987 is as follows:

I Rückpositiv C – g 3
1. Dumped 8th'
2. Praestant 4 ′
3. Reed flute 4 ′
4th Pointed flute 4 ′
5. Nasat 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
6th Octavlein 1'
7th Cymbel III 2 ⁄ 3 ′
8th. Rohrschalmey 0 8th'
Tremulant
II Hauptwerk C – g 3
09. Drone 16 ′
10. Principal 08th'
11. Reed flute 08th'
12. octave 04 ′
13. Wooden flute 08th'
14th octave 02 ′
15th Cornett IV-V 0
16. Mixture V 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′
17th Trumpet 16 ′
18th Field trumpet 0 08th'
Tremulant
III Swell C – g 3
19th Violin principal 08th'
20th Lead-covered 08th'
21st Salicional 08th'
22nd Vox coelstis 08th'
23. Principal 04 ′
24. Gemshorn 04 ′
25th Fifth 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′
26th Night horn 02 ′
27. third 01 3 ⁄ 5  ′
28. Mixture IV 02 ′
29 Scharffcymbel III 0 01'
30th Dulcian 16 ′
31. oboe 08th'
Tremulant
Pedals C – d 1
32. Principal bass 16 ′
33. Sub bass 16 ′
34. Octave bass 08th'
35. Dacked bass 08th'
36. Choral bass 04 ′
37. Pedal flute 04 ′
38. Suavial 02 ′
39. Large Mix IV 0 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′
40. trombone 16 ′
41. bassoon 08th'
  • Coupling: I / II, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P

use

The church of St. Pankratius in Bürgel has been used as a parish church since 1297, and from 1876 to 1914 it was a subsidiary of the Bieber parish.

Monument protection

The church is protected as a cultural monument for historical, artistic and urban planning reasons.

literature

  • Caspar Lammert: History of Bürgel am Main . Self-published, Bürgel am Main 1899 online
  • Offenbacher Geschichtsverein: On the history of the Offenbach suburbs , in: Offenbacher Geschichtsblätter No. 20, Offenbach / Main 1970, ISSN 0471-122X
  • Nikolaus E. Pfarr: The organs of the cath. Parish Church of St. Pankratius Offenbach-Bürgel , Vol. VIII of the series "The Ratzmann family of organ builders from Ohrdruf / Thür.-Gelnhausen and their work", Hanau 2006, ISBN 3-925894-05-5

Web links

Commons : St. Pankratius  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nikolaus E. Pfarr, p. 36
  2. ↑ Nikolaus E. Pfarr, p. 31
  3. ↑ Pastor Heinz in a conversation with the organ builder Rudolf Th. Mendel from the Sauerland (see there)
  4. ↑ Instruction Inter Oecumenici of September 27, 1964, No. 91.
  5. ↑ See liturgical reform of 1964

Coordinates: 50 ° 7 ′ 10.3 ″  N , 8 ° 46 ′ 52.5 ″  E