St. Paulus (Vaals)
The St. Paulus Church ( Dutch Sint-Pauluskerk ) in Vaals is a Roman Catholic church of the Diocese of Roermond . Today's church was built in the years 1892/1893 according to plans by the architect Johannes Kayser (1842–1917) in the form of a cross basilica in neo-Gothic style and is a listed building . This new building is the fifth version of the parish church and it replaces the dilapidated Roman Catholic predecessor buildings, which had been around 200 m away since the 11th century, where they shared their church tower with the Protestant Hervormde Kerk for 250 years had to. Up until the beginning of the 19th century, St. Paulus was a fiefdom of the Aachen Marienstift and, as a branch church of St. Jakob in Aachen, was responsible for the village of Vaals and the neighboring Vaalser district .
history
As forerunners of today's St. Paulus Church, churches in Gemmenich and Vaals were named in a list of the imperial estates of the Aachen Marienstift at the end of the 11th century . Another source (before 1200) mentions two chapels in connection with the realm of Gemmenich, which are located in Montzen and Vaals. Only around 1266 and again around 1280 is a church mentioned that was added to an old parish tower in the rural and sparsely populated town of Vaals.
This Romanesque- style tower on the corner of Kerkstraat and Bergstraat is the oldest surviving building in the municipality of Vaals. In addition to its new function as a church and bell tower, it served for a long time as a watchtower and defense tower, and for several periods as a prison. In addition, Catholic priests and schoolmasters as well as Protestant preachers lived there between 1580 and 1660. Until today's St. Paulus Church was rebuilt, the steeple belonged to both the Catholic Church and the Hervormde Kerk, which was built on its north side in 1672 and still exists today, from which it is still used, although it is the property of the Roman Catholic Parish has remained.
The new church from the 13th century built on the east side of the tower was consecrated to the apostle Paul , as can be seen from the inscription on the new bell, consecrated in 1406: “ + ego vocor S. Paulus Apostolus et facta su i honore hu + ano d . MCCCCVI + ”(“ + My name is Saint Paul the Apostle, and I was made for his glory + in the year of the Lord 1406 ”). This bell is still hanging in the tower after more than 600 years and is rung at special celebrations of the Protestant community of Gulpen-Vaals.
After a Reformed congregation had founded in Vaals on 21 March 1649, which many Protestants from Aachen and Burtscheid had joined that were prevented heavily in its two home towns on the practice of religion, the St. Paul's Church offered as an interdenominational church at . In the early years there were repeated quarrels, mutual accusations and lockouts, which is why the Catholic church building, based on the laws of the United Netherlands (States General), could only be used by the Reformed until the completion of their own church from 1663 . To make matters worse for the Catholic community of Vaals was the fact that due to the party treaty of 1661, the entire place definitely fell to the States General, which, as is well known, were more open to the Reformed, and the church property was no longer part of the territory of the Aachen Empire . The Catholics then had to move to places of worship in the area of the Aachen Empire or to the old pastorei in Vaalserquartier. Only after the completion of the Protestant Hervormde Kerk in 1673 could the Catholics use their St. Paulus Church again, which had meanwhile become more and more dilapidated and for which almost 1000 parishioners had become too small.
After French troops were temporarily stationed in Vaals at that time and wanted to occupy Valkenburg Castle , the Catholics felt empowered to give up their own, structurally more and more dilapidated church and to seize the new Protestant church. For this purpose they broke open the locks of the Hervormde Kerk on July 7, 1673, exchanged them and occupied the church. In 1680, at the instigation of the States General, they had to vacate the Protestant church building due to illegal occupation and again to move to surrounding churches or the old chaplaincy in Vaalserquartier. It was not until 1751 that the Catholic community received approval for the construction of its own church with funds from the Aachen Marienstift, which was built in the baroque style in place of the dilapidated old building, including the still shared tower .
The previous church was demolished to the ground in 1751. The new building was again attached at right angles to the Hervormde Kerk on the east side of the tower. The foundation stone was laid on April 27, 1751. Since the funds of the Aachen Marienstift were not sufficient for the new building and because there was no church tax in the Netherlands, donations had to be collected from the parishioners and above all from the wealthy manors and a large part of the work had to be done by parishioners. From 1753, the first services could take place in the new Roman Catholic Church, although the solemn consecration of the church did not take place until June 19, 1770 by the Auxiliary Bishop of Liège. In 1792 the bell tower was given a mechanical wrought-iron clockwork, which was expanded in the context of the new construction of today's St. Paulus Church at the old location and has since been exhibited in today's church.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the number of parishioners rose to almost 1,500 and the premises of the previous Roman Catholic Church again proved to be too cramped. Because the right to tithe was abolished as a result of the French Revolution and the Aachen Marienstift was no longer responsible for the Paulus Church, the finances were not sufficient this time for a new building. Instead, in 1833 the church was extensively rebuilt and extended in the classical style, which was completed in nine months ( Waterstaatskirche ). In 1834 a new bell was purchased with the inscription " Le 28 octobre L'AN 1834 " and which was later hung in the crossing tower of today's new building. An organ with a manual was installed three years later . The church was finally consecrated on June 13, 1850 by the administrator of the Limburg Vicariate.
After the Catholic community had grown to around 4,000 members over the next few decades and the size of the church building was no longer sufficient, the neo-Gothic Sint-Pauluskerk, which exists today, was rebuilt in 1892 about 200 m away on the lower Kerkstraat. After approval by the Diocese of Roermond, the Maastricht architect Johannes Kayser was entrusted with the planning and the building contractor Gerhard Beckers from Sittard with the execution. The foundation stone was laid on May 9, 1892 and on August 4, 1893 the cross could be lifted onto the top of the church tower. Three wealthy families each donated a bell, which was consecrated on August 20, 1893 and baptized with the names Maria Immaculata , St. Joseph and St. Paulus . Finally, the new St. Paulus Church was solemnly consecrated on October 24, 1893 by the Bishop of Roermond Franciscus Boermans .
The previous church building, which had become too small, was converted into a so-called patronage and provided with a false ceiling around 1912/1913. A large hall for theater performances, concerts and other events was built on the upper floor and rooms for the parish youth and the Borromeo library were set up in the basement. In 1967 the patronage was demolished and the area sold and converted into a parking lot. On this, on the western side of the boundary wall, there is a retaining wall of the old church and embedded in it is a large bluestone from the gable wall of the old St. Paulus Church with the inscription: “ In the presence of Messrs Renier Schmeiz, Pastor, and Baron Antonio de Pelser-Berensberg, Mayor ”.
Building description
Today's St. Paulus Church is a three-aisled neo-Gothic cross basilica, for the masonry of which bricks were used on site. The building is 47 m long and 18 m wide and 20 m high in the central nave; the bell tower has a height of 68 m, the tower cross mounted on it is 6 m high and 2 m wide. The old bell from 1834 from the previous church, which is now used as a baptismal bell, was hung in an octagonal lantern in the crossing tower. Much of the lead glazing was designed by GJ Bentz and manufactured in Franz Xaver Zettler's workshop. Between 1958 and 1961, Frans Griesenbrock , who was also responsible for the wall and lead glazing in the De Esch monastery chapel , made extensive additions and, in some cases, new products.
Around 1900 the church received gas lighting, which was converted to electric lighting in 1925. In 1911 the large sacristy was added and a new central heating system installed. Around 1922 the vault threatened to collapse due to the increasing traffic and therefore reinforcement measures had to be carried out, especially in the area of the crossing , under the direction of the Aachen cathedral master builder Joseph Buchkremer . A year later the new organ was installed. During the Second World War , the old bells were stolen by the National Socialists in 1943 and only the small bell from the crossing tower could be saved. As a result, three new bells were purchased in 1946, the inscriptions of which read: Pius XII., “Laudo Deum verum”; Guilellmus (Bishop), "Defunctos ploro, festa decoro"; Eugenius (Pastor), “Voco vos ad sacra, venite” . The first major restoration was carried out between 1975 and 1978, during which the roof structure had to be repaired and the tower and roofs re-covered. In the years 1988/1989, under the direction of the Aachen cathedral master builder Hans-Karl Siebigs , further stabilization measures were carried out using a steel anchor in the central nave and anchoring in the wooden roof structure, and the Angelus tower was completely renewed.
Interior
The interior consists of three naves, which are separated from each other by mighty round columns and whose ceilings consist of four-part ribbed vaults . Four smaller columns are attached to each of the pillars, on which small stone capitals are placed as a transition to the arcade arches . The side walls are designed as a glare triforium and equipped with arcs in the elevated central nave.
Four altars characterize the individual prayer rooms of the church: in addition to the lavishly decorated neo-Gothic main altar with images of the Last Supper, these are the Marian altar, the Joseph altar in the octagonal baptistery and the Sacred Heart altar. The main altar comes from the Willem J. Houtermans workshop in Roermond , the Sacred Heart Altar from the Ludwig Schoepen workshop in Vaalserquartier and the other two from the JA Oor & Sons workshop in Roermond. The altars as well as the richly decorated communion pews, the neo-Gothic pews, the four confessionals with carved reliefs and the neo-Gothic pulpit with images of Jesus and the four evangelists were made of oak towards the end of the 19th century. In 1929 additions were made to the pews by the workshop of the Sparla brothers and the sculptor Heinrich Müllender, both from Aachen. The baptismal font in front of the Joseph altar, also made around 1893, was made of bluestone from Namur and closes with a copper lid.
Five large wood-carved statues of saints adorn the church interior: to the side in front of the main altar are the figures of the apostles Peter and Paul, in the entrance area the figures of Antoninus of Sorrento and Antonius of Padua and on the left those of Joseph of Nazareth . The prayer room on the right side of the entrance area is furnished with a life-size Pietà . Behind this in the right nave is the above-described clockwork from 1792, which was previously attached to the medieval bell tower of the old St. Paulus Church. The Way of the Cross is shown in the form of a picture on the side walls under the windows .
Main altar
Mary Altar
Josephaltar
Sacred Heart Altar
organ
On the occasion of the establishment of the “Koninklijk Mannenkoor Cecilia 1837”, the parish acquired a single-manual organ for the old St. Paulus Church from the Müller Brothers workshop in Reifferscheid . When moving to the new church building, this was taken over, thoroughly restored and completed with a positive organ , a free pedal and two new stops .
In 1923 this instrument no longer met the desired requirements and a new pneumatic organ with two manuals was purchased from the Stahlhuth company from Burtscheid. In 1968 the same company converted this to an electric-pneumatic system and completely modernized it. It received a new board and the layout was adapted to the neo-baroque sound. The last restoration of the organ took place in 1989 by the Stahlhuth company.
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Liturgy vessels
The oldest liturgy vessel is the 62 cm high radiation monstrance made of gold-plated copper with a bust of Saint Paul, which was donated to the church in 1758 by the married couple Wilhelmus Mertenich and Elisabeth Craus. Another neo-Gothic and 70 cm high cylindrical monstrance, also with an image of Paul, dates from 1851. Most of the other liturgy vessels were mainly made in the goldsmith's workshops of Reinhold Vasters and August Witte in Aachen at the end of the 19th century .
Pastorei
The house in Alte Vaalser Strasse 88 in Vaalserquartier served as the Catholic pastorey from the early years in the 13th century until around 1673. At first it was only inhabited by the Vaals chaplains and later converted into a Catholic primary school. During the closing phases of St. Paulus, the rooms were occasionally used as an alternative for church services and baptisms. The elementary school existed until around 1820 and until 1907 there were still a few vicars and sextons of St. Paulus Church living here. Then the house went into private ownership.
After Vaals had been assigned to the States General on the basis of the party treaty of 1661, the church council set up a new pastor's shop in a house on Dutch soil directly at the old border crossing Kleine Wache in Akerstraat 2-4. This house also served as a place for baptisms and weddings at times. In the course of the new construction of today's St. Paulus Church, the previous pastorei was given up and finally a new one was built in 1912/13 right next to today's church. Today only the foundations of the old - second - pastory remain, on which a new house has been built.
literature
- JF van Agt: Zuid-Limburg, Vaals Wittem en Slenaken - De Monuments van Geschiedenis en art. Staatsuitgeverij, Den Haag 1983, pp. 81–82 and others, digitized on dbnl.org (ndl.) .
- Matthieu Franssen: Eight Eeuwen St. Pauluskerk Vaals , RK Kerkbestuur Parochie van de H. Paulus (ed.), Vaals NL, 1994
Web links
- Portrait on kerkgebouwen-in-limburg.nl Portrait In: kerkgebouwen-in-limburg.nl (Dutch)
- History and disposition of the organ of the Sint-Pauluskerk In: home.planet.nl (Dutch)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The history of the parish and the church of St. Konrad
- ^ Research Center for Glass Painting of the 20th Century; Vaals H. Paulus
- ↑ Information on the organ
Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 13.4 " N , 6 ° 1 ′ 21.3" E