St. Sebastian (Würselen)

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St. Sebastian Würselen

The parish church of St. Sebastian zu Würselen is one of St. Sebastian consecrated Catholic church in the center of Würselen . The mighty three-aisled basilica , often referred to as the "Würselener Dom", goes back to a new building planned by Laurenz Mefferdatis in 1725, which was expanded from 1906 to 1908 by the Aachen district architect Heinrich van Kann . Since the merger of eight previously independent parishes in 2010, the parish of St. Sebastian is the largest merged parish in the Diocese of Aachen .

Building history

The parish church before the expansion
Romanesque west tower of St. Sebastian

In a document dated October 17, 870, Ludwig the German decreed that the church "zu wormsalt" was to be transferred to the Prüm Abbey . It is believed that it was a Franconian wooden post church. During excavation work on the Würselen side of today's church, rubble stone foundations were found in 1938, which were dated to around 600. However, there is no archaeological evidence of an early church building at this point.

Between 1150 and 1200 a three-aisled Romanesque church was built in Würselen , the west tower of which is largely preserved and integrated into the current building. In the following centuries St. Sebastian was of regional importance. The parish reached to Haaren and Verlautenheide . The respective pastor was the master of the broadcasting court for the area .

Around 1641, the Aachen chronicler Johannes Noppius reports that the Würselen church was in a precariously dilapidated condition. But it wasn't until 1717 that the foundation stone was laid for a new building for the nave. The Aachen builder Laurenz Mefferdatis planned the three-aisled basilica and included the still existing Romanesque west tower. It was probably around this time that the tower received a baroque tail helmet. There are suspicions that Johann Josef Couven made the interior. However, more detailed investigations indicate that the Couvensche style was merely copied. In 1732 the new church, which offered space for around 300 people, was consecrated.

Around 1900 the church turned out to be too small, and from 1906 the district architect Heinrich van Kann carried out an extensive expansion. A transept was built to the east , the choir was enlarged and a striking crossing dome was added over an octagonal substructure. Tail gables above the portals emphasized the neo-baroque style. The floor plan of the church now results in a cross 65 m long and 32 m wide. The dome has a height of 40 m, the tower without the tail helmet, which was destroyed in World War II , 31 m.

After severe war damage in October 1944, when the Allies' " pliers " around Aachen in Würselen were to close, the reconstruction lasted until 1959. The Romanesque west tower, which was also badly damaged, received a modified upper bell storey with acoustic arcades. The baroque top was not restored, instead a tent roof was erected, as it probably looked in Romanesque times.

Bells

The oldest bell, the former angelus bell, dates from 1275 and is currently used as a transformation bell. It was loaned to the newly built St. Pius X Church for a while. There are four more bronze bells in the tower: the Marienglocke from 1384, the Balbini bell from 1432, the Sebastianus bell cast in 1954 and the Pius bell from 1961, consecrated to Pope Pius X. The Pius bell was made by the Otto bell foundry from Bremen- Hemelingen poured. With a weight of 4,600 kg, it is one of the largest Otto bells. The Sebastianus bell comes from the Feldmann & Marschall foundry, Münster. The Balbini bell was cast by Lait van Ghelkerken. The founder of the oldest bell is unknown. The bells sound with the Pius bells beginning with the following tones: a 0 - c sharp '- e' - f sharp '. Their diameters are: 1927 mm, 1537 mm, 1262 mm, 1110 mm. The bells have the following weights: 4600 kg, 2315 kg, 1200 kg, 800 kg.

organ

Owl organ

Around 1840 St. Sebastian owned an organ made by the organ builder Paul Müller. When the church was expanded in 1906, the old organ was restored and enlarged by the Stahlhuth company . In 1940 the Klais organ building firm undertook another restoration and expansion. Despite the strong effects of the war on the church building, the organ survived the end of the war unscathed. Over time, however, there were more and more serious defects. With the help of the St. Sebastian Würselen Organ Building Association , the money for a new organ was collected from 1999. In June 2011 the new organ, which was manufactured by Hermann Eule in Bautzen, was finally put into operation.

The instrument has 40 registers, 2 manual keyboards and 1 pedal keyboard as well as slider drawers with mechanical performance and electrical stop action.

I Hauptwerk C – g 3
1. Praestant 16 ′
2. Principal 8th'
3. Reed flute 8th'
4th Flûte harmoníque 8th'
5. Viola di gamba 8th'
6th Dolce 8th'
7th Octave 4 ′
8th. Pointed flute 4 ′
9. Fifth 2 23
10. Super octave 2 ′
11. Cornett II-IV 2 23
12. Mixture IV 2 ′
13. Cymbel 1 13
14th bassoon 16 ′
15th Trumpet 8th'
II Swell C – g 3
16. Dumped 16 ′
17th Violin principal 8th'
18th Lovely Gedackt 8th'
19th Flauto amabile 8th'
20th Salicional 8th'
21st Unda maris 8th'
22nd Fugara 4 ′
23. Transverse flute 4 ′
24. Nasard 2 23
25th Flageolet 2 ′
26th Third flute 1 35
27. Progressio II-IV 2 ′
28. Trumpet harmoníque 8th'
29 Hautbois 8th'
30th Clairon harmoníque 4 ′
Tremulant
Pedals C – f 1
31. Pedestal 32 ′
32. Principal bass 16 ′
33. Sub bass 16 ′
34. Violon bass 16 ′
35. Octave bass 8th'
36. Flute bass 8th'
37. Cello bass 8th'
38. Super octave bass 4 ′
39. Trombone bass 16 ′
40. Trumpet bass 8th'

Interior

The high altar, which fills the choir niche with a height of 12 m and a width of 7 m, was built at the beginning of the 20th century, but uses parts from the 18th century. On the altarpiece is St. Sebastian depicted. The tabernacle has come down to us as a work by Johann Joseph Couven from 1758, but this is not historically certain. The modern, artistically enamelled tabernacle doors and the also enamelled altar cross (both 1962) come from the Schwerdt & Förster goldsmith's workshop in Aachen. The two altars of the transept, the Salmanus altar and the cross altar, date from the 18th century, but have been heavily modernized.

A triptych depicting the Adoration of the Magi is from the first third of the 16th century . A crucifixion group made of linden wood and a triumphal cross in the entrance hall also date back to the 16th century. In the war memorial chapel there is a 1.55 meter high and 1.47 meter wide colored wooden Pietà from 1927, which was made by the Aachen sculptor Lambert Piedboeuf .

The colorful stained glass windows are designs by Wilhelm Rupprecht and Walter Benner and were created between 1954 and 1961.

Picture gallery

literature

  • Margret Wensky and Franz Kerff: Würselen, contributions to city history, vol. 1. Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1989, pp. 379–384.
  • Margret Wensky and Franz Kerff: Würselen, Contributions to City History Vol. 2. Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1995, pp. 309f.
  • Kurt Michels, Gustl Liebenwein: The history of the parish church of St. Sebastian zu Würselen , St. Sebastianus Schützen-Gesellschaft, Würselen approx. 1980

Single references

  1. ^ Gerhard Reinhold: Otto bells. Family and company history of the Otto bell foundry dynasty . Self-published, Essen 2019, ISBN 978-3-00-063109-2 , p. 588, here in particular 84, 85, 159, 390, 391, 558, 582 .
  2. Gerhard Reinhold: Church bells - Christian world cultural heritage, illustrated using the example of the bell founder Otto, Hemelingen / Bremen . Nijmegen / NL 2019, p. 556, pp. 103, 104, 159, 345, 346 512, 546 , urn : nbn: nl: ui: 22-2066 / 204770 (dissertation at Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen).
  3. ^ The owl organ St. Sebastian Würselen , Förderkreis Orgelbau St. Sebastian Würselen eV, Würselen 2011
  4. ^ Dieter Wynands: Sankt Sebastian in Würselen . einhard verlag, Aachen 1998. ISBN 3-930701-63-4
  5. After a long search, the creator of the Pietá is now known , in: Aachener Zeitung from August 1, 2014

Web links

Commons : St. Sebastian, Würselen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
  • St. Sebastian on the homepage of the parish of St. Sebastian Würselen

Coordinates: 50 ° 49 ′ 1.1 ″  N , 6 ° 8 ′ 2.7 ″  E