St. Servatius (Rösrath-Hoffnungsthal)
St. Servatius is the Roman Catholic Church in Rösrath - Hoffnungsthal . It is located directly on the east bank of the Sülz river .
prehistory
In the Rösrath district of Volberg, a church from the 12th century has survived, west of the Sülz, today's Evangelical Church of Volberg , the core of which is the Romanesque tower. In the middle of the 16th century , the Reformation was introduced at the church, which was presumably consecrated to St. Servatius, as in Honrath , Seelscheid and Wahlscheid . In 1898 Volberg was renamed Hope Valley.
Up until the middle of the 20th century there was a denominational separation between the Protestant district of Hoffnungsthal and the Catholic district of Rösrath. Only the large influx of refugees and displaced persons after the Second World War brought a mixture of denominations. The first Catholic services were held in 1946 in a barrack built by the Belgian troops in the Hope Thaler schoolyard. The barrack was soon no longer sufficient for the rapidly increasing number of Catholics.
Building history
The architect Bernhard Rotterdam was commissioned to plan a new church in 1952, the foundation stone of which was laid in 1954. The peculiarity of the construction consists in the connection between church, rectory and youth home, in the middle of which lies the rectory garden. An archway gives access to the parish garden and the entrance to the church. At first, the church windows consisted of only single glazing. In 1959, the glass painter Paul Weigmann created the large choir window in the altar area. A water wave with small fish and fishing nets is shown.
Personalities from the very beginning
When the new Servatius church on May 13, 1956 the feast of the parish patron Servatius , consecrated , was carried out at the same time the inauguration of Hans Backhaus, the first Catholic priest in Hoffnungsthal for about 400 years, the office until his retirement in September 1979 exercised. Alfred Lemmer became the full-time sexton and organist of the new Catholic parish of St. Servatius Volberg in Hoffnungsthal . As a man from the very beginning, he accompanied the services at the organ in St. Servatius until July 1985.
Denominational help
The building site on Gartenstrasse was made available by the Protestant parish. Approx. At that time 2200 m² cost 4500 DM. Between 1946 and 1950 the elementary school teacher Peter Wasmuth conducted both the Catholic and the Protestant church choirs in Hoffnungsthal. Since he had the same pieces rehearsed for both choirs, it often happened that they helped each other out. Only 150 meters and the water of the Sülz separate the Protestant (on the west bank of the Sülz) and the Catholic church (on the east bank of the Sülz) in Hopesthal.
Parish affiliation
The Church of St. Servatius is one of four churches in the pastoral care area Rösrath of the deanery Overath in the Archdiocese of Cologne. From 1956 to 2009 it was the parish church of the parish “St. Servatius Volberg in Hope Valley ”. On January 1, 2010, the Catholic parishes in Rösrath merged to form a common parish, with the Church of St. Nikolaus von Tolentino as the parish church. There are also the Catholic churches of the Holy Spirit in Forsbach and the Holy Family in Kleineichen.
Oddities
The foundation stone was laid on September 19, 1954 without the written consent of the Archdiocese of Cologne to build the church . It was not until September 22, 1954 that the Vicariate General gave official approval.
literature
- Hans Backhaus: St. Servatius Volberg in Hoffnungsthal , Wiesbaden 1966
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 54 ′ 46.6 " N , 7 ° 11 ′ 42.4" E