St. Thomas More (Essen-Vogelheim)

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St. Thomas More, 2008

The Roman Catholic church building Sankt Thomas More was located in the Vogelheim district of Essen from 1952 to 2019 .

History and architecture

The Thomas-More-Church was built in 1952 from rubble stones according to plans by the Essen architect Martin Schoenmakers. He chose the form of a simple and column-free hall, which was common at the time, in which the local community stops in two long columns of banks as if on the way to their destination. Before that, the liturgical area unfolded like a stage raised by numerous steps over a crypt . Much of it was arranged symmetrically, with backdrop walls on both sides and a total of two ambones . The foundation stone came from the Essen Minster Church . The consecration took place in 1952.

The singing gallery spread out over the central entrance. A segmented arched ceiling spanned the entire church hall. It was supported by steel trusses in the high attic. The walls of the hall were structured by six pairs of wall arrows and the chancel scenery, which protruded half inside and half outside from the brick longitudinal walls, as well as high rectangular windows in the wall panels spanned in between.

The bell tower was square and formed a separate structure. He was brought up to the street in a wide, covered corridor and stood at the side portal of the community room. A special feature was H. Köpke's crucifixion and the resurrection window . The sculptor Karl Zangerle from Essen created the statues of the protective mantle Madonna , another Maria with child and the miner's patroness St. Barbara . In 1997 the choir was repainted.

After a week of prayer was held from September 24th to 30th, 2018 , Ruhr Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck profaned the church on September 30th, 2018 in the course of the parish development process in the Diocese of Essen . which now also holds catholic services as an ecumenical parish hall.

Originally the church was built with places for around 500 believers. They were mostly Catholic miners. With the end of mining, the church was visited by fewer and fewer believers, until there were only about 50 churchgoers at the end. The church building was sold and demolished in November 2019 in order to erect residential buildings on the resulting open space.

literature

Web link

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The end of the Catholic Church of St. Thomas More is approaching. In: Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved November 27, 2019 .
  2. ^ Heinz Dohmen & Eckhard Sons: Churches, chapels, synagogues in Essen. Essen 1998, p. 96.
  3. ^ Heinz Dohmen & Eckhard Sons: Churches, chapels, synagogues in Essen. Essen 1998, p. 97.
  4. ^ Farewell to St. Thomas More. In: neueruhrwort.de. Retrieved November 27, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Torben Heine: The last mass in St. Thomas More has been read ; In: Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung of October 2, 2018; accessed on November 27, 2019
  6. ^ Church in Essen-Vogelheim is being torn down ; Radio Essen from November 26, 2019

Coordinates: 51 ° 29 '24.7 "  N , 6 ° 59" 8.2 "  E