St. Valentin (Venrath)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
St. Valentin in Venrath

The St. Valentin Church is a Roman Catholic branch church of the Catholic parish Christkönig Erkelenz in the Venrath district of the city of Erkelenz in the Heinsberg district ( North Rhine-Westphalia ). As the second patron, it is consecrated to St. Rochus on August 16, memorial day.

The church is entered under number 291 in the list of architectural monuments in Erkelenz .

history

A church in Venrath is mentioned for the first time on February 14, 1478 , the day of the church patron in a document. A new bell tower and a new choir were added to this church in 1525, presumably in the Gothic style . On March 1, 1804 Venrath became an independent parish. In addition to the believers from Venrath and Kaulhausen, who have belonged to this church since ancient times, the restructuring by the French state, the Catholic residents of Herrath and Beckrath from the Wickrath mayor and the believers from Etgenbusch, Erkelenz the new parish of St Valentinus Venrath struck. At the beginning of the 19th century this church became too small. The building consisted of large parts of a conglomerate of quartzite blocks and other rubble stones. Through additions and modifications, the central nave with openings to the two attached side aisles and the attached choir became a three-aisled church with a tower in front of it. In 1852 a collective association was founded to build a new church. The old church was located 100 m southwest of today's church location in today's cemetery and was auctioned off to Peter Heinrich Gillrath for 125 thaler on January 14, 1869 after the current church was completed .

In 1857 , the parish finally commissioned the architect Friedrich Schmidt to plan a new church. At this point in time, Schmidt was working in the Dombauhütte in Cologne under Ernst Friedrich Zwirner and, in addition to this activity, was a master builder for other churches. The first design by Schmidt as a 5-bay pseudo-basilica with two side aisles, a single-bay choir with a 5/8 end and a mighty tower above the choir bay did not meet with the approval of the authorities. The location in the place of the old church in the cemetery was too small. In the second draft, the nave was shortened by a yoke and instead of the choir tower, the first yoke in the central nave was changed as a vestibule and basis for a tower to be built later. A small roof turret above the tower crowned this second design from 1857.

  • Floor plans for the new church, draft II, November 1857

  • Front view and rear view of the new church, draft II, November 1857

  • Longitudinal section of the new church, draft II, November 1857

Then the new church project was suspended for a few years and was only tackled more specifically in 1863 . In addition to obtaining the necessary funds, the search for a new building site was also undertaken, as the previous location was felt to be too small. A total of 6 different locations were discussed in some very lively discussions in the community. After Johann Hermann donated the building site in 1866, construction began in the same year. On December 2, 1866 , the church building committee concluded a contract with the local businessman Leopold Gillrath for the production and delivery of the required bricks. These stones were made in a field fire oven , about 200 m north of the construction site. As the Rheinischer Ringofen Ziegelei Gillrath in Erkelenz, the descendants of Leopold Gillrath still operate this craft today. The Aachen architect Robert Ferdinand Cremer took over the construction management, who added a yoke and the bell tower to Schmidt's second draft. The size of the nave and choir again corresponded to Schmidt's first design from 1857 .

  • Ground plan for the new building of the church, executed draft III, 1867

  • Side view of the new building of the church, executed draft III, 1867

On August 31, 1868 , the three-aisled neo - Gothic hall church with a bell tower in front and a choir closed on three sides was inaugurated by the auxiliary bishop of Cologne, Johann Anton Friedrich Baudri .

  • Certificate for church and altar consecration in 1868

Since 2010 Venrath is no longer an independent parish. It was merged with some other former parishes to form the parish "St. Maria and Elisabeth" Erkelenz, this was abolished in 2015 and with the parish "St. Lambertus Erkelenz" to the new parish "Christkönig Erkelenz".

Building description

The three-aisled, five-bay brick building is a stepped hall with no transepts on a high base with a transverse oblong choir bay and five-sided choir closure. In the north and south of the Chorjoch there are almost square additions with 3/6 ends on the sides. The northern room, which was extended to the east in 1956, serves as the sacristy, the southern room, since the renovation in 2015, as a working day chapel. The building is completely divided on the outside by double-stepped buttresses, which no longer reach as close to the eaves of the aisle roofs as in the first draft. The central nave is covered with a continuous gable roof. The monopitch roofs of the side aisles start just below the eaves. As in the first draft, the circumferential eaves and the continuous plinth and sill cornices combine to form a single unit. The six aisle windows each have two lanes with a standing four-pass motif, the five choir windows, on the other hand, have horizontal three-pass windows. The two windows of the choir bay are walled up and had tracery and windows painted on the inside. During the renovation in 2015, the painted tracery was completely re-attached according to the findings, and the painted windows were only restored in sample approaches. The window frames are simply tiered. In the west of the nave is the transverse rectangular four-storey tower developed according to plans by Ferdinand Robert Cremer, which on the fourth storey is converted from a square into a polygon with windows. The floors are clearly separated from each other by cornices. A polygonal stair tower is set in the middle of the north wall of the tower. Two stairs lead to the large rectangular wooden portal, which is surrounded by a stone wall. Above that, across the width of the portal, there is a tracery frame into which three standing four-passages inscribed in a circle are embedded. A three-lane tracery window with standing quadruples extends over this. On the third floor there is a two-lane tracery window with a standing quatrefoil, which is framed by a brick, two-tiered wall. In addition, the window is framed by continuous triangular wall projections, which take up the alignment of the buttresses in the recessed octagonal upper floor. Between the buttresses on the upper floor there are eight ogival windows with two-tiered masonry walls. The tower is crowned by an eight-sided helmet. The interior of the nave is divided by three smooth pairs of round pillars on an octagonal base with an early Gothic bud capital. Three-quarter columns with leaf capitals grow out of the protrusions of the striker plates in the north and south, which take up the ribs of the cross vaults. These end in leaf brackets on the side aisle walls. The keystones are ring-shaped with an open top hole. The vaginal arches are high and pointed.

Dimensions

At the time of planning from 1857 and construction from 1866 to 1868, the metric length system with decimal division that is common today was not yet used. The duodecimal length system was used with the Rhenish foot as the basis. 1 rhine. Foot = 313.8535 mm, 1 rhine. Feet = 12 inches = 144 lines, the symbol used in the drawings is: '(foot)' '(inch)' '' (line).

Internal dimensions

The five yokes of the nave are each 5 × 14 '= 70' = 21.97 m long, the central nave is 20 '= 6.27 m wide and the side aisles are each 12' = 3.77 m wide. Overall width: 44 '' = 13.81 m. The interior height from the floor to below the keystones of the vaults in the central nave is 36 '= 11.30 m, in the side aisles 28' '= 8.79 m. The choir is 26 '' 4 '' = 8.26 m long and 17 '9' '= 5.57 m wide.

Furnishing

Inside the church there are some carved and painted figures of saints ( Valentin ; Rochus ; Maria Rosary Queen ; Joseph, protector of the whole church ; John the Baptist ; Barbara ; Francis ; Maria Immaculata ; Pietà ; John Nepomuk ; Antonius of Padua ; Aloisius of Gonzaga ; Herz Jesu ) from the 18th and 19th centuries. The window was created by the Mulders, Kevelaer company between 1955 and 1956 as a replacement for the windows that were partially destroyed in World War II .

  • Figure of St. Valentine, 1860–1865

  • Figure of St. Rochus, 1894

  • Left side altar - Marienaltar, cafeteria 1868, Steinmetz Odenthal, Cologne, reredos 1871, sculptor Carl Hohmann, Cologne, figure of Maria Rosary Queen, 1890, sculptor Josef Fink, Cologne

  • Right side altar - Joseph's altar, canteen 1868, stonemason Odenthal, Cologne, retable 1871, sculptor Carl Hohmann, Cologne, figure of St. Joseph - protector of the whole church, 1892, sculptor Jean Antoine Oor, Roermond

  • Figure of St. Barbara, 1889, sculptor Josef Fink, Cologne

  • Pieta - Sorrowful Mother, around 1900, sculptor Pohl & Esser, Aachen

1955–1956 the interior of the church was redesigned. The neo-Gothic high altar from 1868 with its carved reredos , the carved pulpit and the communion bench, as well as the presumably late Gothic Christ body with the triumphal cross, were removed and mostly destroyed. The trusses on the side of the two altars of the side altars and the carvings on the confessionals were also removed. A cellar was dug under the choir area to accommodate a warm air heater. The northern sacristy was enlarged by an extension. The choir area has been raised one step. Instead of the previous motif tiles made of Mettlach tiles , Solnhofen limestone was laid as the flooring . A new high altar made of polished Aachen bluestone was erected on a stepped pedestal and inaugurated by Auxiliary Bishop Friedrich Hünermann from Aachen on June 12, 1956 .

  • Certificate for the consecration of the altar in 1956, front and back

From February 1, 2013 to May 31, 2015 , extensive renovation and renovation work took place. The altar area was then redesigned. In 2014–2015, the ornamental wall paintings from the time it was built were uncovered and restored inside the church.

In a solemn service for the reopening after the extensive renovation work, a new altar made of Belgian granite was opened on May 31, 2015 by Auxiliary Bishop Dr. Johannes Bündgens and a new ambo (Belgian granite) and tabernacle (Belgian granite and stainless steel) inaugurated .

  • Altar consecration May 31, 2015

  • exposed carpet painting in the altar area after the 2015 renovation

  • Painting in the vault of the choir, 2015

  • Altar area after the 2015 renovation

  • Longship and organ after the renovation in 2015

  • View of the choir area with the crucifixion group from St. Lambertus (Immerath) after the renovation in 2015

  • Tuff font with lid, 1868, location after renovation in 2015

organ

The organ is a work of the Überlinger organ building company Mönch from 1991. The instrument was installed in the historical, neo-Gothic case of the predecessor organ by Georg Stahlhuth (1898). It has twelve registers , seven of which can be played by a second manual using alternating loops (WS) . The disposition is as follows:

I. Manual C-g 3
1. Principal 8th'
2. Covered flute 8th'
3. Gamba 8th'
4th Octave 4 ′
5. Reed flute 4 ′
6th Nazard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
7th flute 2 ′
8th. third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
-Half train 2 ′
9. Mixture 4-fold 2 ′
10. Trumpet 8th'
II. Manual C-g 3
Covered flute 8th' (WS)
Gamba 8th' (WS)
Reed flute 4 ′ (WS)
Nazard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ (WS)
flute 2 ′ (WS)
third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ (WS)
Trumpet 8th' (WS)
Pedal C – d 1
11. Sub-bass 16 ′
12. Octave bass 8th'

Bells

The Otto bell foundry from Hemelingen / Bremen supplied bronze bells for the St. Valentin Church three times : 1907/8 (3 bells), 1927 (2 bells), 1958 (2 bells). From the first OTTO bells, the f sharp bell is still preserved today. The other bells from 1907/8 and 1927 fell victim to the destruction of bells in the two world wars. After the Second World War, Otto added the bells to the original string of striking notes: d '- e' - f sharp '.

No.
 		 Surname
 		 Diameter
(mm)		 Mass
(kg, approx.)		 Percussive
( HT - 1 / 16 )		 Caster
 		 Casting year
 
1 Joseph 1,390 1,650 d ′ -2 Karl Otto (III), F. Otto , Hemelingen 1958
2 Maria 1,240 1,200 e ′ -3 Karl Otto (III), F. Otto, Hemelingen 1958
3 Pius 1,090 820 f sharp ′ -4 Karl Otto (I), F. Otto, Hemelingen 1908

Motif: Pater noster (accessed on May 17, 2019)

  • Bell 1 d '

literature

  • Albert-Josef Pappert: The church buildings of the 19th century in the Heinsberg district. Diss., RWTH Aachen 1978, pp. 218-224.
  • Alexandra Zingler: Friedrich von Schmidt's sacred buildings in the Prussian provinces of Rhineland and Westphalia. Diss. University of Cologne, 2011, pp. 166–173. ( online ).
  • Heinz Schmitz and Leonhard Urban (eds.): Parish chronicle Venrath. Venrath 1983.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl L. Mackes: Erkelenzer Börde and Niersquellen area. A contribution to the history of the former villages and communities Immerath, Pesch, Lützerath, Keyenberg, Berverath, Borschemich, Holz, Otzenrath, Spenrath, Westrich, Wanlo, Kaulhausen, Kuckum and Venrath . In: Series of publications by the city of Erkelenz, No. 6. B. Kühlen, Mönchengladbach 1985, pp. 354–377.
  2. ↑ a b PfA Venrath, booklet for the church building bill in Venrath, published in 1871.
  3. ↑ Alexandra Zingler: The sacred buildings of Friedrich von Schmidt in the Prussian provinces of Rhineland and Westphalia . Diss., University of Cologne 2011, p. 170.
  4. ↑ LAV NRW R BR 0020 No. 107, District Office Erkelenz, Kirchenbau zu Venrath, letter from August 1864
  5. ^ Gillrath - Geschichte , accessed on September 16, 2016.
  6. ^ Church of St. Valentin in Venrath in the portal "Churches and chapels in the city of Erkelenz", accessed on September 16, 2016.
  7. ↑ Alexandra Zingler: The sacred buildings of Friedrich von Schmidt in the Prussian provinces of Rhineland and Westphalia . Diss., University of Cologne 2011, p. 173.
  8. ↑ Decree of the Congregation for Rites Quemadmodum deus of December 8, 1870, Declaration of St. Joseph as patron saint of the universal church
  9. ^ PfA Venrath, hand files for church windows, renovation 1955–1956
  10. ↑ Mönch organ in Venrath (accessed December 30, 2014)
  11. ^ 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, particularly pages 411, 516, 529, 555 .
  12. ↑ Gerhard Reinhold: Church bells - Christian world cultural heritage, illustrated using the example of the bell founder Otto, Hemelingen / Bremen . Nijmegen / NL 2019, p. 556, in particular pp. 387, 481, 490, 510 , urn : nbn: nl: ui: 22-2066 / 204770 (dissertation at the Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen).
  13. ^ Norbert Jachtmann: Bells in the Heinsberg region ; therein pp. 94–98: Erkelenz-Venrath, St. Valentin , here pp. 91–95 [1]

Web links

Commons : Saint Valentine Church (Venrath)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 51 ° 5 ′ 27.2 "  N , 6 ° 22 ′ 21.9"  E