St. Walburga (Porta Westfalica)

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St. Walburga

St. Walburga in the cityscape of Porta Westfalica-Hausberge

Basic data
Denomination Roman Catholic
place Local mountains , Porta Westfalica , Germany
diocese Archdiocese of Paderborn
Patronage St. Walburga
Building history
architect Emil Steffann
construction time 1968-1970
Building description
inauguration June 14, 1970 by Auxiliary Bishop Johannes Joachim Degenhardt
Function and title

Parish church

Coordinates 52 ° 14 '27.6 "  N , 8 ° 55' 20.5"  E Coordinates: 52 ° 14 '27.6 "  N , 8 ° 55' 20.5"  E
Right: The former St. Walburga Church in Hausberge, which was demolished in autumn 1967. The smaller tower on the left belonged to the Hotel Kaiser Friedrich .

St. Walburga is a Roman Catholic parish . The community center is located in Hausberge, a district of Porta Westfalica . The diaspora community (approx. 2800 parishioners, 105 km²) belongs to the pastoral area WerreWeser in the deanery of Herford-Minden of the Archdiocese of Paderborn .

The community center

The community center was created according to a design by the architect Emil Steffann from Bad Godesberg. One of his students, later Prof. Gisberth M. Hülsmann , drew the community center according to Steffann's design and continued the construction that began in 1968 after his death. On 14 June 1970, the community center was completed and the church by the then Auxiliary Bishop Johannes Joachim Degenhardt consecrated .

Building description

The community center had to be built on a narrow, steep, elongated piece of land with a street front of only 17 meters. The spatial concept of the community center was developed in an initial conversation between Pastor Karl-Heinz Salm and Steffann: Church with weekday chapel, foyer and community rooms, pastor's apartment, everything interwoven as possible and protected by roofing. Garages and storage rooms were built at street level; the latter house the parish office after renovations. Two staircases lead to a forecourt from which the lower hall, a multi-purpose room and storage rooms can be reached. Additional staircases in the outside and inside area lead to the level of the so-called Paradise, the covered forecourt between the church and the foyer.

The church interior

You enter the church through the low weekday chapel, which looks like a crypt and is visually separated from the main room by a floor band made of pebbles pressed into the screed. The altar table of the chapel is made of concrete, on which traces of the formwork are visible. To the right of it, the tabernacle protrudes from a wall breakthrough. Like the outer walls of the community center, the square main room of the church, with rounded corners, is made of unhewn, yellow-brown-reddish limestone from Hollage with trass lime. In the focus of the main room, which rises slightly towards the sides, is the altar island, which is offset from the center of the room to the east wall, above which a candlestick with a diameter of approx. 8 meters seems to float. The rows of chairs for the worship participants are grouped in a 3/4 circle around the altar island. Twelve candlesticks are attached to the walls, which stand for the apostles as the foundation and pillars of the church. A narrow band of light below the ceiling runs around three sides of the church. The incident light is attenuated by panes colored black solder. A wooden ceiling completes the interior.

In terms of layout, body and space, St. Walburga resembles the Church of St. Laurentius in Cologne-Lindenthal (Emil Steffann, 1962).

  • Access to "paradise"

  • Construction detail corner, quarry stone wall

  • Weekday chapel

  • Stations of the Cross from the old church

  • inner space

Figures and wall hangings

In the community center there are some sculptures by the Degen siblings: the Man of Sorrows in the south of paradise, the statue of Mary on a pyramid stump in the weekday chapel and the church patroness St. Walburga next to the main exit. The wall hangings on the east wall of the room - works by the artist Grete Badenheuer from Essen - can be changed during the festive season of the church year. There are tapestries of the birth of Christ, the Man of Sorrows for Lent, the Easter Lamb, creation, Zacchaeus on the tree and the ark as a symbol of the church. The largest hanging on the south wall shows the risen Christ. Hubert Teschlade created the stand cross in 1984. It consists of silver-plated copper sheet and holds a rock crystal in the middle.

organ

Michael Braun built the organ for the inauguration of the church. The main work comprises eight registers, the pedal four registers. In 1995 the organ was expanded to include a swell with eight registers and a second manual.

Bell jar

The St. Walburga bell on the south facade dates from 1928. It was cast as a replacement for the bell that was melted down in 1917 during the First World War. The Latin inscription reads Arceat Walburga Patrona miseram sortem qua fracta cecidit ea quae ante me sonuit illius gloriam (German: May the patroness Walburga ward off the sad fate through which the broken fell, which made her fame resound in front of me ).

Web links

Commons : St. Walburga (Hausberge)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A guided tour through St. Walburga
  2. ^ Archdiocese of Cologne: Church of St. Laurentius. Retrieved March 12, 2018 .