St. Willibrord (Euchen)

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St. Willibrord Euchen (Würselen)

St. Willibrord is a Roman Catholic church in Würselen - Euchen . It is the holy Willibrord consecrated under the number A 09 / K in the list of monuments in Würselen entered.

The community belongs together with the communities St. Balbina ( Morsbach ), St. Lucia ( Broichweiden ), St. Marien ( Scherberg ), St. Nikolaus ( Linden-Neusen ), St. Pius X. (Schweilbach / Teut), St. Sebastian (Würselen-Mitte) and St. Peter and Paul in Bardenberg to the parish of St. Sebastian Würselen in the diocese of Aachen .

history

Euchen has been settled since Roman times. Two Roman courtyards ( Villa rustica ) are secured in the immediate vicinity of the church in Euchen. In the oldest part of the church, the tower, Roman bricks and stones are walled up. The exact age of the tower is not known, it probably goes back to the Middle Ages; probably until the early 13th century.

The first written mention of the place Euchen can be found in a document in Latin from 1217. In this document, the Duke of Limburg and Margrave of Arlon , Heinrich III. , the monastery of the Augustinian Canons in Klosterrath (today Rolduc ) in Kerkrade in the Netherlands various goods.

Around 1300 there was already a chapel in Euchen after the Liber valoris , which belonged to the mother church in Broich. The oldest evidence of a cemetery in Euchen is a cartographic representation from 1711, in which the property to be taxed in the parish of Broich was recorded. At that time this cemetery was the only burial place in the parish of Broich. As early as the Synod of Trebur in 895, the parish churches were given the obligation to bury their members in parish cemeteries. In Euchen, the cemetery was located around the church at that time.

In 1725 the chapel building and parts of the tower were demolished and a simple baroque building was erected on the same site. This hall church is divided into five bays and has a straight choir closure. The building is associated with the Aachen builder Laurenz Mefferdatis , who was involved in the construction of St. Sebastian at the same time.

The next big change took place in 1912. On April 12, 1905, St. Willibrord became an independent parish again and the first pastor was Heinrich Werhahn (* December 7, 1870 in Neuss; † November 23, 1947 there). As early as 1906, the church council was concerned with its plans to expand the church with a transept / crossing, a large choir with apse and a new sacristy. The last yoke of the building from 1725 and a small annex behind the church were demolished for this purpose. Pastor Werhahn came from a wealthy entrepreneurial family and his parents Peter and Helene Werhahn (née Hahn) guaranteed a large part of the financing. Heinrich Werhahn's grandfather is Heinrich Hahn . The architect of this extension was Joseph Bruchkremer , who later became the master builder of Aachen Cathedral . The foundation stone was laid on August 4, 1912 and the new building was consecrated on August 10, 1913. The church was consecrated on July 29, 1916 by Auxiliary Bishop Peter Joseph Lausberg from Cologne .

During the First World War , Werhahn introduced a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus .

St. Willibrord was badly damaged during the Second World War in October and November 1944. Pastor Werhahn left the parish in 1944 due to old age and moved back to Neuss , where he died at the age of 76.

After the war, an emergency church was set up in a chicken house in Schleibach , and on May 25, 1946 the first mass after the war was celebrated again in St. Willibrord. The emergency church was still used in parallel. The reopening of St. Willibrord was at Easter 1966.

On January 20, 2014, restoration work began on the church tower and roof, which was completed on November 22, 2016 with the installation of the gold-plated weathercock .

Furnishing

The oldest pieces of equipment include an oak confessional (early 19th century), a figure of the Virgin with child, a wooden figure of the church patron Willibrord (both mid-19th century) and the black marble baptismal font , made in 1896 by the married couple Johann Josef Theodor Pütgens and Maria Sophia Frings donated. A life-size Jesus statue made of white marble, donated by Pastor Werhahn in 1916 and dedicated to the memory of the soldiers who died in the war, is the work of the Aachen sculptor Lambert Piedboeuf .

In 1918, on the occasion of the Sacred Heart Festival, Werhahn donated three choir windows:

  • Heart of Jesus, you atonement for our sins (the apostle Thomas touches the wound on the side of Christ),
  • Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation (Jesus comforts Margareta Maria Alacoque ) and
  • Heart of Jesus, you bliss of all saints ( Maria , Willibrord and an angel adore Jesus).

These windows made by the glass painting company Oidtmann from Linnich were destroyed in the Second World War. In 1986 the emergency glazing was replaced by depictions of saints, designs by the artist Rudolf Mohren from Linden-Neusen ( Brigida von Kildare , Apostles Bartholomäus and Willibrord). In 2004 the saints were moved to the nave ; Since then, free compositions by the glass painter Ludwig Schaffrath from Alsdorf-Ofden can be seen in the choir room . The five windows in the transept , works by the glass painter Maria Katzgrau , date from around 1950; they show cross symbols and include fragments of the older glazing.

In 1920, a Way of the Cross painted on wood by the Aachen artist Michael Emonds-Alt was hung in fourteen stations. In July 1924 the apse was painted in the late Nazarene style by the artist Philipp Schumacher from Munich - the depiction of the enthroned Christ is based on the idea of ​​salvation. The painting was damaged in 1944, painted over white after the war, restored in 1985.

For the 25th anniversary of the parish in 1930, Pastor Werhahn donated an altar top made of Pentelic marble for the high altar. The lower part of the altar bore three gilded bronze reliefs with the themes:

The new top also had three bronze reliefs by Lambert Piedboeuf:

In the relief on the epistle page, the artist gave the disciples the facial features of Pastor Werhahn and the founder, Peter Werhahn. The altar was destroyed in the war, the six reliefs (some slightly damaged) are still preserved. The new altar was erected in 1976 and is by Sepp Hürten .

In 1938 the Werhahn family donated a pulpit made of colored marble to the church , which was modeled on the marble pulpit of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Aachen Cathedral and was made according to plans by Joseph Buchkremer and realized by the Peter Kessel company from Aachen. It was destroyed in World War II.

In July 1929, the church received an organ from Orgelbau Romanus Seifert & Sohn . The organ had 29 registers , 1560 pipes and 61 steel plates for a harp register. It was destroyed in the Second World War. The new organ was inaugurated on September 9, 1956.

graveyard

Tombstones from the early 17th century can still be found in the cemetery today. The oldest is from 1636.

  • Gravestone from 1636

  • Gravestone from 1693

  • Gravestone from 1638

Pastors and Rectors

The Good Shepherd. Relief for the priestly graves of St. Willibrord Euchen (Würselen) by Lambert Joseph Piedboeuf
  • ???
  • 1819–1828: Maximilian Josef Edmund Zimmermann (born October 12, 1793 in Burtscheid , pastor in Broich from 1828)
  • 1828–1846: Franz Michael Josef (P. Thomas) Nolden (born May 13, 1769; † October 12, 1846 in Euchen; ordained a priest on May 20, 1792)
  • 1846–1890: Johann Michael Offermann (born June 14, 1809 in Cologne ; † January 10, 1890 in Euchen) (ordained a priest on February 27, 1836 in Cologne; October 17, 1846 (introduction) to January 10, 1890)
  • 1891–1892: Engelbert Kallen
  • 1893–1895: Joseph Gentis
  • 1895–1904: Gottfried Glaudemans
  • 1904–1944: Heinrich Werhahn (ordained priest on August 10, 1897 in Cologne Cathedral )
  • 1944–1947: Johannes Impekhoven
  • 1947–1954: Monsignor Dr. Anton Kradepohl (February 16, 1947 to March 7, 1954)
  • 1954–1969: Friedrich Bechstein (1954 to April 18, 1969)
  • 1969–1982: Father Josef Lieth (June 2, 1969 to August 29, 1982)
  • 1982–1984: Father Hubert Schelte (November 7, 1982 (introduction) to March 30, 1984)
  • 1984–1985: Father Weisgerber (July 22, 1984 (introduction) to 1985)
  • 1985–1989: Father Lukowski (October 20, 1985 (introduction) to January 8, 1989)
  • 1989–1991: Father Erwin Wiesler (February 10, 1989 (appointment) until September 24, 1991)
  • 1991–2010: Hans Rolf Krewinkel (born November 28, 1946 in Aachen ; † August 17, 2010 Würselen) (November 3, 1991 (introduction) to August 17, 2010)
  • since January 1, 2010: Rainer Gattys as pastor of the St. Sebastian parish

Picture gallery

  • View from the cemetery

  • View from the cemetery

  • inside view

  • Choir by Philipp Schumacher in the late Nazarene style (1924)

  • St. Willibrord wooden figure from the middle of the 19th century.

  • Baptismal font from 1896

literature

  • H. Reiners: The art monuments of the district of Aachen. Volume 9, II. In: Paul Clemen (Ed.): The art monuments of the Rhine province. Verlag L. Schwann, Düsseldorf, pp. 104-105.
  • M. Wensky, F. Kerff. In: Contributions to the history of the city. Volume 1, 2; Rheinlandverlag, Cologne.
  • DG Franquinet: Eredeneerde inventaris der oorkonden en modest van de abdij Kloosterrade en van de adelijke vrouwenkloosters Marienthal en Sinnich. No. 28. Maastricht 1869, pp. 34-36.
  • Home booklet of the Euchen home and history association, various.

Web links

Commons : St. Willibrord  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ GdG Würselen in the diocese of Aachen
  2. ^ Rijksarchief Limburg Maastricht. Archief abdij Kloosterrade, Inv. No. 825 (new 28)
  3. ↑ Würselen-Euchen, Catholic Church of St. Willibrord At the research center for glass painting of the 20th century. V.
  4. ^ Hans Rolf Krewinkel: Obituary notice: Aachener Zeitung / Aachener Nachrichten. Accessed December 31, 2019 .

Coordinates: 50 ° 50 ′ 25.4 "  N , 6 ° 9 ′ 38"  E