Zu den heiligen Engeln

Zu den heiligen Engeln (To the Holy Angels) is a Catholic parish and church in Hanover-Kirchrode, Lower Saxony, Germany. The church was built in 1964 on a design by Josef Bieling, and was remodeled in 2014. It is now the parish church of a larger parish, serving the district Kirchrode-Bemerode-Wülferode. It belongs to the deanery of Hanover and the Diocese of Hildesheim. The church is dedicated to the angels.

Zu den heiligen Engeln
Front of the church in 2011
52°21′15″N 09°49′20″E
LocationHanover-Kirchrode, Germany
DenominationCatholic
Websitewww.heilige-engel.de
History
DedicationThe angels
Consecrated30 May 1964 (1964-05-30)
Architecture
Architect(s)Josef Bieling
Administration
DioceseHildesheim

In 1977, the church served for a pilot project by the ZDF for nation-wide regular live broadcasts of services on television. The parish collaborates in ecumenical partnership with Protestant parishes in the neighbourhood. It was certified for ecological awareness and management.

History

The parish Zu den heiligen Engeln was split off the parish St. Antonius in Kleefeld on 1 July 1964. At that time it had 1,850 members, increasing to 3,400 by 1990. The church was completed in 1964, including a parish hall (Pfarrheim) in 1998.[1]

Church

The church was designed by Josef Bieling, a prolific designer of churches, in the shape of a tent, as a symbol of the tent of God with men (Zelt Gottes unter den Menschen) with a steep roof almost to the ground.[2] The groundbreaking was in 1962, the ceremonious laying of the cornerstone in 1963. The church was built in 1963 and 1964, and was consecrated on 30 May 1964 by Bishop Heinrich Maria Janssen.[1] The church was among the last, before the liturgical reform (Liturgiereform) after the Second Vatican Council, to have a canopy (Baldachin) above the altar.[3] The interior featured a statue of Mary, the Stations of the Cross, and the windows, which show the Burning bush behind the altar, and an organ built by Emil Hammer Orgelbau in 1987.[1]

For the celebration of the 50th anniversary, the church was restored, including a new lighting system. The former baptism chapel was converted to a room of silence (Raum der Stille), accessible from the entrance hall even when the church is closed.[4] The area around the altar was remodeled by Klaus Determann,[5] but the unique Baldachin was retained, making the church the only one in the diocese with this feature.[3] The total cost was around €400,000.[4] Bishop Norbert Trelle held the reopening on 12 April 2014.[3]

Parish

From 1977, the parish was the testing place for a series of live broadcasts of services by the ZDF, which resulted in regular weekly broadcasts from different locations from 1979.[3] The parish collaborates with the Protestant parishes around, St. Jakobi in Kirchrode, St. Johannis in Bemerode, and St. Martin in Anderten in ecumenical partnership.[6] In 2016, it was the second parish in the diocese to be certified for ecological awareness and management according to the European standard EMAS.[7]

References
  1. "Geschichte Kirchrode und Gemeinde "Zu den Hl. Engeln"". Zu den heiligen Engeln (in German). Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  2. Anders, Johanna (2014). Neue Kirchen in der Diaspora (in German). Kassel University Press. pp. 102–103. ISBN 978-3-86-219682-1.
  3. "Die Welt in die Kirche hinein holen / Zum 50. Jubiläum wurde der Innenraum der Kirche Zu den heiligen Engeln in Hannover-Kirchrode neu gestaltet" (in German). Katholische Kirche in der Region Hannover. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  4. Schmidt, Heike. "Presslufthammer im Altarraum / Der Zeitplan ist ehrgeizig: Bereits Ende März soll die katholische Kirche der "Heiligen Engel" in Kirchrode fertig saniert und umgebaut sein. Die Kosten belaufen sich auf 400.000 Euro". Neue Presse (in German). Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  5. Stein, Johanna (27 June 2017). "Pfarrer Kroh verlässt die Gemeinde Heilige Engel". Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  6. "Röm.-kath. Pfarrgemeinde / Zu den heiligen Engeln / Hannover-Kirchrode". chartaoecumenica.de (in German). Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  7. "Pfarrgemeinde Hl. Engel in Hannover-Kirchrode zertifiziert". Diocese of Hildesheim (in German). Retrieved 16 November 2018.

Literature
  • Willi Stoffers: Bistum Hildesheim heute. Hildesheim 1987, ISBN 3-87065-418-X, p. 31
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