Zu den heiligen Engeln (To the Holy Angels) is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

parish and church in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

- Kirchrode,

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

, 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 Kirchrode-Bemerode-Wülferode ( Eastphalian: ''Kerkreoe-Beimeroe-Wülferoe'') is the sixth borough of Hanover. , it has 32,625 inhabitants and consists of the quarters Kirchrode (12,222 inhabitants), Bemerode (19,453 inhabitants) and Wülferode (95 ...

. It belongs to the deanery of Hanover and the

Diocese of Hildesheim The Diocese of Hildesheim (Latin: ''Dioecesis Hildesiensis'') is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. Founded in 815 as a missionary diocese by King Louis the Pious, his son Louis the German appointed the famous former archbishop of Rheim ...

. The church is dedicated to the

angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles incl ...

. In 1977, the church served for a

pilot project A pilot study, pilot project, pilot test, or pilot experiment is a small-scale preliminary study conducted to evaluate feasibility, duration, cost, adverse events, and improve upon the study design prior to performance of a full-scale research p ...

by the

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

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 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.

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. 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 . The church was among the last, before the liturgical reform (''Liturgiereform'') after the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

, to have a

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an ...

(''Baldachin'') above the altar. The interior featured a statue of

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, the Stations of the Cross, and the windows, which show the

Burning bush The burning bush (or the unburnt bush) refers to an event recorded in the Jewish Torah (as also in the biblical Old Testament). It is described in the third chapter of the Book of Exodus as having occurred on Mount Horeb. According to the ...

behind the altar, and an organ built by in 1987. 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. The area around the altar was remodeled by , but the unique ''Baldachin'' was retained, making the church the only one in the diocese with this feature. The total cost was around €400,000. Bishop Norbert Trelle held the reopening on 12 April 2014.

Parish

From 1977, the parish was the testing place for a series of live broadcasts of services by the

, which resulted in regular weekly broadcasts from different locations from 1979. The parish collaborates with the Protestant parishes around, St. Jakobi in Kirchrode, in Bemerode, and St. Martin in Anderten in ecumenical partnership. In 2016, it was the second parish in the diocese to be certified for ecological awareness and management according to the European standard EMAS.

References

Literature

* Willi Stoffers: ''Bistum Hildesheim heute.'' Hildesheim 1987, , p. 31

External links

*
Hannover-Kirchrode, Zu den Hl. Engeln
kath-kirche-hannover.de

(images) akg-images.de

studiodl.com

sabinestraub.com * [http://www.neuepresse.de/Thema/Specials/Meine-Stadtteile/Sued/Fuer-400.000-Euro-wird-das-Gebaeude-der-Heiligen-Engel-in-Kirchrode-saniert 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 {{authority control Churches in Hanover, Engel Roman Catholic churches completed in 1964, Hanover, Engel Churches in the Diocese of Hildesheim Roman Catholic churches in Lower Saxony 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Germany