The Church of St. Boniface () in

Bergen auf Rügen Bergen auf Rügen is the capital of the former district of Rügen in the middle of the island of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. Since 1 January 2005, Bergen has moreover been the administrative seat of the '' Amt'' of Bergen au ...

is the seat of the only

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish on the German island of

Rügen Rügen (; Rani: ''Rȯjana'', ''Rāna''; , ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic ci ...

. Other churches in the parish are the Chapel of Stella Maris in

Binz Binz is the largest seaside resort city on the German island of Rügen. It is situated between the bay of Prorer Wiek and the ''Schmachter See'' (a lake) in the southeast of the island. To the north of Binz stretches the Schmale Heide (the "na ...

, the Church of the Sacred Heart, in Garz/Rügen and Stella Maris in

Sellin Sellin is a municipality on the Island of Rügen, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. History First mentions of Sellin date to 1295. From 1880 on, the town gained importance as a Baltic Sea spa town. After the '' Wende'' in 1989, the building ...

. The parish is the northernmost in the

Archdiocese of Berlin The Archdiocese of Berlin () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. The episcopal see, archepiscopal see is in Berlin, with the archdiocese's territory extending over Northeast Germany. As o ...

and has about 1,700 members.

History

At the beginning of the 19th century, the

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German language, German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklen ...

priest, Wendelin Zink, undertook the first pastoral trips to the island of Rügen and held services in the private homes of local Roman Catholics. In 1863, a mission house was established on the edge of the town of Bergen with a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

consecrated on 8 September. Upon approval of the establishment of a mission parish in 1864 by the Prussian state, Gustav Machai became the first Roman Catholic priest on Rügen (until 1869). In addition to a vicarage, a Catholic school was also established from 1867 to 1878. In 1871, there were about 700 Catholics on Rügen. On 1 July 1910, by which time the congregation had already outgrown the chapel, it was elevated to an independent parish. The then minister, Maximilian Kaller (officiated 1905-1917), collected donations for the new

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

building which was completed in 1912. Later Kaller built a daughter church in Garz. After his departure, he went to Berlin's St. Michael's Church. In 2000, a new single-division organ with Neo-Gothic casing was installed in the church.

External links

Homepage of the Roman Catholic parish of St. Boniface
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergen, Bonifatiuskirche Roman Catholic churches completed in 1912 Vorpommern-Rügen Churches in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Gothic Revival church buildings in Germany Boniface's Church Buildings and structures in Vorpommern-Rügen 1912 establishments in Germany 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Germany

History

See also

External links