Catholic parish church "Zur schmerzhaften Mutter" with chapel of mercy
Hans Reck
Version dated January 25, 2021
The first mention of a chapel dates back to 1693, when an oak tree was delivered and charged for the chapel, possibly for a repair. This suggests that the chapel already existed at this time. It is reported that there was already a Marian devotion. This was due to the fact that an image of the Virgin Mary venerated in the church in Dabringhausen-Grunewald came to Biesfeld after a conversion to the Protestant faith is said to have taken place there in the course of the Reformation. This image is said to have stood in a tree south of Biesfeld for a long time.
The flow of pilgrims was obviously unbroken for centuries. The chapel became too small, was demolished and a new building was started around 1859. In 1862-64, a new chapel was built on the site of the current church. The building was constructed from quarry stone. The chapel had a high nave, high gabled facades with a small choir and a small turret on the roof. The interior of the chapel had a round arch and a cross vault. The baroque altar was decorated with the miraculous image of the Sorrowful Mother. Biesfeld became a place of pilgrimage, originally belonged to the parish of Kürten and became an independent parish in 1906.
Demolition and new construction
The demolition of the chapel and the start of the new construction of the current church took place in 1908. The new building was demolished after just one month, continued after a year's standstill in 1909 and completed in 1911. The church was built in the neo-Gothic style as a hall building, but without a distinct choir. The tower was erected in 1913.
The church was designed by the Cologne architect Josef Lehmenkühler. Inside, the church in the old building has net vaults. The altar with the miraculous image was taken from the old chapel, was temporarily the main altar and stood in various places next to the main altar as a side altar. Three bells were purchased in 1913, two of which had to be given up during the First World War. The missing bells were replaced in 1926. In the course of the Second World War, two more bells had to be given away in 1942, but these were replaced in 1951. The church has had a tower clock since 1943. The generous extension of the chancel area, built with greywacke quarry stones, with a flat end and trapezoidal west extension, was carried out in 1959/1960 and planned by the architect Bernhard Rotterdam.
The pilgrimage chapel is located in the west extension of the current parish church. The wooden Baroque altar dates back to the first half of the 18th century and is now located in the pilgrimage chapel together with the miraculous image from the first half of the 15th century. The altar was reworked in 1961.
The choir of the church and the pilgrimage chapel have floor-to-ceiling windows. The window in the rear wall of the pilgrimage chapel shows depictions of the Virgin Mary. Restoration work was carried out in the 1990s, including the installation of the so-called sun window on the east side of the choir.
Biesfeld was an independent parish until the founding of the St. Marien parish association in 2009. It is now the parish church in the parish association.
Sources:
Peter Opladen: Das Dekanat Wipperfürth, published by F. Schmitt, Siegburg, 1955
Bernd Weber, Otto Müller, Kunibert Förster: Die Kapelle "Zur Schmerzhaften Mutter" in Biesfeld, Kürtener Schriften, Heft 8, November 2011, publisher: Geschichtsverein für die Gemeinde Kürten und Umgebung,
St. Marien parish association, Kürten: Zur schmerzhaften Mutter, Biesfeld,
Josef Büchel, Peter Gronewald: Pictures from old times, Kürten community, MD&V Meinerzhagener Druck-und Verlagshaus, 1984,
Josef Büchel, Peter Gronewald: Bilder aus alter Zeit, Gemeinde Kürten, DFS Druck und Verlag, Brecher Müller GmbH Köln-Marsdorf, May, 1999,
Lydia Kieven: "Kulturführer Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis", published by the Bergischer Geschichtsverein, Abteilung Rhein Berg e. V. and the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, p. 169, Heider-Verlag 1998,
Municipality of Kürten: Denkmalliste der Gemeinde Kürten, Denkmal 114,
Geschichtsverein für die Gemeinde Kürten und Umgebung e. V.: Von Wegekreuzen, Mühlen und Dolinen,- Kulturhistorische Zeugnisse in der Gemeinde Kürten -, 2009,
Panofsky-Soergel, Gerda: Die Denkmäler des Rheinlandes, Rheinisch-Bergischer Krreis 2, Klüppelberg -Odenthal, Verlag Schwann Düsseldorf, 1st edition 1972
