St. Martinus Borschemich

Borschemich's church was demolished in 2016
to make way for the Garzweiler II opencast mine

The Catholic parish church St. Martinus was built in 1906 and 1907 according to the plans of the Cologne diocesan master builder Heinrich Renard. The ceremonial blessing took place on October 27, 1907 by Dean Hermann Josef Kamp from Erkelenz on behalf of Cardinal Anton Fischer of Cologne. On October 9, 1915, the church was consecrated in honor of Saint Bishop Martinus by the Cologne Auxiliary Bishop Peter Josef Lausberg. On November 23, 2014, the church was profaned in a final service and demolished in spring 2016.

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Heinz-Willi Goebels As successor to his father, he was the sexton of the church of Borschemich until the end. A sexton prepares and follows services, performs services in the liturgy and looks after the sacristy. The tasks include opening and closing the church, lighting the candles, laying the song boards, ringing the bells as well as preparing the liturgical vessels and equipment as well as the liturgical books, taking care of the church decorations and the liturgical vestments.

Last service and demolition

On November 23, 2014, St. Martinus will be profaned. In a final service, a decree from the bishop is read out. This means that the church loses its status as a holy place and becomes a normal, secular building. This paves the way for demolition, which will take place in spring 2016.
After the demolition, the church will be cleared out. The inventory is taken to the new location or sold. The bells, the weathercock and the tower clocks will also be saved from demolition and will continue to be used or stored.

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At the end of the last service in the church of Borschemich, the eternal light was extinguished. In addition, the tabernacle was opened and the hosts and other items were carried out of the almost deserted village in a festive procession. (November 2014)

Church St. Martinus Borschemich (January 2015)

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The new chapel

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new chapel was in December 2013 and the foundation stone was laid on June 22, 2014. The consecration of the new church took place on May 3, 2015 by Aachen Auxiliary Bishop Johannes Bündgens. The tower clock and the tower cross with the weathercock were taken from the old church. Individual windows, the baptismal font and the high altar were also taken over.

Twelve villages will be demolished for opencast mining

Five villages have already been completely destroyed, one has almost nothing left and six others are currently being relocated. Two to three individual farms, the final mining limit is not yet entirely certain, will be relocated towards the end of the opencast mining.

Borschemich's church was demolished in 2016 to make way for the Garzweiler II opencast mine

Last service and demolition

The new chapel

Twelve villages will be demolished for opencast mining

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Borschemich's church was demolished in 2016
to make way for the Garzweiler II opencast mine