Herz-Jesu-Kirche, Catholic church in Bremerhaven-Lehe, Germany.
Herz-Jesu-Kirche is a red brick Gothic Revival basilica with Jugendstil elements, built 1910–11 to a design by Maximilian Jagielski. It measures 48.80 m long, 21.80 m wide, with a nave about 12 m high. A 55 m square tower with a pointed spire stands at the south-east side, and a small annex with a hexagonal spire sits at the north-west.
Lehe's population grew from 10,011 in 1885 to 31,826 in 1905, outgrowing the 1867 church in Bremerhaven, so from 1900 parish churches were planned for Lehe and Geestemünde; an anonymous donor pledged 60,000 gold marks for both. The St. Joseph church building association was founded in 1906, the congregation in March 1908, and Hannover architect Maximilian Jagielski won the competition. Lehe builder Johannes Georg Weber erected the church in 1910–1911; Bishop Adolf Bertram consecrated it on 13 August 1911, and it became a parish on 12 April 1919.
The parish takes its name from the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to whom the church is dedicated. Since 2021 a Stolperstein (stumbling stone) in front of the church commemorates former parish priest Bernhard Görge, who died from injuries inflicted by National Socialists. The parish also includes the St. Benedict Chapel in Bad Bederkesa and, since 1 November 2014, the churches of the Immaculate Conception and St. Ansgar.
The church stands at Eupener Straße 60 in Lehe, its 55-metre tower set to the side of the nave, so it is easiest to find from the street by the clock face on the tower. The interior was renovated in 1990/91, when 42 concrete piles were driven in to stabilise the foundations. Visitors should keep to the times of services.
The tower stands 55 metres high, but the sources disagree on its position: the German article places it on the south-east side, the Dutch one on the south-west corner. Inside, three Otto bells from 1959 hang in the tower, the largest weighing 1,955 kg and inscribed "Cor jesus pro nobis vulneratum miserere noblis".
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