Herz-Jesu-Kirche, Catholic church in Bocholt, Germany.
Herz-Jesu-Kirche was a Catholic parish church on Klausenerstraße in Bocholt, built 1959–1960 to Heinrich Bartmann's design and demolished in 2020. Its dark brick facades were broken by screens of square concrete-glass openings, and five shallow gables of about 27 degrees topped the broad nave. A sturdy tower stood asymmetrically at the west, described as a guard at the entrance.
Planned from 1957, when Heinrich Bartmann won the architectural competition for a new centre in Giethorst, the church was begun in April 1959 and consecrated on 30 October 1960 by auxiliary bishop Heinrich Baaken. It cost 600,000 DM. In 2008 the parishes of Herz-Jesu, Heilig Kreuz and Liebfrauen merged; the last Mass was celebrated on 22 September 2019 and the building was demolished in November 2020.
The name reflects devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a traditional Catholic practice. The congregation gathered here for worship and prayer, with artistic pieces like the triumph cross by Heinrich Lückenkötter serving as focal points in the space.
The building served as a parish center with adjacent facilities including a parish house, community center, and kindergarten before closure in September 2019. Access to the building is no longer available to the public.
Residents mocked the shed-like roof by calling the church a "Herz-Jesu-Fabrik" and spoke of "Messen unterm Fabrikdach" (masses under a factory roof). Architect Heinrich Bartmann answered: "Wenn Menschen ihren Glauben feiern, bedenken sie dabei ihr tägliches Leben." Others objected to the brightly coloured windows and to organ pipes that were only dummies.
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