St. Joseph, Catholic church building in Ohligs, Solingen, Germany.
St. Joseph is a red brick neo-Gothic church with a 27-metre tower topped by a grey slate spire and two clock faces. Its five portals are carved in stone, and the three-metre columns are each cut from a single block with floral capitals. Inside, slender dark columns support pointed arches and a ribbed vault; three tall blue stained-glass windows stand behind the altar.
Construction started in 1891 under the direction of two Cologne architects and was completed two years later with its consecration. The building was created to provide the growing Catholic community in this neighborhood with a new gathering place.
The twelve bluish glazed windows in the side aisle, made in 1974 by church artist Ernst Jansen-Winkeln, together depict the Apostles' Creed. The five choir windows of 1998 are ornamental compositions by Düsseldorf glass artist Jochem Poensgen, who also made the side-choir window. The three transept windows include two ornamental pieces from 1893 by an unknown artist, one a rose window.
The church stands in Ohligs, in the Archdiocese of Cologne parish of St. Sebastian. The main organ, Klais Opus 272, sits on the gallery; the 1955 Flentrop choir organ was moved here in January 2024 and dedicated that February. Look up in the nave for ceiling decorations uncovered in 1987 under white paint.
The main organ, Klais of Bonn's Opus 272, was built in 1904 with 26 stops on two manuals and pedal; Klais rebuilt it in 1966/67 and renovated it in 2005, leaving 29 stops today. A second, eight-stop choir organ by Flentrop of Zaandam, built in 1955, was set up here in January 2024 and inaugurated that February. A three-stop organ positive from Späth of Freiburg is also kept in the church.
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