City history: The new pulpit in the parish church of St George

In its monthly themed series, the Bocholt City Archive is this time remembering the new pulpit built in St George's Church in the post-war years.

During the Allied air raid on Bocholt on 22 March 1945, the town was reduced to rubble and ashes. 85% of the local area was considered destroyed. The hail of bombs caused enormous devastation, especially in the city centre.

The medieval parish church of St George lost its spire and roof, the vaults and the rear north wall collapsed and the ornate interior was destroyed in the flames. The parish was able to use its church again at Christmas 1950, when the first construction phase of the reconstruction was completed.

Sculptor Schlatt commissioned

At the beginning of 1951, Pastor Hermann Aertker negotiated with the city council about the provision of a new pulpit, which the city intended to donate. He also commissioned the sculptor Hermann Schlatt to produce a design, which the artist presented at a discussion with the city councillors on 11 December of the same year. The councillors gave their approval to the model, as did the provincial conservator and the parish itself. According to the model, the new pulpit was made of oak and attached to the second southern pillar in the church, where the former pulpit had once been.

The overall height was 3.10 metres and the diameter was 0.90 metres. The distance from the floor to the base of the pulpit was 1.90 metres, ensuring a good view of the high altar. The entire construction was supported by an iron beam encased in oak panelling.

Five sculptural figures adorned the pulpit in the form of a relief, namely St Boniface as Germany's first apostle, St Ludger as the first bishop of Münster, the two Ewaldi brothers as messengers of the faith in the Münsterland region and St Peter Canisius as the guarantor of the Catholic faith in the local area. Below the relief, the design envisaged five cassettes with the symbols of the four evangelists and, as a fifth symbol, the coat of arms of the city of Bocholt. Acoustic considerations were taken into account when the canopy was later placed above the pulpit.

"Word of God significant for the entire city"

Through the foundation, the city expressed the close connection between itself and St George's Church. "This was the council's way of recognising" - according to a press release - "that even in the 20th century the word of God is not only important for the church, but for the whole city."

In the service to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of Cardinal Melchior von Diepenbrock, the Bishop of Münster, Dr Michael Keller, preached his sermon on the new pulpit on 18 January 1953.