F

From the 10th/11th century onwards, in our region and elsewhere, it was initially the nobility and upper middle classes who gave themselves an additional name. The supply of first names was limited, so that a family name became necessary to describe and specify a person more precisely. Surnames were soon also introduced to the rest of the rapidly growing population.

Surnames in Bocholt are documented somewhat systematically from 1654 (beginnings of the church records of St George). But it was not until 1811 that a Napoleonic decree made surnames compulsory. The year 1874, when the registry offices were introduced, brought a final written definition of surnames.

The most common type of surname is the so-called patronymic. A child thus received the suffix "son of ...", e.g. Peters, Jacobs, Jansen, Benson, Hammersen, Lisson .

Related to this type is the metronym (adoption of the mother's name), which, however, hardly occurs in our area, e.g. Hielscher (belonging to the Elisabeth clan).

In and around Bocholt and on the other side of the nearby Dutch border, there is a very common type, namely the so-called Hofesnamen, which end in -ing (in the Netherlands in -ink): Wenning (to Wennemar), Böing (to Boye, Boge), Benning (Bernhard), Lensing (Laurentius), Büssing (Burkhard), Gießing (Giesbert), Volmering (Volkmar), Theissing (Matthias). The common surname Messing does not belong in this category, as Messing means cold smith.

When a young farmer married into the family, he initially kept his own surname, for example Wenning. When the first child was baptised, he was then perhaps called "Wenning called Reyerding". This naming system can still be observed today.

A speciality in this area are the filial names, derived from the name of the heir to the farm with the prefix Klein- or Nie-:

• Klein-Wiele,
• Klein-Bölting,
• Niekortenhorn.

The main heir then called himself Groß-Wiele, Große Bölting.

Some old German first names, which were very common here until the 19th century, have been preserved in numerous family names: Sweder in Schwers, Schwiers, Schmeing, Schüring; Wessel in Wessels, Wesseling, Wesselmann.

The second large group consists of occupational names. Surnames such as Mölders/Müller, Schmidt (which also includes Schmeink etc.), F(V)isser/Fischer, Wevers/Weber, Kock/Koch, Scheper(s)/Schäfer need no explanation. It is more difficult with Beck (baker), Schröder/Schroer/Schrader (tailor), Meier (the estate manager, but also the collector of interest), Schulte (Schultheiß: who collected "debt", tax collector"), Rose (rose gardener or innkeeper zur Rose), Hammacher (maker of horse yokes, "Haam"), Fürer (carter), Schlütter/Schlüter (the "closer"; the one who managed the cash box, a kind of medieval bank clerk).

The frequency of the names demonstrates the importance of these old professions. Large areas of Bocholt and its surroundings used to have a marshy character. There were many names for different types of swamp and mire: far/vor, ven, brooch/brook, slat, bile, segge and others. These words live on in many family names:

• Farwick (settlement at far);
• Vennemann, Terveen;
• Broichmann/Brockmann/Bröcker, also Ingebrock (in the quarry) and Diepenbrock (deep quarry);
• Bielefeld;
• Seggewiß (Riedwiese).

Other landscape forms can be found in names such as Kortstegge (short footbridge), Brinkmann/Brinkhaus (am Brink, i.e. Heidemann/Heimann/Terheyden, Tervooren (to the ford), Tersteggen (at the steps), Terheggen/Hagemann/Hegmann/Hecks/Heeks (living near or behind the rampart hedge), Overbeck (beyond the stream), Unland (wasteland), Hungerkamp (less fertile land), Diekmann (living on or responsible for the dyke).

The so-called names of origin indicate geographical particularities. These also include surnames such as Terörde (living at the end of the village), Bauhaus (farmhouse, farmhouse), Elsinghorst/Elsebusch/Elsebrock (Else = alder), Blumentrath (flower clearing) and similar.

Family names such as Nienhaus, Niemann, Nienaber (new neighbour), Niehues, Niehaves, Niebur bear witness to the lively building activity of earlier years.

Another group is formed by the so-called bynames, which allude to physical or psychological characteristics: Witt(e), Plenge (to blank = white), Lang(e), Korthals, Quade (the evil one, cf. Dutch kwaad).

Finally, a special subgroup are the so-called sentence names, which consist of a verb (usually the imperative) and often an object, such as Lachnicht or Wendemuth (change the courage, i.e. the opinion).

Lit:
Ulrich Hiller, family names in and around Bocholt, in: UNSER BOCHOLT, 50th vol. (1999), no. 2, pp. 40 - 41

On 1 September 1993, a day-care centre was opened in the Biemenhorst district of Möllenstegge under the auspices of the Workers' Welfare Association (AWO).

The ecologically built wooden building has two group rooms and an extensive range of rooms for various educational and childcare options. The outdoor area with mature trees and a hill is designed to be close to nature.

The daycare centre has two mixed-age groups with children from four months to six years. Disabled and non-disabled children are cared for together.

The centre's special offer is English as a meeting language. A native speaker works across all groups and only speaks English. The children learn the language from the context and the situation. There is also the opportunity to take part in a health prevention programme "Fit from an early age" and a training and support programme "Listen, listen, learn" for the early detection of reading and spelling difficulties.

Source:
Information from Gaby Übbing (Head of the programme)
www.awo-msl-re.de

Under the sponsorship of the parish of St. Cross and under the management of the Sisters of Notre Dame, the St. Marien kindergarten on Freiligrathstraße was inaugurated on 5 May 1958. The previous year, the town of Bocholt had donated the site to the parish and the architect Bernhard Eimers planned the building for three groups and with a gymnastics hall.

A staff room was built in 1972 as the first extension. In 1982, renovation work was carried out and rooms for a fourth group were added. The entrance area and the office were enlarged and the toilet facilities were renovated.

From October 1993 to May 1994, the children's group of the newly founded DRK kindergarten, which was built on Knufstraße, was housed in the gymnastics hall. A fundamental remodelling of the outdoor area took place in 1999 with a lot of help from parents. Following the closure of one group in 2002, a group room was converted into a kitchen with dining room and the adjoining room was furnished as a dream room.

Since 2007, the facility has had the " Family Centre NRW" seal of approval and offers many services to support family education. Due to the merger of the parishes, sponsorship changed to the Liebfrauen parish in 2008. In 2009, the childcare programme was expanded to include children from 4 months of age and therefore another extension of two rooms for a further group was necessary. A second bedroom was also added.

Today, the St. Marien day care centre looks after around 70 children in four groups. There are two larger groups with up to 25 children aged 3 to 6 years and two smaller groups with up to 15 children aged 4 months to 6 years. For children with disabilities, there is an additional staff member for integration.

Source:
Flyer of the Catholic day care centre St. Marien
www.liebfrauen.de
Information from Angelika Tepaße (Director).

In 1865, Georg Vahrenhorst, the parish priest of St George's at the time, acquired a house on the east side of the Paterskirche to open a secondary school for girls under the direction of some Sisters of Notre Dame from Coesfeld. He added an infant care centre to this institution in an annex, which opened in 1866. Father Vahrenhorst later donated the property to the parish of St George.

When the Liebfrauenkirche was given its own rectorate, the building became the pastorate. The childcare centre moved to a house on Langenbergstraße near Gasthausplatz.

From 1875 to 1891, secular helpers took over the care of the children because the nuns had to leave Bocholt during the Kulturkampf.

In March 1945, the kindergarten was destroyed in a major bombing raid. In September of the same year, care began again in a room in the youth centre on Münsterstraße and from 1946 to 1948, two more rooms were built in the old bowling alley of the St. Paulus workers' clubhouse.

In 1947, the parish of Liebfrauen acquired the site of the former Langenberg School. A new building was erected there, which was solemnly consecrated on 2 October 1966, the 100th anniversary of the school's founding. Extensive renovation and remodelling work took place in 1994.

The Sisters of Notre Dame gave up the management of the kindergarten in 1973.

The St. Theresia day care centre has four group rooms, three side rooms and four washrooms, a multi-purpose room and a kitchen with canteen. A nearby gymnasium is also used for sports. The outdoor facilities include two playgrounds.

Since 2009, the St. Theresia daycare centre has also been a certified family centre and offers a comprehensive range of advice and support for families. The day care centre at Wesemannstraße 4 looks after around 75 children in three groups. Children with disabilities are integrated into the groups by specialised staff. 12 children aged between 4 months and 3 years have their own "nest" and take part in group life from time to time.

Lit:

Elisabeth Bröker, On the history of the kindergarten in Bocholt 1850 - 1966, in: UNSER BOCHOLT, 17th Vol.(1966), H.4, p.1-11.
Flyer of the day care centre St. Theresia.
Homepage of the parish of Liebfrauen
http://www.liebfrauen.de/.
Information from Doris Schlüter (director).

Hermann Farwick was born on 10 February 1869 in Hiddingsel, Coesfeld district. He came to Bocholt in 1898 and set up as a general practitioner in Nordstraße. The fact that he was awarded the honorary title of medical councillor around 1917 is testament to his professional skills. Dr Farwick was a member of the Centre.

From 1908 to 1928, he was a city councillor and member of the poor commission, which was responsible for the city's social welfare. Together with the 2nd Mayor Dr Alff, he initiated the founding of the "Walderholung" in 1913, where children suffering from and at risk of TB were nursed up in six-week cures. Dr Hermann Farwick died in Bocholt on 17 February 1942 and Farwickstrasse was named after him on 10 October 1961.

This street commemorates the medical councillor and member of the city of Bocholt's commission for the poor, Dr Hermann Farwick (1869-1942).

Lit:
Wilhelm Seggewiß, Bocholter Straßen erzählen Geschichte, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 38 (1987), H. 4, p. 60.
Gerhard Schmalstieg, Straßennamen in Bocholt nach nur hier bekannten Personen, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 55 (2004) H. 4, p. 53-72.

The Christian festival of Easter is preceded by the 40-day period of Lent. It begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on the Easter Vigil. In the Catholic Church, fasting was mandatory for all believers on all Fridays and during the Easter penitential period until 1966.

The fasting commandment was reorganised by Pope Paul VI. Since then, only Ash Wednesday and Good Friday have been considered strict fasting days for all Catholics.

Since 1965, on the evening before Passion Sunday, men have gathered at their respective parish church for a penitential procession to the Church of the Holy Cross. A liturgy of the word takes place here. From the church, the men walk together in a procession through the city centre to St. George's Church, where the Eucharist is celebrated around midnight.

The following Thursday is Maundy Thursday. Since the 12th century, the Christian church has commemorated the institution of the Lord's Supper. On this day, the last Holy Mass before Easter is celebrated in Catholic churches. After the Gloria, the organ falls silent and the bells stop ringing. According to old tradition, children are told that the bells are in Rome and will not return until Easter. In some areas, it is still customary today to call the faithful to church with rattles instead of ringing the bells. After mass, the altar decorations are removed, the tabernacle is opened and the chalice with the consecrated hosts is taken in solemn procession through the church to another place (side altar or side chapel).

Until before the Second World War, it was also customary in Bocholt to replace the altar bells that sounded during the consecration or communion with rattles during the procession through the church on Maundy Thursday. In many parishes, prayer services are offered after Mass, giving the faithful the opportunity to honour the sacrament through adoration.

The Friday before Easter is Good Friday (also known as Silent Friday). No Eucharist is celebrated in the Catholic Church. The centre of attention is the veneration of the cross. The cross, previously covered with a purple cloth, is unveiled. Until 1955, a procession of Bocholt Catholics travelled to the Kreuzberg on this day. After the Second Vatican Council, the liturgy was reorganised and the procession no longer took place.

Since then, the liturgical acts have been moved to the churches. After Good Friday became a church holiday for all Catholics as well as a public holiday, all work was suspended. Until then, many Bocholters used the morning for work in the house and garden. However, from 3 p.m., the traditional hour of Christ's death, all work ceased.

For Protestant Christians, Good Friday is one of the highest feast days alongside Reformation Day.

Holy Saturday is the last day of the 40-day fasting period. It is the day of Christ's burial. There is no service in the Catholic churches. The altars are cleared of candles and floral decorations.

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday as a reminder of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. On this Sunday, the children go to church with decorated palm sticks, later also to acquaintances and neighbours to get sweets with the still well-known hymn in Bocholt: "Palm Palm-Palm-Sunndag...". Families make the final preparations for Easter. Easter cakes are baked, Easter eggs are coloured and the final touches are made to the house cleaning. The children have to go to bed early so that they don't scare the Easter bunny.

Johann Telaar

Josef Fehler came from Upper Silesia, where he was born on 17 December 1893 in Schloin. He came to Bocholt in 1911 after attending commercial school and completing a commercial apprenticeship in Glogau. Here he worked as a commercial clerk until he was drafted into the army at the outbreak of the First World War. Decorated with various honours, he did not return to Bocholt in 1918, but returned to his Upper Silesian homeland. There he fought in a home defence company against Polish incursions into Upper Silesia, which was disputed between Germany and Poland. It was not until March 1919 that he returned to Bocholt. On 1 January 1921, he set up his own carpentry business.

He married on 20 November of the same year. The marriage produced eight children. Politically, he was close to the Centre Party, although he never belonged to it. He was heavily involved in the Kolping family and the Catholic Commercial Association, which was committed to Catholic social teaching. In May 1933, Josef Fehler joined the NSDAP and the SA. He left again on 7 July 1935 because he was disappointed with the actual exercise of power by the National Socialists. From then on, he was subjected to political harassment: arrest and Gestapo interrogation in August 1935, public denunciation in the "Nationalzeitung" in the same month, business and social ostracisation.

Fehler's renitence against the NSDAP quickly intensified: in 1935, he shopped in Jewish shops despite obstruction, did not allow his children to join the HJ or the BDM, in 1937 loudly and publicly insulted SA people who disturbed Bishop v. Galen's visit to a confirmation service, in 1937 complained about the use of the inflammatory newspaper "er Stürmer" at school, in 1940 protested against the removal of crucifixes from schools.

From the beginning of February to mid-August 1940, he was remanded in custody on the charge of having violated the Treachery Act, but was acquitted by the Münster District Court. In 1941, he stored boxes of household goods belonging to deported Jews in his home. - On 1 February 1945, he was arrested again by the Gestapo on the charge of making subversive statements. He was imprisoned in Bocholt, Borken and finally Münster before being transferred to Neuengamme concentration camp on 14 March 1945. The concentration camp was evacuated on 25 April 1945 and the approximately 10,000 prisoners were housed on two ships. The ships were sunk by bombers on 3 May 1945, killing Josef Fehler. Josef-Fehler-Straße has commemorated this intrepid man since 3 May 1994.

Josef Fenneker was born in Bocholt on 6 December 1895, the son of the colonial goods merchant Bernhard Fenneker. Little is known about Josef Fenneker's childhood and youth. However, it can be assumed that his mother's brother, the church painter and architect Anton Marx, gave him artistic inspiration. He moved away from Bocholt in 1917. After studying in Münster, Düsseldorf and Munich, Josef Fenneker finally went to Berlin, where he finally attended Emil Orlik's masterclass in graphic art and book art at the state training centre of the Museum of Decorative Arts. Emil Orlik was a committed teacher who must have had a great influence on Fenneker, at least in his early years.

In his first years in Berlin, Fenneker mainly designed film posters and played a decisive role in the redecoration of the Luna Park in Berlin-Halensee. He also illustrated magazines, mostly artistically orientated, and produced a number of book graphics.

Towards the end of the 1920s, his main focus was on designing film posters. In 1928, however, he also prepared the set for the revue "Schön und Schick" - one of the last major revues of the 1920s in Berlin's Admiralspalast. In 1932, he accepted an engagement at the Prussian State Theatre in Berlin. Here, as later from 1938 to 1944 at the Schillertheater in Berlin, he was responsible for the stage sets. In the 1935/1936 season, Fenneker, now known throughout Germany for various publications of his work, was engaged by the Duisburg Opera. The municipal art collection organised a special exhibition for him here, where not only his posters and his stage design work were shown, but also his free works such as paintings and drawings. In 1938, he returned to Berlin to work at the Schiller Theatre, where his collaboration with Walter Felsenstein intensified over the years.

In 1946, Fenneker began his post-war work at the municipal opera house in Berlin. Fenneker's first theatre work outside Berlin after the war was the German premiere of the "Bettler-Opera" at the Hamburg State Opera in 1950. In 1951, he returned to international attention with an engagement at the Royal Opera in Stockholm. At the same time, however, he continued his work in Berlin. In 1953 he received commissions from Helsinki, Milan, Frankfurt and Munich. His work for the municipal theatres in Frankfurt am Main intensified until 1954, when he also accepted a permanent position as head of set design. At the first supranational theatre exhibition after the war, the "European Theatre Exhibition" in Vienna in 1955, he exhibited stage designs and figurines.

Josef Fenneker died of heart failure in Frankfurt on 9 January 1956. In the obituaries of the regional and national press, he was described as one of the most important and unconventional German stage designers who helped shape the 1920s and 1930s at the Berlin theatre. In 1960, the city of Bocholt acquired the artist's estate, which comprises over 6700 objects, from his widow. An overview of his work can be seen in the Bocholt City Museum. Fennekerstrasse has commemorated the famous Bocholter since 13 September 1972.