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Dat Gäle Wäterken (Dutch: "Yellow Water")

A winding former stream running from east to west in the north of the historic town. The Gäle Wäterken was originally created to supply water to the outer fortification ditch, which became necessary when the fortifications were extended by the Hessian garrison (1642-1650). The construction was due to topographical conditions: the southern part of the historic town is lower than the northern part. The water of the Bocholter Aa alone could never have filled the eastern, northern and western parts of the outer moat!

The Gäle Wäterken therefore had the important function of supplying water. Before their withdrawal in the spring of 1650, the Hessians demanded that the entire fortifications be razed. When the ramparts were razed, the sand was used to fill in the fortification ditches. A depression was left approximately in the centre of the outer ditch for the (later so-called) Gäle Wäterken. After 1650, its width and depth were reduced because it no longer had a defensive function. Its function was then to drain rainwater and wastewater, but the later canalisation meant that the Gäle Wäterken lost its function as a drain for rainwater and wastewater. The watercourse was gradually channelled, filled in or abandoned altogether. Today, the Gäle Wäterken can no longer be seen as flowing water anywhere in the town.

Where did the Gäle Wäterken come from and which way did it flow?

At the north-west corner of the I.-v.-Meckenem-Realschule, a watercourse branched off from the Sandbach, which ran north to Reygersstraße, the so-called Gäle Wäterken (only shown on a map from 1912). The further course can be recognised by soil discolouration and gaps between houses that are still visible today. - In Augustastrasse, at Viktoriastrasse, the watercourse reached the outer fortification ditch and brought additional water from here.

Evidence of the ramparts and ditches that have been razed since 1650 and the open course of the Gälen Wäterken can be found from Viktoriastrasse onwards and can be seen in lower lying gardens. - In the 19th century, an undercrossing of the Nordstraße was created by a brick passage that began between houses 56 and 58 and ended at the former Hotel Kaisereck, nos. 61-63. - The Gäle Wäterken finally flowed into the city moat in Ravardistrasse, close to the city gate.

Explanation of the name "Yellow water": The yellow colouring is caused by the lawn iron ore (Ortstein or Ure) that is found almost everywhere in the ground in our wetlands. Discolouration is clearly caused by groundwater leaking into the ditch, whereby iron oxides (Ortstein) and clay particles are washed out of the surrounding fields.

Lit:
Felix Drucks, Ein Stück Bocholter Geschichte, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 38 (1987) H. 4, pp. 78-80.
Werner Sundermann / Georg Letschert, Das "Gäle Wäterken". Ein Relikt der Hessenbefestigung aus den Jahren 1642 - 1650, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 50 (1999) H. 1, p. 9-24.

The guest bitter.

Until a few decades ago, verbal invitations were what written wedding invitations are today. The guest bitter delivered the bride and groom's invitation to the wedding. This role was usually performed by a brother or close relative of the groom. The groom first sent him to the bride, who was the first to attach a white ribbon to his walking stick. Under this came all the colourful ribbons with which the invitees decorated the cane. He then set off with his ribbon-decorated cane and hat for the invitation round.

He recited his memorised saying to each invitee. The guests thanked him with a schnapps and "ne Stüwer in de Hand" (Stuiber coin). The invitation tour became a strain if it didn't stop at a schnapps. Until shortly after the war, you would occasionally see a guest bidder on his bike. Today, this custom has almost disappeared from our region.

The Gasthausplatz is named after the "Gasthaus" for the accommodation and catering of needy and infirm people. There is documentary evidence of it in Bocholt before 1348. Around 1443, a church belonging to it was built with St Spiritus (Holy Spirit) as its patron saint. The tower was demolished from this "gasthauskirche" in 1806, and a few years later the church hall was also demolished due to dilapidation.

On 1 August 1814, the inn or poorhouse on the eastern side of the present square (plots no. 157, 157a, 157b) was merged with the orphanage (founded around 1600), which had already been housed on plots 158 and 159 in the 18th century. The poorhouse and orphanage thus merged moved into the former Minorite monastery at the old Paterskirche in 1823. A plan based on the original cadastre of the town shows the location of the church and indicates two girls' schools next to each other on the Gasthausplatz, which existed after 1820. Anna Lindenberg has presented the properties in "UNSER BOCHOLT". According to this, the old houses of the inn served needy families after the inn moved out until it was demolished in 1827. The demolition created a "free public square" with a playground facing Schulstraße until a fire station with two school classes on the upper floor was built along Langenbergstraße in 1881.

In place of the inn church, which was demolished in 1806ff, an open square "under old lime trees" was created, where the board cutters worked, whose trade was replaced by the sawmill at the Königsmühle. Simon has referred to the temporary accommodation of the fire brigade from 1881 and the administrative departments of the city of Bocholt from 1896 until 1937 (most recently the city treasury) at Gasthausplatz. The administration in particular used the relocated school rooms.

Today's square was only created in its current form with the demolition of the former municipal buildings (plots no. 158 and 159) and opened up to the weekly market and fairground rides at the Bocholt funfair. When there is no market, it serves as a car park. The bronze sculpture "Tutemann" by Hermann Schlatt was erected in the NE area of the square in 2001 at the instigation of the neighbouring shops. As part of the Bocholt Garden Dreams project, Gasthausplatz was briefly transformed into an attractive Renaissance garden in 2002.

Source:
Bernhard von Raesfeld, Chronicle of the town of Bocholt, 1821, Bocholt town archives.

Lit:
Wilhelm Seggewiß, Bocholter Straßen erzählen Geschichte, 1st instalment, in: UNSER BOCHOLT, vol. 38 (1987) p. 4, p. 61f.
Josef Simon, Bauliche Entwicklung der Stadt Bocholt in der 1. Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts (Bocholt, 31. Dezember 1950), 4th continuation, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 39 (1988) H. 3, p. 20.
Anna Lindenberg, Eine Wanderung vom alten ins neuen Bocholt, 20th instalment, in: UNSER BOCHOLT, (1958) H. 2, pp. 31-32.

Bocholt has always been progressive in terms of its gas supply. Until 1860, street lighting was very imperfect. The streets were only sparsely lit by oil lamps. At that time, there were only around 100 gasworks in Germany.

In the summer of 1860, the engineer and mechanical engineer Anton Sabey, who lived in Münster, set up a gasworks in Bocholt, which was initially operated privately. This gradually improved the street lighting. At the beginning of 1872, the city had the opportunity to purchase the gasworks, which had been founded in 1860, from the builder, but did not take up this offer as it was not expected to benefit from it. The growing expansion of the town and the increase in population also led to an increase in expenditure. Sabey sold his gasworks to a company of Bocholt manufacturers in 1872.

After 12 years, the town had another opportunity to take possession of the gasworks. But this time too, the council rejected the offer. It suggested to the owners that they sell the plant to the "Neue Gas-Aktien-Gesellschaft" in Berlin in order to conclude a contract with this company in 1885. In this contract, the company undertook to provide public lighting for the streets and to supply gas to private households at all times. On 21 May 1901, the city was finally able to purchase the gasworks. It hoped not only to achieve better lighting, but also to make a financial profit.

In 1914, the company's own gas production was discontinued and the gas was purchased from the "Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser", later Thyssen-Gas AG, Duisburg-Hamborn. Initially, the gas was only burnt for lighting purposes. This meant that the old paraffin lanterns were no longer needed. Later, gas was replaced as a light source by electricity in households and street lighting, as cooking gas or for heating water. However, it took a while before gas lighting found its way into our living rooms.

At the beginning of the 1960s, the more than 100-year-old gas industry no longer seemed to have a long life expectancy when Europe's largest natural gas bubble was discovered in Slochteren near Groningen and the age of natural gas began. The switch to natural gas in 1966/67 and the partial purchase of new appliances naturally brought trouble to many households. As Anna Lindenberg recounts in her "Memories of Old Bocholt", even at the beginning of the gas age a carnival song went: "Dat Gas, dat Gas, dat spöllt uns rein de Baas De Pumpen bünt ant stinken, dat Water kann `m neet drinken Petroleum, Petroleum, dou büs dat beste Olium". Today, everyone is glad that there is no longer dangerous "light gas" in the house.

The following event shows just how dangerous it is: in 1862 there was a serious accident. On 7 January of that year, a gas explosion occurred in the Reyger Inn, causing great devastation inside the building. It is reported that the smell of gas had been detected in the house throughout the day. People were repeatedly sent to the gas station to get to the bottom of the matter. It was not until the evening that a worker appeared who explained that there was nothing to it. When the lights were switched on, an explosion occurred which devastated a room. Miraculously, nobody was injured.

Professor Schmölders, who had already held a chair in Breslau since 1844, still deals with this event from 1862 in his translation of Schiller's Glocke into Bocholter Platt, writing: "Yes, 't is mi sekers haost te geck, dat wat de Straoten helder mäck, So day der läsen können en Book. Et gas, - van't Füer is't mor denn. Rook. But the way the filler doesn't take in eight, the way the sparks fly - can it be that over night all the good falls into ashes?

Lit:
Friedrich Reigers:. "Geschichte der Stadt Bocholt während des 19,Jahrhunderts", Bocholt 1907, repr. Bocholt 1966, pp. 166, 190, 215, 290, 170-173.
Paul Junker "Erdgas für Bocholt", in: Unser Bocholt ( 1967), H. 2, pp. 33-37. Paul Junker: "Wir wollen, dass Sie gut versorgt sind", in: Unser Bocholt ( 1972 ), H. 1/2, pp. 137-140.
Anna Lindenberrg, Memories of Old Bocholt, Bocholt, Grabenstätt 1978, p. 26.

In the second half of the 19th century, Bernhard Böggering not only farmed in Lowick but also spun and dyed wool and linen. 1884 is considered the actual founding year of the company, which was expanded in 1924 to include a coloured weaving mill. After the Second World War, a film printing plant was added. In 1979, the company was forced to close down due to the general competitive situation.

Lit:
Eduard Westerhoff, The Bocholt textile industry. Unternehmer und Unternehmen, 2nd revised edition, Verlag Temming Bocholt 1984, pp. 81-83.

In 1873, Elias and Moses Braunschweig founded the company Gebr. Braunschweig, which was located between Hohenstaufenstrasse and Bahnhofstrasse. In the same year, work began on the construction of a mechanical weaving mill on Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße. Up to 164 looms could be set up here. In 1893, the weaving mill was doubled in size.

In 1897, a dye works and weaving equipment were added on Frankenstrasse. Land was purchased for this purpose from a Wwe. Böltink and the J.B. Elsinghorst cooker factory. After 1907, the entire area between Mussumer Kirchweg, Frankenstraße and Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße and the beginning of Sachsenstraße (today Alfred-Flender-Straße) was owned by the Braunschweig company. Elias and Moses left the company in 1914. Their successors were Siegfried, Paul and Ernst Braunschweig.

After the First World War, the owners sold the business - together with the neighbouring company S.A. Weyl & Sohn - to Rudolph Karstadt AG. The Braunschweig company was deleted from the commercial register in 1921.

Lit:
Eduard Westerhoff, Die Bocholter Textilindustrie. Unternehmer und Unternehmen, 2nd revised edition, Verlag Temming Bocholt 1984, 255 pp.

In 1900, the company started operating a mechanical weaving mill at Gebr. Reygers on Münsterstraße with 6 male and 3 female workers. The company was founded by the brothers Heinrich and Bernhard Rensing from Ochtrup. Later, their younger brother Carl also joined the company.

In 1928, the company took over the buildings of J. Beckmann Nachf. at Kreuzstraße 3 - 11, after Beckmann had moved to Teutonenstraße. The facilities were completely destroyed in 1945, but were rebuilt on a small scale. After the death of Carl Rensing in 1958, Werner Borgers became the sole owner. In 1961, the company moved to Dingden.

In the 17th/18th century, branches of religious orders were promoted with the aim of completely restoring the Catholic religion in the diocese of Münster. From 1625, a Minorite held the office of chaplain and catechist in Bocholt; he had also taken over the care of the school. In 1628, the Minorite Fathers were given permission to build a monastery at the New Church, which was completed between 1653 and 1668.

After the end of the Thirty Years' War, Christoph Bernhard von Galen, who was elected Bishop of Münster in 1650, intensified the measures for religious unity. His work was primarily characterised by Catholic reform.

The new Minorite monastery gained great importance in the second half of the 17th century; it became the centre of religious activity in Bocholt, the surrounding area and across the border. The Bocholt Minorites were entrusted by the bishop with pastoral care in the neighbouring Dutch Achterhoek and in the Dutch dominion of Borkulo, because the Dutch Catholics were forbidden to practise their religion in their own country.

Nine mission stations were established along the Dutch-Munster border. Dutch Catholics were to be able to fulfil their religious duties in these churches and chapels located close to the border. Minorites from Bocholt and two Jesuit priests took over the care of these mission stations.

From 1652, Minorites from Bocholt built a chapel and a new monastery building in Zwillbrock for the religious care of Dutch Catholics from Groenlo and the surrounding area.

In 1674, a wooden chapel was built in Hemden directly on the border for the two Dutch communities of Aalten and Bredevoort. The chapel was dedicated to the Holy Cross (Cross Chapel). A cross with an inscription dates from this time and still stands on the relocated cross hill. The inscription is intended to encourage the Catholic faithful to meditate on the image of the cross. - The Hemden chapel was demolished in 1823 due to the changing religious situation in the Netherlands. The materials were used to build St Helena's Church in Barlo.

In 1675, the Jesuit priest Ignatius Busch was commissioned by the bishop to establish schools and churches throughout Bocholt. From 1676, he built a Catholic chapel (later called St Michael's) in Suderwick on the Hellweg for the Catholics from Dinxperlo and Breedenbrock and set up a German school.

While the reforming zeal of Bishop von Galen generally improved church conditions in the diocese, there were repeated religious disputes between the Catholic Suderwickers and the Calvinist Dinxperloers, especially in Suderwick / Dinxperlo. In 1765, St Michael's Chapel Suderwick was extended to its present form and size.

In the middle of the 18th century, the convent of the Minorite monastery in Bocholt decided to build a new monastery church. The building permit from the sovereign was linked to the condition that a grammar school be built beforehand and supervised by the Minorites (today's Liebfrauen rectory was part of this school). Teaching began in 1785 and in the same year the construction of the new monastery church began, which was completed in 1792.

The events following the French Revolution (secularisation) led to the closure of the "Latin School" in 1809, and in 1811 the Minorite monastery was dissolved by the French government. This put an abrupt end to almost 200 years of beneficial work by the Minorite fathers in Bocholt. - The women's monasteries Das Weiße Stift and St Agnes, as well as the town courtyard of the Crusader monastery "Maria Vreden" in Dingden were also dissolved.

Lit:
Werner Sundermann, Religious from Bocholt - active in the Counter-Reformation, in: UNSER BOCHOLT, vol. 43 (1992), no. 1, pp. 62-64.
Werner Sundermann / Georg Letschert, Rund um die Liebfrauenkirche, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 51 (2000), H. 2, p. 17ff (esp. p. 31-37.).

On 21 November 1938, Georg Geiger as personally liable partner (born 1899) and Fritz Borgers (born 1884) had the above-mentioned company entered in the commercial register. The Second World War destroyed Plant II in Jägerstraße. The main factory between Speerstrasse and Scheibenstrasse was preserved. To replace the Jägerstraße plant, which was not rebuilt, a new Plant II was built on the land belonging to the company on the other side of Mühlenweg, which was extended to two storeys in 1956.

After the death of Fritz Borgers, his son Georg (born 1924) became a partner and personally liable shareholder alongside Georg Geiger. In addition to bed and home blankets, the company mainly produced "canopy fabrics" for the VW factory; a napped cotton fabric for the blanket covering of the "Beetle". VW later used plastic-coated fabrics for this, and G & B concentrated again on the traditional napped fabrics, such as blankets etc. Georg Geiger resigned from the management in 1964. From 1973 Georg Borgers was the sole owner and - together with Mr H.G. Thier - managing director.

In the course of urban redevelopment, the company was relocated from Fildeken to Münsterstraße on 16 December 1977, where the building of the former Zorn company was converted and extended. In 1981, the company was given a 4000 square metre warehouse. In 1985, Lothar Heibel (Tangerding Group) took over Geiger Borgers GmbH & Co KG (Borbo ceiling business). In 2006, Hermann Biederlack GmbH & Co. from Greven bought all the shares in the Tangerding Group. In 1983, the city built 30 Caritas flats on the former company site at Fildeken

Lit:
Eduard Westerhoff, Die Bocholter Textilindustrie, 1984 Ausg. 2, p. 100-102. Chronicle of the Bocholt area 1975-1999, Bocholter Quellen und Beiträge Vol. 9.

After the Second Vatican Council, lay people and priests within the Catholic Church felt called upon to find a new approach to the Bible and thus to faith through courses, seminars and retreats. This led to the founding of the Spiritual Bible School Niederrhein in Krefeld in 1986. It is a non-profit organisation. The staff work on a voluntary basis as lecturers, project leaders and are available for counselling in church work. The motto of the Spiritual Bible School Niederrhein is: "The joy of the Lord is your strength" (Neh 8:10).

The events are aimed at people of all ages and backgrounds, as well as people of other denominations: Learning to read the Bible. Learning to pray the Bible, learning to live the Bible and learning to proclaim the Bible.

The interest in the Spiritual Bible School Lower Rhine in Bocholt was so great that a separate group, the Bocholt Cell, was formed in 2002. "Faith Talks in the Living Room" (monthly), approx. three further one-day seminars (annually), two Bible study groups (weekly) and "Retreats in Everyday Life" are part of the remit of the "Bocholt Cell" for the Bocholt region.

Lit.
Leaflet and programme 2009 of the Spiritual Bible School Niederrhein, Krefeld.
Source:
Verbal information from Sieglinde Szöke, contact person of the "Bocholt Cell".