W

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 occupation (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 roughly 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, and its function was to drain rainwater and wastewater. The later canalisation meant that the Gäle Wäterken lost its function of disposing of 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, A piece of Bocholt history, in: UNSER BOCHOLT vol. 38 (1987) p. 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.

Werner Sundermann (14.10.09 09:27)

Under this title Johannes Ostendorf created a Low German folk play in 5 acts.

From time immemorial, the hand loom clattered in the town of Bocholt and the surrounding area. The weavers delivered the finished goods to the "manufacturer" and received yarns from him for new work.

The earnings were low, but together with the proceeds from a small farm they were enough to cover a simple, undemanding standard of living. They were basically satisfied. Then, around the middle of the 19th century, a stronger force, the steam engine, came along. In the unequal struggle with this force, hand weaving was gradually completely replaced. The plot of the folk play "The Wäwedamp", which was first performed by the Bocholter Verein für Heimatpflege e.V. on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of Bocholt becoming a town under the direction of Dr Klemens Becker and stage designer Hans Pelster, is based on this historical background.

Many performances followed at irregular intervals up to the present day, e.g. for the opening of the Westphalian Textile Museum from 20 to 21 May 1989 by the amateur drama group of the Kolpingfamilie Bocholt Zentral. Place of action: Bocholt Time: End of winter 1852

T h e p r o d u c t : Linnebrink, a respected and influential factory owner, plans to build a steam weaving mill. The weavers recognise this as a threat to their craft. Jans Drömmelgaorn in particular, who clings to the old days with all his heart, rebels against the construction of the "Düwelsfabrik" (Devil's Factory) with the full force of his Westphalian character. This puts him in conflict: Linnebrink, as a far-sighted merchant, has to carry out the plan, while Jans Drömmelgaorn cannot let go of his fathers' legacy.

The conflict is exacerbated by the fact that Drömmelgaorn's wife Leide thinks better of the new era, wants her well-behaved, ambitious son Henderk to have better circumstances and, against her husband's wishes, favours Henderk's relationship with Franziska, the daughter of the less popular "bätern Börger" Wessel-Bernhard. As Linnebrink has kept his plan a secret, only dark, distorted rumours have emerged so far. At the "Fettpriesen" (slaughter party), to which the staid Wessel-Baas has invited his neighbours, the rumours take on a more definite form. Here Seggewiß, Linnebrink's factor, announces the place and time of the construction of the "Wäwedamp".

Now the excitement breaks out, not without the influence of the abundant gifts from the fat priests, and the dinner party finally decides to go together to Linnebrink and demand accountability from him. Jans Drömmelgaorn leads the way. In Act 4, we meet the craftsmen at Linnebrink's again. Helped by an unfortunate accident that Mrs Linnebrink, who is highly respected for her kindness of heart, suffers during the agitated performance, Linnebrink succeeds in calming tempers and winning the weavers over to his plan. Only Jans, who sees only the destroyer in the sinister steam engine, cannot be swayed.

As difficult as it is for him, he finally wants to give up the orchard, which Linnebrink has to take back from him, "if he and the others" can keep the heritage of their fathers, the Webe-Täu. But that is not possible. Devastated, Jan staggers out. When he learns at home that Henderk has warned Linnebrink, he loses all sense of reason. He shows Franziska the door and orders his son to break off the relationship today.

As Henderk is unable to do so, his father orders him out too. Enter Wessel-Baas, a man with his heart in the right place and the right words at the ready. He manages to make Jans realise that he has gone too far. As Linnebrink appears with his wife, assures Jans that he will continue to work in his handloom and offers Henderk the position of foreman in the new factory, the stubborn resistance gives way to calmer reflection.

Jans recognises that Henderk and Franziska belong together and blesses the union. However, he cannot be persuaded to recognise the new era and steam weaving. And so the plot ends with the meaningful warning: "Kinder, Kinder, wahrt ou, dat ou den Fuckepott (die Dampfmaschine) net de Baas würd!"

Lit:

Johannes
• , Ostendorf, Den Wäwedamp, n Bokels Spöll, in: UNSER BOCHOLT 1. Jg.(1950),H.3,p.70.
Ders
• ., Den Wäwedamp, I. Aufzug,ibda.H.4, p.91-97. II-III. Act, H.5, pp.117-124; 5th-12th Act, ibid. H.6, pp.145-150; IV.
• Act IV, ibid., H. 10, pp. 253-256; Act 8-19, ibid., H. 11, pp. 277-280; Act V, ibid., H. 12, pp. 308-312.
Ders
• ., Den Wäwedamp.
• Ein Volksschauspiel in fünf Aufzügen (excerpt), in:UNSER BOCHOLT, 41.Jg.(1990),H.2-3,p.86-88.
Hans
• D. Oppel, Johannes Ostendorf. A life for culture, in: UNSER BOCHOLT 34.Jg.(1983),H.1, p.64-67.

Dr Klemens Becker (+) and Dr Hans D. Oppel (06.08.10 10:32 a.m.)

The spa facility, which opened on 25 June 1913, was set up by the Association for Welfare Care as a summer day care centre for children at risk of tuberculosis on a twelve-acre leasehold plot on Alffstraße and expanded on 25 June 1914 with the participation of the city of Bocholt to include a second construction phase with dormitories. With the accommodation of children by way of war welfare care in 1914/1918, year-round operation began on 29 November 1915 with cures lasting an average of six weeks.

1918 Costs assumed by the city of Bocholt and the savings bank of the city of Bocholt. Through private donations, land swaps by the city and public residual financing, the facility was expanded from 24 to 40 beds and a chapel was added on 4 August 1920. This completed the acquisition of the land by the city and its poor relief fund. 1926 Expansion to include irradiation rooms for high-altitude suns and quartz lamps; 1930 Installation of a laundry building. On 1 March 1936, the NSV took over the forest recreation centre on a rental basis, with conversions and renovations taking place at the same time. A timber-framed building with two dormitories was added, increasing the capacity to 150 beds. The NSV replaced the Clemens Sisters, who had been working there until then, with secular staff and ordered that only children from outside be admitted. 1939 The chapel was dismantled and handed over to the parish of St George, which rebuilt it in Hemden (St Helen's Chapel). Reduction to 70 beds during the Second World War and establishment of an alternative site for St Agnes Hospital (1943). 1944 Further extension on the site of the former chapel with five rooms and supply rooms as a temporary centre for the city administration. Accommodation for a Hitler Youth unit for two months.

From 10 February 1945, accommodation of parts and, after the major attack on Bocholt on 22 March 1945, of the entire St. Agnes Hospital with a severe lack of space. Even the bunker was used as sleeping quarters.

1946 Opening of a new infirmary (St. Klemens) with 2 rooms and 40 beds for a total of 170 beds, followed in 1947 by the opening of a further infirmary with a total of 220 beds.

1949 Gradual transfer of patients to the rebuilt St Agnes Hospital. 146 beds remained.

1951 Further return of hospital wards to St. Agnes Hospital, with 51 beds remaining for children and male lung patients.

1953 Relocation of the last hospital wards to St Agnes Hospital. Subsequently, until 1960, transit camp for East German expellees and refugees. Then vacant.

1964-1974 Caritas Bocholt took over the buildings as a day centre for mentally handicapped children with a training workshop. The buildings were then demolished except for the extensive basement bunker from the Second World War, the remains of which have been preserved.

Josef Simon, Bauliche Entwicklung der Stadt Bocholt in der 1. Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts (Bocholt, 31. Dezember 1950), 4. Fortsetzung, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 39 (1988) H. 3, S. 10-11. Wilhelm Seggewiß, Bocholts Kampf gegen die Tuberkulose in der stadteigenen Walderholungsstätte, in: UNSER BOCHOLT, Jg. 45 (1994) H. 2, S. 20-24.

Dr Hans D. Oppel (03.09.08 10:26 a.m.)

The pilgrimage to Annaberg in Haltern is older than the pilgrimages to Kevelaer. There is documentary evidence that a chapel stood on the Annaberg before 1378, which was probably dedicated to Mother Mary. In 1556 we hear of today's Annaberg. This is probably the time of the first pilgrimages to St Anne. As early as 1620, there is talk of a larger pilgrimage from Bocholt to Annaberg. After the Thirty Years' War, this pilgrimage became very popular.

At times there were 400 to 600 participants, and this pilgrimage was also initially a pilgrimage on foot. Then pilgrims travelled by horse and cart, later by train and finally by coach. In 1766, the prince-bishop's government complained that superstitious customs, such as the carrying of animals in processions, had become widespread. Before the pilgrimage in 1787, the pilgrimage to Annaberg was banned by electoral decree. The reason given was "all kinds of disorder, insolence and scandals".

However, the patron saint of the family, St Mother Anne, continued to be honoured. The foot procession was converted into a railway procession in 1895 by a decision of the parish priest Franz Richter. In the same year, a railway procession to Kevelaer was organised for the first time (see Kevelaer family pilgrimage). The Annaberg pilgrimage lost participants after the Second World War. In 1985, there were still around 150 pilgrims, including those from Rhede and the neighbouring farming communities. Today, only a few small groups and associations still make the pilgrimage to Annaberg.

Lit.: Church calendar 1985 page 106/107 "Hello, Bocholters, this is Anna".
Heinz Terhorst, Chronik der Bocholter Kirchengeschichte, Bocholter Quellen und Beiträge Vol. 8.
Dr Elisabeth Bröker, 250 Jahre Fußprozession Bocholt-Kevelaer, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 34 (1983) H. 2. see also:
Kevelaer pilgrimage: foot pilgrimage, family pilgrimage, women's cycle pilgrimage, men's cycle pilgrimage. Marienbaum pilgrimage.

Johann Telaar (11.12.08 10:53 am)

After the Bocholt-Wesel railway line went into operation on 1 July 1878, those Bocholters who were no longer able to make the strenuous pilgrimage on foot were able to visit the Marian shrine in Kevelaer. The first pilgrimage was organised in 1895. The date was set for the Saturday and Sunday after the foot procession. In the first few years, there were so many participants that special trains had to transport the pilgrims.

The number of railway pilgrims soon rose to 2,000. After a short prayer of blessing, the procession made its way to Bocholt railway station at midday on Saturday and on its return on Sunday took the route to St George's Church for the final prayer. The railway procession took place up to and including 1942. With the onset of the air war, the danger became too great and the safety of the pilgrims was no longer guaranteed. In addition, the Reichsbahn was no longer able to provide trains for the pilgrimage due to the war.

So the 1942 railway pilgrimage was the last for the time being. The first pilgrimage after the war took place on 10 and 11 September 1949. Due to the destroyed Rhine bridge near Wesel, the special train took the route over the railway bridge near Duisburg and continued via Krefeld to Kevelaer. Due to accommodation problems during the main pilgrimage period, the pilgrimage was moved to the month of May in 1959 and held on a Sunday. In 1964, the rail procession was switched to buses. The participants in the family pilgrimage - as the former railway procession was now called - were in Kevelaer on the same day as the cycle pilgrims. In 1972, the board of the foot pilgrims took over the organisation of the family pilgrimage. For the first time since 1973, all devotional exercises were organised jointly for both groups in this form. This arrangement for the family pilgrimage also proved to be favourable in the following years.

Lit: Dr Elisabeth Bröker, 250 Jahre Fußprozession Bocholt-Kevelaer, in:UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 34 (1983) H.2.

see also: Kevelaer pilgrimage: foot pilgrimage, women's cycle pilgrimage, men's cycle pilgrimage. Haltern pilgrimage to Annaberg. Marienbaum pilgrimage.

Johann Telaar (09/02/09 13:24)

At a synod of the diocese of Roermond in Venlo, Hendrik Busman, a merchant from Geldern, testified under oath that in the winter of 1641, on his way to Kevelaer, he had heard a voice at the Hagelkreuz telling him: "At this place you shall build me a little chapel". It was made known to his wife, Mechel Schrouse, that an image of the Luxembourg Madonna, the "Comforter of the Afflicted", was to be in this little chapel. Hendrik Busman confirmed this statement under oath at the Synod of Venlo. The record of this statement is the authentic account of the event that led to the creation of Kevelaer as a place of pilgrimage. The mere news of the arrival of the image set a lot of people in motion who wanted to see and venerate it. The pilgrims soon came in large numbers. Their numbers grew from year to year.

The Bocholt foot procession to Kevelaer is said to have begun in 1733. Written records prove that news of miraculous answers to prayers reached Bocholt even earlier. The late start of the Kevelaer pilgrimage can be explained by the fact that the people of Bocholt had been making pilgrimages to the Marienbaum place of grace since 1575. This pilgrimage was continued to Kevelaer around 1730.

Initially, it was individual pilgrims or groups of pilgrims who made the journey to Kevelaer. Despite great difficulties (pilgrimage bans, wars and revolution), the series of pilgrimages was not interrupted. After the outbreak of the First World War, around 600 pilgrims made the journey at the beginning of October 1914. Even under National Socialism, the number of participants did not decrease. In 1934 there were 739, and in 1937 over 700 pilgrims were counted. After the outbreak of the Second World War, however, the number decreased due to many men being called up for military service. Despite the danger posed by enemy aircraft, more than 500 pilgrims were still counted in 1943 and 1944.

After the end of the war, the number of pilgrims increased again. In 1948, around 1,000 pilgrims made their way to Our Lady. From 1950 to 1960, the number of pilgrims remained constant at around 800. In 1963, the number of pilgrims began to fall below 800 for the first time until it reached its lowest level of 400 in 1973. From 1974 onwards, things started to pick up again and in 1982 there were once again 910 participants.

The form of the pilgrimage has changed in recent years. Some no longer dare to make the outward and return journey on foot and only walk one way. Whereas in the past only the pilgrims on foot took part in the religious exercises on all three days at the place of pilgrimage, today many members of the pilgrims on foot come by car on Sunday. As a result, well over 1,000 people from Bocholt take part in the Stations of the Cross and the candlelight procession on Sunday.

Lit: Dr Elisabeth Bröker, 250 Jahre Fußprozession Bocholt-Kevelaer 1733-1983, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 34 (1983) H.2.

see also: Kevelaer pilgrimage: family pilgrimage, women's cycle pilgrimage, men's cycle pilgrimage. Haltern pilgrimage to Annaberg. Marienbaum pilgrimage.

Johann Telaar (09/02/09 13:40)

The most recent of the Bocholt pilgrimages to Kevelaer is the cycle pilgrimage for women and girls from the Bocholt deanery. Just as the men's cycle pilgrimage only has male participants, a pilgrimage exclusively for women and girls was wanted. As with other pilgrimages, the initiative came from lay people, namely women and girls from the parish of St Norbert. The cycle pilgrimage for women and girls began in 1978 and has attracted more and more participants every year.

The number of female pilgrims rose from 48 in the founding year to more than a thousand in the following years. The pilgrimage is organised as a combined bicycle-bus pilgrimage. As not all women are able to stay away from their families for several days and would prefer to be back home on the evening of the same day, this decision was made: cycle there in the morning and return by bus in the evening. The pilgrimage begins and ends at St Norbert's Church.

The spiritual leader is the parish priest of St Norbert's. In keeping with the tradition of the male pilgrims, the white berets, the female pilgrims wear white berets. The date of this pilgrimage is set for the Tuesday after Pentecost. Groups of 20 to 30 women start in the morning, each with a group leader. The pilgrims arrive in Kevelaer at around 1 pm. In addition to the joint devotional exercises, there is enough time for personal devotion in the afternoon. At around 8 pm, the pilgrims will return to St Norbert's Church by bus for the solemn closing devotion. The bicycles will be brought back to Bocholt by lorry.

Lit.: Dr Elisabeth Bröker, 250 Jahre Fußprozession Bocholt-Kevelaer, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 34 (1983) H. 2, p. 91.

see also: Kevelaer pilgrimage: foot pilgrimage, family pilgrimage, men's cycle pilgrimage. Haltern pilgrimage to Annaberg. Marienbaum pilgrimage.

Johann Telaar (09/02/09 13:10)

At the beginning of the last century, 27 men from the Bocholt Cyclists' Association decided to use the bicycle for a pilgrimage to Kevelaer. They realised their plan in 1909. This was the beginning of the Bocholt cycle pilgrimage to Kevelaer. The initiative came from lay people. From the outset, it was a pilgrimage for men only, as per the statutes. Everyone was required to wear a white cap during the pilgrimage.

This is why the cycling pilgrims were soon popularly known as "the white caps". While the number of participants was around 70 in the early years, new pilgrims joined each pilgrimage. After the First World War, the number increased to such an extent that by 1925 there were already 400 pilgrims. The Bocholt clergy were initially sceptical about the project. However, their reservations were soon dispelled and in 1928 the pilgrims were given a spiritual guide.

Since its foundation, the Church of Our Lady in Bocholt has been the starting point. The cycling pilgrims continued their pilgrimage even during the National Socialist regime. In 1934, the number of participants was still 839. After the Second World War, the pilgrimage was resumed in its traditional form in 1946. In the following years, an average of 500 to 600 pilgrims took part in the pilgrimage.

Common prayer and devotional exercises during the stay in Kevelaer are the celebration of the Eucharist, the Way of the Cross and the candlelight procession. The pilgrimage begins on Saturday morning and ends on Sunday at around 7.30 pm with the solemn entry into the Church of Our Lady, where the pilgrims gather for the closing ceremony.

Lit: Dr Elisabeth Bröker, 250 Jahre Fußprozession Bocholt-Kevelaer 1733-1983, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 34 (1983) H.2.

see also: Kevelaer pilgrimage: foot pilgrimage, family pilgrimage, women's cycle pilgrimage. Haltern pilgrimage to Annaberg. Marienbaum pilgrimage.

Johann Telaar (09.02.09 14:33)

Legend has it that the pilgrimage dates back to around 1430, when a poor shepherd suffering from an incurable illness was enlightened and found an image of the Mother of God in an oak tree that had grown in the shape of a staircase, worshipped it and was healed. The news of the healing prompted many sick people to take refuge in Our Lady of Marienbaum and ask her for help.

Between 1438 and 1441, a chapel was built for the image, the "refuge of sinners". The royal house of Cleves was very fond of the miraculous image and its veneration. The Duchess of Cleves used her own funds to found a double monastery for monks and nuns near the chapel, based on the Order of the Redeemer founded by St Britta of Sweden. The building was completed in 1460.

The pilgrimage, which began soon after 1430, continued through the turmoil of the wars of the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1636 and 1637, a plague claimed around 2000 victims. People flocked to the image of the "Refuge of Sinners". The church, which had been built in front of the original chapel of grace when the monastery was founded, had become dilapidated, so the monastery management decided to build a new one.

This new building is now the parish church of Marienbaum with the old Chapel of Grace as the choir. The pilgrimages to Marienbaum lost importance when the place of grace Kevelaer flourished in 1642. The monastery was closed by the French in 1801, but the picture of grace still has its place on an altar in the parish church. According to oral tradition, the pilgrimage from Bocholt to Marienbaum began in 1575.

The Bocholt pilgrimage is first documented in 1716, on the day of the Assumption of Mary, in a report about a miraculous healing of a Bocholt pilgrim. In the first decades of the 18th century, the pilgrimage to Marienbaum is said to have been switched to Kevelaer. There may have been various reasons why this happened so late.

The people of Bocholt had been connected to the pilgrimage site of Marienbaum since time immemorial, the route to Kevelaer was longer and the organisation of the pilgrimage had to be changed. Initially individual pilgrims, later groups, travelled on to Kevelaer, and 1733 is officially regarded as the beginning of the pilgrimages to Kevelaer. However, the connection with Marienbaum has remained to this day. The pilgrims to Kevelaer stop off at the pilgrimage church on the way there and back and pray in a prayer to the "Saviour of Sinners".

Lit. : Dr Elisabeth Bröker, 250 years of the Bocholt-Kevelaer foot procession, in:UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 34 (1983) H.2.

see also: Kevelaer pilgrimage: foot pilgrimage, family pilgrimage, women's cycle pilgrimage, men's cycle pilgrimage. Haltern pilgrimage to Annaberg.

Johann Telaar (11.11.10 08:46)

The city coat of arms shows in the green field a straight, uprooted silver beech tree with three symmetrically distributed branches and individual twigs in between. The number of leaves is 17, ribbed and serrated. The number of beechnuts appearing on long stalks is 23.

The number of roots is 5 and there is a branch stump at the bottom left and right of the trunk. This beech tree also forms the centre of the Bocholt town seal. Prince-Bishop Dietrich III of Münster granted Bocholt its town charter in 1222. The beech tree as a symbol can be found in the first, partially preserved seal impression from 1259.

Today's coat of arms was modelled on the second town seal (Great Aldermen's Seal) created around 1300 and established as the official seal of the town of Bocholt in 1928 (main statutes of the town of Bocholt). The silver beech tree in a green field first appeared as a coat of arms on the new bunting of the town marksmen in 1563. The colour white is used as a substitute for silver. The coat of arms and seal of the town of Bocholt are protected. Their use is only permitted with the authorisation of the city of Bocholt.

Lit:
Helmut Müller, Bocholter Siegel und Wappen, in: Bocholter Quellen und Beiträge 1, (1976), pp. 68-79.
Borken district, leaflet " Coats of arms of the towns and municipalities in the Borken district and their histories".

Johann Telaar (06.09.10 14:27)

On 20 May 1891, the Bocholt city council decided to build a river bathing facility on the River Aa below the Königsmühle and above the actual Schüring & Herding factory as the first municipal bathing facility reserved for men only. Due to increasing water pollution, the town moved the men's bathing establishment 200 metres above the Königsmühle in today's Aasee area to the grounds of St. Agnes Hospital in 1902.

When the Bocholt Water Sports Club was founded in 1920, the members used this bathing establishment for their swimming exercises and rented a 50 metre wide strip of meadow from Prince Salm-Salm on the southern bank of the Aa to establish a women's section. In 1922, a contract was signed to use the clay pits of the clay works in Bocholt's city forest, which were full of water, as a leisure pool.

The contract stipulated that the old brickworks and the ring kiln had to be demolished, the site levelled and a solid building unit erected directly on the waterfront, which took the form of changing rooms and a bathhouse between 1922 and 1924. In 1927, an existing sports track was extended to include a 50-metre lane and the first Gauschwimmfest was organised in the company's own swimming pool.

In the same year, the water polo match between North Germany and West Germany was held, with the first radio report from Bocholt. In 1935, the club acquired the site of the Tonwerke swimming pool and built a clubhouse in 1938. The site was constantly expanded and adapted to the needs of the times through renovation and new construction measures in 1969/70 and 1997/98. Today, the leisure pool in the city forest covers an area of 40,000 m², including 7,000 m² of water with a non-swimmers' area and children's pool, 16,000 m² of sunbathing lawn with a children's play area, two beach volleyball courts, a boules court, sauna, a clubhouse with two sun terraces and a restaurant.

Head teacher at the Städtisches altsprachliches Gymnasium in Bocholt from 1 April 1952 to 31 July 1973 and local historian. Born on 25.12.1907 in Coesfeld, died 11.12.1983 in Bocholt. After leaving school in Coesfeld in 1927, he studied history, French and German in Paris and Münster. He was drafted in 1941 and served in the navy.

Re-employed as a school teacher after the end of the war. From June 1952, headmaster at the later renamed St Georg Grammar School. Under his leadership, the number of pupils doubled, as did the number of teachers. His "contributions to the more recent history of the Bocholt area" attracted particular attention, in which he analysed the successions and the status animarum (= registration of souls) on the basis of the church registers as part of family research, which, due to the lack of other sources, was a kind of census within the parish of Bocholt from the second half of the 17th century. He also recorded the numerous emigrations that had taken place in the past.

He published the results of his research in 40 articles in UNSER BOCHOLT, including the Status animarum. His extensive genealogical collection, named after him, with numerous index cards on the genealogical relationships of families in the Bocholt area, is available for use in the town archives after being purchased. Some of his research will also be printed posthumously.

References: BBV v. 12.12.1983. Wolfgang Feldhege, Nachruf auf Oberstudiendirektor i.R. Heinrich Weber, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 35 (1984), H. 1/2, p. 104. Reinhard Schröer, Familienforschung im Bocholter Raum. The Heinrich Weber genealogical collection, in: UNSER BOCHOLT, vol. 39 (1988), no. 1, pp. 3-9, illus.

Christian Heiduk (06/08/10 10:39 am)

In a collection of poems from the First World War 1914-18 from the estate of Josef Fehler there is a poem "At the death of Otto Weddigen".

The German people weep, and lament deeply
For a hero who rests so early,
In the wave grave of the wild ocean tide,
Swings to God in fateful days.

He still stood in the rose-coloured days of youth
Shining with the glow of fame, a noble blood,
His young life, that of valour,
Of valour and loyalty always borne.

Rest gently from your heroic deeds
In that depth of dark sea shadows:
In the fatherland a faithful memory blooms!

Till once, far from this earthly life,
In the sanctuary transfigured thy noble endeavour,
And God will give you the fullness of grace.

During the war years, the poem was written in a booklet by one Gertrud Schulte alongside 16 other popular and artistically rather undemanding poems about heroes and death, struggle and misery, pride, tears and war. The poems reflect the spirit of the times. In many German cities at the time, streets and entire neighbourhoods were named after generals and strategists. Bocholt has the Yorkviertel, east of Blücherstraße and south of the cemetery.

This is where Weddigenstraße is located, leading from Beckmannplatz to Brockhorststraße. Who was Otto Weddigen? He was a naval officer and was involved in the development of the submarine weapon before the World War. He was born in Herford on 15 September 1882 and died on 18 March 1915, aged just 33. As submarine commander of the U 9, he sank three British armoured cruisers, the Hogue, the Cressy and the Aboukir on the Dutch coast in September 1914, as well as the small cruiser Hawke in the North Sea in October 1914.

During the attack on the British fleet, his U 29 was overrun by the enemy ship of the line. The submarine war was a deadly endeavour. Otto Weddigen was celebrated as a naval hero. A death certificate from 1915, on which a dying soldier is depicted, bears the caption: "It is sweet and honourable to die for the fatherland!" This kind of hero worship is thought-provoking. Death is never sweet.

Ursula Rüter (01.07.10 09:02)

A wayside cross was to be erected at the fork between Biemenhorster Weg and Adam Stegerwald Straße in 1956.

Some men from the Biemenhorst community volunteered to collect money from house to house for this memorial. They travelled with a list compiled by Rector Heinrich Hillermann, the local authority caretaker. The political community of Biemenhorst contributed a quarter of the costs.

The cross carved in sandstone with the Corpus Christi at a height of three metres was made by the sculptor Paul Wesseling from Suderwick and erected and consecrated on 8 September 1957. The land for this site was donated by the Hüttemann-Lamers family.

Lit:. Cronik Ss. Ewaldi folder way station

Irmgard Winking (21.06.10 15:12)