A

The Bocholter Aa is an approximately 51 km long tributary of the Issel in Germany and the Netherlands.

The Bocholter Aa is formed in the western Münsterland in Velen by the confluence of the short Thesing Bach, Vennbach and Schwarzer Bach. From there, the Bocholter Aa flows westwards via Ramsdorf, Borken-Gemen, Pröbstinger See, Rhedebrügge and Krechting, before reaching Bocholt, where it flows around the Aasee lake. It continues in a north-westerly direction via Lowick and Suderwick to reach the German-Dutch border at Brüggenhütte.

It is a border river for around 2 kilometres and then, as the "Aa Strang" (Dutch name for the Bocholter Aa), forms the river Oude Ijssel with the Issel at Ulft in the Netherlands. In its first section, the Bocholter Aa determines its own course, meandering through the landscape.

In the second part, starting in Rhedebrügge and more clearly from Bocholt onwards, it is straightened, a fairly straight river. The Bocholter Aa is slowed down by a number of weirs, e.g. at the former Königsmühle, at the redoubt near the Mariengymnasium or at the ironworks, to regulate the water level. Its water also feeds the Pröbstingsee.

Lit:
Jürgen Angenendt, Der Verlauf der Aa und ihre Zuflüsse früher und heute, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 30 (1979), H. 4, p. 64.
Karl Heinz Janzen, Die Bocholter Aa - Fluss der Burgen und Schlösser, in: UNSER BOCHOLT, vol. 50 (1999), p. 2, pp. 47-50.
Peter Theißen, A previously little-known town view of Bocholt, in: UNSER BOCHOLT, vol. 53 (2002), no. 1, pp. 3-12.

Which Bocholter doesn't know it? Within the city limits, it is probably one of the best-known songs, and especially during the carnival season it is "the hit": We are talking about "This comes from the Aa".

On the occasion of festivities, when the mood is high, this song is on everyone's lips in the truest sense of the word ...

This comes from the Aa

Text and music: Werner Rickert

1. one sings such beautiful songs of the sunny Rhine and of wine,
of castles, of valleys and heights in the bright sunshine.
But, wherever I've been, out there in the wide world,
there is one place here on earth that I like best. .

2 I've been to Shanghai, Cape Town and the Urals,
but nowhere was it more beautiful than in Bokelt an' Drietkanal.
The scent of pancakes in the streets, that's our neighbourhood,
It's a Bokeltsen that's lighter than the Düsseldorf Kö.

3 And when I come to St Peter after a long journey,
he will surely ask me where I was born.
Then I won't hesitate for long, I'll tell him straight to his face,
"I'm a Bokeltsen boy, can't you see that?!

R e f r a i n :

In the farthest corner of Germany, there's a little town called Bocholt.
We have a mild and wonderful climate there, that comes from the Aa, that comes from the Aa.
There we have a mild and marvellous climate, that comes from the Aa, that comes from the Aa.

Werner Rickert wrote the song in 1955/1956 as an entry for a song competition organised by the newly founded Bocholt Carnival Society (BoKaGe). He won first prize, and although he still wrote songs from time to time later on, it is still the "big hit" for him.

Bocholter Aasee was officially opened to the public in 1983.

Covering an area of 74 hectares, of which 32 hectares are water, fed by the Pleystrang - not the Bocholter Aa, which flows past the lake - the Bocholter Aasee, originally planned as a rainwater retention system, offers space for sailing, surfing, rowing, paddling and swimming.

Other sports can be practised in the leisure and recreation centre with mini golf course and indoor leisure hall. Separate cycle paths and footpaths as well as benches around the lake invite you to take a walk, jog, cycle and linger.

The adventure and construction playground "BaBaLuu" invites children to build, paint and play. Another extensive playground with a slide, double swing, climbing hill and several small pieces of play equipment is also available to the north. To the east is a bathing bay with a 15,555 square metre sunbathing area with a sandy beach, as well as a 7,600 square metre fenced swimming area.

A multi-purpose building attached to this bathing beach houses the DLRG lifeguard station, a café, WC, changing rooms and showers. Although free of charge, this lakeside pool is supervised by swimming masters on weekdays and by members of the local DLRG group in Bocholt on Sundays and public holidays.

To the south, opposite the bathing bay, is the surfers' bay. Further to the west, a small marina with a jetty and slipway has been created, half of which is used by a boat hire company and the other half by the Aasee interest group (see also: Bocholter Yachtclub e.V.). Here it is possible to hire pedal boats and paddle boats or take sailing lessons at the sailing school.

To the far west is an area for model boats. There you will find the 6.5 metre high bronze statue "Jonas springs from the whale", donated by Dr Ing. h.c. Alfred Flender for the former Waldbad (1962-1991), made by the Düsseldorf sculptor Max Kratz.

The Aasee has two islands. One of them (in the south-east) is a bird sanctuary which may not be entered. On the other is the Chinese pavilion, a gift from the Chinese city of Wuxi.

During the dredging work for the Aasee in 1978, numerous relics of framed piles and planks were discovered on the former site of the Königsmühle. During the subsequent excavations by the Westphalian State Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Münster, a massive wooden foundation was uncovered, which is believed to be the remains of an old mill. As this foundation is only preserved under water for conservation reasons, the site was flooded and demarcated after the excavations were completed.

Lit:
Wilhelm Kolks, Zum Bau unseres Aa-Sees an der Königsmühle, in: UNSER Bocholt, H. 4, pp. 3-7.
Philipp Hömberg, Eine kleine archäologische Untersuchung bei der Königsmühle in Bocholt, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 29 (1978), H. 4, pp. 8-10.
Hans D. Oppel, on the history of the Bocholt baths, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 41 (1990), H. 4, pp. 12-26.
Bruno Wansing, www.bocholt.de
Margret Bongert and Lucia Graefenstein, Bocholt's baths

The skinner (also known as deglubitor, lictor), who has the right to compel and banish dead livestock, which he removes by burying them.

From the 16th to the 19th century often found in the area of responsibility of the executioner. Bocholt knacker are not identical with the executioners, whose employees they are.

Literature:
Gisela Wilbertz, Scharfrichter und Abdecker. On the social history of two "unhonest" professions in north-west Germany from the 16th to the 19th century, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 32 (1981) H. 2, p. 3-16.

On 19.9.1998, the evening market organised by the city marketing company opened its doors in front of the historic town hall in Bocholt. During a trial phase until December 1998, 18 market traders were initially to offer their customers flowers, meat, cheese, meals and textiles, among other things, every Thursday between 3 and 8 pm.

Since then, the market has been well received and has become a permanent fixture. Many Bocholter, but also foreign traders offer their goods here.

Lit:
Chronicle of the Bocholt area 1975-1999, Bocholter Quellen und Beiträge Vol. 9, edited and compiled by Wolfgang Tembrink, Stadtarchiv der Stadt Bocholt, Bocholt 2001.

"Abrahams Schoß" was the name of the section of Viktoriastrasse immediately behind the former railway crossing up to around today's Körnerstrasse. However, "Abraham's" womb has nothing, or rather almost nothing, to do with the biblical events.

The word "Womb" had taken a fancy to the people of Bocholt. They could simply have said Kuhle or Sandloch. But why be so prosaic when you can be lyrical or biblical? In reality, "Abraham's womb" was nothing more than a depression in the ground, simply a sandy hollow.

Lit:
Werner Schneider, In drei Stunden nach England, Rom und Jericho, in: UNSER BOCHOLT, vol. 9 (1958) p. 3, pp. 8-15.

The founder of the Sisters of Notre Dame, Sister Adelgonde Wolbring, spent a large part of her childhood and youth in Bocholt. Born on 9 January 1828 in Rotterdam, she lost her father at the age of four and her mother at the age of six.

An uncle on her father's side, who lived in Stenern on Holtwicker Bach, took the girl in. So that Adelgonde didn't have to walk the long way to school from Stenern to Gasthausplatz every day, her uncle took her in to stay with teacher Hermann Hüsener in Waisenhausstraße (now Wesemannstraße). Hermann Hüsener had recently married the widow Theresia Arnolda Menning, née Tünte. This marriage remained childless. Adelgonde was therefore adopted and brought up as his own child.

Adelgonde spent her primary school years in Bocholt. Her stepfather and counsellor Hermann Hüsener then prepared her for the teacher training college in Münster. After completing her studies, she taught at a girls' school in Coesfeld from 1848.

During the economic and social hardship in Germany in 1848/49, Adelgonde took in a neglected child. As she wanted to do more charitable work, she contacted the Bishop of Münster, Johann Georg Müller. He advised her to invite the Sisters of Notre Dame from Amersfoort and to found a German branch of the order in Coesfeld.

On 1 October 1850, after religious preparation, Adelgonde was ordained to the order and given the name Maria Aloysia.

She worked and taught in an orphanage in Coesfeld until 1874, when she and other sisters left for the USA under the pressure of the Kulturkampf in Germany.

Here she was a teacher at her order's first American school in Cleveland, Ohio. She later taught in Toledo, Ohio, and then for six years in Delphos, Ohio. In 1886, she moved to Cleveland and became superior of the Mount Saint Mary convent. She died here on 6 May 1889 and was buried in Saint Joseph's Cemetery.

Lit.:
Werner Schneider, Aus Steinen Gold machen. Adelgonde Wolbring, Sister Marie Aloysia. Sister of Our Lady. Portrait of a German nun of the 19th century, in: UNSER BOCHOLT, 30.Jg. (1979), H.2, p.5-35
Werner Schneider, LIAL-School. A school named after Lisette Kühling and Adelgonde Wolbring in Whitehouse, Ohio, USA, in: UNSER BOCHOLT,35. Jg.(1984), H.4, p.33-45.
Gerhard Cebulla, School in the 19th century. Avant-gardist of pedagogy: Hermann Hüsener, teacher of two generations in Bocholt, 3rd instalment, in: UNSER BOCHOLT 45th Vol. (1994), H. 2, p. 41 - 45.

( house numbers in front )

4. three-storey semi-detached house with extended mansard hipped roof. Built in 1923 as an exhibition building for the furniture store Josef Wissing. Architect: Regierungsbaumeister Mensing, BDA. The well-balanced brick façade, each with three window axes above a plastered basement, is divided by pilaster strips. The windows are vertically connected across their entire width by plastered surfaces with individual Art Nouveau ornaments. The original muntin bars in the arched windows on the ground floor have been replaced. Corresponding arched windows, but with vertical glazing bars, above the side entrances. Today used as a block of flats.

6. see house no. 4, but here the northern coach house extension with blind arch in the stepped gable and fanlights in the original double-leaf wooden gate.

14. two-storey detached town villa in the classicist style with extended flat mansard roof, situated in a park-like garden. Built in 1907 by building contractor Hermann Hitpaß. Architect Josef Nießing. Later residential building of the factory owner Wilhelm Borgers (1874 - 1937). Simple plaster façades with four to three window axes, horizontally divided by cornices. Ashlar plaster on the ground floor above a rusticated basement plinth. The lintels on the upper floor are covered with console-supported cornices. Terrace to the north above a ground-floor veranda extension. To the south, round-arched, recessed house entrance above a double flight of external stairs with vase-crowned baluster railings. Heavily altered to the east due to extensions and remodelling. Enclosure facing the street with original wrought-iron grille between high wall pillars. UB 2002, booklet 4, p. 82

16th Two-storey detached Art Nouveau manufacturer's villa with extended mansard roof. Built in 1907 for the factory owner August Fischer, jun. (1867 - 1940). Architect and contractor unknown. The richly decorated west façade with four window axes is emphasised by corner pilaster strips. The right-hand axis is crowned as a risalit by a round-arched curved gable with an ox-eye and stucco bust. Monumental arched opening on the upper floor as a loggia with balcony. Below this, on the ground floor, a three-striped bay window with concave rounded sides and a front window framed by columns. The other windows of the main façade are framed by half-columns on the ground floor and pilasters on the upper floor. Decorative ornamentation above the lintels and below the sills of the rectangular windows. The fanlights, also on the sides of the arched windows, are divided by mullions. To the north, staircase risalit with segmental arched gable bearing the date 1907. In the angle between the main building and the northern risalit, house entrance under a column-supported loggia with open staircase. Kitchen extension to the east. To the south, terrace above a ground-floor veranda extension. UB 1981, vol. 3, p. 32; 2002, vol. 4, p. 82.

23. two-storey detached town villa with extended mansard hipped roof Built in 1912 by building contractor Hermann Hitpaß, architect Josef Nießing. Brick façades over a plastered basement base, divided by pilaster strips. Main façade to the east with four symmetrical window axes. The windows are emphasised by simple stone frames. Set back to the north, single-window extension with entrance under a two-bay, round-arched loggia supported by columns. Staircase in front. Loggia and open staircase with wrought-iron railings. South-facing flat bay window on the ground floor. Two-storey extensions to the west with flat and gabled roofs.

28. two-storey bourgeois residential building from the Wilhelminian era with a slate-covered, mansard-like attic. Built in 1898 by building contractor August Hülskamp. Architect Gustav Pries. The symmetrical façade with five window axes above a plastered basement plinth is clad with red facing tiles and horizontally structured by cornices and bands (ornamental frieze). The windows have moulded piece frames. The outer ones are designed as twin windows, on the ground floor as segmental arch windows with keystones, on the upper floor as rectangular windows combined by segmental arches with fan ornamentation. The centre window is crowned with a triangular pediment. Central, round-arched entrance above a recessed staircase. Console-supported balcony with baluster railing above. In the roof zone, originally preserved, two small dormer windows with protruding, bow-supported crippled hipped roof and buttresses. UB 1981, booklet 3, p. 32.

32nd Two-storey, detached town villa with a flat mansard roof in the style of the Wilhelmine era. Built in 1896 for Bernhard Breuer. Building contractor Menting, Bocholt. Later residence of the factory owner Eugen Ahlers, then of the lawyer Ludwig Veelken. Balanced, proportioned façades to the west and south made of red facing tiles over a plastered basement base, divided by cornices, bands and embossed corner pilaster strips. Four window axes each to the west and south. The window frames are decorated with stucco elements, the window sills on the upper floor with plaster panels. The centre windows of the south façade on the upper floor are designed as twin windows and are joined by a stuccoed triangular gable. A decorative frieze of disc and triglyph ornaments runs under the main cornice. In the south-west plastered three-eighths, in the attic five-eighths corner tower with octagonal tent roof, crowned by a weather vane with monogram LVM (Ludwig and Magdalene Veelken). Below it, the Bocholt city coat of arms in wrought iron on three sides. Terrace to the east above a ground-floor veranda extension. In the west façade, round-arched vaulted main entrance with recessed staircase and beautiful double-leaf front door made of Pitschpine wood. To the north, staircase extension with large arched window and side entrance. Behind it, kitchen entrance above a terrace with open staircase. Today used as an office building. UB 1981, booklet 3, p. 32.

36th Two-storey villa with extended mansard hipped roof. Built in 1911 by building contractor Heinrich Sütfels (Sütfels & Cie). The façade is vertically divided by pilaster strips to the west and north, with four symmetrical window axes to the west, which are joined to the south by a wider section with two loggias one above the other. The ground-floor loggia also accommodates the main entrance. In the attic, a five-storey dwarf house with a boarded, protruding triangular gable and ox-eye in the roof apex, flanked by two separate dormers of the same design. To the north, on the ground floor, is a rectangular, four-window porch extension, which has been converted into a terrace with a wrought-iron grille between masonry pillars on the upper floor. Above this, in the attic, two dormer windows, also boarded, with protruding triangular gables. All windows with plaster frames and glazing bars.

66th ground floor, detached, gabled villa in country house style, with high mansard gable roof. Built in 1911 by August Vallee and Josef Hülskamp. Architect R. Hülskamp, building contractor August Vallee. Later the residence of the second mayor Dr jur Johannes Alff (1881 - 1973). The rendered building in the west and east with hipped gables. Entrance on the north side above a flight of steps. Above this, a dwarf house with mansard pitched roof and ox-eye in the boarded roof peak. Three dormer windows to the south. The street façade on the ground floor next to a further window on the right with a three-strip segmental arch bay window. Three window axes in the attic and two in the roof apex. Porch extension to the east with terraces in front and above. All windows in the attic and in the dwarf house, otherwise in the fanlights with glazing bars, on the street front with louvre shutters.

70th two-storey, detached corner house with plain rendered façades and extended hipped roof, with central, four-window hipped roof dormer to the south and west. Built in 1912 by building contractor August Vallee. From 1924 residential building of the factory owner Wilhelm Westerhoff (1887 - 1933). The main façade with four symmetrical window axes. The windows with louvre shutters, the skylights with glazing bars, otherwise functionally arranged. On the ground floor of the south façade, segmental arched bay window with quadruple window structure. Main entrance via open staircase in the north. To the east, two-storey kitchen and single-storey veranda extension with a terrace above and a garden terrace in front. UB 2002, booklet 4, p. 82

75th Two-storey bourgeois residential building in Art Nouveau style with an extended flat mansard roof. Built in 1909 for Johann Feldhaus. Contractor A.V. Hülskamp, Bocholt. Plain rendered façades above a basement base. The street façade with three asymmetrical window axes. The wider one on the right is designed as a risalit with a tail gable and circular or segmental arched ornaments. It contains two arched windows as twin windows. The windows on the ground and upper floors are slightly rounded at the lintels, with simple stucco frames and vertical mullions in the fanlights. The north façade is single-axis with a central entrance above an open staircase. Ground-floor extension to the west. Today used as an office block.

77. two-storey, detached brick manufacturer's villa with hipped roof, built on a terrace with two flights of three steps leading up to it. Generously designed garden driveway in front. Built in 1928 for the manufacturer August Tangerding (1876 - 1953). Architect Georg Schmalz, Benrath am Rhein. The main façade has three window axes on the upper floor and five on the ground floor, each extended by one window axis to the north and south by ground-floor extensions with roof terraces. The windows on the narrow sides are arranged functionally. In front of the central main entrance flanked by two windows is a portico formed by four slender pillars with a terrace above. In front of this is an open staircase with four circumferential steps. A shed extension to the south. On the garden side, the northern extension is extended to the west by a veranda-like window axis. The centre axis of the garden façade on the upper floor of the main building is formed into a twin window. All windows with glazing bars. One of the most beautiful Bocholt manufacturers' villas of the 1920s.

79th Two-storey, detached manufacturer's villa with extended hipped roof. Brick façades above a plastered basement. Generously designed, slightly ascending garden driveway in front. The two entrance gates with pillar wall and Art Deco-style fencing have been preserved in their original state. Built in 1925 for the manufacturer Fritz Borger, Sr. (1884 - 1954) architect and building contractor Gebr. The façade on the upper floor is divided into five window axes by pilaster strips. On the ground floor, a rectangular porch with a central main entrance, flanked by two smaller barred windows. A balcony above the porch. The entrance has an imposing tuff stone wall. In front of it a four-step staircase. Seven windows on the western garden façade on the upper floor, the outer ones each forming a twin, the inner ones a triple pair with narrower side sections. On the ground floor, a segmental arch-shaped projecting three-striped bay flanked by two windows with a balcony above. A further, but roofed, segmental-arched bay with four vertically divided windows on the ground floor of the two-axis south façade. Two-storey extension with side entrance on the north façade. All windows with tufa framing and muntin bars. Outstanding example of the discreet realisation of classic building forms in the villa architecture of the 1920s. Today used as a residential and commercial building.

81st Two-storey, detached manufacturer's villa. Brick building with a steep, slated, slightly off-axis pitched roof, partially lowered to ground floor level, and spacious terraces. Built in 1926 for the manufacturer Emil Tangerding (1878 - 1952). Architect Prof Hans Spiegel, building contractor Sütfels & Cie, Bocholt. The windows are functionally arranged. Remarkably designed garden in front of the house with a spacious driveway and a round-arched lime arbour. The building, which deliberately dispenses with a façade, but instead impresses with its expressive design and dynamic, asymmetrical lines, is a unique example of the experimental style of the 1920s in Bocholt villa architecture.

85th Two-storey freestanding brick building with extended hipped roof and a central, four-strip hipped roof dormer to the east and south and a three-strip dormer to the north. Built in 1924 for Nikolaus Saul, architect Josef Nießing. Facades with three to two window axes, emphasised by corner pilaster strips. On the street façade on the ground floor, the centre and right-hand axes are combined as a three-strip segmental arch bay. All windows with ashlar surrounds. The western garden façade is supplemented on the ground floor by a veranda extension with a terrace above. Main entrance on the north side.

91st single-storey, detached country house villa in the Art Deco style with extended, high pitched roofs. Built in 1927 for the chief magistrate Otto Joerling (1873 - 1955). Architect: government architect Hans Spiegel, BDA. Three-part façade to the east. The three-axis, eaves-side centre section is accentuated by a triple dormer with three pointed gables and flanked to the north by a three-storey, pointed gabled return with quadruple, triple and double divided windows tapering according to storey. The originally boarded gable overhangs slightly in each storey. To the south, a two-storey, semi-circular, flat-roofed tower with five windows each completes the façade. Side entrance to the north. The original building was altered and extended in 1956 as "Gerburgisheim" through alterations and extensions to the south and west. Since 1977 privately used for residential purposes again. UB 1994/95, booklet 4/1, p. 58; 2009, booklet 1, p. 57.

Adrion, born in Berlin in 1923, studied philosophy and psychology in Tübingen after the end of the war. It was there that he met Bernhard Honsel from Bocholt/Stenern, who was so fascinated by his fellow student's magic tricks that he arranged performances by the previously unknown magician at the Bocholt funfair in 1948 and 1949. In 1950, Adrion made magic his profession. He performed his "Kammerspiele des Scheins" (Chamber Plays of Appearance") with great success at home and abroad.

In his spare time, he focussed on the history of magic, oriental magic and the psychology of deception. Adrion is the author of several books and has written numerous articles for newspapers, radio and television.

Literature:
Alexander Adrion, Zauberei, Walter-Verlag AG Olten 1968.
his, Debut in Bocholt, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 20 (1969) H. 2, pp. 30-31.
The Art of Magic, Du Mont-Verlag Cologne 1978.
ders., Pickpockets, C. H. Beck-Verlag Munich 1992.
Charlotte Kersting, Alexander Adrion - magician and philosopher, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 20 (1969) H. 2, p. 29.

Advent (from the Latin advenire = to arrive) is the time of preparation for the coming of Christ in the Christian festive season. Advent was originally a time of fasting and penance, which the early church defined as the days between 11 November and the original date of Christmas, the Feast of the Apparitions on 6 January. The Advent season dates back to the 7th century. In the Roman Church, the number of Sundays initially varied between 6 and 4. Since the Council of Trent (1545 - 1563), the liturgy books have prescribed Advent as a four-week period for the whole church. The first Advent is on the Sunday between 27 November and 3 December. The Advent season ends on Christmas Eve.

Advent used to be a time of silence and reflection. The dark time of year invited people to come to rest. As the year draws to a close, the days become visibly shorter and darker. Johann Bongert (Jabo Candattan) vividly described this darkness in his poem "De düstere Dage vör Karßmis" (The dark days before Christmas).

If you want to properly appreciate the significance of light at this time of year, you have to go back to a time without gas and electricity. The parlours were dimly lit by a pine chip or an oil sparkler. People longed for more light and sunshine.

The Advent wreath with its four candle lights is also a sign of light at this time. The history of the Advent wreath in its current form is still young. It began in the Advent season of 1839 in "Rauhen Haus", a diaconal centre in Hamburg, which can be described as the origin of the social and pastoral "Inner Mission". Johann Heinrich Wichern, the founder of the institutions, began lighting candles during Advent services in 1839. At first, 23 candles were set up and one lit each evening. On Christmas Eve, all 23 candles were lit. Eventually, Wichern had a large wooden hoop 2 metres in diameter made to accommodate all the lights. This hoop was later wrapped in fir greenery. The first Advent wreath was a simple, round wooden candlestick. But it soon took on the familiar shape of today with the four candles.

Anna Lindenberg recounts: "In the domestic life of adults, the Advent season used to have no special emphasis, it was filled with work. The pious expectation of the arrival of the Christ Child was limited to the church celebrations, the Gospel on Sundays and the carols that were sung during the service. Our grandparents' generation also saw the Advent season as preparation for the return of the Lord on the Day of Judgement. That is why many families, especially in the countryside, still prayed the rosary in the evening".

Today, Advent has lost its religious meaning in many cases. For many people, Advent means stress. The city centres are full, Christmas presents have to be bought. Instead of peace and contemplation, there is a full diary. The advertising industry makes particular use of this time. Gingerbread hearts and Christmas decorations can already be found in many supermarkets in September. And Christmas carols are already being played instead of Advent songs.

Literature:
Eugen Ernst, Weihnachten im Wandel der Zeiten, 2nd revised edition 2000, Konrad Theiss Verlag GmbH, Stuttgart 1998.
Johann Bongert, Jabo, Die erste Wende, De düstere Dage vör Karßmis, p. 110.
Anna Lindenberg, Erinnerungen an Alt-Bocholt, Wenn es Winter wurde, p. 31. see also: Weihnachten im Wandel der Zeiten

Pastor at St. Georg from 1945 - 1963, born 6 April 1891 in Ostbevern, died 23 June 1976 in Bocholt. In 1913 he began studying theology, first in Freiburg (Switzerland) and later in Münster, interrupted by medical service in the First World War. He was ordained a priest on 10 July 1921.

After the destruction of the town of Bocholt and the parish church during the Second World War on 22 March 1945, the pastoral situation had to be reorganised because Pastor Kruse, his predecessor, had been a victim of the bombs. In 1948, he began to rebuild the ruins of St George's. He accompanied the construction work every day. He ensured that the church was given the Gothic vaults, although the episcopal authorities had planned a simple flat ceiling. At Christmas 1950, the congregation was able to celebrate services in the old church again for the first time. For five years, it had had to make do with temporary accommodation. It moved three times: from the Böwing carpentry workshop in Weidenstraße to the basement of the Capuchin monastery and then to the auditorium of St George's Grammar School.

In addition to this task and his actual pastoral activities, Pastor Aertker put all his energy into building other church buildings and facilities. The modest man was considered a financial genius and had a talent for organisation. He was honoured for his achievements with the title of prelate, papal secret chamberlain.

He resigned from his office in 1963 for reasons of illness and age, but remained loyal to the parish as emeritus until his death on 23 June 1976.

Literature:
Albert Schwaaf, Bürger der Stadt Bocholt, Monsignor Hermann Aertker, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 22 (1971) H. 3, p. 17-21, with illustration. Bocholter Kirchenkalender 1977, p. 30-31.
Handwritten chronicle by Pastor Aertker, St George's parish archive.

St. Agnes Hospital is a specialist hospital run by a non-profit organisation and currently has 470 beds.

In 1842/43, Bocholt citizens founded an "association for the establishment of a merciful institution" to care for the sick "of the poorer class". The initiative came from the then vicar of St. Georg, Franz Schütte, and his two vicars. Until then, there had only been "sickrooms" in the town's poorhouse, but these had long been inadequate. The new association was supported by all sections of the Bocholt population and in December 1843 a house was acquired on the Schonenberg, where a convent had previously been located until secularisation. The nursing care itself was to be taken over by Sisters of Mercy from Münster and on 29 May 1844 two sisters were actually inducted into their post. The hospital initially had 6 beds, which could be increased to 12 in an emergency. In 1847, the building was given the name "Hospital of St Agnes" due to its proximity to St Agnes Church, which at the time still belonged to the Protestant community.

An extension soon became necessary, so the board of the association acquired two more houses on Schonenberg in 1850. At the same time, statutes were drawn up containing all the necessary provisions for running the institution as a "moral person with corporate rights and powers".

The hospital underwent a significant change in 1852, when Cardinal Melchior von Diepenbrock donated his father's house to the Hospital of St Agnes as inalienable property. This house had room for 30 sick people, who were cared for by 4 sisters.

20 years later, the rooms were no longer sufficient and there was a lack of necessary medical facilities, such as treatment rooms, an operating theatre, baths and the like. At the request of the attending physicians, the town council decided to build a new building on Schonenberg, where sufficient land was available. This new building for 50 patients was completed in 1875 and its capacity was increased to 200 places in 1896. In 1898, the Protestant community sold the St Agnes church, rectory and school building to the hospital. The church was now used by the sisters and patients as a hospital church. From 1926, after further extensions and additions, the hospital was able to care for 350 patients.

Until 1904, the hospital did not have a head physician; all Bocholt doctors had the right to admit patients and treat them there. Dr Munsch became the first chief physician. The system of allowing all Bocholt doctors to work at the hospital was not sustainable in the long term. The chief physician system was therefore introduced on 1 April 1937, initially for surgery, then also for gynaecology and internal diseases. A few more specialists were authorised to treat other diseases.

During the First World War, the Red Cross set up a military hospital with 160 beds in St. Agnes Hospital, which were continuously occupied by wounded soldiers. During the Second World War, a military hospital was also set up there with up to 250 beds.

On 22 March 1945, Maundy Thursday in Holy Week, St. Agnes Hospital was completely destroyed in the bombing raid on Bocholt. An alternative hospital was set up in the Walderholung. The first nurses returned on the Friday after Easter to clean up. They set up emergency accommodation in the cellar; the first rooms were furnished in the north wing, which had been preserved to some extent. In the summer of 1949, the extension from 1907 was repaired, the external reconstruction of the entire building was completed in 1953, and the following years were devoted to the internal design and modernisation of the medical facilities.

In 1963, the board of the hospital decided to build a new building, as the spatial and technical possibilities at Schonenberg had been exhausted and only a new building could fulfil modern medical requirements. Together with the city of Bocholt, a suitable site was found on Barloer Weg in what is now the Stenern district of Bocholt as part of the Bocholt-Stenern planning association. In 1979, the state government approved the new building, which was completed in 1985 after 6 years of construction. Patients, nurses and doctors moved in on 3 July 1985.

In 1989, the new building for the nursing school, which is attached to the hospital, was completed. This school was expanded in 2006 to become the central school for healthcare professions in the Borken district, which is run jointly with the St. Marien Hospital in Borken. Today, this school offers 150 training places.

The St.-Agnes-Hospital has been run by St.-Agnes-Hospital-gGmbH since 1999.

The organisational merger with St.-Vinzenz-Hospital in Rhede took place in 1999, followed by the merger with St.-Marien-Krankenhaus in Ahaus-Vreden in 2002 to form the Westmünsterland Hospital Association, which was joined by St.-Marien-Hospital in Borken in 2007.

Literature:
Elisabeth Bröker, Aus der Geschichte des Bocholter Krankenhauses 1844-1944, in: Unser Bocholt, 20.Jg. (1969) H.2, p. 2-16.
Karl Gibb, Der Neubau des St.-Agnes-Hospitals, in: Unser Bocholt, 20th vol. (1969), H.2, pp. 48-50.
Ernst Pauls, Destruction and reconstruction, in: Unser Bocholt, 20th vol. (1969) H.2, pp. 17-28.
Hubertus Schwerk, Das neue St.-Agnes-Hospital, Planung und Ausführung, in: Unser Bocholt, 36.Jg. (1985), H.2/3, p. 27-29.

Gerhard Ahold was born on 12 July 1876 in Mussum and died on 24 June 1950 in Bocholt. He was elected to the municipal council of Stenern in the local elections in March 1919 and was re-elected in all elections. He was mayor of Stenern from 1923 and remained mayor until the beginning of 1946. The municipality of Stenern wanted to commemorate its long-serving mayor by naming the street Gerhard-Ahold-Straße on 13 December 1965.

Joseph Wiesmann was born on 28 Oct. 1806, the son of hat maker Johann Wilhelm Wiesmann and Anna Elisabeth Aholt.

He did not want to take up his father's profession. He was more interested in acquiring theological knowledge. As a "writing functionary" he also called himself a court tax collector and a farmer. Due to inheritance problems, Joseph Wiesmann became the third in the line of Aholt estate heirs and went by the name Wiesmann-Aholt. As co-owner of the Schulzenhof, Joseph Wiesmann-Aholt also lived on Aholt and therefore also referred to himself as an agriculturalist.

Joseph Wiesmann-Aholt was never to inherit the Aholt farm. Once the inheritance on Aholt had been secured, he was able to calmly make plans to emigrate to America with his family in order to build a new life there. In 1844, he left Bocholt with his wife and 6 children. The handwritten books he wrote are entitled: "er Abend des Christen oder christliche Betrachtungen", "Liederbuch".

Lit.:
Wilfried F.M.Ahoud, Anmerkungen zum Leben des Joseph Wiesmann-Aholt, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg.37(1986) H. 1, pp. 20-21.
Volker Schroeder, Die Schriften des Joseph Aholt gnt. Wiesmann, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 37 (1986) H. 1, pp. 12-20.

Entry in the commercial register on 21 Oct 1897. One year later, the spinning mill with a sizing plant was built at Werther Str. 78. The company was shut down in 1916 and sold to Hammersen, Osnabrück, in 1918. At the beginning of the Second World War, 35,000 spindles and 360 looms were in operation, which were shut down in 1941. The first looms started up again in April 1946, with one weaver operating four looms at an hourly wage of 0.75 Reichsmark. In 1992, the company was taken over by Dierich-Holding AG, Augsburg, and finally closed with 75 employees in March 1993.

Lit.:
From the history and reconstruction of the company F. H. Hammersen in Bocholt, in: Unser Bocholt, 4th year (1953), p.6, pp.191-204.
Eduard Westerhoff, The Bocholt textile industry. Unternehmer und Unternehmen, 2nd revised edition, Verlag Temming Bocholt 1984, 255 pp.

The company was entered in the commercial register by the founders Joseph Wiethold, Bernhard Rensing, August Hendrix, Ferdinand Wiethold and Alex Hendrix with a share capital of 565,000 marks as a public limited company for cotton industry, Bocholt, Industriestr. 1. The purpose of the company was to take over the following businesses: Bocholter Färberei & Druckerei Diepenbrock & Co, the mechanical weaving mill Witwe Meyer, the mechanical weaving mill Bernhard Rensing and the mechanical weaving mill Gebr.

In 1897, the Annual General Meeting decided to increase the share capital to 900,000 marks. This additional capital was used to build a spinning mill in 1898. In December 1898, the company employed 33 male, 20 female and 6 juvenile workers.

Bernhard Rensing died in 1908 and Joseph Wiethold Sr. left the board, while his son Josef Wiethold Jr. joined. In 1911, August Hendrix also left the board, leaving Josef Wiethold Jr. as sole director.

Business must not have gone well. In 1912, the Annual General Meeting decided: "In order to maintain the operation of the spinning mill and possibly make it profitable through expansion," each shareholder should make two thirds of their shares available. Other options were proposed to compensate for the losses incurred.

During and after the First World War, the business was leased to other companies, such as branches of Ww. B. Messing and Stern & Löwenstein, Kriegs-Hadern-Gesellschaft, Cord-Ausrüstung Johannes Stadeler and W. Hoffs & Co.

The company went bankrupt in 1934. The business was acquired at auction by Max and Paul Herding and by the neighbouring Herding spinning and weaving mill and then sold on to Carl Herding.

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

The cousins August and Ludwig Ketteler founded the above-mentioned company in November 1879. In the same year, they built a mechanical weaving mill on a plot of land between Ebertstrasse (now Stadtwerke) and Bahnhofstrasse, which had the following departments: sizing, winding, warping, finishing and weaving room.

Around 1900, the company had 108 employees. The buildings bordered a narrow country lane to the north, which was later developed into Hohenstaufenstraße. The emissions from the Ketteler factory were such a nuisance to the villa owners in Bahnhofstrasse that the site was abandoned around 1925 and a new factory was built at Münsterstrasse 125.

The co-owners Wilhelm Steiner and Werner Schopen (relatives of the Ketteler family) had taken over the company Wwe. P. Willemsen on Kaiser-Wilhelm-Str. (now Karstadt) in 1908. Here, too, A. & L. Ketteler continued to produce here until 1945. In that year, the company was totally destroyed by bombing raids and production was completely relocated to Münsterstraße. The shares of the two owners were later transferred to relatives, namely Wilhelm Essing of Gebr. Essing in Rhede and Christa von Falkenhausen.

The company mainly produced linings made of artificial silk and synthetics. Settlement proceedings were opened on 21 August 1984 and the company was later closed down. The buildings were demolished on 31 January 1997. Today, residential and commercial buildings stand in their place.

Reference:
Eduard Westerhoff, Die Bocholter Textilindustrie. Unternehmer und Unternehmen, 2nd revised edition, Verlag Temming Bocholt 1984, p. 117.

A school leading to the "Mittlere Reife", a so-called secondary school, had existed in Bocholt since 1938, although secondary schooling only began after the 6th grade for selected, particularly gifted pupils from primary school. In autumn 1944, the school had to be closed due to the constant bombing raids. However, the desire for a school between grammar school and primary school was expressed again soon after the end of the war.

On 22 July 1947, the school committee of the city of Bocholt discussed the establishment of a secondary school for the first time, also in order to give the city "a locational advantage". On 27 February 1948, the city of Bocholt submitted the corresponding application to the Regierungspräsident Münster for approval, which was granted on 15 April 1948. Teaching commenced immediately with two fifth-year classes and Clemens Brameyer became the first headmaster. In 1951, the secondary schools in NRW were renamed Realschulen. At this time, 135 girls and boys attended the Realschule Bocholt, which had grown in the meantime. The catchment area included not only the town of Bocholt and the area of the former Liedern-Werth district, but also parts of the Borken, Wesel and Rees districts. However, there was still a great shortage of space. Year after year, girls and boys had to be turned away even though they passed the entrance examination. However, the school committee and headmaster refused to allow any expansion as there was no money for new school premises. Classes were still taught in shifts at St. Georg-Gymnasium, alternating between 8 am and 1 pm and 2 pm and 7 pm.

In 1955, the city of Bocholt began planning its own school building for the secondary school. The new building - located between Herzogstraße and Auf der Recke - was ready for the start of the 1957/58 school year.

Headmaster Brameyer retired on 6 April 1967 and was succeeded by Alfred Paetzoldt. In the 1963/64 school year, the school had 524 pupils and the building was too small again after a few years. A second secondary school for the south of Bocholt was started. In this context, the school was given its current name: "Albert-Schweitzer-Realschule", the second Realschule was named "Israhel-van-Meckenem-Realschule". In the 1969/70 school year, the differentiated sixth form was introduced for the Realschule in NRW; since then, pupils in Years 9 and 10 have been able to choose between a focus on foreign languages, mathematics and natural sciences and social sciences.

In 1983, secondary school headmaster Alfred Paetzoldt retired after 25 years of service and was succeeded by Josef Veltmann. In view of increasing pupil numbers, the town extended four additional classrooms in the listed water tower in 1988, and the school was given further rooms in the former orphanage, the former Diepenbrockheim (subsequently the Bocholt branch of the Gelsenkirchen University of Applied Sciences and today also home to, among other things, the college for school teachers and a branch of the town archives).

Rector Josef Veltmann retired in August 2004 and was succeeded by Klemens Kerkhoff at the beginning of the 2005/06 school year.

Literature:
Festschrift zum 50-jährigen Bestehen der Albert-Schweitzer-Realschule, ed.: Albert-Schweitzer-Realschule, Bocholt, 1998.
Elisabeth Bröker, Realschulen, in: "Ein Gang durch Bocholts Schulgeschichte", in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 30 (1979), H. 3, p. 26-27.

This path in Suderwick was named after the last mayor of Suderwick, Albert Stolte (1904-1975).

Bocholt mechanical weaving mill, founded on 28 January 1873 in rented premises at Schuster & Dübigk, Bismarckstr. 27-29, by Karl Aldenkortt and Heinrich Quarz. From 1875, Mrs Wilhelm Bitterberg replaced the deceased Karl A.. In 1895, when Mr Quarz left the company, the business was renamed "Aldenkortt & Co.". In 1908 the company belonged to Wilhelm Bitterberg (1836-1922) and was rented from Wilhelm Mayland, Nordwall 47.

Lit.:
Eduard Westerhoff, Die Bocholter Textilindustrie. Unternehmer und Unternehmen, 2nd revised edition, Verlag Temming Bocholt 1984, 255 p., p. 73

For twelve years, from 1910 to 1922, Dr Alff was the second mayor of Bocholt. During these years, he focussed primarily on social issues. His most important work was the creation of the lung sanatorium "Walderholung" on what was then the northern outskirts of the city, where many children and initially also adults were treated for the deficiency disease TB with physical rest and good nutrition.

Johannes Alff was born in Strasbourg on 15 November 1881. He completed his A-levels in Münster and studied law in Freiburg, Munich, Marburg and Münster from 1900 to 1903. After his legal clerkship from 1903 to 1907, he obtained his doctorate in Münster in 1909. At the beginning of 1910, he joined the city administration of Hamm and from 1 July 1910 was employed by the city of Bocholt as an alderman and deputy to the first mayor.

Dr Alff left Bocholt in 1922 to take up the office of mayor in Emmerich on 11 May. After the National Socialist seizure of power, Alff was initially given leave of absence there on 1 April 1933 and then retired on 30 April 1934 for political reasons. He then returned to Bocholt and opened a law firm, which he ran until old age.

Johannes Alff died in Bocholt on 10 December 1973. His period of service was characterised by the First World War and the years of hardship that followed. He also made a name for himself through his social commitment during this difficult time. The town of Bocholt erected a memorial to him during his lifetime, shortly after he took up office in Emmerich, by naming a street running along "his" forest recreation area after him. Around 1936, the street was renamed Waldstraße due to Alff's political unpopularity. However, this renaming did not survive the Nazi era: after 1945 it was called Alffstraße again.

Alffstraße commemorates Dr Johannes Alff (1881-1973), who initiated the lung sanatorium "Walderholung" on what was then the northern outskirts of the city. The town of Bocholt erected a monument to him during his lifetime by naming a street running alongside "his"forest recreation centre after him.

Lit.:
Wilhelm Seggewiß, Bocholter Straßen erzählen Geschichte, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 38 (1987), H.2/3, p. 87.
Gerhard Schmalstieg, Straßennamen in Bocholt nach nur hier bekannten Personen, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 55 (2004) H. 4, p. 53-72.

Alfred Flender-Strasse is intended to commemorate the entrepreneur Dr h. c. Alfred Flender (1900-1969).

Lit:
Wilhelm Seggewiß, Bocholter Straßen erzählen Geschichte, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 38 (1987), H. 2/3, pp. 87-88.
Gerhard Schmalstieg, Straßennamen in Bocholt nach nur hier bekannten Personen, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 55 (2004) H. 4, p. 53-72

Aloysianastrasse is named in memory of Sister Aloysianis (Katharina Tielkes 1893-1974), of the Order of the Sisters of Divine Providence.

Lit.:
Wilhelm Seggewiß, Bocholter Straßen erzählen Geschichte, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 40 (1989), H. 3, p. 54.
Gerhard Schmalstieg, Straßennamen in Bocholt nach nur hier bekannten Personen, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 55 (2004) H. 4, p. 53-72.

(Honorary citizen of the municipality of Holtwick)

Katharina Tielkes was born on 30 August 1893 in Holtwick. She joined the Order of Divine Providence in Münster in 1919. During the First World War, she worked as a nurse in various front-line hospitals, for which she was named on the Holtwick community's war veterans' roll of honour.

On 14 July 1920, she went on a mission to Blumenau, a town founded by German emigrants in Brazil. She initially worked as an X-ray nurse at the primitive hospital there, where she lost an arm up to the elbow due to radiation. Thanks to her drive, the hospital was modernised. In 1960, she was made an honorary citizen of the town, and on 24 April 1962 she was made an honorary citizen of her home town of Holtwick, where a street was named after her. Sister Aloysianis died in Blumenau on 29 April 1974 and was buried there.

Literature:
Elisabeth Bröker, From Holtwick to Brazil, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 11 (1960) H. 1, p. 33-34.
Werner Schneider, ...turning stones into gold. Adelgonde Wolbring, Sister Marie Aloysia, Sister of Our Lady. Portrait of a German nun of the 19th century, in: UNSER B0CHOLT Jg.30 (1979) H.2, p.5-35.
Werner Schneider, LIAL School. A school named after Lisette Kühling and Adelgonde Wolbring in Whitehouse, Ohio, USA, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 35 ( 1984) H.4,p.33-45.
Gerhard Schmalstieg, Street names in Bocholt according to persons known only here, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 55 (2004) H. 4, p. 53 ff.

On a map from 1645, depicted in the Westmünsterland local history calendar of 1922, a watercourse is marked with the name Mittelste Landwehr, which flows through the area of today's Bärendorf and flows into the Alte Aa at the level of the allotment gardens. In UNSER BOCHOLT H. 4, 1988, it says: "About the level of Willy-Brandt-Straße, a watercourse is marked from Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße, which leads to the north-west and flows into the Alte Aa after 1850 metres. It is referred to as "Landwehr"".

During excavation work in the area of the Alte Aa, wooden parts were found that suggested the presence of a weir. This gave the street Am Alten Wehr its name. Before the road was extended, there was a narrow footpath here that connected Bärendorfstraße with An der Alten Aa. It was simply called "et gröne Weggsken".

Lit.:
Fig. map from the year 1645, in: Heimatkalender Westmünsterland Jg. 1922, p. 280.
Anton Schmeddinghoff, in: Lebendige Vergangenheit, p. 21.
Werner Sundermann, Georg Letschert, Die hessischen Befestigungsanlagen des Dreißigjährigen Krieges, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 49 (1998) H. 4, p. 3-23.

Amnesty International was founded in 1961 by the British lawyer Peter Beneson. On 28 May 1961, he had an appeal entitled "The Forgotten Prisoners" published in several national newspapers in various countries, calling for a campaign for the release of political prisoners. Within the first few weeks, over 1000 interested supporters came forward. Within the first year of ai's existence, a total of seven national sections were established, including the German section. Amnesty International now has more than one million members in more than 140 countries.

The work of Amnesty International is always about the fight against serious violations of the right to physical and mental integrity and the rights of every human being to freedom of opinion and expression, freedom from discrimination on the basis of ethnic origin, gender, skin colour, language, national or social origin, economic or other status.

The Bocholt chapter of Amnesty International was founded in autumn 1978. The group spokesperson is Prof Dr Rainer Nawrocki.

The Bocholt group's first case was that of a political prisoner who was imprisoned without charge in Uruguay. Numerous letters were sent to the president, contact was made with the prisoner's family and he was finally released at the beginning of 1984. Unfortunately, he died shortly after his release as a result of his time in prison. Since then, ai has repeatedly drawn attention to current human rights violations all over the world with various activities.

Activities in recent years:
In 2003, the Bocholt ai group focussed on human rights violations against women. In the old dairy, texts by Russian poets as well as documentary texts on human rights violations in Russia were read aloud by the bocholter bühne. A lecture in the media centre dealt with women and girls who are subjected to sexual and physical violence when fleeing from war zones. Educational work about ai took place at schools in Rhede and Ahaus, as well as at information stands in Rhede and in the pedestrian zone in Bocholt.

In February 2004, the international secretariat of Amnesty International in London referred a "case" of prisoner abuse in Albania to the Bocholt group. ai Bocholt wrote letters demanding clarification and prosecution from the authorities. Two church services on the subject of child soldiers in the Congo were held in St George's Church and Christuskirche. Information stands for the public were set up at the One World Day on the market square, at the Rheder Scoutstock Festival, at the Santana concert in Bocholt and on 2 October in front of Sparkasse Westmünsterland. The "auction" of autographed books by authors Paolo Coelho, John Irving, Carola Stern, Walter Jens and Marcel Reich-Ranicki raised 1,500 euros for Amnesty International.

The benefit concert "The Homecoming of Ulysses" in the Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche on 12 January 2005 raised 1,900 euros. At a letter-writing evening in April, anyone could write letters to government authorities under guidance and campaign for the release of political prisoners or an end to torture. This evening was repeated in October.

From spring 2006, the Bocholt group took part in a campaign on Central American countries. It focussed on three main topics:

- Violence against women in Guatemala
- Land rights in Guatemala, Amnesty International calls for clear regulations for the just resolution of land conflicts.
- Disappeared children in Guatemala and El Salvador

ai Bocholt has familiarised itself with these issues and started to write letters on individual cases.

In addition, the letter-writing evenings in the public library were continued.

For further reading see:
Carola Korff and Anne Nienhaus, 25 years of amnesty international in Bocholt, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 54 (2003), H. 4, pp. 108-109. amnesty international annual letters 2003-2006.

1) The lowest level of general German jurisdiction. Local courts were established in Germany on the basis of the new court constitution with effect from 1 October 1879. Bocholt, for which the Coesfeld District Court and the Court of Appeal in Münster had been responsible up to this point, was also given its own district court, the superior court of which was now the Münster Regional Court. It was responsible for civil disputes and criminal jurisdiction at first instance as well as for various tasks of voluntary jurisdiction such as land register, probate, register, enforcement and guardianship matters. From 1 July 1977, these tasks were extended to include family jurisdiction.

The area of jurisdiction of Bocholt district court includes the towns of Bocholt, Isselburg and Rhede. With effect from 1 June 1951, an external criminal chamber of the Münster district court was also formed at the Bocholt district court and a branch office of the Münster public prosecutor's office was established, responsible for the districts of the Bocholt and Borken district courts. At the time of its foundation, the Bocholt district court employed 2 judges and 21 other members of staff, but 125 years later there are 10 judges, 10 judicial officers and 49 other members of staff as well as 5 probation officers and 4 probation officers.

2) The building on Benölkenplatz. Since its foundation, the Bocholt district court was initially housed in the Bocholt town hall (Histor. Rathaus). When the space here became too small and the city administration needed the rooms for its own purposes, the city sold a 2772 square metre plot of land on Neuplatz, now Benölkenplatz, to the Treasury of Justice in a contract dated 6 May 1906 for the construction of a local court office building and a court prison. Based on plans drawn up by the Ministry of Public Works in Berlin and execution drawings by the State Building Construction Office in Recklinghausen, work began on the new building at the beginning of 1910, which was handed over to the administration of justice on 9 October 1911 after its completion.

The construction costs totalled 329,000 marks for the construction and 28,000 marks for the furnishings. The architectural style of the district court with elements of historicism and the Art Nouveau style popular at the time corresponds to that of many judicial buildings of the time. The generously planned building has been continuously renovated in the past and is still used profitably today. Behind the district court building, where there used to be a court prison, an elaborate modern extension was built by the end of 2006. All of Bocholt's judicial authorities are now housed in the resulting justice centre: the district court, the labour court and the public prosecutor's office.

Literature:
Elisabeth Bröker, Zur Geschichte des Bocholter Gerichtswesens, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 2(1951), H. 8, p.157-168.
Werner Wilkat, Excerpts from the development of the Bocholt district court, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 21 (1970) H. 1, pp. 24-34.
Werner Wilkat, 100 years of the district court, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 30 (1979) H. 4, p. 3-10.
Bernhard Fissan, 1911-1986. 75 years of the district court on Benölkenplatz. A building remembers, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 38 (1987) H. 1, p. 3-12.
Franz Josef Belting, Die Gerichtsbarkeit in Bocholt, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 55 (2004), H. 3, pp. 65-71.

In 1965, the Bocholt City Council commissioned the Cologne goldsmith Prof Elisabeth Treskow to produce a chain of office for the Lord Mayor of Bocholt (later Mayor). The chain is made of 18-carat gold and bears a medallion with the seal of the city of Bocholt in silver with deep-cut enamelling. The seal is framed by a golden border on which the letters are bent from gold wire: Sigillum Burgensium de Bocholte.

Lit:
Werner Schneider, in: UNSER BOCHOLT vol. 17 (1966) p. 2, pp. 1-6.

This street owes its name to the overflow bed of the Aa. In a map from 1842, this overflow is labelled Alte Aa or Bär. Bear was the name given to the embankment of a fortification that connected an outer bastion with the city wall and regulated the water level of the city moats by means of a sluice.

The name is apparently derived from the Middle Latin berum (French barbadeau). The Alte Aa divides into Heggenaa and Alte Aa at about the level of today's TuB Bocholt sports grounds. The Alte Aa was probably an existing ditch that was developed as an overflow bed after the Aa was regulated. The riverbed of the Alte Aa was so high that when certain water levels in the Aa were exceeded, the flood water could also flow through the Alte Aa into the Issel.

Lit:
Wilhelm Seggewiß, Bocholter Straßen erzählen Geschichte, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 38 (1987) H. 2/3, p. 84-94. Info panel "Bär", Stadtbefestigung Rees.

Before its industrial and sewage pollution, the Aa still carried good, clear water so that housewives could wash their laundry here. This was then spread out on the lawn for bleaching. The local history calendar of the Borken district and the town of Bocholt from 1929 states: On the green lawn at the Rawertor, pieces of canvas were spread out in long strips for bleaching, repeatedly sprinkled and watered by industrious maids". These "bleaching", (in the south wall, at the Neutor and at the sluice) were also a small source of income. In 1821, 20 thalers were collected for 3 bleaches. The first houses An der Bleiche were built by the Bocholter Bauverein in 1925.

The photo of the month published by the city archives in August 2009 shows this Bleiche, which gave its name to today's street parallel to Bärendorfstraße and the street An der Alten Aa and extending from the former fire station to Wesselstraße.

The description there reads:
"Over the lock bridge one reached the quiet gardens at the former Grunewall. If you turned right here into the narrow Sandweg, you reached the old farmhouse under the mighty lime trees, which had to make way for the new building of the secondary school for girls (now the Mariengymnasium) in 1900. The pale keeper lived there. On warm summer nights, he slept with his spike in the middle of the spread-out laundry, as it occasionally happened in those days that items of clothing or laundry were stolen.

The bleaching ground itself extended westwards on an area criss-crossed by ditches and footpaths between the Aa and the Alte Aa. It was owned by the town of Bocholt, which also leased the area as grassland and pasture. In 1872, a total of 14 footbridges, so-called wash bridges, were built on the riverbank. From there, the women cleaned their textiles in the Aa water and laid them out on the neighbouring meadow to dry and bleach in the sun."

Lit:
Wilhelm Seggewiß, Bocholter Straßen erzählen Geschichte, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 38 (1987) H. 2/3, pp. 84-94.
Wolfgang Tembrink, image description for the photo of the month August 2009 of the Bocholt city archive, Bocholt 2009.

In 1968, Diepenbrock Primary School was recognised as a Montessori institution by special permission from the Minister of Education.

Parents living in Bocholt can choose whether to send their child to the nearest Catholic primary school, community primary school or Montessori school.

The pilgrimage to Annaberg in Haltern is older than the pilgrimages to Kevelaer.

There is documentary evidence that there was a chapel 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's. 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 it counted 400 to 600 participants.

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 Anne, continued to be venerated.

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:
Kirchenkalender 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 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. Marienbaum pilgrimage.

This path is intended to commemorate the storyteller, chronicler and honorary member of the Bocholt Association for Local History, Anna Lindenberg (1884-1978).

Lit:
Wilhelm Seggewiß, Bocholter Straßen erzählen Geschichte, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 40 (1989), H. 3, p. 62.
Gerhard Schmalstieg, Straßennamen in Bocholt nach nur hier bekannten Personen, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 55 (2004) H. 4, p. 53-72.

Source:
Gerhard Schmalstieg, Where did the "Schwartzstraße" get its name from?

Due to the growing population and the increasing influx of young families in the new Feldmark(-West) neighbourhood, the construction of a primary school became urgent as early as 1998. In the school year 2001/2002, it was opened on Wiesenstraße and was given the name "Annette-von-Droste-Hülshoff-Schule". Gesine Hoffmann became the first headmistress and the school started with five classes and 110 pupils. Like the population in the Feldmark-West residential area, the number of pupils at "Annette-von-Droste-Hülshoff-Schule" has also increased, which is why a new annexe is currently being built and should be ready for occupancy by the Easter holidays.

The school currently has 294 children in 12 classes. In addition to the "Reliable half-day school" (care from 7.30 am - 1.30 pm), it also offers "Open all-day school" (care from 7.30 am - 4.30 pm).

On 18 January 2007, hurricane "Kyrill" lifted the roof off the school, so 130 pupils were taught in neighbouring schools. The restoration work has been completed.

The Anwaltsverein Bocholt e. V. is a voluntary association of lawyers in Bocholt. The association was entered in the register of associations around 40 years after its foundation in 1968. Its purpose is to uphold the professional honour of its members and to represent the professional interests of the legal profession. The association is a member of the Deutscher Anwaltverein e. V. (German Lawyers' Association), whose task is to safeguard, maintain and promote all professional and economic interests of the legal profession, in particular by promoting the administration of justice and legislation and by fostering the public spirit and scientific spirit of the legal profession.

Lit:
Wilhelm Schlatt, The legal profession in Bocholt, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 30 (1979) H. 4, p. 26.

With the division of the Protestant parish into two districts, the need for a new Protestant parish centre for the southern part of the city arose in the 1950s. In 1957, the parish acquired a site "am Rosenberg". The first building to be completed in 1959 was the vicarage. The foundation stone for the church (and the Melanchthon School) was laid on 22 June 1962, and it was consecrated on 8 December 1963. The architects of the Apostle Church were Hübotter, Ledeboer and Busch from Hanover.

The artistic design of the interior and sacred objects was in the hands of Professors A. Rickert (Bielefeld) and F. Rickert (Munich).
Bells: Rincker brothers (Sinn / Dillkreis)
Organ: Steinmann (Vlotho; not until 1967).

Further "building blocks" of the community centre:
Tower youth centre (1964), Friedrich-Fröbel kindergarten (1966), parish hall (1969), day care centre for the elderly (1976).

Lit.:
Evangelische Apostel-Kirche zu Bocholt. Festschrift for the inauguration of the church on 8 December, the 2nd Advent 1963.
The Apostle Church - architects and artists report, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 15 (1964) H. 1, pp. 12-14.

On 25 Sept. 1894, Joh. Bernh. Geuting zu Spork acquired a plot of land at Karolingerstr. 15 from the factory worker Jos. Wilh. Eimers, Bocholt. In 1896, his brother Th. Geuting erected a three-storey hotel building in neo-Gothic style there. In 1897, an extension was added for a so-called Arab café. The furnishings were extremely extravagant. The building changed owners and regulations changed. Destroyed in 1945, the Arab Café became the subject of the poem "Calais 1918" by Ludwig Bußhoff.

Lit.:
Ludwig Bußhoff, Calais 1918, in: UNSER BOCHOLT, Vol. 50 (1999),., H. 4, p. 166.
Wilhelm Seggewiß, Addendum or correction to "Bocholter Straßen erzählen Geschichte", in: UNSER BOCHOLT, vol. 41 (1990) p. 1, p. 35.
Günter Wevers, Eispalast "Arabisches Café", History of the house at Karolingerstraße no. 15, in: UNSER BOCHOLT, vol. 40 (1989), no. 4, pp. 21-22.

After the abdication of the German Kaiser, soldiers from the Bocholt garrison marched noisily through the streets of the town on 10 November 1918, joined by soldiers returning from the front. The supply depot was looted - also with the participation of Bocholt citizens.

Prior to this, a meeting of the Christian Textile Workers' Association had taken place on 6 November 1918 together with the social-democratic Free Association. However, the feared riots that followed did not occur, and it was decided to form a Workers' and Soldiers' Council (ASR), which was then constituted in the school on Herzogstraße.

The ASR's main task was to restore order and security in the city, but it only succeeded to a limited extent. Returning troops passing through posed problems for the ASR time and again due to vandalism and looting.

The ASR existed until February 1919, when it was dissolved in a citizens' meeting.

Source:
Manuscript: Stadtarchiv Bocholt, edited by Gerhard Schmalstieg, after Lomberg, Klaus, Die Bocholter Arbeiter- und Soldatenräte, Schriftliche Hausarbeit. First state examination for primary school teaching, Münster 1997 (copy in the Bocholt city archives).

It is the first instance of special jurisdiction for labour matters. The labour court is responsible for legal disputes

a) between employees and employers arising from the employment relationship between them,
b) between employees arising from joint labour,
c) between parties to collective agreements or between them and third parties arising from collective agreements, and
d) for certain cases under the Works Constitution Act.

In Bocholt, labour jurisdiction was initially exercised by the Wesel Labour Court, which regularly held court sessions in Bocholt. Since 1 January 1982, an independent Bocholt Labour Court has been established, which was based in the Münsterstraße 76 office building until it received its new offices in the Bocholt Justice Centre at the beginning of 2007. The Bocholt Labour Court currently employs 4 judges, 1 judicial officer and 10 other employees.

The Bocholt Labour Court is responsible for the districts of Borken, Coesfeld and Ahaus.

The archive of the Protestant parish was set up between 1994 and 1996. The archives came from the three parish districts, from the architect I. Jansen and from private individuals.

Storage location: Schwartzstr. 6.

Holdings:
Church records (baptism, marriage and death registers), minute books (presbytery), lists of parishioners, confirmed and communicants 1819 ff (complete).

Only a few of the documents from the period from 1819 to 1945 have survived (fire on 22 March 1945); the majority of the files were only created after 1945. The building files are almost complete.

A finding aid with 748 file units is available.

Reference:
Winfried Grunewald, Introduction to the Findbuch, Bocholt 1996.
The archive of the Protestant parish of Bocholt, in: Archivmitteilungen der Westfälischen Kirche No. 6 (1996) pp. 35-39.
ders., Archiv der Evangelischen Kirchengemeinde Bocholt, in: UNSER BOCHOLT, 57. Jg. (2006),H.1 (Kultur in Bocholt 2.Teil), p. 63.

New housing estates in the school catchment area of Josefschule (formerly primary school, grades 1-8) led to a sharp increase in pupil numbers at the beginning of the 1950s, so that as early as 1952 a subsidiary system, the Arnold Janssen School, named after Arnold Janssen, founder of the Steyler Mission, 1861-73 religion teacher at St George's Grammar School, was branched off. Initially, however, the classes had to be accommodated in the Fildekenschule and the Josefschule. Construction of the school's own building on Salierstraße began on 10 October 1956 and the school moved in on 21 April 1958. Headmaster Franz Sicking became the first headmaster. A first gymnasium was built jointly for Josef and Arnold Janssen School in 1962.

With the reorganisation of the school system in NRW in 1968, the school became a community secondary school as a Catholic denominational school, today the only one in the city. As the number of pupils grew, so did the shortage of space, in particular the lack of specialised and special rooms. In July 1976, the school was able to move into an extension, which provided 6 classrooms as well as the necessary special rooms. At the same time, the second gymnasium was completed.

Following the retirement of headmaster Franz Sicking, Paula Rösing was appointed headmistress.

Due to a general decline in pupil numbers in the secondary school sector, the '86 school development plan included the closure of the Arnold Janssen School. The school management, parents and teaching staff fought with commitment and skill to maintain the school, so that enrolment figures rose again. The city withdrew its recommendation to close the school in 1992 due to the fact that there were now two pupils.

Headmistress Paula Rösing retired in 1995 and was succeeded as headmaster by Rudolf Bußmann.

At the beginning of the 2009/2010 school year, the school became an extended all-day school.

Lit:
40 years of Arnold-Janssen-Schule, commemorative publication for the anniversary, Bocholt, September 1998

This street commemorates Arnold Janssen (1837-1909), the founder of St Michael's Mission House, which became the mother house of the Steyl Missionaries (Societas Verbi Divini).

Lit:
Wilhelm Seggewiß, Bocholter Straßen erzählen Geschichte, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 40 (1989), H. 3, p. 62.
Gerhard Schmalstieg, Straßennamen in Bocholt nach nur hier bekannten Personen, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 55 (2004) H. 4, p. 53-72.

Source:
Gerhard Schmalstieg, "Where did Schwartzstraße" get its name?

Bernhard Asbeck was born on 21 November 1901 in Alstätte near Ahaus. As the son of a building painter, he learnt the painting trade in his father's business. After completing his apprenticeship, he attended the art academy in Buxtehude and left as a master stage painter. In 1927, he came to Bocholt and took over a painting business.

At first he encountered difficulties, as his profession as a master stage painter was not authorised as a craft business. Nevertheless, he quickly gained a foothold and expanded the customer base he had taken over.

After the war, he initially returned to glazing and painting work. But his love of painting remained his passion. His hobby became his profession. He painted glass pictures, which were fired by one of his friends in Duisburg, and turned them into stained glass. Many of these glazings for floorboard windows and front doors were created in his workshop. His works also adorn churches and public buildings. The choir windows of the Christuskirche, the church windows of the Klarissenkloster, the first stained glass windows of the Liebfrauenkirche and St Joseph's Church in Bocholt, the church in Heiden, in Marl, in Liedern and the chapel in Hemden all originate from his workshop. But his work can also be seen in the glazing of the Röntgen Museum in Remscheid, in the local history museum in Wülfrath and in Siegburg.

Bernhard Asbeck died shortly before reaching the age of 87 on 9 October 1987.

Lit:
Herbert Uhlenbrock, Der Glasmaler Bernhard Asbeck, in: UNSER BOCHOLT Jg. 39 (1988), H. 2, p. 61-62.

August-Vetter-Berufskolleg, originally founded in 1970 as a vocational school for social pedagogy to train state-recognised educators. In 1979, the educational programme was expanded to include a technical secondary school for social pedagogy in the form of class 12B for students who had completed independent vocational training, and in 1998 it was expanded into an independent educational programme by adding a preceding class 11. In 1987, an additional one-year vocational school for social pedagogy/social work was established and integrated into the two-year higher vocational school for social and health care in 1999.

The school was initially run by the Diözesan-Caritasverband Münster, and from 1971 by the Bischöfliches Generalvikariat in Münster.

After its foundation, the school was initially housed in the building of the Fildeken primary school, and since 1973 in the rooms of the former agricultural school on Dinxperloer Straße. In 2002, an extensive extension was put into operation.

The teaching initially comprised a two-year theoretical training programme followed by a practical year. From 1976, the practical year was divided into four block internships and integrated into the three-year full-time training programme. Subjects taught include education, psychology, sociology, didactics, German, politics, law and administration, hygiene, art, handicrafts and sport. Internships allow students to familiarise themselves with their future professional field and gain practical experience in educational work. State recognition as an educator qualifies students to work in socio-educational institutions, etc.

The Azurit senior centre is located in the newly developed Feldmark-West district in the west of Bocholt. The entire centre is designed to meet the needs of older people and those in need of care. A senior-friendly quality of living is offered primarily in single rooms.

As far as possible, the room can be furnished with your own furniture. Azurit is a fully inpatient care centre for the elderly. The senior citizens' centre is included in the Borken district's care requirements plan and is funded in accordance with the State Care Act. It is open to all people and sees itself as part of the senior citizens' assistance programme, which serves the well-being of people in the city of Bocholt. House 1 of this facility was opened on 4 March 2002, House 2 was opened on 1 Oct. 2004 and is designed as a residential facility for dementia patients.

Lit:
Azurit Senior Citizens' Centre Bocholt - Living naturally in old age (leaflet), Bocholt
see also: Bocholt retirement communities