500 years of the church barver: festival weekend full of history and fun!

500 years of the church barver: festival weekend full of history and fun!

On Pentecost Sunday, June 8, 2025, the Evangelical parish in Barver will ceremoniously celebrate the 500th anniversary of its church. The celebrations begin at 10 a.m. with a festival service, the one from Landesbischof RALF Master is directed. At the same time, a child -friendly service takes place, the motto of which promises "a birthday party for our church" to inspire young and old parishioners.

The origins of the church go back to 1525 when Count Friedrich I von Diepholz granted permission to build a chapel and to hire a chaplain. The then location, the parish church of the Mariendrebber, was relatively far away for the villagers in Barver. The new chapel received baptismal law in 1535 and thus became an integral part of the community. The introduction of the Reformation in the region by Friedrich I took place in 1528 and represented an important turning point in the history of the church.

versatile program for the anniversary

The anniversary promises an entertaining program with numerous campaigns for the entire family. Various catering stands will be open from 11.30 a.m., and there will be coffee and cake from 2:45 p.m. Creative offers from the children's and youth fire brigade are planned, as well as numerous games such as bouncy castle and face painting. A highlight will be the participation show "Tabaluga in the fairytale land", which takes place at 1 p.m. after the service.

Musically, the festival is enriched by appearances by the project and children's choir, the singing circle as well as a guitar group and the trombone choir. A short lecture by Falk Liebezeit will round off the event framework at 4:30 p.m. in the parish hall. Accompanying the anniversary celebration, a 300-page chronicle is published based on the records of the late local chronicler Wilhelm Hollberg.

A look at the story

The last major renovation work on the church was carried out at the end of the 1950s, so that the celebrations for this anniversary are particularly important. The first documented evangelical pastor of the church was Heinrich Bokelmann, who worked there from 1560 to 1565. Over the centuries, the church experienced various challenges, such as the failed attempted parish of the villages of Hemsloh and Mackenstedt in 1755, who wanted to leave Barver to belong to another community.

The role of the Church and the Reformation in Germany has changed over the centuries. Reformation anniversaries, such as the 500 -year -old church in Barver, have developed into social events since 1617. Ecclesiastical institutions and political authorities worked closely together to celebrate them. This tradition continued during Germany's division, as such anniversaries in the GDR and the Federal Republic were committed with various focuses. The celebrations in the GDR had significantly different political and social connotations than in the west of the country, where a variety of perspectives on Luther and the Reformation were created. In Barver, the history of the church is kept in grateful memory on this significant date.

The festival service for confirmation, which took place on May 4, 2025, also suggests a lively community life. Five young people were confirmed at the time, which is another expression of the living community in Barver. This spiritual and joint departure culminates in the upcoming anniversary, which not only celebrates the Christian tradition, but also the community and their cohesion over the centuries.