St. Franziskus

St. Francis Church is located in the Neheim district of the city of Arnsberg in the Hochsauerlandkreis district.

St. Francis is a Roman Catholic church named after St. Francis of Assisi. The church forms a unit with the Franz Stock community center and the rectory. Under the direction of architect Hubert Ossenberg, the kindergarten was built first in 1978. The groundbreaking ceremony for the church took place in 1981, and it was consecrated by Auxiliary Bishop Hans Leo Drewes on May 28, 1983.

In 1983 there was a wish to give the patronage of the new church to Franz Stock. Since he is not recognized as a Blessed by canon law, this was not possible. Due to Franz Stock's membership in the youth movement "Compagnons de Saint Francois", Francis of Assisi became the patron of the church. In the relic tomb of the altar are remains of a contemporary of Francis Stock, St. Maximilian Kolbe. A Franciscan Minorite who gave his life for a family man in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

On the pews and doors in the church, crosses can be seen that are intended to remind us of the work of Franz Stock and look like prison bars. This structure is also found in the exposed brickwork and in the lattice-like stained glass windows and doors. Since 2015, there has been a new Stations of the Cross in the church, the model for which was painted by Lothar Zenetti in the chapel of the so-called Barbed Wire Seminary.

The brothers Michael and Christof Winkelmann designed and manufactured all liturgical candlesticks and created the liturgical principals from red Main sandstone: Altar, ambo and baptismal font. Copper was chosen as the material for the tabernacle. The square shape of the sacramental house opens upwards and ends in a transparent pine crown held by two copper rods each. They side surfaces provide space for representations on the theme of "God's goodness to man". Here, too, Franz Stock is depicted: The priest stands by prisoners in their hour of death on Mont Valérien near Paris.