37 The Catholic Parish Church of St. Margaretha

The Catholic parish church of St. Margaretha (A) still characterises the centre of Ramsbeck today. The church was renovated in 2004. The chancel was decorated by the blacksmith Walter Schneider from Schmallenberg and the church painter Marie-Luise Daehne from Berlin. The foundation stone for this church – designed by the architect Ferber from Soest – was laid on 1 December 1935; the consecration took place on 8 December 1936 (Immaculate Conception). On this day, the congregation with its pastor Heinrich Leonhardt moved into the new church.

The first church (B) was built by the parish in 1848 on the site of the old chapel (now a shopping market). Due to the influx of miners, the vicarage parish, which belonged to the parish of Velmede, had grown so much that a church building became unavoidable. On the 1st Sunday of Advent in 1861, Ramsbeck became a parish in its own right and the church was elevated to the status of a parish church. The first parish priest was Werner Adolph Schupmann, who had already served as vicar in Ramsbeck since the end of 1846. This first church was demolished in 1952.

The construction of both the new and the old church, each in economically difficult times, would not have been possible without the great willingness of the parishioners to donate, without the persistent work of Ramsbeck craftsmen and miners, but also without the energetic help of the mine management. The figure of St. Barbara on the church square, patron saint of the miners, is a reminder of the history of mining and its connection with the Catholic parish in Ramsbeck.