Artländer Dom - Pfarrkirche St. Nikolaus

After the Christianization of our homeland, after the year 800, the baptistery of the Farngau was built on the western slope of the Vogelberg, within an Old Saxon ring wall. The church building was initially a simple wooden chapel, but around 1050 the first stone building was erected and by 1250 it had been expanded into a medieval basilica. The venerable church was destroyed by fire in 1892 after several conversions and extensions. In the years 1896-1900, the new Ankum church building was constructed, also a three-aisled, neo-Romanesque basilica, using the lower three storeys of the former church tower from 1514.
The interior of the church contains works of art from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. The central place was moved forward with the altar of celebration into the crossing.

History

• The nickname "Artländer Dom" is based on the size of the church.
• The first mention of the place was in 977. In the 13th century, the Romanesque predecessor building was extended to become the only 3-aisled basilica in the Osnabrücker Nordland. It was located within a fortified church, some of whose former 3-metre-high walls are still preserved. On the one hand, the expansion of the church castle had symbolic significance as a sign of the Osnabrück bishop's territorial claims in his northern border area. On the other hand, it served to secure the area.
• The tower is considered to be the oldest part of today's church.

Stories / Legends:

• "Artländer Dom": The name is misleading as the church is not an episcopal church and Ankum does not belong to Artland. It refers to the size of the church in relation to the manageable size of the village.
• Name "Ankum": According to legend, the church of Ankum was to be built at the place where the schoolmasters Rüssel and Holsten would meet. Both set off towards the other farm at the first cockcrow. They met where the "cathedral" stands today and named the village "Ankum" after such a happy "arrival".