The oldest church in Bissendorf is the Holte Protestant Church.

It was first mentioned in a document in 1153.

History:

The village church was first mentioned in a document in 1160. It originated as the proprietary church of the von Holte (castle) family. Numerous bishops (including Cologne) and abbots came from the von Holte family.
The Romanesque tower and the church face south-east, hence the assumption that part of the former castle complex stands on the Meyerhof farm.
The church became Protestant-Lutheran with the introduction of the Reformation in the 16th century. In 1650, together with the C. p. O., it was assigned to the Protestant side.
Since the new nave was built in 1770 by patron Ernst Philip Ferdinand von Grothaus, there have been funerary tablets of the patrons (owners of the Ledenburg) and their wives in the church;
the patronage remained with the Ledenburg, today the Homann family (Dissen).

Stories / Legends:

2nd bell cast twice (p.95/96)
St. Urban or St. Ursula (Dehio):
The official name today is St. Urban. Over the centuries, however, the name St. Ursula also became common. In 1770, when the old altar was demolished, a lead capsule containing relics of St. Ursula was found in its sepulchre, although the inscription was difficult to read. The relics may have been brought here by Wigbold von Holte, Archbishop of Cologne from 1297-1304 (where St. Ursula is buried). There was probably a side altar for St. Ursula in the old church.
St. Urban is the patron saint of winegrowers.
Various explanations (see Hickmann/Schnieders, p. 6).
Shield of the Countess of Münster:
Harriet Elisabeth Countess of Münster, née Lady St. Clair (1831-67), was the second wife of Georg Herbert Prince of Münster of Derneburg and of high Scottish nobility (Rosslyn Chapel). Her death plaque hangs on the organ loft above the central aisle. She wrote a highly regarded cookbook with Scottish recipes, published in several editions and translations.

Openings

Church services: Sundays 9.30 a.m.

Contact person

St. Urban Kirchengemeinde Holte

An der Holter Kirche 3

49143 Bissendorf

Author

Tourismusgesellschaft Osnabrücker Land mbH

Herrenteichsstraße 17+18

49074 Osnabrück