Catholic Church

The history of the Catholic parish of Meisenheim is also the history of the branch village of Raumbach, which, according to sources, has always had a special relationship with Meisenheim. The parish church in Meisenheim has remained the home for the Catholics of Raumbach to this day, even though a church was built there in 1961 and the Catholic residents have been able to attend services since 1962. In Oberraumbach, there was originally a small Protestant chapel. It was first mentioned in 1553. There have likely been more disputes over the chapel in Raumbach than over any other chapel in the vicinity of Meisenheim, due to the comparatively high percentage of Catholics: Immigration from Tyrol, Luxembourg, and Italy led to the establishment of a Catholic settlement alongside the Protestant village. As early as 1684, and at the latest by 1697, the Simultaneum was introduced in the chapel belonging to the Reformed for the benefit of the Catholics. However, the Lutherans probably also had rights to the chapel; in any case, they participated in the construction of the seating for the church in 1724, so it could have been one of the rare trimultaneums. The disputes with the Catholics were at the center, as they had made their own keys around 1729 to avoid having to ask the Reformed for access. In 1757, about two-thirds of the Raumbach residents were Reformed, just over 22% were Catholic, and about one-ninth were Lutheran. In the 19th century, the Protestants allowed the chapel to fall into disrepair, as they no longer needed it. It had to be demolished in 1898. Although the desire of the Catholics to build their own chapel in Raumbach had existed since the beginning of this century, this construction could only be carried out in 1961 and 1962. The main patroness of the church is Saint Hildegard of Bingen, the patron saint of the Rhine and Nahe regions. The second patron is supposed to be Saint Pope Pius X. An authentic relic of this pope was gifted to the chapel by Sister Suitberta, who comes from Raumbach and was then the superior of the sisters' station in Meisenheim. The church space is dominated by a copy of an old depiction of Christ as the world judge with the symbols of the four evangelists. On the right side, a picture of Saint Hildegard was painted on the wall by the graphic artist G. Daniel from Bad Kreuznach. A Madonna statue from the first half of the 18th century, a gift from Pastor Mertes to the parish community of Meisenheim, stands on the left side. Originally, the altar area was designed in a pre-conciliar manner, meaning the altar stood against the back wall. To celebrate the Holy Mass according to the liturgical form after the Second Vatican Council 'versus populum' (facing the people), a wooden altar was initially placed in front of the stone altar. This temporary solution was then resolved in 1975 through self-help. First, the altar steps were removed, and then the stone altar was placed further towards the church nave on the new level. The bells in the tower, which were brought from the Catholic parish church of St. Anthony of Padua in Meisenheim to Raumbach, are the oldest parts of the chapel; they date from 1592 and 1736. The former was a commissioned work by Duke Johannes I of Pfalz-Zweibrücken. The chapel is now an integral part of the local and landscape image.