Kath. Pfarrkirche St. Joseph von 1714 Blankenau

It was built in 1714 by the Corvey prince abbot Maximilian von Horrich according to the plans of his predecessor Florenz von dem Velde. The magnificent baroque high altar, which reaches under the vault, comes from the famous workshop of the Papen family of sculptors in Giershagen, as does the pulpit on the south wall, which is completely adapted to the altar in its rich design.

Above the altar stands a staggered rear wall as a substructure for the main floor, which contains a large oil painting on canvas, a crucifixion, between two twisted columns standing in front of the rear wall. The lower third of these columns is decorated with vine tendrils in the coils.

Life-size figures stand on scroll consoles outside: on the left, St. Mary as Queen with sceptre and crown, on the right, St. Joseph, the patron saint of the church, with a lily. The pediment is almost completely filled with an oval painting of the Holy Trinity. The connection between the two paintings is created by a coat of arms of the founder hanging in front of the main cornice. The top of the gable is formed by a youthful, beardless Christ as the Redeemer, blessing with his right hand and holding a globe in his left.

One rarity is definitely worth highlighting: a late medieval hand-washing basin (lavabo basin) can be found in a wall niche in the choir. Originally, bowls and jugs were used as hand-washing vessels in the churches, but around the 15th century cauldrons with two spouts appeared, for which a suspension device was then necessary, as in Blankenau (If you want to deal with this topic in more detail, you should refer to the following essay: Andreas König: "Ein spätmittelalterlicher Handwaschkessel in der St.-Josephs-Kirche in Beverungen Blankenau", in: die warte 137/2008, 26 - 27).