A church choir, help for women and the St Martin’s procession – in the town hall affiliated to the Lutherian parish of Harvesse-Wendeburg, a wide range of activities are held for young and old alike. It is an extensive offering that is well received by the parish members and residents of the village. Iris Rautmann-Pollmann, who works at OeTTINGER Brewery’s Braunschweig site in materials management, has helped to coordinate the activities in her role as a voluntary member of the parish council since 2018. Since her childhood, Iris has had a close connection with the community: “I was a typical village kid, and for this reason I associate a lot of my early memories with the church, starting with my own confirmation and continuing right through to our son’s baptism. However, there are also goodbyes to say, with the church taking on a central role in the lives of many people in the community when arranging funerals.”
The parish hall is the fulcrum of church life in Wendeburg. It was constructed in 1827 as a parish barn for the rectory in Wendeburg and was subsequently used for ecclesiastic group work following several conversion projects after the agricultural holding gave up the rectory.However, the ravages of time have taken their toll on the listed building. Since the 1970s, no renovation work was carried out, with both the facade and roof of the building suffering great damage. Inside, too, there are structural issues severely limiting the building’s use. At the moment, only the rooms on the first floor can be safely used, although some areas are cordoned off. The retrofitted kitchen and sanitary facilities are much too small and come up well short of the requirements to which public buildings are subject.
The most recent renovation plans aim to resolve these issues in order to protect and secure the long-term usage of the building, which has been listed since 2010. However, the renovation costs are extremely high.While applications for financial support have been submitted and savings have already been made, the parish must still raise a huge sum of money. Thanks to the OeTTINGER Brewery personnel development program at Braunschweig, the parish can now look forward to a donation of EUR 1,250, which will come as very welcome support for the renovation work to be carried out.
An additional EUR 1,250 went to Andreas Grap, Head of Logistics and Shipment, who used the money to help with fitting new water pipes for the sanitary facilities at Neumühler SV e.V.
About the OeTTINGER personnel development program.
More projects supported through this program.
