Pfarrhaus Mausbach

In 1911, the rectory in Mausbach was built. The rectory and the accompanying garden tell an interesting story.

A garden also belongs to a rectory

Pastor Heinrich Corsten (1887–1914) purchased the property in 1907 for the construction of a new rectory. Historically, the land belonged to the blacksmith Willem Geller from Hohenbüchel 200 years earlier. In 1911, the local entrepreneur J. Schür had the rectory built for 18,000 marks according to the plans of the district master builder van Kann. For 3,000 marks, he built a garden wall to enable his successor to have a usable garden. Previously, the property had become overgrown and needed to be worked on before a respectable garden could be created.

The church council had not fulfilled its duty to provide the pastor with a usable garden. Therefore, Mayor Zielgers had the embankment in front of the rectory walled up. To beautify the church, Corsten founded the associations Markus, Marien, and Joseph, whose collections were partially used for the garden wall. This led to conflicts with the church council and resentment within the community.

Pastor Arnold Ortmanns noted in his chronicle that a restless assistant incited the population against Corsten through meetings. In 1912, the church authority issued the order that the troublemaker had to leave Mausbach within 24 hours. Despite the tensions, Corsten continued his work. He died after a short illness on September 10, 1914, at the age of 74, one year before his anniversary, leaving a challenging legacy for his successor.