Churches and Monasteries

Remigius Church

The early Gothic church in Brüdergasse was once built for the mendicant order of the Minorites, but was repeatedly severely damaged by looting and wars. The rococo baptismal font, at which Ludwig van Beethoven was baptized, originates from the old Remigius Church. The old organ on which Beethoven once played fell victim to the bombs of the Second World War - only the console has been preserved.

The church presents austerity and simplicity. The three-nave pier basilica with groined vaulting made of tuff has only a ridge turret instead of a tower, as is customary in mendicant orders. Modern windows by Paul Weigmann illustrate the Canticle of the Sun by St. Francis.

The adjacent cloister is worth a visit.

 

 

Namen-Jesu-Kirche

The Namen-Jesu-Kirche (Name of Jesus Church) in Bonngasse, built from 1668 until 1717, is an important work of the so-called Jesuit Gothic style. This building style uses forms of the past. In particular the mixture of various style elements makes the church an unusual place of interest. The Baroque facade of the Namen-Jesu-Kirche is regarded as one of the most beautiful in the Rhineland.

 

The church was extensively refurbished a few years ago and is now used as a place of worship for the old Catholic district of Bonn.

 

 

 

 

Double church Schwarzrheindorf

The Roman double church on the right side of the Rhine in the part of Bonn known as Schwarzrheindorf counts as one of the most significant Roman churches in Germany. It was built on the instructions of Arnold II. von Wied (Archbishop and Elector of Cologne from 1151 until 1156) and his sister Hedwig von Wied in the middle of the 12th century. The upper church is the dedicated to the mother of God and the lower church to Holy Clemens.

The church possesses cross-shaped foundations. Its rooms that are on top of each other, each have their own altar. An eight-sided opening in the floor of the upper church provides a view to the lower church. The cycle of Roman murals above the Old Testament in the interior of the church is a noteworthy feature.

Kreuzberg Church with Holy Staircase

The Kreuzberg took its name from a place of pilgrimage where there is evidence that a holy cross was already dedicated in the 15th century. The current Kreuzberg Church with its impressive Holy Staircase (Heilige Stiege) was built on the orders of Archbishop and Elector Ferdinand in 1627/28. It is considered as one of the most graceful Baroque designs in the Rhineland. After an eventful history, in which the church was also not spared from plundering, the Elector Clemens August had the interior refurbished in the middle of the 18th century and incorporated a magnificent altar. In 1746 Clemens August donated the Holy Staircase, in whose planning Balthasar Neumann was involved. It is located in the impressive buttress, which is intended to represent the house of Pontius Pilate. Every year on Good Friday the Holy Staircase is opened.

Old St. Martins Church

The picturesque Bad Godesberg district of Muffendorf is one of the best preserved half-timbered settlements in the Rhineland. On a hill, surrounded by a wall and a small cemetery, lies the old St. Martin's Church. It is already mentioned in a document from the year 913. The squat choir building and the apse show that the church goes back to a Romanesque construction. The tour around the church shows a well-defined development of the windows and decorative forms of Rhenish Romanesque. Several times, most recently in the 17th century, extensions took place.

During renovation work, an altar made of trachyte was discovered inside the church, which was dedicated to the goddess Diana and suggests that a Roman temple was already located here. The relief images of the worth seeing baptismal font in the side aisle go back to Irish models.

Orthodox Cathedral

The Agias Trias Church (Holy Trinity) in Bonn is the cathedral church of the Greek-Orthodox archbishopric of Germany.

The church and the other buildings that belong to it were built by the German architect Klaus Hönig, who had previously lived for two years in Crete and had acquired the necessary knowledge to build a Greek orthodox church there. It was dedicated at the Whitsun festival by Irinäos, the Archbishop at that time.

The sacred accessories were made by artists and craftsmen in Greece. The painting of the church was taken on by the painter Christophanis Voutsinas using designs from the Old and New Testament as well as other texts in the liturgical tradition of the Orthodox church. Approximately 400 worshippers can be accommodated in the church.

Heisterbach monastery ruins

Heisterbach abbey was established between 1189 and 1202 by the Cistercian order. The abbey church was dedicated in 1237. The church was one of the imposing buildings of the time: with a length of 88 metres it exceeded all the others in the Bonn/Cologne area apart from Cologne Cathedral. It combined Cistercian as well as lower Rhine building elements.

The secularisation ended 600 years of Ora et labora in Heisterbach: The abbey was sold to be broken up in 1809. Stones taken from the abbey were for example used in the construction of the Northern Canal between Venlo and Neuss as well as for the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress in Koblenz.

When the site was purchased by the Graf zur Lippe-Biesterfeld and was turned into a typical English garden, the abbey became one of the most popular themes of the Rhine Romantic movement.

Maria Laach Monastery

The monastery dating back to the Middle Ages (1093-1216) was built as a charitable foundation by the Salian King Heinrich II. and his wife Adelheid. The building with six towers stands out particularly because of its elaborately designed western entrance. This entrance, which is also described as paradise in this form, is the only one of its kind north of the Alps. Together with the restored cloister, the abbey is regarded as one of the most beautiful monuments of Roman architecture in Germany.

Due to its beautiful location on Lake Laach, the Benedictine Abbey attracts tourists especially in summer with boat rentals, camping, fishing as well as the large lakeside hotel. In addition, there is a book and art publisher, a garden centre as well as various local craftsmen, which also provide training opportunities (sculpture workshop, bell foundry, carpenter's workshop).