St. Nicholas
Location: Prämonstratenserstraße
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Catholic parish church of the former Premonstratensian monastery from the 12th century.
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History:
According to the founding document from 1117, the construction of the church goes back to a donation by a Heidinricus (Heidenreich). The Archbishop of Cologne, Friedrich I, not only permitted the construction of a church in Diunewalt (Dünnwald), but also granted it parish rights at the same time. It was thus one of the first independent parishes in what is now Cologne on the right bank of the Rhine. The church was built in the Romanesque style as a three-aisled, flat-roofed basilica in its current dimensions. By the end of the 16th century, the church probably had a double-towered facade with a lower central nave. The church has undergone several structural changes to date. After the Second World War, the windows in the choir were bricked up and the interior of the church was given its current appearance. In 1953, the organ gallery was extended; the baptismal chapel is located below. The pillars of this chapel are made of sintered material (lime deposits from a Roman water pipe). The following are from the Baroque period: the cross above the main altar, the figures of St. Nicholas and St. Norbert, the curved communion bench and a confessional. The formerly Gothic Blasius altar in the north aisle, donated by Count Adolf VI of Berg in memory of the fallen soldiers of the Battle of Liège, was also replaced by a Baroque altar.
The Gothic chapel with painting cycles from the 15th century is worth seeing in the church. Since the last renovation in 2007, this room has been used as a chapel again. The wall paintings were previously whitewashed and hidden behind the furniture in the sacristy.