Bruder-Klaus-Siedlung

The initiator was Karl Müller, then parish priest of St. Franziskus in Köln-Bilderstöckchen. Under his chairmanship, the settlers' association Neuland e.V. was founded on 18 March 1947 and still exists today. The building client was initially the settlement agency of the Archdiocese of Cologne; Cardinal Josef Frings laid the foundation stone on 14 August 1948. The first houses were built through self-help and neighbourly cooperation on plots meant to supply residents with farm produce and small livestock – an approach that took longer than planned.

In 1949 the settlers' association helped found the Gemeinnützige Siedlungsgesellschaft m.b.H. Aachen, which took over the expansion under its management. The city of Cologne acquired the area on 28 October 1949. In the 1950s the Deutsche Wohnungsgesellschaft (DEWOG) joined as another developer. On 18 July 1960, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer visited the estate together with the Stegerwaldsiedlung – both 1950s housing developments by the CDU-affiliated DEWOG.

On 20 August 1956 the parish was split off from St. Antonius in Mülheim as a rectorate parish. After Cardinal Frings blessed the congregation, the foundation stone was laid on 28 August 1956, the eve of the 77th German Catholic Convention in Cologne. After 15 months of construction, the church was consecrated in November 1957. The broadly laid-out building is distinguished by a tall, hexagonal nave of soaring concrete tracery. The founding priest and longtime pastor was Heinrich Eisenhut.

On 2 January 2016, two far-right extremists tried to set fire to a refugee shelter in the estate where a Yugoslav family lived. They used torches and flares bearing Pegida slogans. The attack failed only by chance; three adults and nine children were unharmed. The next day, 400 people held a spontaneous protest on Wiener Platz in Mülheim. In court, the defendants refused to offer a personal apology and were sentenced to two years' probation.