Luthernotkirche
Emergency church built from the rubble of the destroyed Lutherkirche, designed by Otto Bartning — the only one of its surviving kind fully preserved.
The church stands in Cologne's Mülheim district and takes its name from the reformer Martin Luther. Its story is inseparable from the ruins of the building it replaced.
Source: Wikipedia
At a Glance
- Type
- Protestant church, named after Martin Luther
- Location
- Mülheim district, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
- Nave built
- 1948–1949
- Architect
- Otto Bartning
- Seating
- over 400
- Heritage status
- listed monument since 12 September 1988 (no. 4692)
The 1948/49 church building was literally constructed from the rubble of its predecessor, destroyed in 1944: fragments of the old Luther Church were embedded within its self-supporting wooden structure.
History
The original Lutherkirche, designed by Emil Schreiterer and Bernhard Below and built between 1893 and 1895 in Neo-Renaissance style with a wide gallery hall, once stood on this site as the central church of the Mülheim parish. Air raids destroyed it in 1944, leaving only the tower standing. A new nave rose beside the ruin, with the foundation stone laid on 19 June 1948 and consecration by Rhenish Präses Heinrich Held on 16 January 1949. American Lutherans contributed $10,000 toward the rebuilding.
One Emergency Church Among Many
Bartning designed 48 other emergency churches ('Notkirchen') across Germany. Of those still standing today, Mülheim's Luthernotkirche is the only one preserved in its complete original form.
Architecture
A freestanding timber structure organizes the single-nave hall both horizontally and vertically, with rubble stones from the old church embedded between its wooden fields. The gabled roof evokes an upturned ship's hull, and a tall, square-cut cross rises in the polygonal chancel. The exterior is rendered white, topped by a continuous band of windows beneath the roofline, and flanked by two flat-roofed, single-story annexes.
The Tower
The tower survived the war as a ruin and was rebuilt in simplified form, its octagonal upper stories opened up with large round windows. A plain copper roof replaced the original lantern in 1966, followed by a restoration between 1968 and 1978.
Today
The Mülheim Kantorei rehearses in the church, which also serves as a youth church.
Timeline
- 1893–1895Construction of the former Lutherkirche as a Neo-Renaissance building
- 1944Destruction of the Lutherkirche by air raids
- 19. Juni 1948Foundation stone laid for the Luthernotkirche
- 1948–1949Construction of the nave according to Otto Bartning's plans
- 16. Januar 1949Consecration of the Luthernotkirche by Präses Heinrich Held
- 1966Copper roofing replaces the tower's original roof lantern
- 1968–1978Renovation of the tower
- 12. September 1988Listed as a heritage monument under number 4692
Map
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Auto-generated, last verified: 2026-09-05
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