Matthäuskirche (Cologne-Lindenthal)

The project grew out of a reorganisation of parish boundaries: in 1950 the district north of Dürener Straße had been assigned to the Braunsfeld congregation, and in 1964 it returned to Lindenthal. A triangular plot on Herbert-Lewin-Straße was chosen, previously bought by the Braunsfeld congregation, conveniently located for worshippers living further east. In 1965 the presbytery decided to build a parish house with a prayer hall, in 1966 a church-building association was founded, and in 1970 an architectural competition was announced, won by Busmann + Haberer. The foundation stone was laid on 29 August 1975 and the centre was consecrated on 24 April 1977. In 1980 an organ by Willi Peter was installed in the prayer hall, and in 1994 a new font by Werner Mally was dedicated.

Access is through a large vestibule on the ground floor; the entrance to the prayer hall lies on the fully glazed eastern side, broken by a load-bearing pillar. The end walls, the pillar and the tie beam running diagonally across the hall are of exposed concrete. The diagonals draw the eye to the white sand-lime brick wall opposite the entrance, where the altar stands centrally between two exposed-concrete pillars. It rests on a wooden, semicircular platform and is lit by indirect daylight through a light shaft left open by a recess in the timber ceiling. A crucifix hangs behind the altar, accompanied by a twisted granite font column and an ambo. The semicircular seating follows the curve of the altar platform.