St. Bruno

The project began around 1914, when the Sülz parish of St. Nikolaus sought a daughter church for the growing Klettenberg neighbourhood. A plot was secured during the First World War, and in 1919 Becker was commissioned to design a large church seating roughly 950 with room for 1,200 more standing. Ground was broken in August 1924; Cardinal Karl Joseph Schulte laid the foundation stone in 1925 and consecrated the completed church in 1926.

The Second World War hit St. Bruno hard: air raids destroyed the roof and windows in 1942, and by 1944 only the tower and outer walls remained. A makeshift church in the neighbouring Brunosaal bridged the gap until Hans Hansen led the rebuilding from 1948, and the church was reconsecrated in 1949. When the newly installed ceiling soon cracked, a thorough remodelling followed within a few years, adding concrete tracery windows to the choir. Further changes came with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council from 1973 and a ceiling renovation from 2005.

Two marble figures by Elmar Hillebrand stand on the street-side forecourt, depicting Jacob wrestling the angel and Jesus as the Good Shepherd; Hillebrand also created the altar, bronze candelabrum and font cover. The silver-and-enamel triumphal cross was made in 1957 by Hanns Rheindorff, with parishioners donating jewellery and tableware silver for the material. For the four crypt windows, Jakob Berwange chose Old Testament scenes.