St. Clemens (Cologne-Niehl)

The parish of St. Clemens emerged in 1938 from the merger of several parishes in Nippes, Weidenpesch, and Niehl. It became an independent rectory parish in 1947 and a canonical parish in 1963. The earlier, smaller church, designed by architect Theodor Brück in the 1930s, was destroyed in the war. On 19 December 1964, auxiliary bishop Augustinius Frotz consecrated the new building.

The multiply folded roof creates five gables on the side elevations and three on the end facades. Projecting wall piers form a concrete buttressing whose lines evoke rows of houses, readable as a symbol of the "House of God." Rounded elements for the tower, baptismal and confession chapels, and the apse are set into the angular main form, curving outward convexly. The stepped apse rises to the height of the nave, while the baptismal chapel opposite is a single storey, and the two confession chapels on the south side are lower still. The 32-metre tower dominates the street front and is visible from afar. Except for the entrance side, all walls are faced in red brick masonry, with a window band tracing the curve of the apse.

On the east side, two entrance doors symmetrically frame the centrally placed baptismal chapel; a grid of prefabricated concrete elements filled with white glass creates a curtain of light. The entrance area is structured by a free-standing organ gallery of concrete beams, which also screens the slightly lowered baptismal area. The walls of the nave deliberately do not echo the structure of the exterior, remaining calm and unarticulated. The timber ceiling, replicating the sculptural roof form, is a defining feature. The floor dips slightly toward the altar area before being raised again by a shallow step. In the choir, tall, slender concrete piers suggest an ambulatory and take up Gothic forms. The weekday chapel occupies the ground floor of the round tower and is also accessible from outside via its own tower entrance.

Sculptor Heinz Gernot created much of the stone and bronze work, designing the altar, font, cross, ambo, and tabernacle between 1964 and 1972, among other pieces. The windows are by glass artist Wilhelm Buschulte: the side surfaces are held in freely composed browns, greys, and ochres, while blue predominates in the choir's light band; the small openings of the tower chapel are executed in concrete glass in the four primary colours. The two-manual organ with 22 stops dates from 1964, built by Orgelbau Romanus Seifert & Sohn. The five-bell peal was cast by Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock; three bells date from 1969 and two from 1984, with the pitches es1–f1–g1–b1–c2.