St. Jakob
A lost Cologne parish church at the Waidmarkt, built in the 11th century under Archbishop Anno and standing until 1825.
St. Jakob was a parish church at Cologne's Waidmarkt, around which a medieval quarter grew up with a religious house, hospital, and convent.
Source: Wikipedia
At a Glance
- Type
- former parish church (no longer standing)
- Location
- Waidmarkt, outside the south gate of the old Roman city; today part of Altstadt-Süd, city centre
- Built
- between 1059 and 1070 under Archbishop Anno
- Rebuilt
- from 1534 as a Late Gothic hall church
- Demolished
- the building stood until 1825
- Patron saint
- James the Elder
The tower of the late Gothic church took a full eight years to complete (1540–1548) despite multiple construction halts – even though it only rose two stories above the nave.
Early Origins
According to tradition, a chapel dedicated to St. James already stood around 641, during the reign of the Frankish king Dagobert, outside the "High Gate" of the old Roman city. An early written record appears in the Vita Annonis Minor: in May 1070, Archbishop Anno II brought the arm of St. Caesarius of Terracina to the Chapel of St. Jakob.
Medieval Church at the Waidmarkt
The modest building had a flat-ceilinged nave, a small apse with a single window, and a tower of tufa stone. The tower rose in the west above one of the aisles and bore a blunt, lead-covered roof; it was slightly lower than that of the neighbouring collegiate church of St. Georg. The Waidmarkt itself lay outside the Roman city wall, opposite the High Gate, along the ancient road running south towards Bonn.
Religious Life around the Waidmarkt
Religious communities settled to the west of the Waidmarkt. From the mid-13th century, the Carmelites had their first Cologne house here. A hospital dedicated to St. Georg is documented from 1251, from which the convent of "S. Jakob," first mentioned in 1350, is said to have developed.
Late Gothic Rebuilding
As the church had grown too small for the expanding congregation, the neighbouring collegiate foundation of St. Georg demolished part of its courtyard in 1532 to make room. In 1534, under church warden Christian von Weinsberg, reconstruction began: the old building was replaced by a three-aisled, five-bay Late Gothic hall church, with Tilman von der Urdenbach serving as master builder. A new five-sided chancel replaced the old apse, its high choir completed in 1537. In 1540, a new square tower was begun on the axis of the nave, finished after eight years of construction. In 1552, a vaulted passage connected St. Jakob to St. Georg.
Worth Knowing
The chronicler Hermann von Weinsberg lived in the parish of St. Jakob in the 16th century and left valuable accounts of his church, which he described as a plain, rural-style building. His grandfather Gottschalk von Schwelm served here as church warden — the highest lay office in parish administration — after being elected to the role.
Timeline
- um 641Legendary oratory before Cologne's Hohe Pforte under King Dagobert
- 1059/70Archbishop Anno II builds St. Jakob's church at the Waidmarkt
- Mai 1070Anno II brings the arm of St. Caesarius to the chapel of St. Jakob
- 1350Convent 'S. Jakob' west of the Waidmarkt first documented
- 1534Conversion to a late-Gothic basilica begun under church warden Christian von Weinsberg
- 1537Five-sided high choir completed and consecrated
- 1540Construction of a new tower on the nave axis begun
- 1825Church building demolished and definitively removed
Map
Blue dots: other places nearby — tap to explore.
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Auto-generated, last verified: 2026-06-27