St. Mauritius
Romanesque pier basilica in the Altstadt-Süd district, consecrated in 1141 — the first church in Cologne with a fully vaulted nave and side aisles.
St. Mauritius is a parish church in Cologne's Altstadt-Süd district. Its origins reach back to the High Middle Ages; it was first mentioned in records as early as 1135.
Source: Wikipedia
At a Glance
- Type
- Catholic parish church, originally a Romanesque pier-and-vault basilica
- Location
- Mauritiuskirchplatz, Altstadt-Süd district, Innenstadt borough
- Construction
- begun 1135, consecrated 1141 by Archbishop Arnold I
- Founders
- Cologne citizen Hermann de Scipiona and his wife Ida
- Notable
- first church in Cologne with a fully vaulted nave and aisles, replacing the then-common flat wooden ceiling
- Architects (later period)
- Fritz Schaller, Vincenz Statz
- Listed
- protected monument in North Rhine-Westphalia
When St. Mauritius was consecrated in 1141, it was the first church in Cologne to have its entire nave and aisles built as vaulted stone ceilings — all other churches in the city still used the conventional flat wooden ceiling.
Location and Surroundings
The church stands on the square named after it, Mauritiuskirchplatz. The square is bounded to the east by Mauritiussteinweg, to the south by Jahnstraße, to the west by Arndtstraße, and to the north by Am Rinkenpfuhl. It was built directly in front of Cologne's first Roman city wall, remnants of which survive in the gardens of the houses lining Mauritiussteinweg to the east.
From Proprietary Church to Parish Church
The church began as a proprietary church of St. Pantaleon Abbey, which held extensive land in the suburb; its exact founding date is unknown. As the local population grew, so many worshippers attended services that even the monastic liturgy at St. Pantaleon was disrupted. A larger new building was therefore planned, intended to serve as the parish church of the St. Mauritius parish. The de Scipiona couple provided the funds in 1135, and after six years of construction Archbishop Arnold I consecrated the church in 1141.
Romanesque Basilica
The three-aisled building was constructed in the style of a Romanesque pier-and-vault basilica without a transept. Its three-bay nave terminated to the east with three apses, while slender stair towers separated the stepped apses of the west facade. A square westwork with two-storey side wings was added to the west end. A document from 1144 assigned this westwork — including a Chapel of St. Michael and a west gallery — to the neighbouring Benedictine convent for their own services.
Timeline
- 10. Jh.Abbey of St. Pantaleon founded by Otto the Great; first proprietary church in its parish
- 1106Second westward expansion of Cologne's city boundaries
- 1135New church endowed by Hermann de Scipiona and his wife Ida; construction begins
- 1141Consecrated by Archbishop Arnold I of Cologne in honour of St. Maurice
- 1144Charter of Arnold I: west tower with St. Michael's chapel assigned to the Benedictine convent
- um 1180Fortification of the suburban area of the Pantaleon quarter
Gallery
Map
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Auto-generated, last verified: 2026-06-27