Discalced Carmelite Monastery im Dau, Cologne

The Discalced Carmelites emerged from a reform movement launched by Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross in Duruelo, Spain, in 1568. In 1613, through the mediation of Emperor Ferdinand II, the first friars arrived in Cologne from Bologna, led by the Spaniard Tomás a Jesú. The city council initially opposed another religious foundation, eventually permitting it on condition that the community never exceed twelve members. In 1615 the Carmelites acquired part of the „zum Dau" farmstead on Severinstraße.

By 1795 the community counted 20 priests and six lay brothers. Following its dissolution in 1802, the French military administration used the buildings as veterans' quarters. From 1815 the monastery served as a Prussian supply depot, and from 1816 the church itself was converted into a grain store. In 1910 the complex — apart from the chapter house — made way for a parade ground, and by 1945 all remaining buildings had been torn down.

Consecrated in 1628, the church was built by a master builder named Jodokus. Oriented to the south, it was linked to Severinstraße by a passage roughly 40 meters long. The single-nave interior measured about 43 meters in length and 8.7 meters in width, covered by a ribbed vault. A ridge turret rose above the crossing, and beneath the raised monks' choir lay a crypt for the community's benefactors. The north façade was crowned with a triangular gable of Niedermendig lava stone, its portal framed by basalt columns.