Explore Religious Heritage Across Europe

The church of St. Aegidien was founded in the 12th century as the abbey church of the Aegidien monastery. The original Romanesque church burned down in 1278 and was rebuilt in the French Gothic style. In 1528, the convent was dissolved and the abbey church was used as a Lutheran parish church. In 1717, the church was furnished in the Baroque style. Desecrated at the beginning of the 18th century, it finally found a stable role as an exhibition space from 1902. After the Second World War, the church was given to Catholics.

The church of St. Dionys dates back to the 13th and 14th centuries. An excavation museum was built under the church on the Esslingen market square in the 1960s. It shows the foundations of the walls of the former churches, attested on this site since 777. The church's greatest treasure is the magnificent stained glass windows in the choir dating from around 1300.

The Church of St. Elizabeth was built between 1235 and 1283 by the Teutonic Order on the tomb of St. Elizabeth, making the church an important place of pilgrimage in Western Europe in the late Middle Ages. In 1539, the landgrave Philip the Magnanimous had the bones of St. Elizabeth removed in order to send a signal against the cult of the relics. During the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), the church was damaged when it was used as a hay and flour store. Maintenance work was carried out in 1767-1770. Between 1811 and 1827, the church was a Simultaneum for a short period, so that the Catholic and Protestant services were held separately.

The church of St. Fridolin was built between 1821 and 1822 according to the plans of the architect Christoph Arnold and bears a strong resemblance to the pilgrimage church of Bad Rippoldsau-Schapbach, built in 1829. The exterior of the church is neo-classical, while the interior is classicistic, enriched with rococo elements.

The church of St. Johannis, built between 1289 and 1470, is the oldest church in the city of Lüneburg. It is considered an important North German Gothic brick building. The interior of the church includes a 15th century carved altar, two large historical organs and eight bells of historical and sonorous value.

The Church of St. Juliana is said to have been founded in 736 by St. Pirmin as part of a Benedictine monastery. The oldest document in which the church is mentioned dates from 1277, but from 1370 the collegiate church was rebuilt in several phases. The Reformation was officially introduced into the church in 1556. During the Peace of Rijswijk, which succeeded the War of the Palatinate Succession in 1697, religious practice in the church was granted to Catholics. However, as conflicts between denominations continued to occur, the Elector began in 1705 to separate all the shared churches by a wall. Gone from most of the shared churches, the wall still exists in the church of Sainte-Julienne. In 2007, on the 300th anniversary of the separation, Protestant and Catholic parishes agreed to open the separation wall. The wall was pierced and gates and a few steps were built, which now connect the Protestant and Catholic sides.

The Church of St. Magnus in Braunschweig was consecrated in 1031, as attested by a document which happens to be the first documentary evidence of the existence of the present-day city of Brunswick. The parish church of St. Magni was rebuilt from 1252, the remains of the original church have been preserved in the foundations. Between 1873 and 1877, the building was restored by Ludwig Winter and painted in the style of historicism by Max Osterloh and Adolf Quensen. The stained glass windows were created in 1926 by Otto Linnemann. During the Second World War the church was severely damaged. From 1956 to 1964 the building was restored.

The parish church of St. Martin probably dates from the 12th century. The tower and the eastern wall of the nave date from the end of the 12th century and the choir from the beginning of the 13th century, the choir from 1386. The last major reconstruction began at the end of the 14th century and was completed at the end of the 15th century. From 1684 to 1687, Baroque elements were added to the church. After damage caused by a lightning strike, the spire was replaced by an awning in 1739.

The church of St. Mary was first mentioned in 1283 as a Romanesque basilica. At the end of the 14th century, the building was given two towers and from 1420 onwards, a church with three Gothic naves was built in its place. The church has an interesting astronomical clock that was created in the 16th century and has only been functional since 1977.

The convent church of St. Mary Magdalene was built in 1497 as a late Gothic hall church. It is part of the building complex of the Steinhaus monastery, which was partially rebuilt at the end of the 15th century. It was therefore used as a monastery church until the secularisation of the monastery at the beginning of the 19th century.