St. Ludgeri Church, Munster

The Church of St. Ludgeri is one of the oldest religious buildings in Westphalia. It was inaugurated in 1173 and has gone through multiple changes before reaching its present exterior style. Initially the church was made of wood, but regardless of this, the premises looked very beautiful and created the impression of true greatness. About three hundred years later, the church was damaged by a fire and rebuilt in a different style.

The choir was vastly enlarged on the east side and two Romanesque style towers were added to the sides. The St. Ludgeri Church also maintains some Gothic details, including panel painting, stained glass, fresco and illuminated manuscripts. The tall, majestic tower dominates over the construction, it is crowned with beautiful stained windows and refined ironwork spires. The interior showcases pure Gothic style and is considered to be one of the most important models of Medieval art in Münster.

The central nave of St. Ludgeri consists of two bays , which are preceded by a square half bay on the western side. On the east side is the crossing square , on which the crossing tower is placed on the outside. The ceiling construction here consists of a flattened cupola . There are aisles on either side of the central nave. Due to their height, they do not allow additional windows in the central nave (construction type of the three-nave late Romanesque hall church of Westphalian character).

In the seven walls of the chancel are the windows by Vincenz Pieper . When viewed as a whole, they unite to form an overall picture in which the pillars between the individual windows seem to disappear. In the central window, which faces directly east, Jesus Christ 's way of salvation is shown , that is, his birth, suffering and death, resurrection and ascension , and rebirth.

The church also features eight life-size sandstone figures attributed to the sculptors Bernt Katmann or Johannes Kroeß. They are in the transition from the chancel to the apse and date from 1603 to 1607.