Propsteikirche is the common name of a church in

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

, Germany, the only Catholic church in the city centre. The full name is Propsteikirche St. Johannes Baptist Dortmund. It was built from 1331 as the abbey church of a Dominican monastery. Consecrated in 1458, it features a late-Gothic

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganis ...

Derick Baegert Derik or Derick Baegert (ca. 1440 - after 1515) was a German late Gothic painter. Derick Baegert was probably born in Wesel around 1435-1440 to Johan Baegert, a merchant, and Mechtelt Mynreman. While his family wasn't very wealthy, Derick ended ...

which shows the oldest depiction of Dortmund. The church became the first Catholic church in Dortmund after the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, a Propsteikirche from 1859. Destroyed in World War II, it was rebuilt until 1966. Its organ, built in 1988, makes it a concert venue.

History

A Dominican abbey was founded in Dortmund in 1330, and a first abbey church was built from 1331 to 1353, consecrated in 1354, dedicated to

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

. It was soon expanded to a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

hall church A hall church is a church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height, often united under a single immense roof. The term was invented in the mid-19th century by Wilhelm Lübke, a pioneering German art historian. In contrast to an archi ...

, begun in 1404 and consecrated in 1458. The church of a mendicant order, it was mainly a place for prayer and built simple and without a steeple. The abbey was dissolved during the

secularization In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...

in 1816. The church became the first Catholic parish church in Dortmund after the

in 1819. It was promoted to a in 1859. The former abbey buildings were used to house the priest and as school buildings. The church was destroyed in World War II in 1943. Its most important art treasures had been removed, surviving the war. The church was rebuilt from 1947 to 1967. It is a listed monument.

Altar

The church features a late-Gothic

, focused on the themes of the Passion and

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

. It shows in the background of the left panel the oldest depiction of Dortmund.

Organ

NRW, Dortmund, Altstadt - Propsteikirche St-Johann Baptist 05

The present

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

was built in 1988 by . It is often used for concerts and recordings. It is a universal organ with 52 stops on three manuals and pedal.Orgel
Propsteikirche

Literature

* Elisabeth Baxhenrich-Hartmann, Der Hochaltar des Derick Baegert in der Propsteikirche zu Dortmund, Studien zur Kunst- und Dominikanergeschichte Dortmunds in der 2. Hälfte des 15. Jahrhunderts, Dortmund 1984 * Rolf Fritz,

Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte The Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte or MKK (''Museum of Art and Cultural History'') is a municipal museum in Dortmund, Germany. It is currently located in an Art Deco building which was formerly the Dortmund Savings Bank. The collectio ...

, Derick Baegert, Hochaltar der Propsteikirche Dortmund, Dortmund 1963 * Theodor Rensing, Das Dortmunder Dominikanerkloster (1309–1816), Münster 1936 * Norbert Reimann, Dortmund-Dominikaner, in: Westfälisches Urkundenbuch, Bd. 1, Münster 1992, S. 261–268. * Wolfgang Rinke: Dortmunder Kirchen des Mittelalters. Dortmund 1991, * Wolfgang Rinke: Der Altar in der Propsteikirche zu Dortmund – Geschichte, Kunstgeschichte, Bildbeschreibung. Cramers Kunstanstalt, Dortmund 1992. * Thomas Schilp, Barbara Welzel: Die Dortmunder Dominikaner im späten Mittelalter und die Propsteikirche als Erinnerungsort. Verlag für Regionalgeschichte. Bielefeld 2006.

References

External links

*
Dortmund, Dominikanerkloster
Digitale Westfälische Urkunden-Datenbank (DWUD) * {{authority control Roman Catholic churches in North Rhine-Westphalia Churches in Dortmund Heritage sites in North Rhine-Westphalia Roman Catholic churches completed in 1458 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1966 Destroyed churches in Germany Buildings and structures in Germany destroyed during World War II 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Germany