St. Kolumba was one of the largest parish churches in medieval

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, dating back to 980, and dedicated to

Columba of Sens Columba of Sens (probably born Eporita, d. 273), was a virgin and nun who was born to a noble pagan family in northwestern Spain. She left Spain for France as a child to avoid being denounced as a Christian and received the baptismal name Columb ...

. The original Romanesque church was replaced by 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 ...

church. Artworks in it included the Saint Columba Altarpiece by Rogier van der Weyden, and an altar by an anonymous artist. It was almost completely destroyed by bombing in World War II. From 1947, a chapel was built on the ruins, dedicated to

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

as "Madonna of the Ruins". The chapel was called St. Kolumba from 2007, when it became part of the

Kolumba The Kolumba (previously Diözesanmuseum, "Diocesan Museum") is an art museum in Cologne, Germany. It is located on the site of the former St. Kolumba church, and run by the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is one of the oldest museums in the city, al ...

, the museum of the

archdiocese of Cologne The Archdiocese of Cologne ( la, Archidioecesis Coloniensis; german: Erzbistum Köln) is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and northern Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. History The Electorate of Cologn ...

History

A church of this name was mentioned first in 980. It was a small church in

Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later ...

with one nave. It was first a dependent church of the ''Dom'', consecrated in 873, but became an independent parish. In the 12th century, the church was expanded to three naves. It was replaced by a hall church in

Gothic style 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 ...

with five naves, keeping only the central nave and the tower. In the 17th century, the interior was decorated in Baroque style. The church was restored in the 19th century. The church featured notable artworks, such as the Saint Columba Altarpiece by Rogier van der Weyden, a Bartholomäus-Altar by the Master of the Saint Bartholomew Altarpiece, and the

Master of the Wasservass Calvary The Master of the Wasservass Calvary (German - ''Meister des Wasservass’schen Kalvarienbergs'') is the notname for a painter active in Cologne between 1415 and 1435. He is relatively unusual in Cologne art of his time, owing more to Burgundia ...

. The church was close to the first

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

. Forty mayors of Cologne were buried next to the church.

Madonna in den Trümmern

The church was destroyed by bombing in 1943. Only some exterior walls, the basement of the tower, the entrance hall, and a Gothic statue of Mary survived. The life-size statue dates to 1460–70. In 1947, the architect

Gottfried Böhm Gottfried Böhm (; 23 January 1920 – 9 June 2021) was a German architect and sculptor. His reputation is based on creating highly sculptural buildings made of concrete, steel, and glass. Böhm's first independent building was the Cologne ...

was commissioned to build a chapel around these remnants. He designed an octagonal tent-like structure. After building from 1949, it was consecrated on 7 December 1950. It features stained-glass windows by Ludwig Gies, added in 1954 and depicting angels. Böhm created a marble altar, and added a sacrament chapel in 1957. The chapel was seen as a memorial of the war, called Madonna in den Trümmern ("Madonna of the Ruins"). Ruins of former churches, from medieval to Gothic, were excavated on the site in the 1970s. The Swiss architect

Peter Zumthor Peter Zumthor (; born 26 April 1943) is a Swiss architect whose work is frequently described as uncompromising and minimalist. Though managing a relatively small firm, he is the winner of the 2009 Pritzker Prize and 2013 RIBA Royal Gold Medal. E ...

designed a new museum for the archdiocese which integrates the chapel, and the excavation sites. Building began in 2003, and the

was opened in 2007.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kolumba Churches in Cologne 12th-century churches in Germany Ruins of churches destroyed during World War II

History

Madonna in den Trümmern

Further reading

References

External links