St. Paul's Church () is a

Reformed Church Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, part of the Evangelical-Reformed Church of the Canton Basel-Stadt. The church was constructed between May 1898 and November 1901 by Karl Moser (1860–1936) and

Robert Curjel Robert Curjel (born 17 December 1859 in St. Gallen, Switzerland; died 18 August 1925 in Emmett, Switzerland) was a German-Swiss architect. Early life and education Curjel attended the Technical University of Karlsruhe and the Technical Uni ...

, and features a

Neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

architectural style. The

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

is fitted with a stone

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

that is raised behind a stone

communion table Communion table and Lord's table are terms used by many Protestant churches—particularly from Reformed, Baptist and low church Anglican and Methodist bodies—for the table used for preparation of Holy Communion (a sacrament also called the ...

. The apse also features a gallery, with a central arch behind the pulpit, in which the organ and choir are placed. It features artwork in

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

style including

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

work on the church exterior above the main entrance by sculptor Carl Burckhardt (1878–1923),

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

s on the inner front wall by

Heinrich Altherr Heinrich Altherr (11 April 1878, in Basel – 27 April 1947, in Zürich) was a Swiss painter. He is best known for his murals in churches and various public buildings. Biography His father, Alfred, was a pastor. He had his first art lessons fro ...

(1878–1947) and

stained glass window Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

s by Max Laeuger (1864–1952). In 2019, the church was profaned and has been converted into a cultural church ("Kulturkirche Paulus"), which started operating in July 2021 as a cultural centre for events, weddings, and choral concerts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Pauls Church Basel Reformed churches in Basel Churches completed in 1901 Art Nouveau church buildings in Switzerland Gothic Revival church buildings in Switzerland 20th-century churches in Switzerland