Catholic church “St. Johann Baptist” in Kürten

"Situated on the old mountain road leading from Cologne to Bergisch, the church was the baptistery and meeting place for the first believers in a large, sparsely populated area". Today, only the tower remains as the oldest witness to this.

The defensive tower made of hewn quarry stones stands in the west, symbolizing evil and the demonic, in accordance with the medieval concept of protection, while the choir room with the altar for the celebration of the Eucharist is located in the symbolically bright and good east (rising sun). The spire is decorated with two Christian symbols: the cross and the cockerel as a symbol of vigilance in memory of the threefold denial of Jesus by Peter".

(Information sheet St. John the Baptist 2020)

The elaborately and artistically designed baptismal font made of Namur bluestone (Belgium) in strict Romanesque forms is not much younger. On the upper edge is a frieze of mythical creatures and four human heads with oversized, sightless eyes. The content and depiction are equally archaic. According to the ideas of the time, which were still strongly influenced by pagan traditions, it was believed that evil forces could be banished by involving them in worship.

The Old Church

The patron saint of the church, St. John the Baptist, indicates that it may have been founded in the early days of the Christianization of the Bergisches Land, as the churches dedicated to St. John the Baptist are considered old baptisteries.

The old Romanesque church from the 12th/13th century, whose tower still stands today, is tangible. The old church was about two thirds the size of the present one. The nave adjoined the tower to the east in the shape of a rectangle. There were doors on both long sides and in the tower. The ceiling was vaulted, without painting, supported by pillars and the floor was covered with rough stone slabs. Small glass windows, also unpainted, provided the room with light. There were plenty of benches. The church had only a few insignificant pictures and statues of saints. A large bell hung in a turret above the choir, announcing the start of the service. There was no sacristy. The priest put on his vestments behind the altar. A strong oak box with three locks served as the church archives, another as a "poor box".

Almost seventy years later, the foundation stone for a new church was laid in 1843. The nave was a simple hall building in classicist style, which was based on the old tower. Pastor Tuchscherer received recognition from the Archbishop in 1844 "that the parish had built a large and beautiful new church at its own expense without any other support". In 1852, an organ was added by organ builder Smarek from Cologne.

In 1856, the "St. Johannes and St. Apollonia Association" was founded "for the worthy furnishing of the church".

The nave and tower were severely damaged in the bombing raid in 1945. Reconstruction took place immediately after the end of the war under the direction of Cologne architect Karl Pütz. In 1950, the church was rebuilt in the Romanesque style and was given its current interior appearance. Due to the large number of people moving into the new development areas, a side aisle with a sacristy was added to the north of the church in 1967 according to the plans of architect Rotterdam, giving it the shape of an angular church. The altar in the choir was made from Aachen bluestone by the Cologne sculptor Sepp Hürtgen. Since 1975, the walls have been adorned with small ceramic Stations of the Cross by Arnold Morkramer with a 15th station depicting the Resurrection.

During the First World War, the large and two smaller bells had to be given up. The replacement bells from 1933, St. Apollonia and St. Agatha, were then confiscated during the Second World War. In 1962 they were replaced by four new bells, which are tuned to the song "nun danket all`und bringet Ehr". Hymnal No. 403

The old churchyard

Until the 19th century, the church was bordered by a cemetery enclosed by a wall, with around 200 gravestones, an ossuary and a sacrament house. Today, well-preserved gravestones from the 17th and 18th centuries can still be found in the southern part of the church grounds. From the middle of the 19th century, no new burials were allowed to take place in the churchyard or even in the church. By law, the new cemeteries had to be located outside or on the outskirts of the village. In 1843, the civil parish bought the sexton's garden from the church and laid out a new cemetery there.

The church and the old gravestones of the old churchyard have been listed since 1984 and are entered in the municipality's list of monuments under no. 001 (church) and no. 022 (old gravestones). Kürten was an independent parish until the founding of the St. Marien parish association in 2009.

The name Kurten

The place is referred to as Curtine in medieval documents. It goes back to the word curtis, which means open space within an enclosed courtyard where the aldermen of a court gathered. In Kürten there was indeed a district court early on, which demonstrably met until 1699. It ruled on dubious inheritance cases, as well as theft, robbery or assault and was the next higher instance to the court / fiefdom court, which belonged to a manor and ruled on normal inheritance cases in a court association. (today's district court and land registry office).

In 2008, the municipality of Kürten celebrated its 700th anniversary. It referred to the first mention of Cürten in the "Liber valoris" - a tax register of the Archbishopric of Cologne from 1308.