Propsteikirche is the common name of a church in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, 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 by Derick Baegert which shows the oldest depiction of Dortmund.
The church became the first Catholic church in Dortmund after the Reformation, 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. It was soon expanded to a Gothichall church, begun in 1404 and consecrated in 1458.[1][2] The church of a mendicant order, it was mainly a place for prayer and built simple and without a steeple.[3] The abbey was dissolved during the secularization in 1816. The church became the first Catholic parish church in Dortmund after the Reformation in 1819. It was promoted to a Provost church [de] in 1859. The former abbey buildings were used to house the priest and as school buildings.[2]
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.[1] It is a listed monument.[2]
Altar
The church features a late-Gothic high altar by Derick Baegert, focused on the themes of the Passion and Crucifixion. It shows in the background of the left panel the oldest depiction of Dortmund.[1]
Altar triptych from the Propsteikirche in Dortmund
Organ
The organCloisters in 1894Cloisters in 2013
The present organ was built in 1988 by Siegfried Sauer [de]. It is often used for concerts and recordings. It is a universal organ with 52 stops on three manuals and pedal.[4]
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
Wolfgang Rinke: Dortmunder Kirchen des Mittelalters. Dortmund 1991, ISBN3-7932-5032-6
Wolfgang Rinke: Der Altar in der Propsteikirche zu Dortmund – Geschichte, Kunstgeschichte, Bildbeschreibung. Cramers Kunstanstalt, Dortmund 1992. ISBN3-924302-53-7
Thomas Schilp, Barbara Welzel: Die Dortmunder Dominikaner im späten Mittelalter und die Propsteikirche als Erinnerungsort. Verlag für Regionalgeschichte. Bielefeld 2006. ISBN3-89534-628-4
^ abc"Nr. 0375"(PDF). Denkmalliste der Stadt Dortmund (in German). 14 April 2014. Archived from the original(PDF) on 15 September 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.