St. Maria Magdalena and Lazarus (Cologne)

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Exterior view
Inscription on the chapel

The chapel of St. Maria Magdalena and Lazarus is a sacred building in the early Gothic style on the Melaten cemetery in Cologne-Lindenthal . It is located in the western part of the cemetery, on Aachener Straße , near the “Melaten” tram stop. It goes back to the time when there was a home for people who were sick with leprosy on the area of ​​today's cemetery . The chapel is now under the patronage of Saints Maria Magdalena and Lazarus , previously Johannes and Lazarus.

By 1180 at the latest there was a leprosy house (campus leprosi) on the area of ​​the chapel and the surrounding area . H. several residential buildings for lepers. According to the documents, the foundation stone for the chapel was laid in 1243 and consecrated two years later by the Archbishop of Cologne, Konrad von Hochstaden . It is therefore several years older than Cologne Cathedral , the construction of which began in 1248. As a hospital chapel , it served as a service for lepers. It originally had two naves : the sick sat in one, the healthy in the other. The chapel was rebuilt in the 15th century.

After the Melaten Leper House was closed in 1767, the chapel had no function for many years. As a result of the Napoleonic legislation in the besieged Rhineland, a cemetery was to be created for the citizens of Cologne outside the city walls. The Melaten area on the old Roman road Via Belgica in the direction of Aachen was selected for this. The old houses of the leper house were demolished, the leper chapel became the cemetery chapel. In 1919 the cemetery chapel became the first parish church for the new settlers in the Lindenthal / Braunsfeld area . The chapel lost this function a few years later when the Church of Christ Resurrection became a parish church.

The chapel was damaged during World War II and then rebuilt. In 1952 it was handed over to the Catholic Church for use. Like the cemetery, the chapel is owned by the City of Cologne. Some of the church windows have been bricked up over the years, so that today there are only ten glazed openings. The four stained glass windows in the choir and chancel from 1975 by Hermann Gottfried show Saint Lazarus, John the Baptist, Maria Magdalena, Saint Pantaleon and the Archangel Michael . The church has a small turret. The bell comes from the town hall chapel of St. Mary in Jerusalem .

The St. Maria Magdalenen Verein Köln e. V. is the authorized user according to the contract with the city and the Archdiocese of Cologne and as such supports the renovation of the chapel and its use for church services, funerals and as a cultural exhibition space. In spring 2019, the interior of the chapel was renovated through the initiative of the association. The interior walls, which had been sooty up until then, were re-plastered and whitewashed.

Web links

Commons : St. Maria Magdalena and Lazarus (Cologne)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

  • St. Maria Magdalenen Verein Köln eV (Ed.): St. Maria Magdalena and Lazarus on Melaten - A special church, older than the cathedral . Cologne 2018 ( lindenthal.blog [PDF]).
  • Lindenthal Blog (Ed.): Shines in new splendor - St. Maria Magdalena auf Melaten, Cologne 2019 ( [1] )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://wallraf.mapublishing-lab.uni-koeln.de/wallraf-in-koeln/melatenfriedhof/die-anfaenge/
  2. ↑ https://www.stadt-koeln.de/leben-in-koeln/veranstaltungen/daten/09350/index.html
  3. ↑ http://www.glasmalerei-ev.net/pages/b7381/b7381.shtml
  4. ↑ https://lindenthal.blog/kulturpfad-lindenthal-st-maria-magdalena-und-lazarus/
  5. ↑ Sankt Maria Madgalenen Association
  6. ↑ Dominic Röltgen: Older than Cologne Cathedral: The former church for lepers is being renovated. April 22, 2019, accessed on August 3, 2019 (German).

Coordinates: 50 ° 56 '13.3 "  N , 6 ° 55' 0.4"  E