Alt St. Clemens, Romanesque church in Hiltrup district, Münster, Germany
Alt St. Clemens is a small Romanesque vaulted hall church of two bays, built of rough light beige stone. Its square tower rises on the right with a flat pale grey cap and narrow vertical windows at its base. The lower nave to the left has a steep dark red tiled roof and two small round-arched windows; a pale stone monument with a central cross and blank plaque stands on the grass in front.
A small Romanesque vaulted hall of two bays, built in the mid-12th century and regarded as a bishop's foundation; in 1233 it was incorporated as a parish into the treasury office of St. Ludgeri in Münster. A late Gothic choir with a 5/8 close was added in 1518, keeping the Romanesque north wall. The church was deconsecrated in 1913 and reconsecrated in 1961 after restoration.
The church was founded as a parish and incorporated into the treasury of St. Ludgeri in Münster in 1233. In Hiltrup, processions once included the Torstentragen, in which the Torste was carried as an ornament by the children making their first communion. A stele outside commemorates Nicolaus Steno, beatified in 1988.
The church stands in Hiltrup, a district of Münster. It was deconsecrated in 1913 and reconsecrated in 1961 after restoration, so it is not a regular parish church with daily services. The tower room above the vaulted ground-floor hall is reached by a masonry stair from the nave.
A stone stele beside the church commemorates Nicolaus Steno, beatified by Pope John Paul II on 23 October 1988 at the urging of Bishop Heinrich Theissing, Apostolic Administrator of Schwerin. Steno's connection to this small Hiltrup church is easy to miss.
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