Saint Paulin Church, Parish church in Trier, Germany
Saint Paulin Church is a single-nave Baroque church built from 1734, with a 53-metre tower and a 52-metre-long body. Its tower carries a pink and yellow facade, a round white clock face on a dark ground, stacked arched windows with dark louvers, and a black bell-shaped dome topped by a small open cupola with a railing. Inside, white stucco work and a nave ceiling fresco by Christoph Thomas Scheffler frame an interior designed by Balthasar Neumann.
Bishop Felix of Trier built the first church in the 4th century on a Roman cemetery outside the city walls. A fire destroyed it in 1039, sparing only the ancient crypt. A Romanesque basilica consecrated in 1148 was blown up by French troops in 1674. Franz Georg von Schönborn laid the foundation stone of the present church in 1734; it was consecrated in 1757.
The nave ceiling carries Christoph Thomas Scheffler's 1743 fresco of the life of Paulinus and the martyrdom of the Theban Legion. Each October the crypt is opened so visitors can view the tombs of the Roman soldiers said to lie there; the rest of the year only part of it is visible through a metal grille. Organ recitals are held in the church.
The church is open to visitors several days each week and holds organ concerts. The crypt is normally visible only through a metal grille; it opens fully each October for the commemoration of the Theban Legion. A cemetery remains in the grounds, with a 1989 chapel near the grave of Blessed Blandine Merten.
The tower holds bells from the early 19th century that survived major conflicts and continue to ring today. These bells connect visitors to a continuous sound that has echoed across the city for generations.
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