Heilig Kreuz, Aachen, Gothic Revival parish church in Aachen, Germany.
Heilig Kreuz is a Gothic Revival basilica in Aachen's Pontviertel, built of light grey stone with a short nave and two side aisles. Its facade has three portals, tracery rose windows with a stone crucifix, statues of the Virgin Mary and St John, and a figure of St Helena in the gable. A tall dark spire with pointed-arch openings rises above the crossing area, and the motto "Stat crux, dum volvitur orbis" is worked into the facade.
A chapel funded by Gerard von Bongard in 1363 was completed in 1372 and given to the Order of the Holy Cross; it burned to its outer walls in the 1656 city fire. A new church begun in 1683 was finished on 17 June 1770. The present church was begun in 1898, consecrated in 1902, and designed by Joseph Buchkremer.
The church is part of the parish association Franziska von Aachen, formed after a parish reform and supported by the Arme Schwestern vom heiligen Franziskus; it also includes St. Adalbert, St. Andreas, St. Foillan, St. Marien and St. Peter. The motto carved into the facade, "Stat crux, dum volvitur orbis", comes from the Carthusian order.
The church is centrally located in Aachen and easily accessible on foot from the city center. Visitors should be aware that access for sightseeing may be limited during religious services and special events.
The facade carries the Latin motto "Stat crux, dum volvitur orbis" (the cross stands firm while the world turns), a phrase originally used by the Carthusian order. Above it stands a figure of St Helena, and the north side has a bell tower built in the German High Gothic manner.
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