St. Aldegundis, Romanesque church in Kaarst, Germany

St. Aldegundis is a Romanesque church in Kaarst with a four-story tower that contains a chapel dedicated to St. Michael on the ground floor and belfry chambers above. The structure shows typical medieval features with window openings and thick walls that define its appearance.

A church stood here by the early 9th century, attested by the Vita of St Ludgerus and an altar table of that period. Around 1166 the present Romanesque church was built on the walls of an 11th-century hall church, with aisles added late in the 12th century and the tower rising between 1125 and 1250. In 1439 the Romanesque choir was replaced by a Gothic one. Three of the five bells were requisitioned in 1944 for armaments; only the St Aldegundis bell and the small Marian bell of 1927 remained.

The Stations of the Cross in the side aisles come from the 19th-century Düsseldorf school, whose members often left paintings unsigned because several artists worked together. The twelfth station is by Wunderwald, dated 1848; the eleventh was lost in the 1970s restoration and repainted by Albert Müllers.

The church stands in the centre of Büttgen, with the Rathausplatz to the south and the old cemetery to the north. The tower is visible from afar and serves as a landmark for finding the building. The nave and the 1959/1960 new church, linked by a low sacristy, are entered from the paved area around the base.

The tower's window openings are narrowly cut and suggest the structure served as a refuge during medieval times, a practical function beyond its religious role. These defensive features remain visible today and show how church buildings once served dual purposes.