St. Nikomedes, Church building in Steinfurt, Germany.
St. Nikomedes is a neo-Gothic hall church built of ashlar stone, erected 1885–1889 to Hilger Hertel the Elder's design on the site of the demolished collegiate church. Its 99-metre tower, the third tallest in the Münsterland, carries a clock and a steep slate spire with a cross; red-tiled roofs cover the lower aisles.
St. Nikomedes stands on the site of the collegiate church of the Borghorst convent, demolished in 1885 because it could no longer hold the growing congregation. The new church was built from 1885 to 1889 to a design by Hilger Hertel the Elder. Its size reflects the wealth brought by the textile industry after the Münster–Gronau–Enschede railway opened; Borghorst grew from 2,063 inhabitants in 1861 to 4,100 in 1879.
The parish keeps the Borghorster Stiftskreuz, an 11th-century golden reliquary cross with a wooden core, gold leaf on the front and copper on the back. It was stolen on 29 October 2013, recovered in 2017, and returned to the church in 2024. The tower holds six bells from the demolished collegiate church, the oldest cast in 1507 by Wolter Westerhues.
The church stands on the site of the former collegiate church, in the historic axis of Borghorst along Emsdettener Straße and Münsterstraße, about 500 metres north of Katharinenplatz. The tower rises 99 metres, so it serves as a landmark for orientation from the surrounding streets. The building is a protected monument; visitors should check locally for opening times and access to the interior.
The tower holds a Baroque ring of six bells, all taken from the collegiate church demolished in 1885. The oldest, the Salvatorglocke of 1507, was cast by Wolter Westerhues. It is one of the few completely preserved historic convent peals in Westphalia, hung in a 19th-century wooden frame.
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