St. Ludwig, Parish church in Saarlouis, Germany
St. Ludwig is a parish church in the center of Saarlouis, Germany, recognizable by its neo-Gothic tower standing next to a concrete nave built in the 1970s. The tower dates from the rebuilding after a fire, while the nave follows a brutalist design with raw concrete walls and a plain interior.
A Baroque church was founded here in 1685 as part of the recatholicization efforts under Louis XIV, serving the new city he had built. After a fire in 1880 damaged much of the building, the tower was rebuilt, and the nave was later replaced entirely in the 1970s.
St. Ludwig is dedicated to Saint Louis IX of France, the patron after whom the city of Saarlouis was named. The dedication ties the church directly to the French origin of the city and remains visible in the name itself.
The church sits in the center of Saarlouis, within walking distance of the main square, making it easy to visit as part of a walk through the city. It is best to visit outside of service times if you want to look around the interior without interruption.
The 1970s nave was designed by Gottfried Boehm, a German architect who went on to receive the Pritzker Prize in 1986, the highest international award in architecture. He remains one of only a handful of German architects ever to have won it.
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