Laurentiuskirche, Romanesque church in Bünde, Germany

Laurentiuskirche is a church in Bünde whose core is a late Romanesque building with a straight-ended choir and a wide transept with two side apses. A northern aisle added around 1507–1509 made it a two-nave hall. Its tower dates from the 12th century, and the white plastered tower with a dark pointed spire, clock dials and sculpted figures stands beside a long white building.

Founded in the late 8th century as a private church of a royal estate, Laurentiuskirche is first named in a charter dated 22 May 853, attributed to Louis the German but actually drawn up around 886–888; it refers to an older, lost charter of Louis the Pious granting the church to the women's monastery of Herford. The present tower was added in period IIa, dated to the 10th century by its masonry, and the late Romanesque cruciform hall followed in the 13th century. A north aisle was added around 1507–1509, making the church a two-nave hall.

The church is dedicated to Saint Lawrence, whose patronage points to a late 8th-century origin as a private church of a royal court. It belongs to the Protestant Lutheran Lydia congregation of Bünde, in the Herford district, and is its oldest parish church.

The church stands in central Bünde, its tower visible from the surrounding streets. The 1979 heating installation required a full archaeological excavation, so the floor area reflects several building periods (I–V) rather than a single medieval plan. Visitors should ask locally about access, since the sources record no fixed opening times.

The 1979 excavation, prompted by a new heating system, distinguished building periods I to V. Period I could not be dated, and a settlement phase preceded the first traceable building; the Romanesque tower visible today was added in period IIa.