Rigal’sche Kapelle, Romanesque Revival chapel in Alt-Godesberg, Germany.
The Rigal'sche Kapelle is a plain brick chapel with round-arched openings and a surrounding small-block frieze, built in 1856–1858 to a design by Christian von der Emden. Its rectangular plan ends in a five-sided apse, and two square side annexes resemble transepts. The gable peak projects as a corbel, and the facade carries a carved panel reading "RIGALSCHE" above the entrance.
Baron Ludwig Maximilian von Rigal-Grunland had the chapel built in 1856–1858 to a design by Christian von der Emden, next to his Villa Schloss Rigal. It was the first independent Protestant church in Godesberg and in what is now Bonn's left-bank city area. In 1874 the congregation received the building by donation. Shelling damaged the roof turret on 8 March 1945; it was rebuilt faithfully between 1983 and 1985.
The chapel takes its name from Baron Ludwig Maximilian von Rigal-Grunland, its original founder. Inside, you see original Neo-Gothic furnishings with patron boxes and traditional wooden benches that shape the interior space.
The building sits at the corner of Kurfürstenallee and Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse, making it easy to locate from surrounding streets. Keep in mind this is an active place of worship, so visiting hours depend on service schedules.
A stone cross beside the entrance, probably from the 18th century, was moved here from Deutschherrenstrasse during the construction of the Chinese embassy in 1982–1984. The chapel's roof turret, hit by shellfire on 8 March 1945, was taken down in 1983 and rebuilt true to the original by January 1985.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,880 contributors worldwide.