St. Ägidien Kirche, Lutheran church in Hann. Münden, Germany.
St. Ägidien Church is a Lutheran church whose present form largely dates from the 17th and 18th centuries. Its tower rises from rough rubble masonry into a slate-shingled upper section with a black clock dial and gold numerals, topped by a curved roof and small cupola. The round-arched entrance is framed in lighter stone, and the 13th-century cross-vaulted choir and sacristy survive from the Gothic building.
A Romanesque chapel measuring 6 by 9 metres stood here first, its remains found in a 1964 excavation inside the church. In the 13th century a Gothic building replaced it, and its cross vaults in the chancel and sacristy survive. When Tilly took Münden in 1626, a powder tower exploded and destroyed the church except the choir and sacristy; the new nave with barrel vault followed in 1684.
The building was deconsecrated on 22 November 2006 and passed to the town. From 2008 the owner of the Hotel Aegidienhof opposite converted it into Café Aegidius, which closed in November 2018. Since 2020 the St-Aegidien-Kirche foundation has combined prayer and café use in the former nave.
The church sits centrally on Aegidiiplatz in the old town and is easily reached on foot while wandering through the historic streets. The building is viewable from the outside and offers a good perspective on the town's medieval architecture.
Archaeological excavations in 1964 uncovered remains of an earlier Romanesque chapel buried beneath the current building. These remains point to a long history of use at this location stretching back into the medieval period.
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