Kirche Johannes XXIII., Brutalist church in Sülz, Germany

Church of John XXIII is a concrete religious building in Sülz with an unusual interior structure. A large concrete trunk with spreading branches runs through the space and supports the roof, while thick walls create a stark appearance.

The Catholic university community planned a student residence, a community house and a church for about 300 people, and an architectural competition in 1964 was won by Heinz Buchmann for the whole group. The church was built from 1968 to 1969 to a design developed with sculptor Josef Rikus and university chaplain Wilhelm Nyssen, with the interior shaped around the liturgy. In 2016 the concrete exterior was restored by the Cologne office 3pass and the building was entered in the city's monument list as number 8792.

The church serves the Catholic student community of Cologne and shows modern architectural thinking through raw concrete and simple forms. Visitors experience the space as a place for reflection, where the unadorned design encourages inner peace.

The brick floor of the courtyard continues at the same level into the interior, so you enter without steps; only the central liturgical areas are marked off by contrasting granite paving. The building has no bell tower, and the two raised side "trunks" can be read as a visual reference to the missing element. The church stands in Sülz beside a paved area with low plantings.

The central concrete trunk hides the tabernacle inside its structure, a hidden sacred element within the raw concrete. This combination of technical innovation and spiritual purpose makes the interior a surprising discovery.