St. Joseph, Catholic church in Kalk, Germany

St. Joseph is a neo-Gothic brick hall church built 1899–1902 to designs by Heinrich Renard in the historic centre of Kalk. The three-aisled interior was rebuilt in greatly simplified form from 1949 to 1952 by Dominikus and Gottfried Böhm after wartime destruction. Its square red-brick tower carries a clock with a white face, four corner pinnacles and a steep dark-grey spire topped by a cross finial.

St. Joseph was built from 1899 to 1902 to designs by architect Heinrich Renard, as the parish church St. Marien (1863–1866) had become too small for Kalk's growing Catholic community. The neo-Gothic brick hall church was badly damaged in the Second World War; from 1949 to 1952 it was rebuilt in greatly simplified form to plans by Dominikus Böhm and his son Gottfried Böhm. It was listed as a monument on 12 April 1983 under number 1413.

The church is dedicated to Saint Joseph, the parish patron, who appears among the symbolic ornaments of the choir windows made by Dominikus Böhm. The same windows also refer to the Eucharist, to Mary, and to the Kolping association, a Catholic workers' movement rooted in Kalk. One ornamental window records the building dates along its lower edge: 1902 built, 1943 destroyed, 1952 rebuilt.

St. Joseph stands in the historic centre of Kalk, on the right bank of the Rhine, in the Deutz deanery of the Archdiocese of Cologne. The brick tower with its dark grey spire and clock face is the easiest landmark to orient by. The church is a listed monument (no. 1413 since 12 April 1983); access follows the parish's service times.

One ornament window in the church records the building's history in its lower border: built in 1902, destroyed in 1943, rebuilt in 1952. The seven transept windows by Dominikus Böhm each combine two Stations of the Cross, and his son Gottfried designed the baptismal window in the tower between 1952 and 1954.