Christuskirche, Protestant church in Andernach, Germany

Christuskirche is a High Gothic two-nave hall church, 50.60 m long and 14 m wide, with a main nave and a narrower right aisle separated by slender piers rising to the roof. The nave vaults reach 14.60 m; the building stands 25 m tall but has no bell tower, only a 15 m roof turret built between the 4th and 5th bays in 1857–1861.

The building originated in the 13th century as St. Nicholas Church for a Minorite monastery and then underwent renovations and expansions over several centuries. Its current Protestant use reflects the religious changes that swept this region.

The church was for centuries the burial place of the founding Virneburg family, the Rhenish nobility and wealthy Andernach citizens, whose coats of arms are set into the ribbed vaults. Some of the wall paintings were rediscovered behind plaster and paint and could be preserved. In a niche on the left of the choir stand the remains of a 14th-century niche tomb with a Crucifixion group and two donor figures, rediscovered in 1955.

Visiting the church is free and allows you to view the interior and architecture from different perspectives. Note that it may sometimes be closed for services or special events.

The building shows a rare material combination where locally quarried tuff was mixed with trachyte and basalt lava, creating stable and durable masonry. This material mixture is characteristic of church buildings in this Rhine region.