St. Willibrord, Catholic church in Euchen, Germany

St. Willibrord is a red brick Catholic church in Euchen, its front-facing gable on the right with a large three-part round-arched window. At the corner between gable and aisle stands a round stair turret with a conical roof; the lower aisle runs left under grey slate, pierced by round-arched windows with light stone surrounds. An arched entrance with dark double doors opens on the aisle front, and a square brick wall with stone coping crosses the foreground.

Euchen's chapel belonged to the mother church of Broich around 1300, as recorded in the Liber valoris. In 1725 the chapel and parts of the tower were demolished and a plain Baroque hall church of five bays with a straight choir was built on the same spot, linked to Aachen architect Laurenz Mefferdatis. St. Willibrord became an independent parish again on 12 April 1905; in 1912 the last bay was removed for a transept, large choir with apse and new sacristy by Joseph Buchkremer, consecrated in 1916. Heavily damaged in October and November 1944, the church was reopened at Easter 1966.

The apse painting of Christ, created by artist Philipp Schumacher in 1924, underwent restoration in 1985 following wartime damage.

St. Willibrord stands in Euchen, a district of Würselen, within the parish of St. Sebastian Würselen in the Diocese of Aachen. The church is a listed monument (no. A 09/K); the surrounding cemetery was already the only burial ground in the parish of Broich when it was mapped in 1711. Visitors approach the brick building from the churchyard wall side, where the aisle entrance with its dark double door faces the path.

The tower contains reused Roman bricks and stones, likely making it the oldest surviving part, possibly from the early 13th century. The church is listed as monument A 09/K in Würselen. The apse painting of the enthroned Christ by Philipp Schumacher (1924) was whitewashed after 1944 damage and restored in 1985.