Pauluskirche

The Dominikanerkloster St Paul (also called the Pauluskirche) in Worms is a Romanesque church of rough sandstone that looks like a miniature of Worms Cathedral.

St. Paul's Chapter Church was built by Bishop Burchard (who also built the first Worms Cathedral) in 1002. It was originally a three-naved buttress basilica.

A Dominican monastery was added in 1226. Also in the 13th century, the stone dome-shaped tower roofs were added in the Byzantine style of Jerusalem's churches. These make the church a visible monument to the Crusades.

The Pauluskirche was desconsecrated and the monastery destroyed in 1797 in the interests of secularization. In the decades that followed, the church was used as a warehouse, a barn and finally as a municipal museum (1880).

In 1929, Dominican religious life began again here and is still an active community. The resident monks conduct services, prayers and confession, and some also work as hospital or prison chaplains. Since 1993, it has also been training novices who will go on to become Dominican monks.

The Pauluskirche was badly damaged by bombing on February 21, 1945, but through the support of local citizens it was rebuilt and back in service in 1947.

The present nave of the Pauluskirche was rebuilt in the Baroque era, but the remainder of the building is 11th-century Romanesque.