Kilianskirche Korbach

In the heart of the old town of Korbach, above the old marketplace, stands the Protestant St. Kilian's Church. It is a Gothic three-aisled hall church, built between 1335 and 1450. The three aisles have the same width, so that the nave appears wider than it is long due to the slightly oblong bays, giving the church a central building-like effect.

The individual architectural elements are reminiscent of the Westphalian style of the Wiesenkirche in Soest. In the west, there rises an almost square tower with a baroque roof, while in the east, there is the choir consisting of one bay and the choir apse with a 5/8 closure. In the northeast, there is the Johannes Evangelista Chapel, serving as a sacristy, and in the southwest, there is the Marienkapelle, which was converted into a memorial for fallen soldiers and was used as the "mint" of Korbach until 1567. The south portal (circa 1420) exhibits rich sculptural decorations. At the time of its completion in 1392, the west tower of the church, with its original pointed spire, stood over 90 meters tall and was one of the tallest church towers in the world!

Inside, the church also features an unusually rich decoration for Protestant places of worship, an inheritance from pre-Reformation times (including a baroque altarpiece, and a 12-meter high sacrament house from 1525). The Reformation in the Principality of Waldeck was mostly Lutheran in character, which is why the two town churches, St. Kilian (historic old town) and St. Nikolai (historic new town), were largely spared from the iconoclastic movement that occurred in the neighboring Hessian region.

The latest eye-catcher is the Kuhn organ, installed in 2011 and located on the north side of the church.