Kath. KircheSt. Johann BaptistKrefeld

A warm welcome to the website of St. Johann Baptist, the largest church in the city of Krefeld, the Diocese of Aachen, and the tallest tower in the entire Diocese of Aachen at 97 meters. It is often referred to as Krefeld's "Cologne Cathedral." Since July 1, 2025, the church has been owned by the support association. This makes St. Johann a real pilot project for the Diocese of Aachen and all of Germany, demonstrating how a church can be preserved without church tax funds.

The Church

The neo-Gothic church was built in 1894 by the renowned architect Josef Kleesattel, who constructed well over 40 churches. Throughout his life, he referred to the Church of St. Johann as "My masterpiece." The interior is equipped with numerous original medieval sculptures and altars. The remains of Saint Gaudentius are also located under the Altar of Mary.

The Community

The church is not only home to the "regular" parish of St. Johann, but for 50 years has also hosted the Syro-Malankara community St. Mary's.

Daily Eucharistic adoration has existed since 2005 and was significantly expanded in June 2023. Since then, there has been "perpetual adoration" at St. Johann, meaning the Blessed Sacrament is exposed 24 hours a day. It is guarded and adored around the clock by alternating worshippers.

Those in need have also become an important part of the worshipping community, with special services attended by about 200 people in need (mostly homeless and addicts) every Sunday. There they can find a measure of peace and acceptance and come into contact with God.

There is a daily breakfast and bread distribution, a warm lunch on Sundays, clothing distribution, pastoral counseling, support with administrative visits and application assistance, etc.

On 01.07.2023 the church was closed by the acting church council of the parish of Maria Frieden. As a result, we as a community were homeless for two years until the Förderverein was finally able to buy the church on 01.07.2025.

We were forced to celebrate our masses in a tent in front of the church. The Förderverein paid for this tent and thereby made it possible for us as a community to continue to exist. In the meantime, the tent has already been sold and we have long since been celebrating masses again in the church. The past years of the closure now feel like a long-past, terrible nightmare that is finally over.

Closed church St. Johann Baptist

The reason for the church closure was alleged safety-threatening construction defects. This was refuted by several expert opinions commissioned by the Förderverein. In particular, the renowned building expert and building conservator Inga Bellwinkel refuted this false representation. The illegality arises from the lack of a reason (non-existent safety hazard). The Förderverein worked tirelessly to ensure that the church could be reopened as soon as possible.

After the support association purchased the church on July 1, 2025, we had to find that the building had suffered significantly during the time of the church closure. We started the construction work almost immediately to reopen the church as soon as possible. During the repairs, the undamaged rear part of the church (axis baptismal chapel - Pietà) was immediately opened and Holy Mass could be celebrated there.

After only 2.5 weeks of construction, we were able to reopen the entire church for services. Loose plaster on the ceiling was removed and replastered. Defective window panes were also repaired. Many companies from Krefeld and beyond supported us in this process.

Unfortunately, the church building is in poor condition due to the inactivity of the church council of the Maria Frieden parish over the past year, as rain had been falling into the church extensively for a long time. In particular, the condition of the building has deteriorated significantly since the church was closed.

Since the support association receives no financial support from the parish or the diocese to maintain the church, we are absolutely dependent on your assistance to preserve this place, which is of great importance to the entire city of Krefeld.

Open Church of St. Johann Baptist

We estimate that approximately 3 million euros will be needed for complete and long-term renovation. However, we handle all donated funds very responsibly. Thanks to the support of various companies, we were able to facilitate the reopening of the church almost free of charge.

Through your support for the support association, you help ensure that our community can remain in this church and that this unique monument, as well as the (pastoral) work of the community, is preserved.

Peace be with you!

For 22 years now, I have had the privilege of living and working as a 'shepherd' in this place with its magnificent house of God, which touched me deeply from my very first visit. The patron of our community actually dictates what my and our concern is: 'Prepare the way for the Lord!' Give space to what the deepest core of our soul longs for — even if we have lost sight of God — in its search for love, light, truth, peace, acceptance, and happiness! We as a community — and this includes the poorest of the poor — all concretely long to hopefully soon be able to taste something of the beauty in this special 'temple' again, which is a foretaste of eternity and where we all, in a time full of need and misery, on our journey through the valley of tears, may breathe a little easier.

Grateful for any support!

God bless you!

Pastor Joachim Schwarzmüller