“Mater Dolorosa” is not just a name. It is a title held by the Schmerzhafte Mutter Maria church in Cologne-Lindweiler. This church stands as a testament to faith and community in a district born from post-war expansion.
Lindweiler emerged after World War II. Cologne expanded northward into a once-rural area. This area had been part of the parish of St. Dionysius in Longerich since the year 1080. As Lindweiler grew in the 1960s, the Catholic parish started holding services in a temporary church. This lasted for ten years.
Architect Wilhelm Dahmen was then commissioned. He planned a permanent church for the district. Dahmen’s design mirrored his plans for St. Johannes der Täufer Church in Monheim, completed in 1978. The Schmerzhafte Mutter Maria church was consecrated on June 28, 1981. It bears the patronage of Mater Dolorosa.
The Schmerzhafte Mutter Maria’s architecture is striking. It is a brick building, unplastered inside and out. The building has a polygonal layout.
Inside, the altar is made of basalt. Relics of St. Matthias are embedded in it. These relics came from Trier. The parish of Longerich received them. Klaus Iserlohe from Aachen designed the tabernacle.
New windows were added in 2002. The artist Bodo Schramm created the glasswork. Karl-Josef Schneider designed the abstract glass art in the exterior door around 1990.
The Stations of the Cross are wooden reliefs. They came from a former monastery chapel in Worringen.
The Schmerzhafte Mutter Maria’s organ has an interesting history. Verschueren Orgelbouw, a Dutch company, built it in 1960. It was originally for the Reformed Zuiderkerk in Schiedam. In 1974, it was sold to Heilig Kreuz in Bonn-Limperich. Verschueren expanded it and installed it in a new case. In 2006, the organ was sold again. Weyland-Orgelbau refurbished it and installed it in this very church, the Schmerzhafte Mutter Maria. The instrument includes 18 registers on two manuals and a pedal. There are also three extensions in the pedal.
The Schmerzhafte Mutter Maria stands as a symbol. It represents Lindweiler’s growth. It embodies the community’s faith. Its art and architecture tell a story. They speak of history. They resonate with devotion.