St. Anna

St. Anna stands in Neuehrenfeld, Cologne, beside a public square and an open market. Its warm, earth-coloured sandstone exterior settles naturally among the surrounding postwar residential buildings. The L-shaped church joins an east to west nave with a smaller nave at right angles. A lower narthex connects them, while a tall bell tower rises above the entrance with bands of limestone. Wheelchair access allows visitors to enter this restrained architectural landmark.

Rudolf Schwarz designed the present church during the early 1950s, after wartime destruction damaged its predecessor. Earlier churches occupied this ground, with parts of one reaching back to the thirteenth century. Some rubble from the destroyed building became part of the new construction. Inside, a dim entrance hall opens into a bright nave filled with large areas of glass. Sparse ornament keeps attention on the liturgy, while the altar and chancel rise through separate groups of three steps. Light guides the experience from darkness toward openness, expressing Schwarz’s modern ideas about worship and community.