St. Johannes der Täufer

St. Johannes der Täufer stands in Brackel, Dortmund, as a protected Protestant church in North Rhine-Westphalia. The site belongs to the Evangelical Church of Westphalia.

Its original late-twelfth-century form followed a basilica plan with a nave, transept, and buttressed choir. Distinct tracery windows appear between the choir’s supporting buttresses.

A western façade tower rises above the church and carries a pyramid roof covered with slate. The slate roof gives the tower its pyramid shape.

Between 1495 and 1497, builders raised the outer walls, changing the basilica into a hall church. That alteration removed the clerestory from the church.

It also joined the nave and a side aisle within the reworked interior. A bell ensemble remains part of the building.

The ensemble includes ringing bells, a clock bell, and a restored farmer’s bell from the church’s earlier history. Newer bells replaced earlier cast-steel bells.

The church’s architectural changes preserve evidence of medieval construction and later adaptation within its walls. The site record marks the church as wheelchair accessible.

The tower, tracery, choir, and bells bring the church’s architectural history into view through tangible details. Its medieval core still shapes the building’s present form.