St. Johann Baptist, Essen

The church is descended from a chapel of St John the Baptist, which already belonged to Essen Abbey in the tenth century.

According to the will of Theophanu, Abbess of Essen who died in 1058, candles were to be burnt in her memory ad sanctum Iohannem, which appears to be the first mention of the church.

The foundations of this original chapel were identified in archaeological excavations after the Second World War.

In 1264, the Abbess Berta von Arnsberg promoted the chapel to the rank of a filial parish church of the Abbey.

Subsequently, the church served as a meeting place for the canons who carried out those sacred rites which could only be performed by men for the women of the Abbey.

A trapezoidal crossing space permits a wider choir bay at the east end.

The descent from the cross is especially remarkable for the depiction of a Central European city in the background instead of Jerusalem.