Heilig-Geist-Kapelle
Late Gothic hospital chapel in Kempen that served as a tavern, hair salon and library before becoming a place of quiet retreat again.
The Heilig-Geist-Kapelle in Kempen, in the Viersen district, was once the chapel of the town's medieval hospital. After a long string of secular uses, it now serves once more as a place for quiet reflection.
At a Glance
- Type
- Former chapel of the medieval town hospital
- Location
- Kempen, Viersen district
- Architectural style
- Late Gothic
- Form
- Single-nave brick hall church with buttresses
- Hospital founded
- 1421
- Current use
- Run by the "Atem-Pause" initiative
History
Hermann and Arnold von Brochhusen founded the Kempen hospital in 1421. Of the entire hospital complex, only its chapel has survived. Between 1624 and 1631, the Observant friars used the building as a house of prayer during the founding phase of Kempen's Franciscan monastery.
A Chapel of Many Uses
Once its sacred function ended, the chapel became a tavern in the 19th century, complete with an inserted mezzanine floor housing a dining hall upstairs. The 20th century brought further transformations: first a hair salon, then the town library. Religious use returned in 1990, and until March 2012 the building housed the sales room of a Christian bookshop.
Architecture
The single-nave brick building features simple buttresses and two cross-vaulted bays. The chancel is covered by a modest star vault, its strongly projecting profiled ribs resting on three-quarter columns with round capitals.
Conversion
Unable to afford the chapel's upkeep, the Catholic parish converted it into a sales space for a mail-order Christian bookshop. A gallery with shelving was installed without altering the historic fabric, designed to be removable at any time; the chancel itself was deliberately left open for events. Architect Gregor Dewey of Viersen oversaw the conversion, completed in 2005.
Today
After the bookshop moved out in March 2012, the chapel stood empty for several years. Today it is run by the "Atem-Pause" initiative as a place of encounter and quiet retreat.
Map
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Address
An St. Marien 1
47906 Kempen
Hours
Di: 10:00–12:30
Di: 15:00–16:00
Fr: 10:00–12:30
Fr: 15:00–16:00
So: 15:00–16:00
Contact
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Sources & links
- Official website
- Official website (retrieved 2026-07-16)
- Wikidata (retrieved 2026-07-06)
- Wikipedia (retrieved 2026-07-06, rev 247902614)
Auto-generated, last verified: 2026-07-06
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