Pauluskirche church on the Badewörth island
The Pauluskirche church was built as a parish church by Count Johann von Sponheim in Gothic style with a three-naved basilica, and originally consecrated in 1332 to the Virgin Mary and St Kilian. Today, it is an Evangelical church. In 1558, it became a Reformed church. It was destroyed in 1689 by the troops of King Louis XIV of France and owes its present-day appearance largely to its reconstruction in 1781.
The church stands on an island between the Nahe river and the Mühlenkanal canal, and for centuries it was the only building of the town that stood before the Alte Nahebrücke bridge. Only grassland and meadows lay behind it. Its 61-metre high baroque tower was built around 1780. In the mid-19th century, the east choir, which had fallen into disrepair, was converted into a small chapel for the numerous English spa guests visiting Bad Kreuznach. Services were held here according to Anglican rites. Tombstones from the Late Middle Ages are also to be found in the chapel. The church organ, which was newly inaugurated in 2012, is well worth seeing and listening to, as are the choral concerts. The Pauluskirche is the biggest church between Mainz and Trier. Incidentally, Karl Marx and Jenny von Westphalen got married here on 19 June 1843.
