St. Bonifatius

St. Bonifatius is a Catholic parish church in southern Leipzig, built between 1929 and 1930 in the Art Deco style. Its protected architecture centres on a 23-metre-wide rotunda beneath a shallow metal cone. A 27.5-metre bell tower rises from the surrounding ring of chapels and parish rooms. Three arched doors lead beneath a round stained-glass window framed by clinker brickwork.

The Catholic Merchants’ Association commissioned the church as a memorial for 1,500 German Catholic merchants killed during the First World War. Theo Burlage’s winning design followed an architectural competition held in 1928. Inside, blue walls and a gilded flat dome surround curved benches facing the altar, cross, and stained-glass window. Terracotta figures by Albert Burges and Wolfdietrich Stein depict biblical figures, martyrs, saints, and church teachers.

The tower room holds a tabernacle before a 22-metre stained-glass scene of a mourned soldier, angels, saints, and Mary. A blue baptismal window and copper baptismal bowl mark the adjacent chapel. The organ has 21 stops across two manuals and pedal, while a red-and-yellow image of Saint Boniface overlooks its gallery. Four bells and terracotta Stations of the Cross complete the church’s distinctive interior.