Evangelische Kirche Buchholz

Evangelische Kirche Buchholz stands in Buchholz, a Petershagen district, only a few metres from the Weser River. Its Romanesque walls date from the thirteenth century. The building forms a two-bay hall church with a recessed eastern chancel, a low semicircular apse, and a western tower. The apse now serves as a sacristy.

Cross-ribbed vaults and enlarged windows joined the structure late in the thirteenth century. Round-arched windows light the nave. Pointed arches shape the tower windows and entrance, while round-arched portals open on the north and south sides. Inside, a Romanesque baptismal font carries a vine frieze from the church’s early building period. A gilded Gothic silver chalice bears the year 1581, and bronze Renaissance candlesticks date from 1656. The Baroque organ, built in 1703, is attributed to Herford organ builder Hinrich Klausing. Three bells hang in the tower, including one of Westphalia’s oldest, cast in the early thirteenth century.