Former church of St. Kilian
The former church of St. Kilian is Marburg’s oldest church, built around 1180. The stone building with the timber frame extension visible today is testament to a diverse and changing history of use.
In 1527, Landgrave Philipp the Magnanimous closed and rededicated the former church of St. Kilian along with most other churches and abbeys after the introduction of the Reformation in Hesse.
The former church of St. Kilian became the offices of the Shoemakers Guild and the church yard was turned into the shoe market. Just 30 years later, the tower and a section of the chancel was torn down for the reconstruction of the Lahn Bridge which had been damaged by flood water. Afterwards the former church of St. Kilian was used as a pigsty until this was prohibited in 1567.
The former church of St. Kilian was later used as a school, an orphanage and as a billet for the police and Gestapo. Today it is a residence.
Schuhmarkt 4
35037 Marburg