St. Sixtus Church

The emergence and development of the town of Haltern is inextricably linked to the St. Sixtus Church, whose history goes back to the first millennium. As excavations from 1985/86 in the area of today's sacristy show, a church made of wood and half-timbering was built here around 800. The Sixtus Church is generally regarded as one of the original parishes of the Münsterland, even if it does not have a founding of St. Liudger, the first Bishop of Munster, but was created as a Frankish royal court chapel, which came to the Bishop of Munster together with the associated main courtyard in the 9th century.

Haltern's location on the Lippe and the intersection of two trunk roads were partly responsible for the fact that the village of Haltern quickly formed around the church. In addition, there was the border location in the diocese of Münster, which led to the granting of city rights and the fortification of the place as early as 1289.

Over the centuries, the church has been rebuilt several times to meet the needs of the growing community of Haltern. The church has existed in its current form and size since 1876. Contrary to the norm, it is not east-facing, but built in a north-south direction, as one family was not willing to sell their house. Even today, the high-quality neo-Gothic style of the church with its 86 meter high tower stands out impressively from the surrounding city centre.

Also worth seeing is the interior of the church with the Flemish high altar and the forked crucifix from 1340, which has been venerated by keepers for centuries as a miracle-working cross. The community still honors the cross with an annual procession through town and Feldmark on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, on the Sunday after September 14th.

For the 275th wearing of the cross and the exaltation of the cross on September 18, 2011, all nine parishes in Haltern were merged as part of a festive service on the market square to form the parish of St. Sixtus. The Sixtus Church is now the parish church of the 24,000 Catholics, the second largest parish in the Münster diocese.

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