Kapuzinerkirche, Ostheimer Straße in Brakel

To take in the full visual impact of the baroque façade of the Capuchin Church, it is advisable to stand above the church. It was built in 1715-18 as the first major work by Johann Conrad Schlaun.

The strikingly simple baroque façade can be explained by the fact that the Father Provincial had rejected Schlaun's first, more magnificent design. But it is precisely in this simplification that he shows his skill: The balance of the surfaces. The coat of arms of the builder, Prince-Bishop Franz Arnold von Metternich, can be seen above the portal. The building itself has a single-nave, four-bay basic construction. The three altars are Renaissance and Baroque in style, dating from the 18th century and made of wood with pillars.

The monastery building adjoins on the west side. The Capuchins had received their mandate to found a monastery in Brakel on 17 November 1644, which they accepted on 24 August 1645 and took over the older hospital church for their services until Franz Arnold had the current baroque building erected for them. For its part, the hospital church belonged to the Hl.-Geist Hospitals mentioned in 1304, which cared for the poor and sick of the town. Protestant services were still held here in 1604. This monastery district can still be recognised to the left of the Capuchin church. The church has been owned by the Catholic parish since 1911, as the Protestant parish - until then a co-user - built the neo-Gothic Church of the Resurrection on Bahnhofstraße.