The baroque church "St. Sebastianus" in Friesenhagen was first mentioned in 1131 as property of the Bonn Cassiusstift and is one of the important landmarks of Friesenhagen.
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No matter from which direction you look to the centre of the village with the old half-timbered houses of Friesenhagen, the yellowish building of the parish church St. Sebastianus catches the eye directly and shapes the townscape in a special way.
Whoever visits the church will recognize the traces of the close connection with the noble family of Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg as well as the time of the Franciscans in the country. In the beginning there was a three-aisled basilica with a west tower in Romanesque style. Presumably around 1500 a Gothic church was built on the same site, while retaining the Romanesque tower. The sculptor Peter Sasse from Attendorn created the high altar in 1696. The figure of the Queen of Heaven is framed by two winding columns. Since the church was too small, the nave was rebuilt between 1740 and 1742. Already in 1751 a fire caused serious damage. The helmet of the tower collapsed with the bells, and the roof as well as the vault were severely damaged. After only a few years the church had to be rebuilt. The old tower was raised and received "its baroque helmet with one of the most beautiful lanterns among the baroque churches of the Rhineland". A simple, four-axis hall with a flat ceiling was built as a new central nave. From 1974 to 1978 the church was renovated.
The northern side chapel, the so-called "Count's Chamber", contains the funeral monuments of Sebastian von Hatzfeldt and his wife Luzia, as well as his mother Katharina, née von Selbach. An artfully forged iron grid separates the chapel from the nave.
In the southern side chapel is a simple baroque altar of St. Francis made of wood.
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Contact and directions
Klosterstraße 1
51598 Friesenhagen (VG Kirchen)
