Climbing instead of praying? More and more churches repurposed

There are around 44,000 to 45,000 church buildings in Germany – depending on which sacred spaces are included. Many of these buildings shape the character of villages, neighbourhoods and landscapes. But the question of how they can be preserved is being asked ever more often as congregations shrink and costs rise.

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The parish church of St Andrew in the Sanderau district of Würzburg is also facing such a transformation. From the outside it stands like a silent witness to post‑war modernism. Inside, however, the church interior is to take on a new function: where services were held for decades, people will in future be climbing on bouldering walls.

The church, consecrated in 1968 by Bishop Josef Stangl, is to be profaned, in other words deconsecrated under canon law. The Diocese of Würzburg and the operators of the “Rock Inn” bouldering centre announced this publicly (source in German) in April 2026. Climbing walls, a yoga room, a café and a children’s area are planned. The sports facility is due to open in summer 2027. St Andrew could then become Bavaria’s first “climbing church”.

“We simply can’t manage any more”

For decades, St Andrew was a venue for religious celebrations and a space for community events. But the burdens became too great. Father Tobias Fuchs, who looks after St Andrew together with the neighbouring parish of St Adalbero, speaks of high maintenance costs and a lack of staff. “For example, for a long time we had a man who worked voluntarily as caretaker, but he recently had to stop for reasons of age,” says Fuchs. In the end, he says, it was clear to everyone: “We simply can’t manage any more.”

In February 2026 the building was listed as a historic monument, ruling out demolition. For many members of the parish this at least means that the striking structure will be preserved, even if it is put to a new use.

When churches are given “E” status

St Andrew is not an isolated case. The Diocese of Würzburg has reviewed its property portfolio and internally marked almost 80 churches with the code “E”. This denotes churches that are to be given a new use in the long term. Financial director and Ordinariatsrat Gerald Düchs stresses that an individual solution is sought for each church and that the parishes are involved. The pain for the community is to be kept as low as possible.

The diocese already has experience with repurposed churches: in the 1970s, church buildings in Erbshausen were converted into flats, in Mespelbrunn into a parish centre and in Hausen near Aschaffenburg into an artist’s studio. In Würzburg itself, the historic Spitäle today serves as an art gallery and the Neubaukirche of the Old University as a banqueting hall.

Pressure is also growing nationwide. Since the year 2000, liturgical use has been completely discontinued in 611 Catholic churches, the press office of the German Bishops’ Conference said in response to an enquiry. Only 201 of them were sold out of church ownership. Many other buildings remained in the hands of the Church and are used differently today – for example for social facilities, care, housing or archives.

What is allowed – and what is not

The Church cannot decide arbitrarily which follow‑on uses are possible. The Diocese of Würzburg requires a concept that is compatible with Christian values. Markus Hauck from the Episcopal Ordinariate of Würzburg explains on request that cultic use by non‑Christian religious communities is excluded – “out of consideration for the religious feelings of Catholic believers”.

This line follows the guidelines of the German Bishops’ Conference. As early as 2003 it stated that demolition should only ever be a last resort. Conversions should, as far as possible, be reversible so that later generations could in theory use the spaces for church purposes again. At the same time, the dignity of the place sets limits: liturgical signs and objects may not be taken over decoratively into commercial concepts.

For the Church of St Andrew in Würzburg, architect Roland Breuning of the Archicult office is therefore planning a restrained intervention. The bouldering walls are to stand on an inserted gallery. “Overall, the aim is to treat the existing rooms as gently as possible and to design any new structures so that they can be removed,” the architect explained in the press release issued in April.

From the application to the final Mass

Before anyone can start climbing, the church must be officially profaned, that is, deconsecrated. Bishop Franz Jung will seek advice on this in the Council of Priests and the General Episcopal Council; the diocesan art commission will also issue an opinion. The bishop can then order the profanation.

It is carried out at the end of a final solemn Mass by a member of the cathedral chapter. “This Mass ends with the clearing of the church interior and the presentation of the profanation certificate,” Hauck explains. If all those involved give their consent, this step could still take place in summer 2026.

For the parish, this farewell is more than just an administrative act. The German Bishops’ Conference provides for its own liturgical rite for this. It is intended to express gratitude and direct the gaze towards the future.

Post‑war churches under particular pressure

St Andrew belongs to a group of buildings that is currently especially at risk: churches dating from between 1950 and the early 1970s.

In a contribution (source in German) to the journal “Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte”, art historian Prof Stefanie Lieb interprets the repurposing of church buildings as a profound structural transformation. Conservationists view churches as part of the townscape and the built community. Theologians look more from the inside, from their liturgical function. When a parish moves out, the space loses its core from a church perspective. This tension underlies many debates about new uses.

Other examples show that new uses can succeed in a respectful way. The former church of St Ursula in Hürth near Cologne, designed by Gottfried Böhm, was converted into an art gallery in 2010. Aachen’s Church of the Redeemer was rebuilt in 2016 as a columbarium – a place for urn graves that still has a quiet, spiritual atmosphere.

A question for society as a whole

Not everyone views commercial follow‑on uses positively. Olaf Zimmermann, managing director of the German Cultural Council, said in an interview with the Protestant Press Service in January 2025: “Churches are common goods.” Many people feel attached to these buildings, even if they stopped going to church long ago. Churches are landmarks – and their future is therefore not just an internal church matter.

The Protestant Church is also looking intensively at this issue. At the 31st Protestant Church Architecture Day in Berlin in 2024, the future of church buildings took centre stage. Klaus‑Martin Bresgott from the Cultural Office of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) recommended involving several partners at an early stage: congregations, municipalities, heritage authorities and potential new operators. Church congregations, he said, must learn to share responsibility.

Art historian Stefanie Lieb also argues for a broader perspective. The repurposing of churches is a structural change comparable to the transformation of former industrial sites in the Ruhr region. What used to be seen as a burden is now often valued as cultural heritage. The preservation of church buildings therefore requires not only ecclesiastical but also societal support.

Climbing under the pyramid

Andreas Schmitt, co‑managing director of Rock Inn and an architect himself, sees the new use as fitting the character of the place. “A church is a place that brings a community together. We also see ourselves as an institution that brings people together. In that respect, this new use is a very good fit.” The “Inn” in the company name stands for hospitality.

Father Fuchs calls it a stroke of luck: “We are grateful that a good solution for preserving the church and parish centre was found so quickly.” The presbytery will remain in the hands of the parish, and a pastoral worker on site is to coordinate future work with children and young people. So the parish is not losing everything – it is passing a space on.

Fewer church members

The case of St Andrew must also be seen against the backdrop of declining membership numbers. At the end of 2025, 43.8% of the population still belonged to the Catholic or Protestant Church. According to provisional figures (source in German) from the German Bishops’ Conference, the Catholic Church had 19,219,601 members, while the Evangelical Church (source in German) had around 17.4 million. The numbers leaving remain high: around 307,000 people left the Catholic Church in 2025, and around 350,000 left the Evangelical Church.

For many parishes this has concrete consequences. Fewer members mean less income, fewer staff and less room for manoeuvre when it comes to maintaining large buildings. What happens to these buildings also shows which places a society wants to preserve in order to maintain a sense of community in other ways.