page_title: Lahr
section_title: Religion
hierarchical_section_title: Lahr / History / Religion
context_page_description: Lahr is a city in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany, approximately 50 km north of Freiburg im Breisgau, 40 km south east of Strasbourg, and 95 km south west of Karlsruhe. It is the second largest city in Ortenau after Offenburg, and serves as an intermediate economic centre for the cities and towns of Ettenheim, Friesenheim, Kappel-Grafenhausen, Kippenheim, Mahlberg, Meißenheim, Ringsheim, Rust, Schuttertal, Schwanau and Seelbach.
  The population of Lahr passed the 20,000 mark in the mid-1950s. When the new body of Municipal Law for Baden-Württemberg came into effect on April 1, 1956, the city was therefore immediately accorded Große Kreisstadt status. In addition, Lahr cooperates with the town of Kippenheim in administrative matters.
context_section_description: The region around Lahr initially belonged to the Archdiocese of Strasbourg. The city itself was originally attached to the parishes of Dinglingen and Burgheim. Only the Chapel of Our Lady was located in Lahr. In 1259 the Augustinians founded a monastery which was moved to the outskirts of Dinglingen in 1349 and converted into a collegiate monastery in 1482. In 1492 the parish of Burgberg was moved to Lahr and the Chapel of Our Lady became the parish church. After the Reformation was introduced in 1558 until 1567, the monastery was dissolved and Lahr remained exclusively Protestant for the next several centuries. After Lahr came to Baden, the church became seat of a deanery which serves the entire surrounding area. Two other parishes developed from the original one, Christ Church Parish and Peace Parish, but were merged later on to form a combined parish. The combined parish today also includes John's Parish in Sulz, the Luther, Paul and Melanchton Parishes in Dinglingen and Lahr-West, and St Peter's Parish in Burgheim. Additional Protestant parishes are located in the boroughs of Hugsweier, Kippenheimweiler and Langenwinkel, while Langenwinkel is attached to the parish of Hugsweier and Kippenheimweiler to the parish in neighbouring Kippenheim. Protestants from Kuhbach and Reichenbach belong to the parish of Seelbach and those living in Mietersheim belong to the parish of Lahr. All Protestant parishes belong to the deanery of Lahr within the Evangelical Church in Baden. The Liebenzeller Association is also represented in Lahr.
  At the beginning of the nineteenth century Catholics began to return to Lahr and in 1843 the first Catholic parish was founded, its church St. Peter and Paul constructed from 1846. St. Marien became the second Catholic parish in 1960 (its church was built in 1954 through 1956). Additional Catholic parishes exist in Dinglingen (Holy Spirit with church St. Martin in Hugsweier), Kuhbach (Mary Ascension and Chapel of Our Dear Lady), Reichenbach and Sulz (St. Peter and Paul). In Sulz a Simultaneum existed between 1773 and 1959 where Catholics and Protestants used the same church building.
  In addition to the two large denominations the following are also represented in Lahr: several independent Protestant churches among them Baptists, Methodists and Pentecostals, and the New Apostolic Church.
caption: Burgheimer Kirche
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