Die Sakralbauten der Brüder Hilger und Bernhard Hertel in Münster

After the Catholic Church emerged stronger from the Kulturkampf with the Prussian state, church building in Westphalia flourished at the end of the 19th century. Due to the strong population growth in the course of industrialization, the city of Münster expanded far beyond the medieval city center. Three impressive neo-Gothic city churches were built for the new quarters, two of which were designed by the joint architectural firm of the brothers Hilger the Younger and Bernhard Hertel. The Hertel brothers were among the most important and busiest architects of late historicism in Westphalia. With the churches Heilig-Kreuz and St. Joseph, they were responsible for two of the largest church construction projects of historicism in the Westphalian region. On the basis of an examination of the two churches, the work of these important master builders is illuminated and integrated into the overall development of the his.